Oath Ceremony Duration

[kirts 0]

Hi all,

My wife's letter with her ceremony date says the oath ceremony takes about 3 hours. Is this really the case, or is it typically shorter than this? She is in Boston, so I don't know if that makes any difference, or if they all last the same amount of time.

Thanks!

[Anh map 2,098]

That's how long it took last month at Faneuil Hall

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Understand how this works. There are Oath Ceremonies where 50 (or even less people) are sworn in, and there are Oath Ceremonies where 6,000 people are sworn in in the a.m. and another 6,000 in the p.m. Add friends a family to this and you are at a Laker's game or NASCAR race, minus the fun.

First, everybody arrives. I was sworn in with 3,600 people, arrived super early, yet needed 25 minutes to even get through the gate to park my car, then another 10 minutes to walk to the building. There were 38 lines of 100 people each, all who had to check in, show their N-445, answer question, and trott to the arena with the awful, way too short garden chairs. Friends and family were in the cattle arena, standing shoulder to shoulder, slobbering on each other, so far away that they couldn't really see us. I felt sorry for my wife; she really didn't sign up for that.

So about an hour went by just to process everybody. At that time I hardly could sit anymore. People were on the cell phones, trying to kill time. Then came a speech I didn't understand from somebody I didn't know, very far away on the horizon. There was a judge who uttered total meaningless ####### about his grandparents who came on the Mayflower and look what became of him. Then more speech, but the speaker system wasn't set up right, so I didn't understand a word of it. Then a movie with Barack Obama, total #######. Then a song from some country singer I didn't know: America the Beautiful. Then we were sworn in, but couldn't hear the judge. Luckily I knew the words by heart. Then waiting about 20 minutes for 3,600 people to get back in line to surrender their N-445 and Green Cards and accept their Certificates. Yep, all in all, that was a 3-hour gig.

[LastSurvivor 0]

Same day oath for my wife in Atlanta. We were there at 10:15am for an intv. at 11:15am. The oath ceremony was at 2pm. By the time it was over it was almost 4. I enjoyed the ceremony and actually teared up once. I'm sure others had different experiences but to me it was great.

[NickD 203]

It's suppose to be an enjoyable heart warming experience just like my military days spending hours standing at attention so the general can have a review of his troops. Very patriotic and in particular on Veterans and Memorial days. But did serve a purpose, we were too exhausted to head into town and get drunk, just hit the sack instead.

US citizenship only occurs once in your life time, do you have have to tack on an additional eight hours for driving? Is it their way of saying, aren't you glad its over? When my wife and stepdaughter received their certificate, the entire crowd stopped an applauded. LOL, like they even cared, only I cared.

Obama's questionable birthplace still won't die and is still on the news, Thump is making a big deal out of it now. But got me to thinking that is dangerous, maybe we should be giving me the Welcome to the USA speech, instead of the other way around.

[Kcubas10 0]

The oath ceremony for me took one 1 hour 15 minutes. We went in at 2:45 pm and walked out at 4 pm. There were 77 people.

[LastSurvivor 0]

Our drive was only 1 hour each way but it was an all day event. I was exhausted but also happy to be finished with USCIS. Well, for the near future anyway. I will help my sister-in-law if she wants to come over. My wife was in the front row for her oath and I promptly moved to the front where there were overflow chairs after asking if it was okay. I had a full view of the ceremony and the speaker even asked me a question or two and the guy next to me as well. My wife is from Thailand and I pointed out that we should have Thai food one last time that day since she is no longer Thai. LOL

I will also remember the ceremony because there was an Iraqi there being sworn in at the same time. He was in U.S. military gear and I know it meant something special to him as well. I meant to shake his hand and thank him for his service but forgot in the scramble after the ceremony. I did talk with a few others who got their citizenship and made a few friends. Again, just try to be positive and enjoy the day no matter how long it takes.

LS

[Caroline and Phil 14]

I think it's a day to enjoy.

When I have mine (God help everything goes well) I will keep my thought on my father-in-law who passed way last year in December. I always wanted to celebrate with him but it won't be possible. So I want to do it on his memory and honor.