After Naturalization

S

shinytop

Registered Users (C)
Hello,

I became a naturalized citizen as of this afternoon. I was looking into what all things I need to do after getting the naturalized. Only thing I know is that I need to apply for passport. I did change my name as part of the process. I don't want to apply for passport if I need the naturalization certificate for social security office changes and others for example. In short, I need the order of applying for things without me getting tied down. Also, do we get back our naturalization certificate when we get the passport or its gone forever?

I don't see any sticky document for this purpose and I would like to compose one if people can help me out with their input. I appreciate your input

thanks

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Nov 15 2006: Application Sent
Nov 22 2006: Application Received
Nov 22 2006: Priority Date
Nov 22 2006:Application Processed/Case # Available
Nov 24 2006:Checks Cashed
Dec 6 2006:: Received Fingerprint Appointment Notice for 12/13/2006
Dec 13 2006:: Completed Fingerprints
Dec 29 2006 :: Interview notice (sent Dec 21st)
Feb 14th 2007 :: Interview Completed
Mar 7th 2007:: Oath Completed
 
Things to do:
- notify social security administration (needs natz cert)
- register to vote
- apply for passport
- drink an adult beverage or two in celebration
 
Wow, congratulations! I am a bit envious. You applied a couple of weeks before I did and you're already a citizen. San Jose is so sloooooooow. I hope the threads Midlife provided you are helpful. Yes, the question has been posted and answered a good number of times. There is also a webpage (perhaps referenced in one of the threads) that lists what to do. Basically I guess, Social Security, Voter registration and passport are some that come to mind. Of course they return the naturalization certificate.

My 2 cents.
 
Another thing is to notify your employer and get them to change your I-9 to citizen as well...
 
Thank you all for your kind responses. As I mentioned, I changed my name as part of naturalization process and would like to know what all I need to do specifically to address that situation. I will take care consumer side of things like banks, credit cards etc but I would like all governmental things done correctly. Does the following order look good

a) Apply for passport
b) Update Social Security Card
c) register to vote
d) Inform employer of change of name
e) update driver's license

What all can I do simultaneously? Do I get back my naturalization certificate when my passport is approved. I saw on this forum that I need to send in original certificate for getting a passport.

thanks
 
boatbod said:
Things to do:
- register to vote
Click to expand...

Do *NOT* do this. It is useless. You might be called for jury duty and other legal mess can break out. See "The Juror" movie of Demi Moore. One thankless job is jury duty though if you are asked to be on Jury you cannot say no (usually). It is the responsibility of a citizen to do jury duty.

:)
 
Um they get your jury duty from your Drivers Licence or Voters registration and I believe your SSN as well. I had been on a TN status for 8 years and had been called on 2 seperate occcasions to jury duty (and of couse at that time I wasn't qualified). I had never registered to vote, but I had a SSN and a drivers licence. My wife was called 2 times in 6 months to jury duty before she registered to vote and hasn't been called back since she did register and that's now going on 1 and a half years. She had at the time a drivers licence and SSN.

So if you are a driver and have a driving licence, then registering to vote will NOT increase your chances of being called for jury duty. If you didn't have a drivers licence then it might make it a bit more likely to be called if you registered to vote.

I am not sure if just a SSN will make it likely either, I think some states may use as well, but I'm not certain.

Anyways if you don't register to vote, you won't be able to vote in the primaries for a party. So being that voting is the #1 right of a USC (according to the interview questions), then I would think excercising your right on your say in your new country is not useless...
 
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Wouldbecitizen,

I think your advice is unhelpful and misleading. Warlord has pointed correctly that it doesn't matter if you register to vote or not with respect to jury duty. They take their lists from multiple sources. I have also received jury duty letters in the past. On the other hand if someone follows your advice they will be deprived of a fundamental right in democracy, the right to vote. You might think your vote is not important, but don't encourage others not to register on the false premise that they will avoid jury duty. Thankless or not, jury duty is a fundamental right and responsibility in this land. If you ever got in trouble you would like to have intelligent, motivated jurors to hear your case, not a bunch of people who couldn't find a way out of their jury duty. It is better if you internalize that it is part of being citizen of this country, thankless or not.

My 2 cents.
 
Your data from DMV, SSA and IRS is sent to Voter Department (whatever name it is). I had letter from that department 1 year ago. They ask for immigration status or proof of citizenship. If you are not citizen, you will not be called. If you are citizen naturalized, you can't object you don't speak English and you must go.
 
And, yes, you do get your naturalization cert back in the mail when your passport comes. And, they send it in a stiff envelope (at least they do with expedited processing) so it comes back un-bent.

That's pretty much the last time you need it (unless you have children and want to submit N-600s in their names). Put it away in a safe place.
 
shinytop said:
Thank you all for your kind responses. As I mentioned, I changed my name as part of naturalization process and would like to know what all I need to do specifically to address that situation. I will take care consumer side of things like banks, credit cards etc but I would like all governmental things done correctly. Does the following order look good

a) Apply for passport
b) Update Social Security Card
c) register to vote
d) Inform employer of change of name
e) update driver's license

What all can I do simultaneously? Do I get back my naturalization certificate when my passport is approved. I saw on this forum that I need to send in original certificate for getting a passport.

thanks
Click to expand...

I say you should update your Social Security Card first and from the Social Security office go to the Post Office or the Passport Agency and get your passport done. You can update your Social Security Card within 10-15 minutes depending how busy your Social Security office is. I would call the Social Security office first to see how busy they are on any given day to have an idea on how far apart you should schedule your passport appointment.
 
congratulations on your naturalization!!! wonderful feeling, isn't it??? especially after years of waiting.

my interview experience

in my case i only got my passport. haven't registered to vote yet, probably never will :)
 
WouldBeCitizen said:
Do *NOT* do this. It is useless. You might be called for jury duty and other legal mess can break out. See "The Juror" movie of Demi Moore. One thankless job is jury duty though if you are asked to be on Jury you cannot say no (usually). It is the responsibility of a citizen to do jury duty.
Click to expand...

Uh yeah, really helpful advice that... NOT

Lets see, one of the reasons for becoming a citizen is so you can vote. Certainly one might argue that one vote doesn't count for much, but heck, no vote counts for precisely nothing.
 
NewlyMinted said:
I say you should update your Social Security Card first and from the Social Security office go to the Post Office or the Passport Agency and get your passport done. You can update your Social Security Card within 10-15 minutes depending how busy your Social Security office is. I would call the Social Security office first to see how busy they are on any given day to have an idea on how far apart you should schedule your passport appointment.
Click to expand...

Yep I did the Social Security first as well. The reason being, is they do not keep your Certificate, they only look at it for a brief moment. This way if anything were to happen with your certificate on the way to the passport by mail, then you at least have a reputable source that can verify your a USC. Also this way once updated in the social security database, you can immediatly apply to all USC and gov't jobs.

If you do the passport first, you won't have any backups if something did happen to it and you would have to wait till you got your passport (which is taking forever now) before you can update Social Security (hence if you want a gov't job, it'll have to wait)...
 
Jury duty lists are drawn from DMV databases and has no correlation with voting reg. I seriously hope that the guy who suggested it does not serve on any jury though, after all mental competency is needed for such important roles .
 
Not quite accurate to say the lists are drawn from DMV databases. It is generally a combination of voter and motor registrations and also varies by county. Regardless, I second aabbcc11, do your duties as a citizen.
 
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