brit-n-yank

Yay - been in USA for 3 years and one month, and am now a US citizen! Oath Ceremony held in Tucson last Friday - it was great, really moving.
Daughter (17) also granted citizenship status. Two more Yanks!
Thanks to everyone on Expats who has helped me make the transition over the last four years.

MsElui

Congrats to you! i hope to follow in about 5 years time

Zonie

Congratulations! If you could share your interview/ceremony experiences and N-400 timeline it would be appreciated. Thanks.

brit-n-yank

Hi,
I sent my N-400 in on June 23rd and had a letter of receipt dated June 26th, 2009.
July 1st, I received letter for appointment for fingerprinting in Tucson on July 14th.
July 20th, letter with date of interview - set for September 2nd in Tucson.
Unfortunately, when I attended for interview, I was told they couldn't go ahead with it because I hadn't been in the States for a full three years, so we re-scheduled for September 23rd.
Interview went well. I would have been happier with written questions as opposed to oral, but I didn't fluff it too badly! It was all over and done with in half an hour - unfortunately I had sent my 'ride' shopping, thinking I would be there for approx two hours, so I had a long wait afterwards!
I received my invitation for the Oath Ceremony within ten days of the interview, set for Oct 23rd.
That too was held in Tucson. It was a nice ceremony, all the staff were really friendly and helpful. The only thing I didn't like was that we were told we could not take a camera into the court with us, but as it turned out - everyone had them! We arrived (typical Brit fashion) an hour ahead of the time for reporting, then there was half an hour of waiting for everyone else to show up. The Ceremony began at 1.30pm, and lasted about half an hour. There were about 50 of us being sworn in. Then we were called up to sign and receive the Certificate, but we were away from the court by 2.20pm.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you need/want any other information.

Zonie

Thanks for the information. Four months from application to oath! I'm guessing the oath ceremony was at the courthouse on W. Congress? We will be applying next March as 5 year permanent residents.

Was there any leeway in the fingerprinting or did you have to turn up at the letter appointed time and date?

JAJ

Congratulations. Make sure you file an N-600 for your daughter so she has her own citizenship certificate for the future. It could cause terrible problems at a future date if she was unable to prove her US citizenship.

ian-mstm

Congratulations to you both!

Ian

brit-n-yank

Hi,
You're right. The Ceremony was at West Congress. Quite easy to get to from I-10
With the fingerprinting, I didn't even query changing the date - too unsure of whether I'd end up on the bottom of the pile! As to the time though, we arrived quite early (typical Brit - way too early for my own good!) because we wanted to be sure we didn't hit traffic on the way up. My appointment was for 3.15pm, but they weren't busy and saw me straight away at 2pm!

brit-n-yank

We were told at the Oath Ceremony that we could just go ahead and apply for a US passport for children under 18, quoting our own Certificate Number, and that would adequately prove citizenship, rather than file an N-600.

JAJ

It is advisable to do both.

However, it is possible to apply for a US passport without the certificate. The N-600 process takes a few months.

It is not a smart idea to rely on a US passport alone as proof of citizenship. Passports expire and can easily be lost/stolen.

Kaffy Mintcake

Congratulations!

meauxna

Congratulations brit-n-yank!! Times two!

meauxna

It's OK for you to do a walk-in biometrics appointment once you have the appointment letter. People have had a good result showing up early, usually on Weds or Sats.
If searching this forum doesn't turn up a few posts for you, look in the marriage-based forum too.

Zonie

Thanks. The flexibility seems to vary depending on which USCIS Application Support Center it is. As brit-n-yank is from my home town I was asking on the off chance they had made changes. We don't apply until next year but if dates clash I'll certainly try the walk in.

fld

Congrats!!!