Noorah101

Hello Everyone!! Wow, where do I start?! I just can't believe our journey is over.

Sadegh's Citizenship Oath Ceremony was this morning, in downtown Phoenix Arizona. My sister Linda came up from Tucson to attend with us, and also my best friend and her husband came to the oath, which was nice for Sadegh to have some friends and family there besides me. We got to the downtown courthouse at 8:30, and Sadegh went in around 9:00 a.m, along with everyone else taking the oath. They let the guests come in just before 10:00 am, and things got underway. There were 102 immigrants from 17 different countries taking the oath this morning.

Sadegh was sitting way up front in the first row, so I got a nice view of the back of his head most of the time, but I took pictures of it anyway, so he could see how the back of his head looked as he repeated the oath. LOL By the way, it was the type where they repeated it all in unison line by line after the orator. The judge gave a little speech about the importance of your duty as a citizen. We saw the video presentation about Immigrants in America. Everyone stood and said the pledge of allegience. We also watched the Lee Greenwood's "Proud to be an American" video. Three immigrants gave short speeches about what it meant to them to become a citizen, and I have to admit, at this point I got teary-eyed, thinking of our own long-ish journey and how important this day is. I didn't think I'd get emotional about it, but I did. In fact I feel tears burning right now, even thinking about what a proud day this turned out to be....so I better change the subject.

The ceremony was actually over pretty quickly, by about 10:30 am. We headed downstairs to stand in line to get Sadegh's SS card updated and changed to his new shortened last name. He also turned in his voter registration. Then we drove a few blocks to the downtown passport office, and applied for the expedited US passport. Whew...no more paperwork!!

Then the fun started. We met some more friends at a Persian restaurant for a celebration lunch, which was so much fun! The table was all decorated in patriotic theme (I had gone in last week and dropped off all the stuff they'd need to decorate ahead of time). After we had all eaten some appetizers and given our lunch orders, I went and changed into my Statue of Liberty costume, holding the bag of gifts and cards to present to Sadegh. We were not the only ones in the restaurant, there were regular customers in there too, and as I walked by everyone to get to our table, I heard everyone say "there's that tax lady" LOL The costume was a BIG hit, no one knew I was going to do that, so it was a great surprise! We all ate wonderful Persian food, Sadegh opened his gifts, and ended the meal with the patriotic decorated cake I had ordered. Oh, one of Sadegh's gifts was a George Washington disguise, so Sadegh got to wear the white wig and ruffley shirt front for a few funny photos! I made sure to test him...Who is the Father of our Country?

Sadegh is VERY happy to be a US Citizen, he was nervous going in to the oath ceremony, but came out relaxed, very excited about his new status, relieved to be done with immigration, and very proud of his big accomplishment. And I'm sooo happy for him and proud of him, too. This really was a VERY special day for us.

A big huge thank you to everyone here on BE for sharing every step of our way with us!! I haven't downloaded photos yet, but I will soon and will post a few, especially Sadegh standing with the Statue of Liberty.

HUGS,
Rene & New Citizen Sadegh

Toonyank

Congratulations!

Rete

Congratulations, Sadegh. I'm so happy for you and so proud of how well you have done through all of the immigration and the last important civics test. Are you prepared to become a juror if selected? If not, then Rene is sure to help you.

Best wishes for a long and happy life as an American Citizen.

Just Jenney

A big HUGE congrats to Sadegh!!! And to you, too, Rene -- having been there myself, I know this day means as much to you as it does to him.

~ Jenney

jeffreyhy

Congratulations!

Regards, JEff

AlanR

Congratulations! We've been hanging in for you both every step of the way!

LadyKat1974

Congratulations......I only have another 552 more days before I can apply for mine so I hope mine goes as smoothly.

penguinbar

Congrats to you both!!!

Norri

Congratulations to you both

PepsiChic

congrats! thats a great accomplishment

ian-mstm

Congratulations to both Sadegh and you! I can't tell you how happy I am for the both of you. Your report brought back many great memories of my own Oath Ceremony and journey that I started to get a bit teary-eyed as I read it. Best wishes for a long and happy life together!

Ian

adjudicator89

CINGRATS SADEGH.. BUST MOST OF ALL CONGRATS TO RENE LOL SHE WAS THE ONE WHO DID ALL THE PAPERWORK AND DEALT WITH USCIS.

adjudicator89

Rene,
I have a question, you guys applied for that 24 hour passport? How much is the fee? And also, at the Oath did they call each person one by one and that's how they give out the Nat. Certif.? Thank you.

Wilto

Congratulations Sadegh and Rene!
Thank you for so much for your advice over the past few months and I hope to come down this road in the distant future!

Noorah101

Hi Milan, thanks for the congrats. No, we didn't apply for the 24-hour passport. We applied for an expedited regular passport, which takes about 2 weeks to arrive in the mail. It was $200. The other alternative was the regular non-expedited passport, which would take 6 weeks to process and cost $100. It was Sadegh's choice to get it faster and pay more. We didnt' have the option to do the 24-hour passport, because Phoenix is not one of the main passport offices in the USA.

No, they didn't call everyone one by one. Everyone stood up together and recited the oath at the same time, then the judge said "I grant each and every one of you citizenship today". Everyone had to stay seated in their same seat until the certificate was handed to them. Evidently when the entered the room, they made a note of who is sitting where, and handed the certificates out according to seating.

Rene