Oath Ceremony Los Angeles April 9, 2014

[Birdo 16]

I became a United States Citizen yesterday! The day was exciting and truly special and something to remember forever. During my ceremony there were over 3000 applicants to take the Oath and the amount of people made it really into a special day. The personnel was organized and somehow miraculously made the whole experience seamless.

It took us a little over 2 hours to drive and when we arrived I immediately became emotional at the entrance to the parking garage.. Parking was easy and we walked with a bunch of other applicants to the convention center and were immediately directed to two lines; me for applicants and husband to guests. All the applicants were taken to a large hall and directed to stand in lines. There were a couple of guys walking around selling the covers for the certificates. After a while of standing in line we started to move and went through security search and then inside the actual ceremony hall. Then we checked in and the person at the table asked to verify that all the questions were answered correctly on the oath letter, and he stamped it and wrote down the table number to go to after the ceremony to pickup the certificate. Just so happened that mine was the same table I checked in at.

We were then directed to the seats and sat there waiting for everyone to fill in the room. Maybe half an hour 45 minutes. All the guests were to the back of the hall and a lot of people were waiving to each other. The ceremony started much earlier than I thought it would which was nice. The judge had us stand up and take the Oath with our right hand raised. Then she gave a little speech and a USCIS lady gave a short speech and they showed a video of Obama and someone singing a song. Finally we said the pledge of allegiance with our right hand held over our hearts and then a person sang the National Anthem.

After that we were seated while the guests left the hall and then we had to wait to go to the tables to get our certificates in kind of order of sections.. Once I got my certificate the applicants were directed to walk out to where a lot of the guests were waiting along the walkway, and everyone was cheering and a lot of people were taking videos and pictures of the people coming out, and it was really awesome!

I met with the hubby and got into the car and left - but the Convention Center could make a little clearer signs as to where the freeways are. Especially since the neighborhood is not the best to drive around looking lost...

The day was truly special and I felt that it was made into even more significant event due to all the families and friends cheering for the applicants and the sheer number of people. What a great occasion and totally worth every ounce of effort to get there and back! Just made it feel like a special, special day.

[BigDaddy28 228]

Congratulations. I know it feels so awesome especially when you say the oath. You realize man I'm a US citizen. Good luck to you.

[Angel012110 19]

Congrats! Can't Wait For My Turn!

[Mrs O. 29]

Congratulations! Now I'm really looking forward to mine with your detailed description.

[Birdo 16]

Thank you! And I got to register to vote today and mark my first Citizen of United States box. I couldn't register yesterday at the ceremony since they were only handing out L.A. County voter registration cards and I live in a different county. The USCIS also handed out a packet containing a passport application so that will come in handy soon.

[Mistere 13]

Congratulations... and thank you for sharing your experience in detail, I enjoy reading your comments, because we have the same local office and my timeline should be pretty similar to yours. Congrats and thanks again...

[mikkopel 0]

Onneksi olkoon vielä uudestaan!

You can tell it was Los Angeles, since the parking was easy. Mine wasn't even in New York City, yet the parking was a nightmare!

[engineer21 51]

Congratulations!!!! I think I'll be emotional too! Must be awesome to finally reach the end of your journey! :)