My citizenship journey
I have come to this board often over the last many years as I worked through my green card and more recently when I applied for my citizenship.
I have provided the dates of my citizenship application.
06/30/2007 (Mailed Date)
07/03/2007 (Receipt Date)
07/05/2007 (Priority Date)
07/13/2007 (Check cashed)
00/00/0000 (Notice Date)
07/26/2007 (FP Notice Date) (Recd 07/03/2007)
08/14/2007 (FP Appointment)
12/01/2007 (Interview Notice Date)
01/09/2008 (Interview Date)
01/20/2008 (Oath Notice Date)
02/12/2008 (Oath Ceremony)
Just a few words on my interview:
My interview was in San Francisco at 9:00 AM. I took my notice, drivers licence and my green card for my interview. I also had my Indian passport but it was not required and was not asked for during the interview. They do not allow you to take cell phones that have cameras into the building. The immigration officer who interviewed me was of Indian origin. He was very polite. I took an oath to say the truth as soon as I entered. He first confirmed that all my data in the application was correct. He updated my application for the two times I had left the country for Canada. He then asked me to sign my name in full i.e. write my full name on the photograph that he had from my application. He then asked to answer 10 questions from the list of civics question in the booklet. He got a print out, read the questions, I answered them all correctly. He gave me an envelope with the line that I passed the interview checked. He congratulated my and I was done. The entire process took about 20 minutes.
For the oath ceremony:
It was an impressive ceremony. The one thing to be careful if you are planning on driving into the city was that the parking next to where the oath was being they charged a flat rate of $50 and this was after you were in line for half an hour to get into the parking lot. I would recommend parking some distance away and just cab it or walk to the place. The ceremony was well organized and the one regret that I have is that I did not apply for my passport right there. I am yet to apply for it.
So in conclusion the long journey of coming to America and becoming a part of the fabric of this nation seems now complete. It was worth the wait and I feel good
For all those who are waiting to be a citizen good luck.