Finally, I am a proud US Citizen!

S

sg_orl

Registered Users (C)
Finally, and I really mean finally, I took the Naturalization Oath yesterday, 4/13/05, in Orlando, FL. The ceremony was at the University of Central Florida’s Arena. I attended an afternoon ceremony where over 300+ new citizens from 73 countries took the oath. There was a ceremony in the morning also where probably another 500+ took the oath. The ceremony was pretty well organized and we were done in about an hour. Most of the participants had applied in December 2003 and completed the interview in the last couple of months. So right now Orlando DO is taking about 15-18 months from PD to oath.

It took me 23+ months to complete this journey. There were no complications except, Orlando, DO kept on telling me that they did not receive my A-file from TSC to schedule the interview. I visited Orlando DO 3 or 4 times on a monthly basis, wrote to TSC by certified mail to transfer the A-file on 2 occasions, and got the Senator and the Congressman involved. After getting the Senator and the Congressman involved, I got my interview letter. Interview was fine, except, the officer could not close the case and approve my application since the system showed another A-file that had to be looked at and merged in order to make the final decision.

I kept the regular communications going with the Senator’s and the Congressman’s office. After the interview, I sent a thank you note to the officer and politely reminded to complete the review and make the final decision. Again, visited the Orlando, DO after another month, and luckily an officer looked up the case and it turned out that they had received the other A-file from NRC, while the officer who interviewed me had part of the file. He went and put everything together for the interviewing officer’s mailbox. After that I received a voicemail from the interviewing officer that they have approved my case and I should receive an oath letter soon. Finally, after another couple of weeks, I received the oath latter for ceremony on 4/13/05.

Just some tips and lessons for people in similar situations…

* Be persistent and professional, but polite in your dealings.
* Keep visiting the local Do’s on a regular basis no matter what you find out. * No matter how frustrating, keep asking the same question differently. Once in a while, you may bump into a helping hand. Also, it generates activity on your case.
* Do NOT hesitate to write polite, but firm letters by certified mail to local DO or Service Center, when appropriate.
* If your case gets even slightly out of average processing times of your DO, get the Congressman and Senator’s office involved ASAP.
* Some DO’s are a lot slower than others, but you got stay on top of your case.
* Never lose hope, and keep at it.

Good luck to everyone who is going thru’ this journey!

My timeline:
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PD: May 2003
Name check Cleared: May 2003
1st FP: June 2003
Follow up: Visited DO, wrote letters, got Congressman and Senator involved – July to November 2004
2nd FP: November 2004,
Interview Letter Recd’: November 2004
Interview: January 2005
Oath Letter Recd’: March 2005
Oath Ceremony: April 13, 2005!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Applied for Passport: April 14, 2005 with expedited service!
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Congrats Sg_Orl!

You've really earned your citizenship! I never comment on people's cases, but I've enjoyed reading your posts. Most people bitch and whine like little cry babies, you were always positive, hopeful, and active... good luck and hope your passport photo looks good! :)
 
sg_orl

"Finally, I am a proud US Citizen!"

Why you have to be "proud"? Is that mean that you were not proud to be a citizen of your former country @ your motherland in the past? Did not know that it would be a matter of proud to some people once they become a U.S. citizen. As far as I'm concerned then all I would say that even though I've been living in the U.S. since I was a little boy (for the last 22 yrs) and have/had accomplished everything in my life (best education, millions of dollars, business, houses, loves, etc...), but still I would always be so proud and appreciated to my motherland. As you may have heard: "Hei preet jaha ki reet sadaa mei geet waha ke gata hui, Bharat ka rahene wala hue Bharat ki shaan dikata hui. Ram basse hei dil mei hamare, aur sita hamari mata hei, jaha bedbav nahi hei dil mei hamare, hum nei to pyaar se logo ke dilo ko jita hei...Bharat ka rahene wala hui Bharat ki shaan dikata hui."

I guess different people and different thinking...
 
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Amishah

I do know that there are many people, matter of fact-most of them, who are so much dillusional of being in Western countries, maybe because of money or perhas because of better lifestyle, but all I would say that- no matter how many years a person would live in a Western Country (or any other country) or no matter matter what this person would accomplish in his/her life over here, yet still s/he would NEVER be that much happy here as much s/he could have been in his/her own motherland. One day, deep in their heart, they will realize that there is no substitute for motherland. I was also dilussional before until I realized this: "Dil le gai teri bindiya, yaad haa gaya mujko India. Mei khai bhi rahu iss jhanan mei, mera dil hei Hindustan mei..."
 
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Thanks for all of your comments and suggestions. I personally benefited quite a bit from this forum and learned from the experiences of others.

As far as feeling proud to become a US Citizen, believe me there is a sense of emotional loss to have to give up the citizenship of your motherland, specially when you don't have an option of seamlessly becoming a dual citizen. From my personal experience, it's NOT a refection on where I have come from. I will always have sweet spot in my heart for my native country. Feeling proud is more of sense of an accomplishment when you consider getting stuck at one of the really slow DO's and overcoming the odds of numerous bureaucratic hassels. Just to keep it perpective, while some DO's complete the whole process in 4-5 months and your DO on an average takes 15-18 months, believe me you will feel proud of your accomplishment when you complete the process in 23+ months!

Thanks again for everyone's input on this messgae board.
 
Congratulations sg_orl. I am very happy for you.

Please pray for us, and remember that now that you are a US citizen you should not forget about this ordeal and always contact your elected officials so that they can fix this messy USCIS.

Always Vote, you earned that right. :)
 
Publicus said:
Congratulations sg_orl. I am very happy for you.

Please pray for us, and remember that now that you are a US citizen you should not forget about this ordeal and always contact your elected officials so that they can fix this messy USCIS.

Always Vote, you earned that right. :)
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You difinitely earned your citizenship. Enjoy it, enjoy it's benefits. And enjoy the feel of pride of the US citizneship.
 
Congratulations sg_orl

Congratulations SG_ORL.
It definitely has been a long journey for you and you definitely have all the reasons and more to be proud to have actually accomplished becoming a US Citizen, that so many of us here are attempting to achieve. My DO is also Orlando, and I know exactly what you mean when you say that it is a feeling of great achievement when you at last take your oath ceremony after the long wait. It is frustrating seeing other posts from folks from other DO's whose priority dates are after yours and who have already been interviewed and just waiting for an oath letter, or even have received an oath letter, while you wait for an interview date from your DO. But it is a matter of fact and life that the Orlando DO is extremely slow and one must be patient and just wait ones turn.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us here and pointing out some of the steps we can take to hopefully move our case along.
 
sg_orl said:
Thanks for all of your comments and suggestions. I personally benefited quite a bit from this forum and learned from the experiences of others.

As far as feeling proud to become a US Citizen, believe me there is a sense of emotional loss to have to give up the citizenship of your motherland, specially when you don't have an option of seamlessly becoming a dual citizen. From my personal experience, it's NOT a refection on where I have come from. I will always have sweet spot in my heart for my native country. Feeling proud is more of sense of an accomplishment when you consider getting stuck at one of the really slow DO's and overcoming the odds of numerous bureaucratic hassels. Just to keep it perpective, while some DO's complete the whole process in 4-5 months and your DO on an average takes 15-18 months, believe me you will feel proud of your accomplishment when you complete the process in 23+ months!

Thanks again for everyone's input on this messgae board.
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you're absolutely right man ... i became a citizen recently too at Newark, NJ on the 7th . haven't had the time to write out the experience, but i will soon ..
there really is a sense of deep loss .. although we're gaining so much, when we took the oath later the same night as the interview, i had to denounce everything i was a part of ... tired exhanusted, i started thinking about the journey, jesus, it was such a long and complicated journey, all to stay and work here ... when my motherland was waiting for me with open arms the whole time .. i felt like a traitor for a while ..
i still feel the loss .. and would do anything to walk in the fields and farmlands back in desh like i used to ... even if it's just for a minute ..
unfortunately, its the price to pay to afford the things in life that make it worth living .. or is it ..?
 
Aisa Desh hai Mera...

"Dharti Sunheri , ambar Neela, har mausam hai rangeela aisa desh hai mera...oh aisa desh hai mera..." Home is where the heart is and for me it will always be "SWADES" - MERA BHARAT MAHAN!!!
 
Please , don't write in indian in the public area

NJ-N400 said:
"Dharti Sunheri , ambar Neela, har mausam hai rangeela aisa desh hai mera...oh aisa desh hai mera..." Home is where the heart is and for me it will always be "SWADES" - MERA BHARAT MAHAN!!!
Click to expand...
I think writing in Indian is VERY rude. we are here to share! not to show off , or to specialize messages to specific persons. If you have a private message or a message in Indian, please private message it.
 
Well,
Although my country allows dual citizenship, i think i will still feel the loss , even thought i will keep my other passport, there is definitely nothing like home.
 
NJ-N400,

How many days before your FP did you recieve the FP notice. I have been waiting a while. My 797 notice took a long time to arrive from VSC and hence I was concerned for the FP letter to arrive after the scheduled FP date. Hope that does not happen!

Thanks
 
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