GiveMeaBreak99
Registered Users (C)
I am going to post my experience of my oath ceremony, as a way to give back to this forum from which I have learnt so much. It has offered me solace when I was feeling the my lowest on my immigration journey. It uplifted me , when I read my fellow travelers who endured similar experiences, and shared and discussed their situations of their turbulent journey. Every one of us has a unique and special story. I never contributed as much as the knowledgeable heavy weights, but their expertise in the immigration laws always amazed me. It helped me learn tremendously. I am hoping, my experience will help those who are to follow. I know, it sound corny, but I sincerely mean it. Hang in there… it will work out for all of you.
There were 2 ceremonies for the day. One at 8:30 am and the other at 12:30pm. My wife was scheduled for the 8:30am ceremony, and I was for the 12:30pm.
I knew, there was going to be a lot of folks naturalizing, but to be honest I was shocked at the number of people. The 8:30am ceremony had 4300, and the 1:30 had 4199. An equal number of visitors to witness their friends and family naturalize.
Wife's ceremony: We got there at 7:15 am. My wife headed off to the applicant’s section, and i went off to the visitors section. The visitors section was at the rear of the very large hall, where the ceremony is held. I sat at the back, as I knew would not be able to see her. 2.30 hours later her ceremony began at 10 am. The ceremony was 1/2 hour. I didn't meet up with her for another 45 minutes, after she collected her certificate and made her way out at 11 am. Not a good idea to bring small children, as there is a lot of waiting. I tried to get myself for the 8:30 am ceremony, but couldn’t get pass the guards. They said I had to wait for my scheduled time. I am sure, I might have been able to if I tried harder, I didn’t want to cause any confusion, and USCIS not being able to find my certificate by changing my time. So, I stuck to my originally scheduled time.
My ceremony: I headed off to my ceremony at 11:30 am. The herded us into Hall B(another temporary hall). There was already about 1500 people ahead of me. As the line began to move, we got into the hall where the ceremony is performed. Have your appointment letter completed and your green card in hand. In the ceremony hall, there were approx 91 lines, where USCIS will process you. I got to my row 48 about 1:00 pm. The IO goes through the questions at the back of the letter, and checks if there is any changes, punches a hole in your green card, and then assigns you the row number, in which you will have to collect your certificate, after the oath ceremony. It took me 1 ½ hours to get to this point. You are then seated in the oath area. You can’t pick your seat. Lucky for me I was right in front of the main stage, about 30 row behind, with a fairly decent view. The ceremony began about 1.5 hour later at around 2:45 pm. I felt I had been seated for hours. Have a lot of patients, where comfortable walking shoes. Expect to stand in line for a while, and be seated for a while as well.
There actual ceremony is about ½ hour. You first do the Oath of Allegiance, and then listen to the speeches from the Judge and the USCIS, watch a video message from the President, a music video, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the singing of the National anthem. It be honest, I choked up when they played the music video “Proud to be a American”, Since it took me over 2 decade to get the point where I received my citizenship.
Then it is the distribution of the certificates. It takes another 1 hour for the last person to receive the Certificate. People are issued the certificate, in the order they were seated for the ceremony. So, it is fair.
Applying for Passport: The post office has set up a special area to accept passport applications. This is in the applicant’s only area. So, if you don’t have your pictures etc, you won’t be able to go outside, and come back in to submit your application. You also, will not be able to make a copy of your certificate, prior to submitting your passport application. I went prepared to submit my application, but the sheer number of people waiting to apply for their passport made me change my mind. It would have taken at least another 2 hour to get out of the LA convention center. It was already 3.30 pm, and I wanted beat the rush hour traffic.
Overall, it was very well organized and co-ordinated, given the number of people. Kudos to USCIS! They constantly kept you abreast of the naturalization process, voter registration info, and the passport application via the PA system.
Don’t expect it to be quick process, it will take you ½ a day. I savored and enjoyed every moment, as it was a special day for me.
Farewell, my Felllow Travellers… Journey Well !
There were 2 ceremonies for the day. One at 8:30 am and the other at 12:30pm. My wife was scheduled for the 8:30am ceremony, and I was for the 12:30pm.
I knew, there was going to be a lot of folks naturalizing, but to be honest I was shocked at the number of people. The 8:30am ceremony had 4300, and the 1:30 had 4199. An equal number of visitors to witness their friends and family naturalize.
Wife's ceremony: We got there at 7:15 am. My wife headed off to the applicant’s section, and i went off to the visitors section. The visitors section was at the rear of the very large hall, where the ceremony is held. I sat at the back, as I knew would not be able to see her. 2.30 hours later her ceremony began at 10 am. The ceremony was 1/2 hour. I didn't meet up with her for another 45 minutes, after she collected her certificate and made her way out at 11 am. Not a good idea to bring small children, as there is a lot of waiting. I tried to get myself for the 8:30 am ceremony, but couldn’t get pass the guards. They said I had to wait for my scheduled time. I am sure, I might have been able to if I tried harder, I didn’t want to cause any confusion, and USCIS not being able to find my certificate by changing my time. So, I stuck to my originally scheduled time.
My ceremony: I headed off to my ceremony at 11:30 am. The herded us into Hall B(another temporary hall). There was already about 1500 people ahead of me. As the line began to move, we got into the hall where the ceremony is performed. Have your appointment letter completed and your green card in hand. In the ceremony hall, there were approx 91 lines, where USCIS will process you. I got to my row 48 about 1:00 pm. The IO goes through the questions at the back of the letter, and checks if there is any changes, punches a hole in your green card, and then assigns you the row number, in which you will have to collect your certificate, after the oath ceremony. It took me 1 ½ hours to get to this point. You are then seated in the oath area. You can’t pick your seat. Lucky for me I was right in front of the main stage, about 30 row behind, with a fairly decent view. The ceremony began about 1.5 hour later at around 2:45 pm. I felt I had been seated for hours. Have a lot of patients, where comfortable walking shoes. Expect to stand in line for a while, and be seated for a while as well.
There actual ceremony is about ½ hour. You first do the Oath of Allegiance, and then listen to the speeches from the Judge and the USCIS, watch a video message from the President, a music video, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the singing of the National anthem. It be honest, I choked up when they played the music video “Proud to be a American”, Since it took me over 2 decade to get the point where I received my citizenship.
Then it is the distribution of the certificates. It takes another 1 hour for the last person to receive the Certificate. People are issued the certificate, in the order they were seated for the ceremony. So, it is fair.
Applying for Passport: The post office has set up a special area to accept passport applications. This is in the applicant’s only area. So, if you don’t have your pictures etc, you won’t be able to go outside, and come back in to submit your application. You also, will not be able to make a copy of your certificate, prior to submitting your passport application. I went prepared to submit my application, but the sheer number of people waiting to apply for their passport made me change my mind. It would have taken at least another 2 hour to get out of the LA convention center. It was already 3.30 pm, and I wanted beat the rush hour traffic.
Overall, it was very well organized and co-ordinated, given the number of people. Kudos to USCIS! They constantly kept you abreast of the naturalization process, voter registration info, and the passport application via the PA system.
Don’t expect it to be quick process, it will take you ½ a day. I savored and enjoyed every moment, as it was a special day for me.
Farewell, my Felllow Travellers… Journey Well !
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