Please share oath ceremony experience

Items required for passport application

The items needed for the passport are listed on the envelope they gave you when you interviewed. In our case, they needed:

1. Completed passport application
2. Naturalization certificate (they give this to you during the ceremony, but you will submit it along with the passport - don't worry, they will mail it back to you)
3. Fee (check, no cash accepted); fee varies depending on how fast you want the passport
4. Two photos (format must be same as for typical passport photos, which is not the same as for INS photos)

If you don't apply immediately after the ceremony, you can always apply later. I assume they still need similar items as listed above.
 
Congratulations!

I was just wondering if a Naturalization certificate is submitted with a passport application, how can we prove ourselves without proper identifications? To my knowledge, we have to return our green card at an oath ceremony.

Also, do we need to prepare passport photos before the ceremony or it can be done at site?

Thanks in advance!

Jennie
 
The Nat. certificate is handed out at the ceremony. If you wish to apply for the passport immediately after the ceremony, you'll have to surrender the certificate along with the other required materials. They will mail the certificate back to you along with the new US Passport. You're right, it can be difficult to "prove yourself" in the meantime - any reason you need to do so? Not sure about the answer. But I do recall the judge telling everyone to simply mention "I am a US Citizen" if prompted. If whatever agency needed to check your status I'm sure they could.

Yes, you should have your passport photos ready; the photos are required as part of the passport application. At the ceremony in SF they do not have a passport photo booth. Your ceremony site may or may not have such services, so to be safe I would suggest taking them prior to the ceremony (unless you plan to apply for the passport later at a post office, for example).
 
Hello again,

I live near a Canadian border because my husband is Canadian.
Also, I make quick trips quite often to Canada.
I guess I'll have to consider my situation when I apply for my passport. Do you have any idea how long I will be without my green card and passport?

I appreciate your kindness.

Happy holidays!
 
I believe normal passport processing takes around 4-6 weeks. If you plan to visit Canada within a couple of weeks after the ceremony, you may strongly want to consider expedited passport processing in which case you should get it in about 2 weeks or less. Of course, it costs extra (I forget the actual cost, but it's around US$150 compared to the $85 for normal processing).

Since the Nat. certificate is unique (it's yours!), the judge said it was not a good idea to carry it around in your pocket or purse; keep it in a safe place, because it would be a hassle if you lost it and it's troublesome for INS to print another one. This means, of course, that it wouldn't be a good idea to bring it across the border as proof of your citizenship.

You may want to consult with INS for more details. Hope that helps.
 
And is there any website that a copy of application could be downloaded and filled early? Thanks.
 
Now I am a US Citizen

The Oath Ceremony was rescheduled from 12/18/02 to 3/24/03 and did take place. I was a little worried that there was a possibility that it could be cancelled due to war but the Ceremony did take place as scheduled and I am glad the entire process is over and hopefully in future, I don't have anything to do with INS (BCIS).
 
March 28th, 2003. Los Angeles Sports Arena.

It was truely a Celebration/Ceremony.

Nearly 4000 people showed up for Oath and another 4000 were there to cheer the new Citizens.

The Judge was a second generation, and his story was nice. The INS official had a good speech.

I saw some people in tears. The Military citizens were sitting at the front and were "recognized" (TV cameras were on them)

The Democrats and Republicans were canvassing for new voters (already!)

I liked the song from Niel Diamond and the other country singer they played on the screen after the Bush speech.

It was very colorful; all the new Citizens had flags in their hands and waving and screaming as the TV cameras came on them.

The new citizens were asked to stand up by their original nationality. So Angorra, Australia ..... India.... and when it came to Mexico, the whole stadium was up ... nearly half the new citizens were Mexicans.

It was fun.

It was nice.

It was definately memorable.

I think it was worth it.
 
Time Line

Filed in September 2002;
Finger Printing in October 2002;
Interview February 12th 2003.
(not approved immediately after interview, pending some forms)

Approval letter, March 3rd 2003.

Oath Letter, March 18th 2003.

Oath, March 28th 2003.

Military processing at Nebraska, so probably is slightly faster than regular processing.

Good luck!
 
i just got the letter for the oath ceremonie
my timeline


priorite date :june 2002

fingerprint october2002

interview march 2003
oath april 2003

good luck!!
 
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Honolulu, HI

PD: April 2002
FP: May 2002
Interview: Febr 2003
Oath: April 2003

It was a very special day, the sense of belonging, of inclusion, and citizenship will be lasting a lifetime :)

There were 52 new citizens in a small federal district court room The security guards at the entrances and the passport place in the same building complex were still remembering me then I showed up there a few days later :D .

The judge addressed us personaly, looked at all of us at least once. All in all it took less than an hour.
 
I had my oath ceremony in San Francisco CA today (04/17). The whole thing took less than 1.5 hours. The ceremony was straight forwad, with a new citizen from Peru leading the other citizens on reciting the pledge of the allegiance. We got our certificate and were out in about 1 hour so ( we were seated in our seats around 7:45 and about 9:15 we were done). The Passport application line was long ( I guess there were 1500 applicants who were administered the oath) so we went to our local post office.

The political parties were en-mass waiting outside and convincing the people to register. The real pity was that very few people were registering as they were all busy in the passport queue. Overall a pleasant experience, notwithstanding the BCIS guy trying to be funny before the ceremony..

Thanks

Cheepa
 
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