I am proud to be an American!
#20
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Aug 2003
Location: Nevada b4 California b4 Colorado b4 Valley of plastic and sand, b4 London
Posts: 2,025
Re: I am proud to be an American!
Today is the day I will remember for a very long time … I became an American citizen!
The appointment was for 12:30pm and my wife reached Lexington court house around 11:45am. After going through the security, we were seated in the Juror selection room. It turns out the actual ceremony was not until 1:30pm … So, we had plenty of time spare.
Around 12:30pm couple of USCIS officials started checking everyone in and my wife stepped outside waiting ... We all got numbers assigned and sat in numerical order – I was about in the middle. USCIS officials briefly went over the whole process with us and informed at the end of the ceremony we will be receiving our Certificate of Naturalization. Oddly enough, he also mentioned that we SHOULD NOT send original certificate when we apply for passport. Apparently certified copies are good enough for passport application. This is contradictory to what I’ve read online. Moreover, once I got the certificate, it also says we are NOT to copy this certificate?? Strange!!!
Anyway, returning to the story … Around 1:15pm we were asked to go to the second floor and gather around in front of the court room. When we went upstairs, they called the numbers we were assigned chronologically and we entered the court room. When I saw the inside, I remembered how Ian (ian-mstm) explained how beautiful it was – I can certify 100% they way he described it. We all sat down, received a booklet about the ceremony. A little statistics about the 1:30pm Oath Ceremony session:
As soon as we walked out the court room, I registered to vote … It was very convenient. We took few pics inside/outside the court house and headed towards the Social Security office to change status.
I still cannot believe it is finally over and I am now an American! Thank you for all the help and support. This group has been Absolutely invaluable!
The appointment was for 12:30pm and my wife reached Lexington court house around 11:45am. After going through the security, we were seated in the Juror selection room. It turns out the actual ceremony was not until 1:30pm … So, we had plenty of time spare.
Around 12:30pm couple of USCIS officials started checking everyone in and my wife stepped outside waiting ... We all got numbers assigned and sat in numerical order – I was about in the middle. USCIS officials briefly went over the whole process with us and informed at the end of the ceremony we will be receiving our Certificate of Naturalization. Oddly enough, he also mentioned that we SHOULD NOT send original certificate when we apply for passport. Apparently certified copies are good enough for passport application. This is contradictory to what I’ve read online. Moreover, once I got the certificate, it also says we are NOT to copy this certificate?? Strange!!!
Anyway, returning to the story … Around 1:15pm we were asked to go to the second floor and gather around in front of the court room. When we went upstairs, they called the numbers we were assigned chronologically and we entered the court room. When I saw the inside, I remembered how Ian (ian-mstm) explained how beautiful it was – I can certify 100% they way he described it. We all sat down, received a booklet about the ceremony. A little statistics about the 1:30pm Oath Ceremony session:
- Total Applications: 50
- Applicants attended: 49
- Applicant missing: 1
- Countries represented: 22 – including UK, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, China, Russia, Bosnia, Cameron, Mexico ... etc
As soon as we walked out the court room, I registered to vote … It was very convenient. We took few pics inside/outside the court house and headed towards the Social Security office to change status.
I still cannot believe it is finally over and I am now an American! Thank you for all the help and support. This group has been Absolutely invaluable!
#21