Finally the journey has ended, and a new one has begun. Here are the details.
My Oath Ceremony letter asked me to report at 8am at the in downtown Chicago courtroom. A couple of days earlier I checked out the building (my work place is in downtown Chicago), and asked the security guard about cameras and children being allowed, so that there were no surprises.
I reached with my wife (also being naturalized) and my 5 year old daughter at around 7.20am. At about 7.30 a court clerk started lining up people and he was soon joined by a DHS employee. They checked the Oath Letters, drivers license and took away the GC and put each one seperately in white envelopes. They assigned each person to rows of seats, and instructed everyone to stick to his/her seat throughout the ceremony.
For families with small children, very elderly people, handicapped people and one pregnant lady they had a seperate area which had little extra room for everyone. I was seated with my wife and daughter in this "family" area, which was just beside the check-in desk.
I noticed that about 30% of the people had answered the questions wrongly on the back of the Oath Letter. Some people did not understand the questions and spoke little English, and the court clerk and DHS guy was very patient with everyone, corrected their responses and made them initial the change. There was one guy who got a traffic ticket (crossed red light) after his interview. I did not hear the entire exchange, but he was allowed to continue. No one was pulled out.
Adult visitors were allowed inside the courtroom after every new citizen-to-be was seated. However, in case of small kids, they were allowed with their parents and seated in the “family” area.
Another court clerk distributed a copy of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and a book titled "The Citizens Almanac" to everyone. She also handed out a paper with the Oath of Allegiance on one side and instructions for signing the certificate on the other side, which stated that you need to sign your certificate in cursive, and the signature must match your name as it is printed on the certificate. It had a sample signature in cursive "John James Smith".
At 8.20 all the documents were checked and everyone was seated. The DHS person announced that the judge would arrive at 9am, and everyone was free to move about, but must return at 8.50 and take the exact same spot where they had been seated.
There was one person who arrived just before the ceremony. He was obviously stuck in traffic or something, as he was panting profusely due to running. He was accommodated as well.
At 8.55am the DHS guy made an announcement. He introduced himself, and then proceeded to read out the ceremony ground rules and some of the rights of the people who were being naturalized. Cameras were allowed, but not video, and you could not photograph the judge without permission and the court seal at any time. Cellphones were to be powered off. He mentioned that 126 petitioners were being naturalized from 44 countries at that ceremony. One of the things he specifically mentioned that children (below 18 I think) would automatically become citizens from that day, and they can immediately apply for passports on the basis of their parents naturalization.
At 9am the judge arrived, and the ceremony began. She gave a short speech, congratulating everyone, and talking about some of the notable personalities from the Civil Rights movement. She then introduced a singer who sang "America the Beautiful". She related her own involvement with immigration, as several members of her family were migrants, and her ancestors had originally arrived from Hungary. Then she made everyone take the Oath of Allegiance.
After the Oath all the citizens lined up to receive their certificates and pose for photographs with the judge. She was a very friendly woman and posed with the new citizens with her arm around their shoulders. I checked my certificate, and that of my wife for accuracy, posed for photographs and moved on.
In my opinion it was a very dignified ceremony, and the people who conducted it genuinely made me welcome as a new citizen. Also, for those with small children, at no point were the children seperated from their parents.
After I got home, I made backup copies of our certificates, and went to the Post Office to apply for passports. We had a minor hear attack when the Post Office clerk looked at our childrens Canadian and Indian birth certificates and said that they cannot accept foreign birth certificates, do they have American ones?
After I started foaming at the mouth, he also said that we may need to apply at "a consulate" for their US passports. I almost strangled him, and then he said that he will check with his superiors. While my blood pressure was boiling 
, I waited and was told that he was on the phone with the State Dept. After a 45 minute wait, he took us inside, told us that he had got all the clarifications from the State Dept, and proceeded to process all our passport applications, Canadian and Indian birth certificates notwithstanding.
My thanks go out to Mr.Rajiv Khanna, and all the members of this forum. It has been an incredible help during my green card and naturalization process. A special word of thanks to BobSmyth, nkm, Triple Citizen, Mr.Vertigo, Jackolantern, rangav, absrao, thomas5, JohnnyCash, Huracan, to name a few. Your posts on this forum were invaluable in my naturalization process. I will keep checking in from time to time.
Thanks for reading and good luck to everyone in the process
My Oath Ceremony letter asked me to report at 8am at the in downtown Chicago courtroom. A couple of days earlier I checked out the building (my work place is in downtown Chicago), and asked the security guard about cameras and children being allowed, so that there were no surprises.
I reached with my wife (also being naturalized) and my 5 year old daughter at around 7.20am. At about 7.30 a court clerk started lining up people and he was soon joined by a DHS employee. They checked the Oath Letters, drivers license and took away the GC and put each one seperately in white envelopes. They assigned each person to rows of seats, and instructed everyone to stick to his/her seat throughout the ceremony.
For families with small children, very elderly people, handicapped people and one pregnant lady they had a seperate area which had little extra room for everyone. I was seated with my wife and daughter in this "family" area, which was just beside the check-in desk.
I noticed that about 30% of the people had answered the questions wrongly on the back of the Oath Letter. Some people did not understand the questions and spoke little English, and the court clerk and DHS guy was very patient with everyone, corrected their responses and made them initial the change. There was one guy who got a traffic ticket (crossed red light) after his interview. I did not hear the entire exchange, but he was allowed to continue. No one was pulled out.
Adult visitors were allowed inside the courtroom after every new citizen-to-be was seated. However, in case of small kids, they were allowed with their parents and seated in the “family” area.
Another court clerk distributed a copy of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and a book titled "The Citizens Almanac" to everyone. She also handed out a paper with the Oath of Allegiance on one side and instructions for signing the certificate on the other side, which stated that you need to sign your certificate in cursive, and the signature must match your name as it is printed on the certificate. It had a sample signature in cursive "John James Smith".
At 8.20 all the documents were checked and everyone was seated. The DHS person announced that the judge would arrive at 9am, and everyone was free to move about, but must return at 8.50 and take the exact same spot where they had been seated.
There was one person who arrived just before the ceremony. He was obviously stuck in traffic or something, as he was panting profusely due to running. He was accommodated as well.
At 8.55am the DHS guy made an announcement. He introduced himself, and then proceeded to read out the ceremony ground rules and some of the rights of the people who were being naturalized. Cameras were allowed, but not video, and you could not photograph the judge without permission and the court seal at any time. Cellphones were to be powered off. He mentioned that 126 petitioners were being naturalized from 44 countries at that ceremony. One of the things he specifically mentioned that children (below 18 I think) would automatically become citizens from that day, and they can immediately apply for passports on the basis of their parents naturalization.
At 9am the judge arrived, and the ceremony began. She gave a short speech, congratulating everyone, and talking about some of the notable personalities from the Civil Rights movement. She then introduced a singer who sang "America the Beautiful". She related her own involvement with immigration, as several members of her family were migrants, and her ancestors had originally arrived from Hungary. Then she made everyone take the Oath of Allegiance.
After the Oath all the citizens lined up to receive their certificates and pose for photographs with the judge. She was a very friendly woman and posed with the new citizens with her arm around their shoulders. I checked my certificate, and that of my wife for accuracy, posed for photographs and moved on.
In my opinion it was a very dignified ceremony, and the people who conducted it genuinely made me welcome as a new citizen. Also, for those with small children, at no point were the children seperated from their parents.
After I got home, I made backup copies of our certificates, and went to the Post Office to apply for passports. We had a minor hear attack when the Post Office clerk looked at our childrens Canadian and Indian birth certificates and said that they cannot accept foreign birth certificates, do they have American ones?
After I started foaming at the mouth, he also said that we may need to apply at "a consulate" for their US passports. I almost strangled him, and then he said that he will check with his superiors. While my blood pressure was boiling , I waited and was told that he was on the phone with the State Dept. After a 45 minute wait, he took us inside, told us that he had got all the clarifications from the State Dept, and proceeded to process all our passport applications, Canadian and Indian birth certificates notwithstanding.My thanks go out to Mr.Rajiv Khanna, and all the members of this forum. It has been an incredible help during my green card and naturalization process. A special word of thanks to BobSmyth, nkm, Triple Citizen, Mr.Vertigo, Jackolantern, rangav, absrao, thomas5, JohnnyCash, Huracan, to name a few. Your posts on this forum were invaluable in my naturalization process. I will keep checking in from time to time.
Thanks for reading and good luck to everyone in the process
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