2013 Feb N 400 Tracker
- Thread starter GCcomesoon
- Start date
At Last Proud to be an american
Yippee At last Im a citizen!!!! Proud to be an American!
Arrived at the USCIS building in Orlando 8:15 ready for 8:45 appointment for Oath ceremony. People were already coming out from the previous 7 am ceremony. And there was another after ours. Busy time in Orlando!
85 people becoming citizens from about 30 nations. We were taken in to the ceremony room were seated and waited about 20 minutes for late arrivers. Then they allowed family and friends in. They must have ID to get in. Our friend did not bring his and was not allowed in. Pity too cause he was our main video camera guy. No worries someone else covered it.
We did not start until 9:15 due to late comers. No idea how you could be late for such an important appointment unless it was unavoidable.
One note of importance. Dress appropriately. The guard at the door of the ceremony room gave the guy in front of us a real hard time cause he was dressed like a slob. Asked him if he'd read the info sheet. Asked him to read it again right there. Told him to go home come back to the 10 am one. Then made him sit to one side. Not sure if he got in. Everyone else was dressed good. Like you might dress if you were going to a wedding.
The ceremony began with a lady reading preliminary announcements and then introducing a another lady who gave a speech on the importance of registering to vote and instructions on how to register with the offer to register immediately after the ceremony. There was no opportunity to apply for passport after the ceremony.
We then sang the national anthem and watched a short video showing immigrants of the past. Some more reading from the first lady who was terrible. Perhaps her first time but she was bad. (One wondered if she would have even passed the interview test
)
She then handed over to the gentleman who was to lead us in the Oath by making the statement that we had all fulfilled the requirements for citizenship and would he please accept us as Americans and lead us in the Oath. He had obviously done it all before and was very comfortable in his role. Told us to be sure to say the words to repeat after him. It was quite emotional at this point and we were tearful. Wife really cried. After the Oath he made sure everyone understood the importance of being an American and to be proud to be so. Informed us re passports.
The first lady was back on now and led us in the pledge of allegiance. Then waving our little flags we sang "I'm Proud to be an American" Given our certificate and we were done. I guess once we got started it took about 25 minutes.
All in all it was a wonderful day in spite of the rookie lady. Feel blessed, relieved happy to be a US citizen.
All the best to all of you!
Yippee At last Im a citizen!!!! Proud to be an American!
Arrived at the USCIS building in Orlando 8:15 ready for 8:45 appointment for Oath ceremony. People were already coming out from the previous 7 am ceremony. And there was another after ours. Busy time in Orlando!
85 people becoming citizens from about 30 nations. We were taken in to the ceremony room were seated and waited about 20 minutes for late arrivers. Then they allowed family and friends in. They must have ID to get in. Our friend did not bring his and was not allowed in. Pity too cause he was our main video camera guy. No worries someone else covered it.
We did not start until 9:15 due to late comers. No idea how you could be late for such an important appointment unless it was unavoidable.
One note of importance. Dress appropriately. The guard at the door of the ceremony room gave the guy in front of us a real hard time cause he was dressed like a slob. Asked him if he'd read the info sheet. Asked him to read it again right there. Told him to go home come back to the 10 am one. Then made him sit to one side. Not sure if he got in. Everyone else was dressed good. Like you might dress if you were going to a wedding.
The ceremony began with a lady reading preliminary announcements and then introducing a another lady who gave a speech on the importance of registering to vote and instructions on how to register with the offer to register immediately after the ceremony. There was no opportunity to apply for passport after the ceremony.
We then sang the national anthem and watched a short video showing immigrants of the past. Some more reading from the first lady who was terrible. Perhaps her first time but she was bad. (One wondered if she would have even passed the interview test
)She then handed over to the gentleman who was to lead us in the Oath by making the statement that we had all fulfilled the requirements for citizenship and would he please accept us as Americans and lead us in the Oath. He had obviously done it all before and was very comfortable in his role. Told us to be sure to say the words to repeat after him. It was quite emotional at this point and we were tearful. Wife really cried. After the Oath he made sure everyone understood the importance of being an American and to be proud to be so. Informed us re passports.
The first lady was back on now and led us in the pledge of allegiance. Then waving our little flags we sang "I'm Proud to be an American" Given our certificate and we were done. I guess once we got started it took about 25 minutes.
All in all it was a wonderful day in spite of the rookie lady. Feel blessed, relieved happy to be a US citizen.
All the best to all of you!
StillPatient
Registered Users (C)
Oath done today! USC now.
My Oath ceremony was @ 1PM, arrived 5 minutes before to find a queue at the entrance before security check. This is the same facility where we had our interviews. There was no queue then, possibly because of oath ceremony. Anyway, the security officer himself was announcing "Oath ceremony second floor, oath ceremony second floor.......". At the second floor we were asked to be seated in a sort of a provisioning area where an officer asked us the 10 of so questions at the back of the letter of invite, he also checked my GC. and kind of "quality checked OK"ed my invite letter. After about 2-3 minutes we were usherd into a big hall. Had to wait inside the hall for approximately 10-15 minutes for some late comers to be provisioned and ushered in. There was approximately 120 people from approximately 44 countries in the ceremony. It started with a short video on American life & liberty after the officer introduced himself. Then there was a short speech by the officer. As I was engrossed with whatever was going on before me I noticed friends and family were seated behind us or around us. Then the officer played a video of the "Star spangled banner". The officer the started calling out the names of countries and requested people from these countries stand up and remain standing. After this he introduced a special guest, she gave a speech and conducted the Pledge of allegiance. Then a lady from Nigeria, who had volunteered to do the Pledge of Allegiance again conducted it. This was followed by a video of the President congratulating each one on becoming a USC. Then one by one we collected our Naturalization certificate and came out of the Oath Ceremony hall. The whole thing was about 30 minutes.
Still waiting for my wife's oath, she is still in the Oath scheduling queue, as she asked for a name change.
Next steps:
Passport, tried to make a dash for the passport office, but it closes @ 3PM so could not make it. Have an appoint at the local post office tomorrow morning.
SSN Update: Plan to do this 2 weeks after wife's oath ceremony.
Driver Lic.: Plan to apply for fresh drivers lic. probably after 2 weeks of Wife's oath ceremony.
Then plan to go for the dual-citizenship of my earlier country.
It is a great feeling: GC processing started off in Oct. 2005 so in little less than 8 yrs. I am a citizen.
Time for some champagne.
Thanks to everybody for all the help.
And goodluck to everyone who are still waiting!
-Still
My Oath ceremony was @ 1PM, arrived 5 minutes before to find a queue at the entrance before security check. This is the same facility where we had our interviews. There was no queue then, possibly because of oath ceremony. Anyway, the security officer himself was announcing "Oath ceremony second floor, oath ceremony second floor.......". At the second floor we were asked to be seated in a sort of a provisioning area where an officer asked us the 10 of so questions at the back of the letter of invite, he also checked my GC. and kind of "quality checked OK"ed my invite letter. After about 2-3 minutes we were usherd into a big hall. Had to wait inside the hall for approximately 10-15 minutes for some late comers to be provisioned and ushered in. There was approximately 120 people from approximately 44 countries in the ceremony. It started with a short video on American life & liberty after the officer introduced himself. Then there was a short speech by the officer. As I was engrossed with whatever was going on before me I noticed friends and family were seated behind us or around us. Then the officer played a video of the "Star spangled banner". The officer the started calling out the names of countries and requested people from these countries stand up and remain standing. After this he introduced a special guest, she gave a speech and conducted the Pledge of allegiance. Then a lady from Nigeria, who had volunteered to do the Pledge of Allegiance again conducted it. This was followed by a video of the President congratulating each one on becoming a USC. Then one by one we collected our Naturalization certificate and came out of the Oath Ceremony hall. The whole thing was about 30 minutes.
Still waiting for my wife's oath, she is still in the Oath scheduling queue, as she asked for a name change.
Next steps:
Passport, tried to make a dash for the passport office, but it closes @ 3PM so could not make it. Have an appoint at the local post office tomorrow morning.
SSN Update: Plan to do this 2 weeks after wife's oath ceremony.
Driver Lic.: Plan to apply for fresh drivers lic. probably after 2 weeks of Wife's oath ceremony.
Then plan to go for the dual-citizenship of my earlier country.
It is a great feeling: GC processing started off in Oct. 2005 so in little less than 8 yrs. I am a citizen.
Time for some champagne.
Thanks to everybody for all the help.
And goodluck to everyone who are still waiting!
-Still
Hey still why new drivers lic am I missing something?
StillPatient
Registered Users (C)
I read in various threads that the status in DL does not get updated auto. So I plan to go to my local DMV office and enquire. Our DMV officers actually shows the things displayed in their monitors. Just to be on the safe side. If one gets pulled over and the traffic officer asks for the GC, though they should not, but just in case to be on the safe side.
-Still
In CA, you will have to go SSA before you go to DMV, SSA updates your status then you can go DMV and submit name change, if you were not requested name change then DMV visit is not even necessary.
A little mistake a made at DMV was to give them my current driver license and had them to punch a hole on expiration date even though it was going to expire 2017. I was planning to use it once in a while for small things but it is not a case anymore.
StillPatient
Registered Users (C)
To me on the safe side I would still visit the DMV, after SSN update, as you rightly said and get things verified. Just to be on the safe-side.
-Still
StillPatient
Registered Users (C)
Applied for PP yesterday. Sign updated.
-Still
-Still
StillPatient
Registered Users (C)
Thanks Prowin!
1) your post is in wrong discussion
2) advise from friends is not the best way to deal with such matters, best contact Uscis before taking action
3) you received your green card in November with August date on it?
4) why would you think Uscis made a mistake? They can issue green card whenever they want.. I think..
5) what was written on receipt which you received? Do they say- our mistake, will correct it?
You need to have all papers ready and corrected before sending next package of documents.. You can call uscis any time and ask what's wrong. Or make an infopass meeting, you can schedule the meeting on internet.
2) advise from friends is not the best way to deal with such matters, best contact Uscis before taking action
3) you received your green card in November with August date on it?
4) why would you think Uscis made a mistake? They can issue green card whenever they want.. I think..
5) what was written on receipt which you received? Do they say- our mistake, will correct it?
You need to have all papers ready and corrected before sending next package of documents.. You can call uscis any time and ask what's wrong. Or make an infopass meeting, you can schedule the meeting on internet.
My journey comes to an end today! The oath ceremony in VA was moving but very long (appointment was for 8:30 AM, but the ceremony didn't start until 10 AM)... There were around 700 people from 98 countries whose dreams were fulfilled (I hope)!!
Applied for passport today (I'd made a late afternoon appointment in advance at my local USPS last week)... good luck to all, cheers!
Applied for passport today (I'd made a late afternoon appointment in advance at my local USPS last week)... good luck to all, cheers!
StillPatient
Registered Users (C)
Received my US PP today. (Sign updated)
A long journey comes to an end.
Thanks to one and all who in these forums kept me going! Thanks for all the comments and advices during my GC process and Citizenship process.
Best of luck to everyone who are yet to reach the end-line.
I can now say "Mission Accomplished"
-Still
A long journey comes to an end.
Thanks to one and all who in these forums kept me going! Thanks for all the comments and advices during my GC process and Citizenship process.
Best of luck to everyone who are yet to reach the end-line.
I can now say "Mission Accomplished"
-Still
naturalizegreen
Registered Users (C)
Submitted documents: you sent out documents by mail on may 21st? Or you had a second interview? So it took 18 days to receive oath letter after N14 for you? It' s been 27 days since i sent papers requested by N14... Seems very long time..
Yes I sent them by mail. It took me ~45 days to get my oath letter.
Several factors: The DO is rather small; my case was really open-and-shut to begin with (just a minor clarification that also came up during the GC process); I requested an InfoPass on 07/02/13, the oath letter says my case was approved 07/03/13. I really think it's the bureaucracy of red tape that's holding things back.
Be patient! I'm sure it will come through