Oath Ceremony in San Diego
 

After a good many years I finally took the plunge and applied to become a US Citizen.

My notice letter says to appear at 12.30 but doing some Google searching I understand that this is the time that I need to be there, not the time that the ceremony starts.

Does anyone know what time the ceremony actually starts as a few people have expressed they would like to attend and I would hate for them to arrive at 12.30 and then have to wait for a couple of hours?

Thank you.

Re: Oath Ceremony in San Diego
 

My letter said to show up at 1:00pm. The ceremony didn't start until 2:30pm because during that time they have to check that everyone still qualifies, is up-to-date on disclosing travel, other paperwork, and collecting the green cards. Depending on how many are at your ceremony, it might take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours to get through all that stuff. If your people value you at all, they'll wait.

Now... that all said, if you know where the ceremony will be, you can probably find out from the court clerk what time the judge is slated to be in the courtroom. That should narrow the time a bit for you. :)

Ian

Re: Oath Ceremony in San Diego
 

Hubby's was in NYC's federal court. It was scheduled for him to arrive at 11 am. I and my daughter went with him. They let us sit in a comfortable room with beverages and snacks that could be purchased while they went through the procedure that Mr. Ian has described. We were lead into the court room at 12:30 and the oath ceremony started at 1 pm and was over at 1:20 pm. The judge refused to have pictures taken with the new citizens, there was no playing of the message by the President. Just out and out simply being sworn in and the judge left the court room for his liquid lunch as the clerk advised us when we asked. There were over 150 people being sworn in.

Re: Oath Ceremony in San Diego
 

Well my British friends said they're going to be waving Union Flags so maybe a long wait will curb their enthusiasm.

Also some people who want to come have children so it would be useful to give them an idea of real time so that they know whether they need to arrange after school childcare. Or if they want to bring their children they won't have to keep them amused for too long.

I don't know if or how San Diego staggers arrival times but it is likely that there will be a large number of "oathers".



Interesting that you should say that as in my search LA (County?) court came up and they had a nice page on their website with Naturalization details so I then searched on San Diego's page. Not so fancy.

Re: Oath Ceremony in San Diego
 

There were over 2000 at my ceremony in Los Angeles. There was about an hour and a half wait and the ceremony was about an hour. The place was packed so I would suggest earlier rather than later :)

Re: Oath Ceremony in San Diego
 

There was 1000 in Lowell recently. Took 2 hours of sitting on an exceptionally uncomfortable stool surrounded on all sides by a cram of people.

Re: Oath Ceremony in San Diego
 

I don't know how many immigrants there were at my husband's oath ceremony in Phoenix back in 2009, but it seemed like a lot. I was there, of course, along with my sister and her husband, and my best friend and her husband. We all had to stand around outside the oath room with all the other guests, while my husband and other immigrants went inside the room so they could double check everyone's paperwork and verify their eligibility on the day.

I don't know exactly how long we were kept waiting, but I'd say more than an hour. The ceremony was about 30 minutes long, and then we stayed around to get my husband registered to vote and update SS with his new status (there were tables outside the oath room set up for this). Then all the others went to the restaurant where we were going to have a surprise lunch for my husband, with several other guests, while my husband and I walked over to the passport office and applied for his US passport. That took longer than the whole oath ceremony! Ugh!

But lunch was fabulous, hubby was very surprised, and I even dressed up like the Statue of Liberty! :)

Rene

Re: Oath Ceremony in San Diego
 

Photos! Let's see some photos! :)

Ian

Re: Oath Ceremony in San Diego
 

I will not share my photo of you or your husband from that day, Rene. I felt privileged to have a small part in the festivities.

Re: Oath Ceremony in San Diego
 

Much love, Rete! It was very special!

Rene

Re: Oath Ceremony in San Diego
 

I had my naturalization ceremony in San Diego. It was held at Golden Hall downtown. My ceremony was scheduled for 10am on a Wednesday (usually the 3rd or 4th Wednesday of the month). I guess things have changed since 2014.

Anyway, there were around 1000 people I guess. There was a massive queue to get into Golden hall, it stretched around the block. Then there was queueing for handing in your greencard and getting the certificate. The relatives all had to sit on the balcony above.

Then we sat down and watched some dance show (a dance for every state), listen to readings, and listen to a judge talk for a bit and finally do the oath. Kind of fun though. I found the dancing to be the worse/excruciating thing - it felt a bit like a David Brent skit from the office.

It was a few hours in total but it must have changed if you are going at 1pm?

Re: Oath Ceremony in San Diego
 

An update in case anyone else is having an ceremony in San Diego.

There were two ceremonies on my day, one started at 9.00 am. The other was scheduled to start at 2.30 but they actually started when everyone was in - 2.20 but they still let guests in after that as one of my friends arrived at 2.30 (really, really bad traffic) and the list of countries was being read so she didn't miss hearing United Kingdom.

Doors to let "oathers" in didn't open until 12.30. Guests were not let in until most of the "oathers" were in. The advantage of being early meant that you were one of the first to get your certificate. I actually didn't think that was much of an advantage because the wait to get my certificate was less than the wait for the doors to open and for the ceremony to start. Also by the time I got my certificate the crowds had thinned and I could see my friends and DH waiting.