It was a breeze!! I got there at exactly 9:55am (my appt. time) and had to wait for a good 30 min before the IO came. She was nice and polite but absolutely no small talk. I’m thinking it was just her personality. She asked me for my GC, DL, Passport and SSC. Told her I did not have my social security card on me and she said it was okay. I also mentioned to her that I had lost my old passport and the current one was issued in 2006. I went on to tell her that once I got my new passport, I got my GC stamp on it (she did check to see the stamp).
We then went thru all the questions on my application form and that was quick. She check marked each of the questions she reviewed with me. She barely verified the travel dates in the passport. But then again she is a pro so she can probably spot issues right away. When she went over the citation question, I mentioned to her that I had a few speeding tickets. She asked if any of them were still outstanding and I mentioned no. We went thru the rest of the questions without a hitch.
She then asked me the civics questions. Q1. Who wrote the declaration of independence? And wouldn’t u know it, my mind went blank. She was patient, did not say a word or interrupt, till I gave her the answer. Here are the rest of the 5 questions: Q2. Who is the Commander in Chief of the military? Q3. What is the political party of the President now? Q4. There were 13 original states, Name Three. Q5. What are the two major political parties in the United States? Q6. Name one state that borders Mexico. Then she gave me a page with 3 questions and asked me to read any one. (How many states are there in the US?) She then gave me the answer (There are 50 states) to the question I read out loud and asked me to write that down. She asked me to sign the front of my 2 photos and proceeded to give me the approval notice! Yea! She then asked me if I wanted to come in for the oath ceremony the same day and I said yes! She gave me the OL with a time of 3:15pm on it.
So, I got back to the USCIS office at 3:15pm and they led us into a separate room. There were approx 25 of us in there and they asked us to give them our GC one by one as we walked into the room and proceed to sit down in front of a big screen TV. They then called out our names and asked us to review the information on the naturalization Certificate to be sure there was no errors, then sign the form and a copy of it as well (for their records). They then allowed any family members you had with you, to join you for the rest of the ceremony. They were allowed to take pictures / videos of the rest of the ceremony. Then they showed us a video, after which we were asked to say the oath. Then they showed us another video of the President welcoming us as American Citizens!! We then were asked to sing “Proud to be an American” along with the video. We ended with saying the Pledge of Allegiance. We were then called by name and given the Naturalization Certificate.
This last piece was a little emotional. More so because you get a little time to actually reflect on your journey to get here while they are verifying all the information. Not to mention the videos are quite sentimental as well. I now have to go to a passport agency and apply for the passport which I’ve been told (by friends) does take about 5-6 weeks. More paperwork!!
Well there you have it folks. This was as much detail as I could remember. Will be back to update my signature once I have my passport in hand. Thank you all for your support and help with all my questions. Reading other people’s experience did help me understand the process a bit better and helped me prepare for it as well. So I am sharing mine. Hope it helps. Good Luck to the rest of you!!
- AM01
Application sent to the Lewisville office, which was re-routed to the Dallas office.
DO: Mount Laurel, NJ
1. 04-15-2010 : N-400 Sent
2. 04/20/2010 : N-400 Rec
3. 04/20/2010 : Receipt ND & PD
4. 04/27/2010 : Check Cashed
5. 04/30/2010 : NOA Rec. (confirm personal information, if incorrect)
6. 05/05/2010 : Rec. FP letter;
7. 05/26/2010 : FP Scheduled
8. 05/26/2010 : FP done
9. 06/17/2010 : Case sent to local office (txt & e-mail notification)
10. 06/18/2010 : Interview Letter
11. 07/20/2010 : Interview Date
12. 07/20/2010 : Oath Date
13. 07/20/2010 : USC Date
We then went thru all the questions on my application form and that was quick. She check marked each of the questions she reviewed with me. She barely verified the travel dates in the passport. But then again she is a pro so she can probably spot issues right away. When she went over the citation question, I mentioned to her that I had a few speeding tickets. She asked if any of them were still outstanding and I mentioned no. We went thru the rest of the questions without a hitch.
She then asked me the civics questions. Q1. Who wrote the declaration of independence? And wouldn’t u know it, my mind went blank. She was patient, did not say a word or interrupt, till I gave her the answer. Here are the rest of the 5 questions: Q2. Who is the Commander in Chief of the military? Q3. What is the political party of the President now? Q4. There were 13 original states, Name Three. Q5. What are the two major political parties in the United States? Q6. Name one state that borders Mexico. Then she gave me a page with 3 questions and asked me to read any one. (How many states are there in the US?) She then gave me the answer (There are 50 states) to the question I read out loud and asked me to write that down. She asked me to sign the front of my 2 photos and proceeded to give me the approval notice! Yea! She then asked me if I wanted to come in for the oath ceremony the same day and I said yes! She gave me the OL with a time of 3:15pm on it.
So, I got back to the USCIS office at 3:15pm and they led us into a separate room. There were approx 25 of us in there and they asked us to give them our GC one by one as we walked into the room and proceed to sit down in front of a big screen TV. They then called out our names and asked us to review the information on the naturalization Certificate to be sure there was no errors, then sign the form and a copy of it as well (for their records). They then allowed any family members you had with you, to join you for the rest of the ceremony. They were allowed to take pictures / videos of the rest of the ceremony. Then they showed us a video, after which we were asked to say the oath. Then they showed us another video of the President welcoming us as American Citizens!! We then were asked to sing “Proud to be an American” along with the video. We ended with saying the Pledge of Allegiance. We were then called by name and given the Naturalization Certificate.
This last piece was a little emotional. More so because you get a little time to actually reflect on your journey to get here while they are verifying all the information. Not to mention the videos are quite sentimental as well. I now have to go to a passport agency and apply for the passport which I’ve been told (by friends) does take about 5-6 weeks. More paperwork!!
Well there you have it folks. This was as much detail as I could remember. Will be back to update my signature once I have my passport in hand. Thank you all for your support and help with all my questions. Reading other people’s experience did help me understand the process a bit better and helped me prepare for it as well. So I am sharing mine. Hope it helps. Good Luck to the rest of you!!
- AM01
Application sent to the Lewisville office, which was re-routed to the Dallas office.
DO: Mount Laurel, NJ
1. 04-15-2010 : N-400 Sent
2. 04/20/2010 : N-400 Rec
3. 04/20/2010 : Receipt ND & PD
4. 04/27/2010 : Check Cashed
5. 04/30/2010 : NOA Rec. (confirm personal information, if incorrect)
6. 05/05/2010 : Rec. FP letter;
7. 05/26/2010 : FP Scheduled
8. 05/26/2010 : FP done
9. 06/17/2010 : Case sent to local office (txt & e-mail notification)
10. 06/18/2010 : Interview Letter
11. 07/20/2010 : Interview Date
12. 07/20/2010 : Oath Date
13. 07/20/2010 : USC Date
