I Naturalized Today ~ Journey Over!

[HappyNathy 0]

Hey VJers,

I just wanted to update here & provide my experience in the event that it helps someone. I naturalized today and am so happy that my journey is over!

My interview was scheduled for 9:20am in Atlanta. I arrived at 8:45. There was a small line getting through security. My interview letter & greencard was checked. Purse and documents into the x-ray tray. Shoes off, too. My metal headband set-off the security door frame thingymajig. Off with the head band and success. Went up to the second floor. As you come out the elevator, take a right to check in at the window. Very Friendly Lady there and she sent me up to the 3rd floor. Arrive at the third floor and went to the window to check in. A not very friendly lady there told me to sit near the TV and wait for my name. Honestly, I would sit in the middle of the room as there is no PA system which makes listening for your name a little stressful. My name was called at about 9:40.

My IO was polite and pleasant. When I got to his office he asked me to remain standing and raise my right hand. He swore me in and then we sat down. He pulled out my file - complete with I-751 & N400 documents. He took up my conditional Green Card and my 10 year Green Card. He asked if I wanted to change my name. He asked if I was still married, my date of birth, address, SS #, telephone number, place of work, anniversary date, confirmed my husband's name, checked the copy I sent of my husband's birth certificate. Then he went through the list of questions on the N400 application form such as: have you ever been arrested, involved in a terrorist group, are you willing to bear arms if required, etc. He did not ask to look at any of the documents I had brought with me.

After that, we moved on to the English portion of the test. I had to read: What do we pay the government?

I had to write: We pay taxes. (This sentence is provided and you are not expected to know the answer).

The 6 civics questions I was asked were:

1. When do men have to register for selective service?

2. Name 1 state that borders Canada.

3. What is freedom of religion?

4. When was the Constitution written?(be careful not to confuse this similar date to the Declaration of Independence)

5. What ocean is on the West coast of the USA?

6. How many senators are there?

He said congratulations, I had passed the tests. He asked if I would like to attend the oath ceremony that day. I said, "Yes, please!". He said that another officer would check my file and that I was to wait on the second floor. If the second officer agreed with my IO's decision, then I could attend the oath ceremony at 2pm. I waited on the second floor for almost 2 hours. Thankfully DH had brought a book to read, which I appropriated. My name was called and I collected my appointment letter for 2pm. DH & I went for lunch. It was then 12:10ish.

1:20 we return. There was a substantial line through security. Head band off this time! Went up to the 2nd floor to check in with Nice Lady. Am told DH has to wait and I am sent to an officer who checks my appointment notice. I am told to take a seat with the other people taking the oath. Waited a while, then we start filing into the oath ceremony room. We are shown our naturalization certificates, one-by-one, and told to confirm the information such as name, DOB, gender. Slow process. When I take my seat, on it is a little American flag; a book titled 'The Citizen's Almanac'; a congratulatory letter from USCIS outlining how to obtain a passport, how to notify SS administration, and how to register to vote; a booklet containing the Declaration of Independence & the Constitution of America; a paper with the Oath of Allegiance.

Not sure what time it is now but I am reading through the material and the Oath Ceremony Room is slowly filing up. We are given the opportunity for a potty break ~ accepted! Get back, wait a while longer. Finally, someone comes in and starts a video. Towards the end of this, friends & family enter the room and start taking photos. An officer comes out and starts the ceremony. She congratulates us, we sing the Star Spangled Banner, she tells us that there are 187 applicants from 50 countries present. She calls out the countries and we stand when we hear our country of origin. We take the Oath of Allegiance. We all say the Pledge of Allegiance. End of ceremony. We are told that we MAY make black & white copies of our Naturalization Certificates for our records. We start filing out and collect our Certificates of Naturalization.

3:19 I am back in my car, a United States' Citizen!

I hope I didn't leave anything out. Good luck to everyone still on their journeys!

[v333k 59]

Congratulations and thank you very much for the detailed process....

[*cinch* 0]

Congratulations!

And thanks for taking the time to provide us the details, love them!

[lissa04 3]

Congratulations you must be so happy!!!! :dance:

[sunshine78 0]

congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i am so happy for you!!!!!!!!!!

i have my oath ceremony tomorrow.

[Heliosphan 1]

Congratulations! That sounded so wonderful!

Very nice detail too!

[antda 13]

HappyNathy-Congrats on passing your interview and having the same day oath ceremony and thanks for detailing about that here on VJ. Good luck with your passport application and good luck with the rest of your life journey as a US Citizen!

Ant

P.S. If you don't mind me asking...At one point in a prior VJ post you mentioned about not wanting to go through with citizenship....So what made you change your mind to go back to your original decision to pursue such again? Just curious..

Nevertheless, congrats on becoming a US Citizen, Happy Nathy!

Hey VJers,

I just wanted to update here & provide my experience in the event that it helps someone. I naturalized today and am so happy that my journey is over!

My interview was scheduled for 9:20am in Atlanta. I arrived at 8:45. There was a small line getting through security. My interview letter & greencard was checked. Purse and documents into the x-ray tray. Shoes off, too. My metal headband set-off the security door frame thingymajig. Off with the head band and success. Went up to the second floor. As you come out the elevator, take a right to check in at the window. Very Friendly Lady there and she sent me up to the 3rd floor. Arrive at the third floor and went to the window to check in. A not very friendly lady there told me to sit near the TV and wait for my name. Honestly, I would sit in the middle of the room as there is no PA system which makes listening for your name a little stressful. My name was called at about 9:40.

My IO was polite and pleasant. When I got to his office he asked me to remain standing and raise my right hand. He swore me in and then we sat down. He pulled out my file - complete with I-751 & N400 documents. He took up my conditional Green Card and my 10 year Green Card. He asked if I wanted to change my name. He asked if I was still married, my date of birth, address, SS #, telephone number, place of work, anniversary date, confirmed my husband's name, checked the copy I sent of my husband's birth certificate. Then he went through the list of questions on the N400 application form such as: have you ever been arrested, involved in a terrorist group, are you willing to bear arms if required, etc. He did not ask to look at any of the documents I had brought with me.

After that, we moved on to the English portion of the test. I had to read: What do we pay the government?

I had to write: We pay taxes. (This sentence is provided and you are not expected to know the answer).

The 6 civics questions I was asked were:

1. When do men have to register for selective service?

2. Name 1 state that borders Canada.

3. What is freedom of religion?

4. When was the Constitution written?(be careful not to confuse this similar date to the Declaration of Independence)

5. What ocean is on the West coast of the USA?

6. How many senators are there?

He said congratulations, I had passed the tests. He asked if I would like to attend the oath ceremony that day. I said, "Yes, please!". He said that another officer would check my file and that I was to wait on the second floor. If the second officer agreed with my IO's decision, then I could attend the oath ceremony at 2pm. I waited on the second floor for almost 2 hours. Thankfully DH had brought a book to read, which I appropriated. My name was called and I collected my appointment letter for 2pm. DH & I went for lunch. It was then 12:10ish.

1:20 we return. There was a substantial line through security. Head band off this time! Went up to the 2nd floor to check in with Nice Lady. Am told DH has to wait and I am sent to an officer who checks my appointment notice. I am told to take a seat with the other people taking the oath. Waited a while, then we start filing into the oath ceremony room. We are shown our naturalization certificates, one-by-one, and told to confirm the information such as name, DOB, gender. Slow process. When I take my seat, on it is a little American flag; a book titled 'The Citizen's Almanac'; a congratulatory letter from USCIS outlining how to obtain a passport, how to notify SS administration, and how to register to vote; a booklet containing the Declaration of Independence & the Constitution of America; a paper with the Oath of Allegiance.

Not sure what time it is now but I am reading through the material and the Oath Ceremony Room is slowly filing up. We are given the opportunity for a potty break ~ accepted! Get back, wait a while longer. Finally, someone comes in and starts a video. Towards the end of this, friends & family enter the room and start taking photos. An officer comes out and starts the ceremony. She congratulates us, we sing the Star Spangled Banner, she tells us that there are 187 applicants from 50 countries present. She calls out the countries and we stand when we hear our country of origin. We take the Oath of Allegiance. We all say the Pledge of Allegiance. End of ceremony. We are told that we MAY make black & white copies of our Naturalization Certificates for our records. We start filing out and collect our Certificates of Naturalization.

3:19 I am back in my car, a United States' Citizen!

I hope I didn't leave anything out. Good luck to everyone still on their journeys!

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Congratulations!

[jasminelily 1]

Thank you for such detail experience and congratulations! I wish they do same day oath at my city but chance is pretty slim!

[Chris_Жанна 11]

Congrats!!!!

[HappyNathy 0]

Thank you for the well wishes everyone! Today I am busy shredding 4+ years worth of accumulated 'evidence'. What a relief to empty out those overflowing drawers!

Ant+D: I found out that there was a process I had not taken with South Africa to retain my South African citizenship. I had to do that PRIOR to my application for USA citizenship. Anyway, long story short, I have given up my South African citizenship and am now 100% American (except for the accent and that feeling that Africa will always be in my heart). Ultimately, it is a personal decision.

Jasminelilly & Sunshine 78: Good luck with your Naturalization journey. Yes, I was very happy to complete the process in the same day, it was a long day, but only 1 day. Fingers crossed that you will have the same experience.

[OBX 51]

Thanks for the detailed review and congratulations!

[antda 13]

Thank you for the well wishes everyone! Today I am busy shredding 4+ years worth of accumulated 'evidence'. What a relief to empty out those overflowing drawers!

Ant+D: I found out that there was a process I had not taken with South Africa to retain my South African citizenship. I had to do that PRIOR to my application for USA citizenship. Anyway, long story short, I have given up my South African citizenship and am now 100% American (except for the accent and that feeling that Africa will always be in my heart). Ultimately, it is a personal decision.

HappyNathy-Thanks for your reply...I was wondering why you changed your mind about such....

Nevertheless, I'm glad that you made the right decision for you in the end, and that's all that matters...

As for giving up your South African citizenship....It's good that you found out about the process before it was too late. Sorry though, that you couldn't keep up that citizenship...Nevertheless, as long as that former country holds a special place in your heart and in some ways you feel connected to it, then it always be there with you, regardless....

I agree..citizenship is a personal decision..

So to everyone....It's up to you (the applicant) to make the decision of US citizenship or not.

If you choose to pursue such, that's ok and if you don't, that's ok too...

As long as you are happy with your personal decision about such so be it...

The important thing to remember is that citizenship is an important and big responsibility to take on...So think carefully before embarking on such a journey...

Happy journeys to everyone! Good luck....

Ant

[antda 13]

P.S. HappyNathy-Interesting too, that they mentioned about being able to make a copy of the certificate...Did you ask them that, or did they iniciate that on their own? Lol....I guess they figured out their contradictions there...

And yes, have fun shredding all those years of 'evidence'.....(just don't shred the certificate though)....

Time to celebrate citizenship with home-made evidence confetti! lol.....

Congrats again on being a US Citizen...

Ant

[Heliosphan 1]

Time to celebrate citizenship with home-made evidence confetti! lol.....

Such a good idea!

After years of collecting paperwork and tons of photocopies, how perfect would it be to shred all of it! lol

I just can't help think that after they turned you into a hoarder for years, it'll be hard to get rid of it all.