Naturalization Success-the US has a few more citizens today

[meauxna 15]

My Darling Alien Husband has recently been upgraded to Darling American Husband!

After a whirlwind day last week, he has now experienced his interview (15-20 minutes) & passed all questions 100% (an obsessive goal of his), was recommended for approval, had everything completed by the noon deadline and enjoyed his same-day oath ceremony to finish it all off by going to bed as a US citizen with a gutload of the Midwest's finest beef.

After an hour and a half break, we returned to the USCIS building with family in tow and filed along upstairs to the auditorium with the other 35 citizen candidates from 17 countries and assembled for the boilerplate videos and a very nice talk from our District Director. Leaving politics (almost) aside, he emphasized the balance and beauty of the Constitution and urged everyone to work to protect it. It was interesting to hear a man with 30+ (IIRC) years' experience in the Department condense 'patriotism' down to the most important document.

As corny as all of we meauxna-family cynics expected it to be, we were all surprised to be genuinely moved through the ceremony. The DD had all the candidates stand and give their country of origin as an introduction. Eventually, all were called forward one by one and presented with their Certificates, a US flag and a message from the President. Much posing for pictures ensued and I presented the DAH with a US flag that had been flown over the US Capitol in his honor (certificate to prove it!) which touched even The Big Stoic himself & was a big hit (17 bucks well spent).

The Portland office maintains its commitment to a 6 month turnaround for naturalization, and as usual, the staff there were human, friendly and helpful as well as genuinely excited for us all. We partied with a festive dinner and are still buzzing about it all days later. The DAH has mentioned the happy surprise of how enthusiastic other Americans are at hearing his news--everyone has made a real fuss over him & the barkeep bought him a drink at dinner.

The next step is a quick trip to Seattle to the Passport Agency--we're traveling in less than a week. I'd asked the group about this earlier and did some searches--for the curious, he *could* travel in the Western hemisphere and return without a passport (http://www.customs.gov/xp/cgov/travel/vacation/kbyg/documents_needed.xml). However, the cost and time invloved in replacing a Certificate of Naturalization makes it worth burning up some gas and time to go to Seattle.

I imagine there are a thousand details I could add to this report, but there is nothing magic for you to know by this point--take your paperwork, answer the questions & follow the instructions. You'll walk out as a USC.

I'm surprised at how proud I am of the DAH, and how much it meant to him, finally. It was not so much an achievement for him as the conclusion to our interim plans but it really did signal a conclusion of sorts, and cemented what he already felt: that the US is his home, and he's one of Us.

I-130 filed Aug02.

USC July06.

/

UPDATE: The Western Hemisphere Travel initiative is no longer current. ALL USCs must use a passport to re-enter the US if arriving by air. See travel.state.gov for details in case my statement is too broad.

Another newsgrouper was in similar circumstances in 4/07 and did have to go to the San Francisco passport agency office on an emergency visit like ours, to get his US passport in time.

Canceling an oath ceremony can result in a long delay until you are rescheduled.

Edited April 21, 2007 by meauxna

[diadromous mermaid 36]

My Darling Alien Husband has recently been upgraded to Darling American Husband!

After a whirlwind day last week, he has now experienced his interview (15-20 minutes) & passed all questions 100% (an obsessive goal of his), was recommended for approval, had everything completed by the noon deadline and enjoyed his same-day oath ceremony to finish it all off by going to bed as a US citizen with a gutload of the Midwest's finest beef.

After an hour and a half break, we returned to the USCIS building with family in tow and filed along upstairs to the auditorium with the other 35 citizen candidates from 17 countries and assembled for the boilerplate videos and a very nice talk from our District Director. Leaving politics (almost) aside, he emphasized the balance and beauty of the Constitution and urged everyone to work to protect it. It was interesting to hear a man with 30+ (IIRC) years' experience in the Department condense 'patriotism' down to the most important document.

As corny as all of we meauxna-family cynics expected it to be, we were all surprised to be genuinely moved through the ceremony. The DD had all the candidates stand and give their country of origin as an introduction. Eventually, all were called forward one by one and presented with their Certificates, a US flag and a message from the President. Much posing for pictures ensued and I presented the DAH with a US flag that had been flown over the US Capitol in his honor (certificate to prove it!) which touched even The Big Stoic himself & was a big hit (17 bucks well spent).

The Portland office maintains its commitment to a 6 month turnaround for naturalization, and as usual, the staff there were human, friendly and helpful as well as genuinely excited for us all. We partied with a festive dinner and are still buzzing about it all days later. The DAH has mentioned the happy surprise of how enthusiastic other Americans are at hearing his news--everyone has made a real fuss over him & the barkeep bought him a drink at dinner.

The next step is a quick trip to Seattle to the Passport Agency--we're traveling in less than a week. I'd asked the group about this earlier and did some searches--for the curious, he *could* travel in the Western hemisphere and return without a passport (http://www.customs.gov/xp/cgov/travel/vacation/kbyg/documents_needed.xml). However, the cost and time invloved in replacing a Certificate of Naturalization makes it worth burning up some gas and time to go to Seattle.

I imagine there are a thousand details I could add to this report, but there is nothing magic for you to know by this point--take your paperwork, answer the questions & follow the instructions. You'll walk out as a USC.

I'm surprised at how proud I am of the DAH, and how much it meant to him, finally. It was not so much an achievement for him as the conclusion to our interim plans but it really did signal a conclusion of sorts, and cemented what he already felt: that the US is his home, and he's one of Us.

I-130 filed Aug02.

USC July06.

/

Brilliant! Please offer my congradulations to him too, funky digit and all;) 100% on the test ~ not shabby at all. Enjoy! But don't go away too long. Folks here need you.

[nonakuki 0]

Congrats! glad to hear that. May I ask how many question they asked him?

[~Jackie~ 30]

That is wonderful news!

Jackie

[ceriserose 1]

I'm so very happy for you both! Thanks for sharing the experience.

And...bon voyage!

[zyggy 9]

Congrats to your and your husband Mo...

Very deserved... Have fun on the trip...

[raymaga 25]

Congrats and best wishes to both of you.

It must be a big relief to know that it is truly all over with the paperwork, interviews, and stress.

Enjoy your years together as a good old American couple!!!!

Edited July 17, 2006 by raymaga

[I'm Gone 60]

Congratulations. Now stick a fork in the USCIS, you are done.

[pj1959us 0]

Excellent news and thanks for sharing your story...feel free to add to the details for those of us awaiting the moment.

Please offer our congratulations to your DAH

[Fandango 1,439]

Sending ya lots of luv!!!!

CONGRATS!

(L) (L)

[Kez/JWolf 6]

Congratulations to you and DAH.... what a wonderful gift the flag was.... where did you get it from????

Kezzie

[Sister Fracas 5]

WOW...it kinda brings tears to my eyes to think about the day that we can have this experience. Big congratulations to you and your DAH.

Less than four years from filing I-130 till citizenship...that's enviable.

[meauxna 15]

Thanks all, it really is a great feeling!

The flag was a fluke, but I'm so glad I did it. From my Congressional Rep's webpage (don't even remember what I was doing there) under 'Services' I found a link about the flags.

For the cost of the flag, the Representative will arrange to have your flag flown over the US Capitol in honor of who/what event you stipulate. When they send the boxed flag, there is a nice certificate inclosed stating the particulars. The DAH couldn't believe I'd actually been able to have that done *for him*!. "The real Capitol?" he kept asking.

One of the 100 questions in the test pool is "What is the capital of the United States?" (Washington DC) and another question is "What is the US Capitol?" (the building where Congress meets). Due to a typo in the question page and the fact that the words sound identical, he kept mixing those two up in practice, so the flag was that much more apropos. (we now pronounce the name of the building the CapiTOle around our house)

He was asked the usual 10 civics questions---they are randomly generated by the officer's computer. Same for the written English part of the test. He was asked to write "You cook very well" (a phrase I have never heard him utter!?!) which he was amused by---no words over 4 letters.

He was marched through the questions on the N-400 and asked to clarify that we were still living together, had been living together and had not had any separations.

There is a little page you are given with some questions right before your oath ceremony. You have to report any trips out of the US since your interview, any arrests etc. He was instructed that these should all be answered NO as there was only one hour and a half between interview and oath. I guess some things are NOT too obvious to be mentioned.

PS: mermaid! The funky digits passed the test this time (phew!). Meant to tell you that when I was trying to get info on the same day oath thingie, I stopped in the office to ask. I also asked about his security and name checks and the officer was nice enough to go confirm that all of them were in, so that's how we knew we'd be a 'go' for the same day ceremony. Based on the number of people participating, they were not all same dayers.

Can't wait to break in the new pp---getting that will be a story and post of its own! Am considering 'losing' my own pp so I can get a fresh 10 years without the RFID chip in it---how's that for paranoid!?!?

Edited July 17, 2006 by meauxna

[PrincessDot 0]

Congratulations! I'll be applying for Nat'n myself in the next six months or so, so it's good to hear of happy endings to this immigration process.

[kittykatwoman 0]

Bravo!!!

That is some great news