mrpink

So, that's all done then!

It's official - I am now a naturalized American Citizen! yay!!!

So here's how it worked.

We got up to Chicago ridiculously early, this time we had plenty of time for breakfast at Potbelly Sandwich Works (Irish oatmeal, hotter than lava), and at around 11:00am - an hour before the appointment time - we took a walk down Dearborn St. and found the big ol' building. Straight up to the 25th floor, and there we found a line of pretty much everyone who'd ever filed an N400 in the last 30 years!

Ok, so that's a bit much, but there were lots of people there. By this time it was around 11:30, and we waited for the doors to open. Twenty minutes later there were signs of some kind of movement at the front, and a USCIS officer (the same really nice guy at our InfoPass appointment) came down the line, asking to make sure that everyone had the questionnaire filled out, signed and dated on the back of their appointment letter. In black ink. Remember this detail, it will come up again later....

Finally we were told that the applicants were going to be admitted to the courtroom, and all the guests needed to stand to one side. The crowd parted, and the applicants slowly shuffled in.

In the court room there were six very long benches at the back, facing a huge long desk at the front of the court (room for thirteen judges - I counted the microphones!). To one side there was a bench where a few officers checked in people's green cards, ID and filled in questionnaire. As the applicants were processed they were told to sit on the benches, and to scoot down to the end. There was a lot of talk about making people scoot down, as we had quite a few people to process.

Several times the officers were heard to ask applicants if anything had changed since their interview, as they clearly hadn't filled in the questions on the back of the appointment letter. There were also several times when one of the officers shouted "Is there anyone here who speaks Spanish and English? Could you lend us a hand?" as there were several people who not only hadn't filled in the questions, they clearly didn't UNDERSTAND the questions... So we had applicants helping the officers fill in other applicant's questionnaires...

Eventually we were all seated, and the family and guests were filed in. By this stage the courthouse was packed, with many people standing at the back and in the doorways. We were all given a few souvenirs - a copy of the Constitution, a Citizen's Almanac (which is actually pretty interesting), a copy of the big scary oath, and a welcome letter from George W. Bush (with a replica of his own rubber stamped signature, very cool).

Our friendly officer gave us a little talk about applying for passports, how to sign our Citizenship certificates, and how to register to vote. This part was particularly easy, as there was a small herd of 'voter registerers' waiting for us outside the court!

Eventually we were all told to stand when the judge entered, and the officer stood at the dock and asked that the judge consider us as worthy of citizenship, having been vetted and found worthy and of good character...

The judge was very friendly. He started by telling us that 80 years earlier both his parents had gained Citizenship in the very court we were in (albeit a different building back then), and that we were all going to be part of a very exciting, elite club of 280,000,000 people!

We all stood to take the oath of allegiance, effectively cutting our ties with our countries of birth. The judge later pointed out that we would always have very strong ties with our homelands, but that now our political allegiances would be to the USA. Sounds reasonable... He also stated that as US citizens we would have many rights and advantages, but also many responsibilities to our country and each other. He summed it all up in JFK's words - "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country". To this end, he urged us all to register to vote as soon as we left the court room.

Finally we were dismissed with the words "Congratulations, my fellow Americans" which sounded pretty weird, but good!

As we rose to file out we received our Citizenship Certificates, and we were done! I met up again with SG and my stepdaughters, who were able to grab a few pictures of me amid the crowd (I'm the one with large pale forehead...) and it was off for pizza to celebrate!

Our whole process took 1,924 days from mailing the I-129F to the Citizenship ceremony, at which 142 people from 36 countries all became US Citizens.

And that, my friends, is our story completed!

~MrPink
~~and SecretGarden
(who will be lugging a suitcase full of USCIS applications, documents and evidence up to the attic for permanent storage!)

SecretGarden

Ummmm. honey? Chicago is "down" from us, not "up".

~SG

meauxna

Just depends on which way you are facing at the time!


Hearty big congratulations from your buddy out West, MrPink. I am so thrilled to see your trip & a half come to a natural conclusion (oh yeah, and happy ending.. I know it was touch n' go there with the black ink....)

WAHOO!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!! WELCOME CITIZEN PINK!!!


And special 'grats to our lovely SG who will need to step down as leader of the AR Club.. I have a feeling we've got a replacement or two in the wings.. <g>

Way to go, kids!

Maggs

Hello Mr Pink and SG!

CONGRATULATIONS!!

I am so glad everything went well and, YES, it is a pretty cool experience! That's it then.... over....... nothing more to do.....WOO HOO!!!

Maggie

P.S. I've been waiting all day for you to post!!

ian-mstm

Congratulations Mr. Pink! And congratulations to SecretGarden as well. I have followed your journey with great interest these past few years, and I am so glad to hear that it's finally over!

Ian

Folinskyinla

Hi:

Congratulations. I remember the one time I attended a ceremony [21 years ago] and as a member of the bar I was allowed to sit directly in front of the dias. [It was a judicial swearing in, but at the LA Convention Center]. The thing that I remember is the feeling of overwhelming emotion wafting over my head as the 3500 hundred people seated behind me took that oath.

My grandparents always remembered the day fondly when they became US citizens [they were refugees, so the feeling was quite strong].

I am laughing a tad about the distance. I have a client who is a university professor and later this month he is being sworn in at a facility literally across the street from his office! I told him that this was the first time I've ever had this happen. His processing starts at 8:15 and he wanted to know if he should cancel his 11:00 a.m. class. I suggested it was a smart thing to do.

Steffi

Congratulations to one of the newest citizens of the United States of America! (Just in time to vote too, huh, hehe.)

Wow, must be kind of surreal to have it ALL done and over with! Craziness. Hopefully I'll get there one day too.

Steffi

P.S. God, doesn't that sound like ages. I just used one of those "how many days old are you" calculators to figure out how many days it's been for me: 2,062 days since sending off the I-129F application.

Rete

They never get the directional downs and ups right, SG. Jim still tells me we are going down to Canada. Duh!


Congratulations Mr. Pink and Ms. SG. The saga has ended successfully and they all lived happily ever after.

And yes, you owe me an ice cream cone.

mrpink

It's a wonderful thing!

As I exited the courtroom one of the 'voter registerererer' people if I wanted to register to vote, and as I took the form I replied "yes... yes I really do!" So, just counting the days before I can go exercise my civic rights

But there's a problem...

I've been carrying my Permanent Resident Card around in a special pocket in my wallet for the last hundred years or so... and now it's gone! And I miss it already!

What am I going to put in the big gap in my wallet??? Not another credit card, or store card, they all live in the big compartment inside... And I've got my driver's license and insurance cards in one spot, so I don't want to split them up...

It's like a big open wound in my wallet, it's odd... What should I use to replace it??

Mr Pink
~and SecretGarden
~~(who is probably wondering what the hell the fuss is all about)

Rete

A condom?

Folinskyinla

Hi:

The Department of State now issues a card passport for travel to Canada & Mexico.

mrpink

Well there's a couple of good suggestions!

Actually, what I think I'll do is move the driving license and insurance cards back into the gap, and the space at the front - the one with the little window - would be a great place to put a photo of SecretGarden, and I think that would be a good idea.

Also, I really would like to thank each and every one of you for all the support and help you've given both of us over the last five years, it really means a lot to us.

Cheers,

Mr Pink
~and SecretGarden

ian-mstm

Now you got me curious. Mine was 2401 days from sending off the I-129F until the date of my oath ceremony... a little over 6.5 years! Ugh!

Ian

ian-mstm

Well, to be pedantic, it would be down if you lived in Detroit!

Ian