Well, it's finally over. 
We drove to the Masonic Center early this morning. The oath letter stated to be there promptly at 9 AM. At 7:45 AM, we thought we were early. I'd say, though, that at least 500 soon-to-be-citizens beat us to it.
There's underground parking available, and they had an "event special" of $20 for the whole stay. The first three levels were full by the time we got there and had to park in the fourth level. We took an elevator up to the auditorium.
If you have family with you, they'll have to go up to the second floor to the balcony to watch. I was in "Section 7," which is to the left as you go in the gates to the auditorium. My spouse was seated almost right across from me on the balcony, so we could see each other and wave at each other. The odd-numbered sections are to the left, even to the right, in case you want to position your family/friends similarly.
We were seated pretty much in the order we came in. That's pretty important because they collect the oath letter and green card when you go in to the main floor of the auditorium. At the end of the ceremony, you remain seated and they distribute the naturalization certificates.
Nothing happened until about 9:30. There were a couple of videos, the presentation of colors, national anthem, then the oath of allegiance. There were a couple of speeches, another couple of videos, then some instructions regarding voter registration and applying for passports. Finally, the natz certificates were distributed, and that was that.
There'll be a throng of people right outside the auditorium because they placed the tables for passport apps and voter reg there. Very difficult to get in the elevators to go down to parking. I ended up going up the stairs (long flights!) to gather my spouse on the balcony, and got on the elevator from there.
Anyway, I'm just glad I won't have to deal with the USCIS again. And if I do, I'll be in the citizens line rather than immigration. By the way, there were 1415 new Americans today in San Francisco.
We drove to the Masonic Center early this morning. The oath letter stated to be there promptly at 9 AM. At 7:45 AM, we thought we were early. I'd say, though, that at least 500 soon-to-be-citizens beat us to it.There's underground parking available, and they had an "event special" of $20 for the whole stay. The first three levels were full by the time we got there and had to park in the fourth level. We took an elevator up to the auditorium.
If you have family with you, they'll have to go up to the second floor to the balcony to watch. I was in "Section 7," which is to the left as you go in the gates to the auditorium. My spouse was seated almost right across from me on the balcony, so we could see each other and wave at each other. The odd-numbered sections are to the left, even to the right, in case you want to position your family/friends similarly.
We were seated pretty much in the order we came in. That's pretty important because they collect the oath letter and green card when you go in to the main floor of the auditorium. At the end of the ceremony, you remain seated and they distribute the naturalization certificates.
Nothing happened until about 9:30. There were a couple of videos, the presentation of colors, national anthem, then the oath of allegiance. There were a couple of speeches, another couple of videos, then some instructions regarding voter registration and applying for passports. Finally, the natz certificates were distributed, and that was that.
There'll be a throng of people right outside the auditorium because they placed the tables for passport apps and voter reg there. Very difficult to get in the elevators to go down to parking. I ended up going up the stairs (long flights!) to gather my spouse on the balcony, and got on the elevator from there.
Anyway, I'm just glad I won't have to deal with the USCIS again. And if I do, I'll be in the citizens line rather than immigration. By the way, there were 1415 new Americans today in San Francisco.