Don't loose hope yet. It all depends when your oath is held as many states allow voter registration up until October 10th.Finally got IL for 8/26 after more than a year. It will be too late for this election.
X
Denver CO - N-400 Timeline
- Thread starter sd12
- Start date
Also, I believe (and someone here can confirm ... or deny), that you get the opportunity to register to vote right at the oath ceremony; so even if you get in a oath ceremony anytime before 10/16, you should be good.
The big September ceremony is likely around Labor day ... so that might cut is a bit too close for you, but most likely there will be at least another ceremony between then and 10/16. In fact, given that the voting registration deadline is on 10/16, I wouldn't be surprised if there is a push to do a oath ceremony just before this date to try and get as many new citizens as possible.
Yes, I am still an optimist
Good luck to you and all that are waiting at various stages !!
No, your SSN does not change. They change your status from resident alien to citizen. Certain social security benefits are available only to citizens (I have no idea what!)
Thanks for the confirmation joannak ! This was my understanding, but I thought I read something on this board recently that seemed to indicate that SSN might change after naturalization, and I was worried for a moment about the millions of places where I'd need to update this number, what happens to credit history etc.
ilovethe80s
Registered Users (C)
Husband's timeline
Hoping for the best.
5/18/2008 - mailed N-400
5/20/2008 - receipt date
5/31/2008 - fingerprint notice
6/12/2008 - fingerprinting
6/30/2008 - received interview letter
8/7/2008 - interview
Hoping for the best.
5/18/2008 - mailed N-400
5/20/2008 - receipt date
5/31/2008 - fingerprint notice
6/12/2008 - fingerprinting
6/30/2008 - received interview letter
8/7/2008 - interview
Had our oath ceremony this afternoon ! All went well, got the natz certificate and got other formalities done (social security, voter registration and passport application) pretty easily.
The ceremony was at Teikyo Loretto Heights Theater; our reporting time was at 12:45pm ... reached there at around 12:15. The theater was already open and there was a short line to get it. They checked the oath letter form and the permanent resident card at the entrance, stapled them together and then handed them back. Inside the theater the immigration officers were taking the letter+PR card and directing people to their seats. Like Joannak mentioned above, they are nowadays bringing the naturalization certificates to people at their seat at the end of the ceremony ... so make sure you don't change your seats.
There was a packet on each seat with the following materials --
- A pamphlet with program details, text for the oath, pledge of alegiance and the national anthem printed on it
- Voter Registration Form
- Passport Application Form and some information about where to apply for the passport etc.
- Social Security Form (it says form to apply for a new social security card, but you need to fill it even if you have one since the status will change)
- The citizen's almanac handbook
- Pocket constitution and declaration of independence handbook
- A message from the president
We were seated by 12:30 or so and then they announced that the ceremony was originally supposed to start at 1:30 but has been delayed till 2:00 since the director, who was the special guest for the ceremonym was delayed due to a change in his flight. They did say though that they will start the ceremony at 2:00 whether the director is there by then or not.
Since there was plenty of time, we filled up the SSA form and voter registration forms (we already had our passport forms filled online). Other people were taking pictures, roaming around the theater etc. The atmosphere was pretty casual.
Since there was some more time after filling the forms, I went out and checked out where the various administrative tables were. The voter registration booth was on the second floor (same as the theater hall). The social security and passport application tables were downstairs.
The actual ceremony started just before 2:00 and lasted for about 20-25 minutes. There was an initial video, then message from few congressmen's offices, followed by singing of the national anthem, then calling out the 58 countries whose residents were being naturalized today (total 204 applicants were naturalized in todays's ceremony). People were asked to stand up as their countries were called. The director had arrived by then. He then read the oath and people repeated after him. After that he gave a short keynote speech, followed by a video from the president and a patriotic song and finally closing remarks by Bob Mather (the local USCIS directory, who was conducting the ceremony).
At the end of the ceremony immigration officers came to each row and handed out the natz certificates.
We went straight to the social security table downstairs and the line was pretty small. They checked the natz certificate, made us sign it, took the social security form and our old SSN cards and said that the new cards will be mailed to us within the next 2-3 weeks. They said that the SS number itself will not change but the status will change.
After this was done, we went upstairs to the voter registration booth to submit our voter registration form. There were also volunteers all around the building collecting these forms.
Finally we went to the passport application table. We had filled out our passport appln forms online before hand and had printed them out; we were originally NOT planning to submit the forms over there since we wanted to first make photocopies of the narz certificate; but the lady over there gave us a very useful piece of information - the Teikyo Loretto Heights Library, which is the just the adjacent building, has a photocopy facility for a charge of 10 cents per page. This helped us a ton as we walked over to the library, made copies, then came back downstairs and submitted the passport application forms. There was even couple photographers there taking passport photos of people that needed them (we had taken the two copied of photos with us that was required to submite the application).
We were all done by around 3:45pm ! Joannak - thanks so much for sharing your detailed experience - this helped us a lot. As we were walking out of the building we noticed that the lines at both SSA table and passport appln tables had more than tripled !
Couple tips for others who are going to have their oath ceremonies here --
- Don't arrive too early, it doesn't help and you will likely be waiting for a long time anyway
- If you are planning to apply for passport, fill and print your application online before hand
- After the ceremony ends, first go to the social security table - they will need to see (but not keep) your original natz certificate
- Next go to the library and make copied of your natz certificate (if you want) and then submit passport application (again, if you want - you can always do this later in most post offices). If you apply for passport, they WILL take your original natz certificate ... hence the advice to make a copy first
- Finally submit the voter registration form upstrais - either at the booth or to any one of the volunteers
That's it ! Good luck to everyone here and thanks so much for your help and support in reaching this important milestone !
The ceremony was at Teikyo Loretto Heights Theater; our reporting time was at 12:45pm ... reached there at around 12:15. The theater was already open and there was a short line to get it. They checked the oath letter form and the permanent resident card at the entrance, stapled them together and then handed them back. Inside the theater the immigration officers were taking the letter+PR card and directing people to their seats. Like Joannak mentioned above, they are nowadays bringing the naturalization certificates to people at their seat at the end of the ceremony ... so make sure you don't change your seats.
There was a packet on each seat with the following materials --
- A pamphlet with program details, text for the oath, pledge of alegiance and the national anthem printed on it
- Voter Registration Form
- Passport Application Form and some information about where to apply for the passport etc.
- Social Security Form (it says form to apply for a new social security card, but you need to fill it even if you have one since the status will change)
- The citizen's almanac handbook
- Pocket constitution and declaration of independence handbook
- A message from the president
We were seated by 12:30 or so and then they announced that the ceremony was originally supposed to start at 1:30 but has been delayed till 2:00 since the director, who was the special guest for the ceremonym was delayed due to a change in his flight. They did say though that they will start the ceremony at 2:00 whether the director is there by then or not.
Since there was plenty of time, we filled up the SSA form and voter registration forms (we already had our passport forms filled online). Other people were taking pictures, roaming around the theater etc. The atmosphere was pretty casual.
Since there was some more time after filling the forms, I went out and checked out where the various administrative tables were. The voter registration booth was on the second floor (same as the theater hall). The social security and passport application tables were downstairs.
The actual ceremony started just before 2:00 and lasted for about 20-25 minutes. There was an initial video, then message from few congressmen's offices, followed by singing of the national anthem, then calling out the 58 countries whose residents were being naturalized today (total 204 applicants were naturalized in todays's ceremony). People were asked to stand up as their countries were called. The director had arrived by then. He then read the oath and people repeated after him. After that he gave a short keynote speech, followed by a video from the president and a patriotic song and finally closing remarks by Bob Mather (the local USCIS directory, who was conducting the ceremony).
At the end of the ceremony immigration officers came to each row and handed out the natz certificates.
We went straight to the social security table downstairs and the line was pretty small. They checked the natz certificate, made us sign it, took the social security form and our old SSN cards and said that the new cards will be mailed to us within the next 2-3 weeks. They said that the SS number itself will not change but the status will change.
After this was done, we went upstairs to the voter registration booth to submit our voter registration form. There were also volunteers all around the building collecting these forms.
Finally we went to the passport application table. We had filled out our passport appln forms online before hand and had printed them out; we were originally NOT planning to submit the forms over there since we wanted to first make photocopies of the narz certificate; but the lady over there gave us a very useful piece of information - the Teikyo Loretto Heights Library, which is the just the adjacent building, has a photocopy facility for a charge of 10 cents per page. This helped us a ton as we walked over to the library, made copies, then came back downstairs and submitted the passport application forms. There was even couple photographers there taking passport photos of people that needed them (we had taken the two copied of photos with us that was required to submite the application).
We were all done by around 3:45pm ! Joannak - thanks so much for sharing your detailed experience - this helped us a lot. As we were walking out of the building we noticed that the lines at both SSA table and passport appln tables had more than tripled !
Couple tips for others who are going to have their oath ceremonies here --
- Don't arrive too early, it doesn't help and you will likely be waiting for a long time anyway
- If you are planning to apply for passport, fill and print your application online before hand
- After the ceremony ends, first go to the social security table - they will need to see (but not keep) your original natz certificate
- Next go to the library and make copied of your natz certificate (if you want) and then submit passport application (again, if you want - you can always do this later in most post offices). If you apply for passport, they WILL take your original natz certificate ... hence the advice to make a copy first
- Finally submit the voter registration form upstrais - either at the booth or to any one of the volunteers
That's it ! Good luck to everyone here and thanks so much for your help and support in reaching this important milestone !
Congratulations sudipto and thanks for your detailed write-up of the oath ceremony! I'm sure you are very happy that the long road to citizenship is finally over.
I'll be sure to follow your advice if my oath ceremony happens to be at the Teikyo Loretto Heights as well.
__________________
Priority date 1/22/2008
Notice Date 1/25/2008
Fingerprint Notice 2/7/2008
Fingerprint date 2/19/2008
Interview date 6/26/2008
Oath date ??
I'll be sure to follow your advice if my oath ceremony happens to be at the Teikyo Loretto Heights as well.
__________________
Priority date 1/22/2008
Notice Date 1/25/2008
Fingerprint Notice 2/7/2008
Fingerprint date 2/19/2008
Interview date 6/26/2008
Oath date ??
Thanks Ed ! Yes it does feel like a huge accomplishment and an even bigger sense of relief to be at the end of this loooong journey (not just citizenship, but the various instances of dealing with INS over the last 11 years) !
Good luck for your oath ceremony and don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions !
Good luck for your oath ceremony and don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions !
I received my oath ceremony letter today for Wednesday, August 20 with a check-in time of 9:00 AM at Dicks Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City and am really happy this whole process is coming to an end The letter was sent on August 4 from zip code 80239 in Denver and says that the ceremony will be conducted outside and will last approx. 2-3 hours.
Has anyone had an oath ceremony at Dicks Sporting Goods Park that can report on some of the details of this venue?
Good luck to all and thanks for all of your great advice throughout the citizenship process!!
__________________
Priority date 1/22/2008
Notice Date 1/25/2008
Fingerprint Notice 2/7/2008
Fingerprint date 2/19/2008
Interview date 6/26/2008
Oath date 8/20/08
The letter was sent on August 4 from zip code 80239 in Denver and says that the ceremony will be conducted outside and will last approx. 2-3 hours. Has anyone had an oath ceremony at Dicks Sporting Goods Park that can report on some of the details of this venue?
Good luck to all and thanks for all of your great advice throughout the citizenship process!!
__________________
Priority date 1/22/2008
Notice Date 1/25/2008
Fingerprint Notice 2/7/2008
Fingerprint date 2/19/2008
Interview date 6/26/2008
Oath date 8/20/08
Kris-Colorado
Registered Users (C)
Congrats ed!!!
I checked mailbox today, i didn't see any oath letter for my wife. Hopefully she will get it soon.
- kris-colo
I checked mailbox today, i didn't see any oath letter for my wife. Hopefully she will get it soon.
- kris-colo
sanju_denver
Registered Users (C)
how long it takes for Citizenship to come??
how long it takes for Citizenship to come in Colorado?
-Sanju
how long it takes for Citizenship to come in Colorado?
-Sanju
Thanks sudipto and Kris-Colorado! I'll be sure to post a write-up of the oath ceremony to let everyone know how it went.
Kris-Colorado, I wish your wife the best of luck in receiving her oath letter soon.
__________________
Priority date 1/22/2008
Notice Date 1/25/2008
Fingerprint Notice 2/7/2008
Fingerprint date 2/19/2008
Interview date 6/26/2008
Oath date 8/20/08
Kris-Colorado, I wish your wife the best of luck in receiving her oath letter soon.
__________________
Priority date 1/22/2008
Notice Date 1/25/2008
Fingerprint Notice 2/7/2008
Fingerprint date 2/19/2008
Interview date 6/26/2008
Oath date 8/20/08
Kris-Colorado
Registered Users (C)
If it is straightforward case then it shouldn't take more than 7-8 months from filing the application all the way to oath ceremony.
Good luck!!
-kris-colo
Good luck!!
-kris-colo
Also, Sanju, look at the signatures of posters in this thread. Many (most?) have their timeline indicated. You can get a pretty good idea of the trend. In most cases it is 6-8 months ... sometimes a bit slower and sometimes a bit faster.
ilovethe80s
Registered Users (C)
Sharing my husband's timeline for other's reference
My husband just passed his interview today!
5/18/2008 - mailed N-400 to Nebraska Service Center
5/20/2008 - receipt date
5/31/2008 - received fingerprint notice
6/12/2008 - fingerprinting
6/30/2008 - received interview letter
8/7/2008 - interview (passed)
My husband just passed his interview today!
5/18/2008 - mailed N-400 to Nebraska Service Center
5/20/2008 - receipt date
5/31/2008 - received fingerprint notice
6/12/2008 - fingerprinting
6/30/2008 - received interview letter
8/7/2008 - interview (passed)