alien no more

Another happy day. I finally took my oath this afternoon as a citizen of the United States of America at the Campbell Heritage Theater exactly two weeks after my interview. After almost 5 years of being here (4 years as Green Card holder), i have finally applied for citizenship and the entire process from start to finish took me only 3 months.  National average processing time is 5 months so no doubt the upcoming elections must have helped lubricate the citizenship machinery. 

We got there about half an hour before the 12:30pm ceremony.  By then, a big crowd has already gathered outside the theatre.  As I found out later, it doesn't really matter which line you go 'coz an immigration officer will check your Notice and scribble a number and letter combination on it.  I believe mine was 8A, not sure if i remembered it right.  Anyway that number will determine where you sit in the theatre.  Guests, however, have a separate line (on the leftmost side of the entrance) and they were ushered in first.  My husband had front row balcony seat.

At the theatre entrance, an officer will check the number and direct you to your seat.  As you enter your row, another officer will "confiscate" your green card.  Yes, that would be the very last time you will see your precious GC.  The collected green card will be their basis in arranging the naturalization certificates for distribution at the end of the ceremony.

Officials from the Registry of Voters opened the program with instructions on how to register for the upcoming elections. The process of filling up the voter's registration form was explained in detail in not one but 5 other languages - English, Chinese, Spanish, Filipino and Vietnamese.  Me and my seatmate from Nicaragua had a fun time guessing who among the officers seated would be speaking which language. 

After that, the actual oathtaking ceremony commenced.  Here's what happened during the program:

• singing of the national anthem
• speech by a USCIS Officer
• call of countries - we stood up when our country of origin was called
• oath of allegiance (a young lady was randomly preselected to lead the oath and she was the first one among us to receive her naturalization certificate)
• pledge of allegiance
• video of President Obama
• patriotic song video (God Bless the USA)
• speech from an officer of the San Francisco passport office; she also called on those who will apply for passport that day to stand up and she administered the oath 
• distribution of naturalization certificates as you exit your row
• passport application and voter's registration processing at the theatre lobby
• photo-op with a big US flag outside the theatre :)

During the ceremony, a few attendees were teary-eyed, some were endlessly waving their handy flags. I wasn't as emotionally pumped as they were, maybe because my journey to this point was short and easy. Life has been good to me and America has treated me well. For sure other people's stories were different. Some travelled a long, hard and painful path to get here and shed blood, sweat and tears... and to finally reach this point is a relief and a celebration insterpersed with memory flashes of past struggles and hardships.

As I took my oath together with 433 other new citizens from 59 countries, we were reminded that here in America, people are united NOT because of one culture or ideology or ethnicity BUT by the principles of opportunity and liberty. As President Obama said in his taped speech, "use that freedom to contribute to the good of the nation and the world." Although I didn't feel any different after the ceremony, it sure is a relief to know that I can now enjoy the privileges of a US citizen... and that makes me excited about this ongoing chapter in my life. This is my life now - with my loving and responsible husband and Racrac, my little curious george, who brings me joy every single day that he grows. It was a sacrifice to leave my birth country where i spent 33 years of my life to start a family here but life's like that, ever-changing. Life is always moving forward...like water flowing down a hill going more or less in one path until it splashes into something that forces us to find a new direction.

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Tips and reminders:

1.  What to wear - i looked around and saw jeans, slacks, skirts, capris, dresses, office attire, suits, neckties, graphic t-shirts, polo shirts, long/short-sleeved shirts, rubber shoes, sandals, pumps, boots.  In short, you can wear almost anything...just please, no tank tops, shorts and slippers.  I wore a comfortable black slacks i'd normally wear to work, a ruffled bolero over a short-sleeved fuschia knitted blouse and black heeled pumps.  I originally planned to wear a red casual dress but it was cold when i went outside so i changed.

2.  What to bring - your Notice to appear for the oath taking, green card and if applying for passport, one 2x2 passport photo, filled-up passport application form and payment check.  I was ready with this because after my citizenship interview, the immigration officer gave me the instructions envelope for passport application and reminded me to bring it during the oath ceremony.  I also suggest you carry a document bag or tote bag because you will be given a big envelope filled with brochures, information documents, a letter from the President and a handy US flag.  It didn't fit my purse and i felt very uncomfortable holding both my purse and the envelope on my lap on a theatre seat.  No food and drinks allowed, small bottled water i think is ok.

3.  Apply for Passport - Let me warn you that if you choose to apply for passport during the citizenship oath ceremony, don't be surprised if you only have a few seconds to lay eyes on your naturalization certificate because that, too, will go inside the passport application envelope.  It happened so fast I didn't even have time to check if the information in my naturalization certificate are true and correct.  As soon as I exited my row and received the certificate, an officer guided me to the passport application booth and i rushed to get ahead of everybody. While the line moves forward, I signed my naturalization certificate in haste with my full and complete signature after futile attempts to ask an officer what kind of signature should i use (complete signature or my regular signature?... she didn't understand my dilemma at all).  The lady behind me had the same dilemma and we both decided to just sign with our full name.  Then we had to sign the passport application form, now what? Hmmm, I signed it with my regular signature... the same signature i use for credit cards and all other I.D. documents i have i.e. driver's license. 

Anyway the original naturalization certificate, passport application form, 2x2 color photo and check ($135 for regular processing time of 4-6 weeks, additional fees apply if you want to expedite it) will ALL go inside the passport application envelope.  You seal it, write the check amount anywhere outside the envelope and drop it on the box in front of the passport officer.  I left the theatre keeping my fingers crossed that the naturalization certificate will not get lost in the process and sad that i didn't even had time to take a photo of it.

UPDATE:  Received my passport in the mail 2 weeks after the oathtaking ceremony; the Naturalization Certificate also came in the mail the day after i got the passport.

4.  Register to Vote. All throughout the ceremony you will be reminded how important it is for you to exercise one of your rights as a US citizen: vote!  At the theatre lobby you can fill up the voter's registration form and submit it to the Officer who will check and drop it on the box.

5.  How long it takes.  The ceremony takes about an hour and you stay longer if you apply for passport.  We were back in the car by 2:00pm.  Note that they hold two ceremonies at Campbell: 9:30am and 12:30pm.


Click here for more of my immigration experience

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