Well, Damani Ralph continues to put a stranglehold on the MLS Rookie of the Year Award by burying a one-time left footed laser volley near post in second half, giving the Fire a 1-0 lead at the time, on its way to a 2-0 defeat of the Gals. And he continues to do all the other things that top forwards do -- hold balls, make combinations, play defense, win balls. This kid is the real deal. Meanwhile, on the broadcast, when Tyrone Marshall subbed in for the Gals in the second half, Jack Edwards said something striking. According to Jack, Marshall has advised Ralph NOT to play for the Jamaican national team, but instead get his American citizenship and play for the USA. Jack said something to the effect that Marshall believes there would be more opportunity for Ralph with the USA, while there is lots of competition at forward with the Reggae Boyz. I don't know whether this is good advice, or bad, but it certainly is interesting.
Damani Ralph is a Transitional International; he doesn't have a green card. So even in the best-case scenario, he'll be roughly 30 by the time he gets U.S. citizenship. Let's not make him the next Michael Ricketts.
It takes 5yrs to apply for citizenship. I am sure he's lived in US for more than 3 yrs. He's 23 right now, so he could apply for citizenship the latest 25. Not 30.
He has to get green card first and then the 5 year period after that. If he doesn't have the green card already, he will never play for US.
you'd think that if he was good enough the USSF would find a way to grease the wheels a little bit. that may be a tad unrealistic but man... this kid is something.
I don't understand what the Jamaican national team can possibly be thinking. Who are the players that Ralph is competing with? 1. Dean Burton, who it seems scored three goals for Derby last year and is now playing for Premier Divison relegation favorite Portsmouth. 2. Barry Hayles, who has performed for Fulham but is 31, and has to be nearing the end of his nats career. 3. Ricardo Fuller, who was not able to catch on with a Division one side. 4. Walter Boyd, who is 27 and playing in the third division. 5. Onandi Lowe, 29 and playing in the second division, and a player who didn't exactly set MLS afire. 6. And our own Wolde Harris, 29 and not able to crack an MLS lineup for the last few years. And I know that MLS is not exactly the Premiership, but Ralph has been starring in the league in his first year, breaking rookie records left and right, but Tyrone Marshall doesn't think he can break through on this impressive squad?? Is there a cache of Jamiacan superstar strikers hidden somewhere waiting to explode and block Damani, or has an entire nation been lighting up a little too much?
Is he married or single? Doesn't he get citizenship if he marries an American (which is not entirely unlikely for someone living here)?
No. A green card is a provisional status on the way to citizenship. To work in the country as a foreigner you need some sort of work visa (rather than, for example, a tourist via). There are different types of work visas--perhaps some other posters know what the process looks like for athletes. On the citizenship question: there some ways to accelerate citizenship... Although I think you normally have to go through the same 5 year green card process is you are married to a US citizen, what was the bit with Regis where his wife (a US citizen) worked overseas for the US government(?) and he was able to get citizenship very quickly? Slightly off topic: What age was Carlos Llamosa when he became an American citizen? Back on the central topic: I'm not holding my breath. My gut tells me that Ralph will be helping Jamaica qualify for the next world cup.
Don't get your legal advice from bad sitcom plots. He gets a green card by marrying a citizen, but not citizenship.
As I understand it, Regis still needed to hold a green card for five years. The difference is that he was allowed to live abroad during that time because his wife was a US gov't employee stationed there. BTW, in addition to the players that ChrisE listed, Jamaica has also used Jermaine Johnson, Ricardo Gardner, and Kevin Lisbie at forward. All are in the Premiership and still reasonably young. And Ricardo Fuller is a much better player than Chris E suggests, probably the best on Preston North End (Eddie Lewis's team). As US fans, let's not act too smug. After all, Jovan Kirovski is still getting caps for us.
Citizenship is easy but greencard is the tough part. How soon you get your greencard is directly correlated to how much taxes you pay to US government and how much money you bring into US. It didn't take Stoichkov very long because he is very rich. It would take someone like Ralph longer. Some people waited for 15 years and still don't have it. The laws regarding to marriage has changed recently. Marrying to a US citizen gets you a "temporarily" green card. You have to upgrade your status from a temporary greencard holder to a "eligible alien" before you can apply for citiznship. If you divorce before you get your citizenship, you lose your greencard. The law is designed to stop the "marriage for greencard" scam.
In general without having a greencard, you have to apply for work authorization. In the field like engineering for example, you don't need a green card to work in US. Anyone in the world can get a working visa easily and work in US in engineering. That's why unemployment in engineering is so high.
Jesus Christ, can we please stop with the fantasizing. As I posted elswhere: "This has been discussed before, but I'll repeat what I said earlier for this thread's benefit. Unless Damani is significantly along the process of becoming a naturalized US Citizen, there is no chance he will play for the US in the near future. None. Zero. Nada. Here are the requirements for Damani, or anyone else, to become a naturalized citizen: 5 years permanent residence w/o leaving the US for longer than 6 months. Has to have lived in the same district or state for at least 3 months before applying for citizenship. Good moral character - basically means don't break any laws. Demonstrate basic English skills Those are the basic requirements. If Damani wants his US citizenship, which to my knowledge has never been clarified, this is the process he'll have to go through: Complete your application Get two photographs Collect all necessary documents Send your application, documents, and fee to the appropriate Service Center Receive an appointment letter for fingerprinting from the INS* Get fingerprints taken Mail additional documents if INS requires them* Wait for INS to schedule your interview* Perform the interview Receive a decision* "*" Indicates a step in the process that can last an indefinite amount of time. So, in other words, IF Damani has lived in the US for 5 straight years AFTER HE HAS RECEIVED HIS GREEN CARD, which he has not, and IF Damani wants to play for the US, and IF Damani satisfies all the naturalization requirements, then he can apply. That process alone can take years. So if he's not already well down that road, it isn't going to happen. Who knows? He might have an interview scheduled right now. But until these IF's are clarified, Damani Ralph playing for the US anytime soon is nothing but a pipe dream." Let's all just put the fantasy to bed once and for all. The facts just get in the way of the dream.
As for the time frame between green card & citizenship, it is five years, but, unless the law's been changed recently, it's three years after a marriage. But, yeah ALSO REMEMBER THE REGIS CASE. He got his citizenship over a cup of coffee. The most recent post about all the steps he has to take (my god! forms! fingerprints!) is risible. USSF will fill out everything for him & bring it down to the INS themselves with a note that says "he could really help us in 2006." The well-connected skip the line. If he wants it - and, yes, he hasn't ever said that he does - he's in. Don't worry about the timeframe. This isn't some A-league player; this is a guy who could be in the premeirship come WC06.
Maybe my list was misinterpreted, I was asking a serious question. I don't know much about the Jamaican national team, just that Ralph has been pretty exceptional this year. I had trouble finding a roster for the Jamaican national team, and had to settle for this: http://www.thereggaeboyz.com/profiles/index.htm which lists Jermaine Johnson and Ricardo Gardner as midfielders, and Kevin Lisbie not at all. My information about everybody except Lowe and Harris came from a pretty cursory internet search. So, I appreciate your response. N.B. soccernet.com also lists Johnson and Gardner as midfielders, and Kevin Lisbie as a defender. Do you really think Jamiaca needs to play these young players out of position when they've got a player as qualified as Ralph ready and waiting?
Actually, Lisbie does have a profile on the site you found -- they list him as a forward. http://www.reggaeboyzsc.com/playerprofile.aspx?playerid=70&squad=Senior I'm certainly not an expert on Jamaica's team, but from what I've seen of Johnson and Gardner, they're very attack-oriented. Even if they usually line up in midfield, they tend to play like forwards. As for Ralph, he's looking like one helluva talent. Despite Jamaica's other talent, I agree that they should call him up.
Jamaica don't exactly look to MLS when compiling their NT pool - or to their own shores, for that matter. Even though some people bitch about Ireland grandfathering in players who have Irish ancestry, Jamaica is infinitely worse in this department. Literally over half of their squad is Anglo-Jamaican.