We took our Oath today, nearly 12 months from application. So our journey through USCIS is complete and all we need now are the passports.
Parking at the US District Court of Kansas, 500 State Ave is tight. We parked in an abandoned parking lot on the south east corner of State Ave and N 5th St. You are allowed cameras inside the courthouse, but are not allowed any phones, pdas, computers etc, so cell phone cameras are not allowed. We arrived about 12pm for a scheduled 12:30pm start, and after clearing the security barrier waited in the jury pool waiting room. At about 12:30pm USCIS officials started taking batches of pending citizens to the 6th floor, while spectators (family/children etc) waited in the jury room. You were allowed water etc in the waiting area, but not in the 6th floor court room.
On the 6th floor in a separate area they checked our answers on the back of the appointment form, collected our permanent residency cards, and had us signed the Naturalization Certificates. Sign your name as it is printed on the certificate, which should be your full name. They provided rollerball/felt type indelible pens. Then we sat in the spectator area in the rear of the court room. Once all the pending citizens were processed they verbally led us through the process, and then called us in name order (according to their sheets, it was not alphabetical) to sit in the front area. After that USCIS officials brought up all the spectators to sit at the back of the court room.
The ceremony started about 2pm and lasted just over 45 minutes. After the end we received our certificates and could attend a reception back in the jury waiting area where you could register to vote. If you waited until the court room was empty a USCIS official would take your picture in the courtroom next to the American flag with your camera. There was a US Postal official present at the reception to answer questions about passports and hand out forms, but they were not accepting applications and USCIS specifically recommended that you copy your certificate before applying for a passport. By the time we had photographs and registered to vote it was after 3pm, so we drove home and will apply for passports the next morning.
And that was it! Simple and straightforward. Make sure you eat well before entering, and take any necessary restroom break before entering the court room. Anyone making noise in the court room was evicted, so children need to be older and/or with an adult not taking the oath.
Nebraska Service Center (NSC) / Kansas City District Office (KCMO) / Kansas resident
07/13/07 N-400 application posted
07/16/07 N-400 application received by USCIS
07/16/07 Priority date
07/17/07 Check cashed
07/23/07 Receipt notice generated
07/27/07 Receipt notice received by us
07/25/07 Fingerprint notice generated
07/30/07 Fingerprint notice received by us
08/10/07 Fingerprints scheduled & taken
xx/11/07 Passed background check, placed in interview scheduling queue (before 14th Nov)
12/17/07 Interview notice generated
12/21/07 Interview notice received by us
02/06/08 Interview scheduled, taken and passed, N-652 received
05/09/08 Called USCIS helpdesk at 93 days, sent query to District Office
05/28/08 N-445 Oath Ceremony notice generated
05/31/08 N-445 Oath Ceremony notice received by us
06/27/08 Oath Ceremony scheduled & taken at US District Court Kansas, Kansas City, KS