Hi all

Just curious how long does it take for the entire oath ceremony to take?

The oath ceremony usually lasts for about three hours. It's fun. Make sure you have your green card with you, and if not, a letter from the immigration official interveiwer stating that you don't have or lost your green card and also a state issue ID with that statement. If you don't have these items, then you may not get your Naturalization Certificate at that time.

3 hours huh, damn. I have mine at 12:30 this aft and wanted to get to the Social Security Office to change my information afterwards. I think it'll be closed by that time (closes at 4) and I still have to drive there.

Oh well...

Why does it take so long?

What makes it fun?

Did your family go with you?

Thanks!

Mine took about 3 hours because there were so many people, then everyone had to sign in, give back their green cards and all that, then we had to go to our assigned seats... then there were speeches, and everyone had to stand up and say where they were from, we had to take the oath, and then we were called up to take our certificates.

There was alot of waiting, and some of the speeches were a bit much, but it was exciting b/c we got to be citizens Many people brought friends & family, they had to sit in a separate area on the other side of the room.

Congrats & Good luck today Warlord

Speeches?

Thanks for the info!

of course there's speeches! lol....thats the boring part

But speeches about what?

But I never saw this part in the movies where they show someone taking their oath, then going home to a fun party with a cake with an American flag on it.

Basically the speeches are about how lucky we are to be U.S. citizens, and what it means. Some of the people seemed like they just liked to hear themselves talk though

OMG, that's just what happened for us! Oath, party, cake!



We only had a couple of speeches--one nice one from the DD about the importance of defending the Constitution and a taped one form our Exalted Leader.

Ceremony shots, for the curious

Well mine started yesterday at 1pm and we were done by6 1:50, so ours was under an hour with 290 people from 74 countries. We did get there around 11:30, waited for the tables to open up, then get that done and sit in the auditroium for about another hour before they actually started. Then after my wife took a couple of pics of me at the flag etc. The actual cermoney was under an hour and basically was this:

- National Anthem
- Hear speech by MC
- Hear speech by (one of the senators office)
- Hear speech by USC who was naturalized years ago
- Video of other ceremonies
- Stand up by country
- Pledge Oath
- Pledge of Alligence
- Speech by another lady
- Speech by USC Naturalization woman
- Video with music "Proud to be an American"
- Congrats, leave in order of color (red section, white section or blue section) where you are seated
- Go back to tables and get your certificate
- The End

So that was good as it gave me time then to actually make it to the Social Security office to change my status there. That was lucky.

My wife was wondering why I said it was supposed to be a lot of fun. Ours wasn't really that fun, just kind of proceedural...

Awesome cake! I'm definitely going to do something like that for my husband. ahha. Would it be silly of him to wear his American flag tie? I'm thinking that would be sort of lame, but what a more appropriate time.

How long the ceremony takes depends on where you live and where your ceremony is scheduled. Mine was in Federal Court and it lasted a couple hours. There was a lot of waiting. Everyone had to be seated. Some people were left standing because there were not enough seats in the courtroom. My ceremony was not boring at all because I got a chance to give a speech in front of like 400 people. I was very nervous of course but excited at the same time because I was the only candidate out of over 100 who was given a chance to speak at the ceremony. Of course, I was approached about it a few days prior to the ceremony. My picture and my story was in the local paper. The best part was that my speech made some people in the audience and the judge cry. I got to meet the jugde in her office as well.

Cake came from our most awesome yum bakery--much better than home-made from this family!

I don't think the tie would be silly--DAH wore his Stars n Stripes undies for good luck What more appropriate time, indeed!

I'll put in another plug for the gift I got him, because it's still mentioned to this day. I had our State Rep fly a US flag over the US Capitol in the DAH's honor & presented it to him after the ceremony (comes with a certificate)--he was really moved! For under $20, best bang for the buck ever! Look for info on your State Rep's website.

Anyuta: What a great experience, to speak at your ceremony! What was the heart of your talk? I think the ceremonies are so interesting!

Someone got me one of those flags as my citizenship gift, I thought it was really cool

That is a nice idea for a gift, I've seen you mention that on here before. I will check my state's website now and bookmark it so I don't forget.

Thanks!

That is such a neat gift!! I just sent a MAJOR HINT to my husband about it!

Mine took about 45 minutes, we watched a video, then the certificates were handed out. I think there's about 40+ people in that room, not a lot. After a short Q&A session, we're done.

Which size/kind did you order? I see a 4x6 in nylon and a 3x5 and 5x8 in cotton or nylon. Is it packaged already in some way or did you get one of those flag cases to keep it in...or do you let Old Glory wave?

Thanks
PJ

hey PJ, my mailbox is taking a nap (hopefully not the dirt variety or I'm dead too) & I can't grab the details now, but the charge was little--less than $20, so I think I went middle of the road size and I recall getting cotton because I like them better. I'll post back when I can on that.

The flag came folded very nicely in a box that's about the size of a manila envelope (legal size). It comes with a certificate stating that it was flown over the Capitol on X date in honor of Z person (and maybe) the occasion it's commemorating (made a big impact on me, didn't it! lol).
It DID make a big impact on the DAH, and he flies it from the front of the house so we can keep up with the Joneses.