Denver field office fillings

[Andr0s 29]

Hello everyone,

 

I've had my oath ceremony yesterday, meaning my journey is over - I'm officially an US citizen. I'll still hang around here for a while, assuming there may be questions I can answer to help others and hoping I'll see all of you become citizens soon as well.

 

Here's a brief outline of how naturalization ceremony works at Denver office:

 

• Scheduling : Your letter will (likely) say ceremony is at 1:30PM. I recommend you show up no later than 1, as you'll need to go through the "airport-level" security to get in, and there'll be a lot more people in line than when you showed up for your interviews, because of all the friends and family etc.
• Entry : There was a pretty long queue for the entrance and security - I'd estimate it took me about 15 min to get past security. The guard wanted to see my ceremony letter, driver's license and green card. Security is the usual "shoes, belts, metal off" thing, so keep that in mind when choosing your wardrobe and other things you bring with you. 
• After security, everyone - both citizens-to-be and friends and family - gets sent up to 2nd floor; you'll likely sit around there for a while, after you show another guard your oath ceremony letter, that is.
• Around 1:30 they started sending citizens-to-be (no friends and family) upstairs to third floor; there you'll surrender your Green Card (if you have one) and your letter, will be given a small package of flyers, booklets and US flag, and will be assigned a seat. The order in which seats are assigned corresponds to order in which people are called for the ceremony, so don't change your seats - lady in charge gets quite grumpy if you do that.
• Around 2 - or when all the citizens-to-be are in their seats - they'll let in the friends and family and start the ceremony.
• Ceremony itself took ~30-45 min; there are a couple of videos to watch, mixed with oath of allegiance and pledge of allegiance (to the flag), and presentation of certificates of naturalization. 

I hope this is helpful and informative; I'm estimating there were ~60-80 people in my ceremony. 

[MyJourney 276]

Congratulations! Thank you for sharing your experience!

[dfont 6]

Thank you for sharing this useful info and congrats for reaching the finish line. Please drink a cold beer on my behalf. We're waiting for January filers to start sharing their timeline.

Edited September 20, 2017 by dfont

[Possiblymaybe 371]

5 hours ago, Andr0s said:

 

• Around 1:30 they started sending citizens-to-be (no friends and family) upstairs to third floor; there you'll surrender your Green Card (if you have one) and your letter, will be given a small package of flyers, booklets and US flag, and will be assigned a seat. The order in which seats are assigned corresponds to order in which people are called for the ceremony, so don't change your seats - lady in charge gets quite grumpy if you do that.
•  

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!  And thank you for sharing your experience with us!

 

I have a question about your comment above.  Were there people that did not have a green card to surrender?  My husband's green card is lost and we don't plan to replace it since the citizenship interview is so close.  I've read posts that say you must replace the green card and other posts have said that they just make you sign a letter swearing that you lost it.  Clearly, we are hoping for this last option.  Do you know?

 

[Andr0s 29]

On 9/20/2017 at 4:48 PM, jenafid said:

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!  And thank you for sharing your experience with us!

 

I have a question about your comment above.  Were there people that did not have a green card to surrender?  My husband's green card is lost and we don't plan to replace it since the citizenship interview is so close.  I've read posts that say you must replace the green card and other posts have said that they just make you sign a letter swearing that you lost it.  Clearly, we are hoping for this last option.  Do you know?

 

To be honest, I didn't notice any. One gentleman had problems and got diverted to an interview room because he apparently managed to get married 2 days before oath ceremony, but I didn't hear of any discussions about missing green cards. I think InfoPass is the best place to ask what to do, assuming you don't have a lawyer.

[Possiblymaybe 371]

The online status didn't change, but my husband received an interview notice for October 30th. Finally!

[dfont 6]

Quote

 

Congrats, jenafid, for your husband. This may mean that they have started treating January cases. This sound like good news.

Please keep us posted.

[Possiblymaybe 371]

20 hours ago, dfont said:

Congrats, jenafid, for your husband. This may mean that they have started treating January cases. This sound like good news.

Please keep us posted.

Thank you.  Hopefully you and MyJourney will see interview letters soon too!

[MyJourney 276]

On 9/24/2017 at 3:00 PM, jenafid said:

The online status didn't change, but my husband received an interview notice for October 30th. Finally!

Congratulations!!! I am so happy for you guys! 

I also received my interview letter today! It is scheduled for October 24, 2017! I also did not receive any online/email/text updates, received the letter in the mail out of nowhere! 

[Possiblymaybe 371]

3 minutes ago, MyJourney said:

Congratulations!!! I am so happy for you guys! 

I also received my interview letter today! It is scheduled for October 24, 2017! I also did not receive any online/email/text updates, received the letter in the mail out of nowhere! 

So happy for you!!!  January Denver filers are finally moving!

[dfont 6]

Waiting anxiously for other Denver JAN filers to say something....

[Possiblymaybe 371]

3 hours ago, dfont said:

Waiting anxiously for other Denver JAN filers to say something....

I think you are the only one left.  Your interview date should come soon!

[Tdiep 27]

Congrats to all Denver Jan Filers, especially @MyJourney, I know how long have you waited bro. I'm happy for you.

 

Next, I need to find Devner Feb Filers to follow to keep track of the progress. Unfortunally I haven't seen anyone on VJ yet. Please let me know if you know.

 

Thanks,

[Djibson 12]

13 hours ago, Tdiep said:

Congrats to all Denver Jan Filers, especially @MyJourney, I know how long have you waited bro. I'm happy for you.

 

Next, I need to find Devner Feb Filers to follow to keep track of the progress. Unfortunally I haven't seen anyone on VJ yet. Please let me know if you know.

 

Thanks,

I am a February filler. Hopefully I will get a letter in October for November interview 

[Tdiep 27]

1 hour ago, Sonone said:

I am a February filler. Hopefully I will get a letter in October for November interview 

Cool. thanks for letting me know. wish you the best bro.