Newest voter in town

[Ebony & Ivory 0]

I am a brand new US citizen. Attended my oath ceremony yesterday at LA Convention center at 12:30. 4000 people in the afternoon batch and just as many in the morning batch.. Man alive!! It was a flood of people in there!

We reached at 10:30 and stood in an already long queue. In a few minutes, the queue reached the other end of the building and the security people started a parallel line which eventually cut into the original line left and right and it was chaos. At 11:30 or so, they started letting people into the building - and it was a competition of who can walk faster. At the entrance of the designated hall, guests were separated from applicants and there were many queues to enter the hall through a single narrow door. They let people into the hall in small batches. There were 40 or so counters where the GC and oath notice were verified. And they punched a hole right through the heart of the GC

People were seated in a first come (!!!!) basis. The hall was large and it was full!

Ceremony started at 2 and lasted for maybe 20 minutes. Some videos, some speeches, a recorded message from the President.. it was all very thrilling..

California voter's registration closed on Oct 22nd; yet, we were given a chance to register to vote provided we signed and submitted the form there.

We were sent to the aforesaid counters to collect the Naturalization certificate. What a beautiful certificate! I was proud to hold it in hand. Verified the document; there were no issues. Confirmed that the name change petition was attached and correct. (There was no document to show that i officially changed my signature; but decided to not stand in the queue and ask about it.. Does any one know of a proof for legal change of signature? )

I was all set to get my passport there; i had my pictures with me.. But silly me; I didn't remember to bring the checkbook. They do not take credit card at passport application. So here is the reminder - if you wish to apply for passport at the oath ceremony counter, remember to bring 2 identical passport pics and checkbook And there is a mandatory field in the application form for spouse and both parent's birth date and place of birth. Remember to have this information with you as well.

We were on our way out at 3ish. When we were driving in, we had followed printed signs which said 'Citizenship Parking'. On our way out we noticed that they had taken those signs down. Also, since we followed the signs we forgot to notice the street name. And how stupid of us to think there was only one parking lot and only one entrance ramp.. On our way out, we were so totally lost ((( After 30 minutes of walkign aimlessly, for a splitsecond, I did think of ditching my car and taking a cab, but at that very moment, I saw my car smiling at me from a distance.. We just got lucky!!

Traffic on the way back was bad.. But altogether, one of the very exciting days of my life. Happy Happy Happy!!!

[hamigirl710 112]

Congratulations!!!!!

[kiwiana 2]

Congratulations!!!

I was at the morning oath ceremony yesterday at the LA convention centre! There was 5101 people who were becoming US citizens in the morning. The doors opened at 7am and it took 25 minutes to line up to get inside the centre... Lots of people!! The ceremony was wonderful!

[omprabhu 0]

Big Congrats!!! I also had it in the afternoon ceremony... Very Nicely organized indeed.

I also registered to vote, and voted today in my local county office. After that I applied for a US Passport. Happy and Thank God.

[Grashoppr 14]

Congratulations!!!