Disappointing Oath Ceremony

[jp178686 6]

Congratulations on receiving your new citizenship. Thank-you for the detailed review of your experience. My wife received her Canadian citizenship 10 years ago and the ceremony in our small-ish town of Kelowna was very nice. I remember the judge discussing his heartfelt journey as an immigrant and listing all the many countries represented - which amazed me considering the size of Kelowna. All the best.

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

Congratulations ! Finally done with all the craziness.
I had my oath ceremony 17 years ago but was divorced at that time after a 24 year marriage to my USC ex.
Nobody was there in support and I was alone among other immigrants. Kind of sucked not having anyone to care to celebrate with me.
I am looking forward to celebrate with my now hubby when it's time for him to naturalize 3 years from now.
I still have a photo of myself and the judge with my certificate, they offered taking pics together with the judge who happened to be
my son's friend.
I thought it was funny when during our pending AOS home visit the agent picked up on the photo being stuck in the side of the
dresser mirror in the bedroom and said: Oh this was your naturalization ceremony. I was shocked he recognized it as such.
These guys have eagle eyes.
I wish you well in your future and make the best out of everything.

[Yuliya Lipina 64]

6 hours ago, Going through said:

So ok...this was my experience at my Oath Ceremony today in Brooklyn.

 

Went through security relatively quickly and easily considering I showed up a good 40 minutes early.   Now, I had gone ahead and called Camdan Plaza East where the ceremony was going to be held, so I already knew that no cameras or cell phones were permitted in the courthouse (whether participants or guests), and I already was aware that there would be a possibility that guests were not able to view the actual ceremony.

 

All Queens, NY filers must have their oath ceremony at the court house regardless of whether or not a name-change is requested.  Just how it's done for Queens filers.   The building itself is beautiful inside, with wide spiral staircases, and lots of marble and artwork on the walls.   Headed up to the 2nd floor, where my husband and child were directed to the 3rd floor cafeteria.  I asked if they would be able to view the ceremony at all, and was told they would be called down later on.

 

Fast forward to 8:30AM when we got started with everything.  Applicants were taking up only 3 rows of the court benches, so it wasn't a long process to get everyone situated with how to fill out the back of the Oath Letter.   A few moments later, a representative from the voter registration office gave a small speech on how to vote and pressed us to fill out the application form and immediately hand it back over to her, and then she left the room never to be seen again.   After that, no one spoke to us or gave out any information on how the day would go, or welcomed us, nothing like that and participants were pretty much left on our own to just sit there and wait for....whatever was going to happen next. 

 

We were called up again to hand over the green card and receive an envelope.  Inside the envelope was a hard folder to place our certificate in, a copy of the oath, the passport application, and information on voting/serving on a jury.  Wish I'd gotten a flag, but oh well.  No welcoming letter from the President, but truth be told I didn't really expect one.

 

After about an hour, another lady started talking to us about passport applications and telling us that we can apply for the passport anytime after the ceremony (but not with them in any way, must be done through the post office or passport agency).  One person asked a rather simple question about the form, and when the staff didn't understand him due to a language barrier, I re-stated the question more coherently (I was sitting infront of him). The man was then replied to in a long, drawn-out condescending way that he "shouldn't be asking them anything about passports---ask us about immigration only!  When you go to the post office, you ask them questions about the post office, right???  I can't tell you anything about passports or the post office because I don't know anything about that."  Kind of went on and on increasingly condescendingly....okaaaayyyy....well they DID present the passport application forms to us and asked if people had any questions, but whatever.  She then stated we should apply for our SS status to be changed no less than 10 days after the oath ceremony, and asked if we had any questions about that process.  No one said a peep, probably because they were afraid of being lectured for asking a question.

 

After another wait, the 3rd lady came into the room and started setting herself up at a desk.  I was sitting in the front and could hear the staff conversations taking place since the room was nearly silent, and they were only a few feet away seated at the table.  At that point, one of them said to her "did you bring the country list?"  to which she replied "nah I didn't bother with it".  From reading other oath ceremony threads, and watching videos, I knew then that there would be no announcement of the countries recognized at the ceremony, which was a downer to me because I was looking forward to that part....almost like feeling like our immigration success was a global community effort we all shared in, but wasn't going to happen at my ceremony today.   It was also sad that they just seemed to decide on-the-spot to not be bothered with it and brush it off for whatever personal reason the woman had (maybe laziness?).

 

Soon enough, boredom sets in, since we are not being engaged in any way, and a few of us (myself included) start chatting among ourselves, not loudly.  We have a few giggles discussing our immigration journeys, what country we are from, etc. and generally how we're happy to become citizens.  About 10 minutes into our conversation, one of the workers comes over to us and ----- to my disbelief ---- tells us "You are getting too excited about this now, alright?  You all calm down and be quiet."  We, as a small group, were stunned that we were actually told to stop socializing with each other and just continue to sit there staring ahead in silence.  Personally, I was flabbergasted that she implied we shouldn't even be HAPPY about reaching this day in our lives.

 

One of the workers stood up and threatened everyone that if they didn't hand in all previous USCIS-issued documents (EADs and expired GC's) to them now or failed to mail them in at a later date "We have everything on file so we already know.  We can find out...I'm just letting you know we will find out"  I felt this was completely unnecessary of them to say this out-of-the-blue, and in a passive-aggressive manner.

 

Afterwards, we were called up by line to view our naturalization certificates.  As we approached the desk in single file, the lady barked out "what's your number?!" without explaining exactly what number she was referring to (I learned quickly she meant the last 3 digits of the alien number) then whipped out the certificate and gave each person literally a two-second glance at it before barking at us "sign your name!"  To the woman's eye-rolling annoyance, I refused to give it barely a 2-second glance, knowing this would be the only time I could get the certificate corrected for free, and looked over everything not just my name. Upon sitting down, I remarked purposefully loudly to the woman next to me (who whispered to me how rude she was) "You know, I've never been referred to as just a number before, I thought they only did that in jail."  The other worker met my eyes and slightly smiled sympathetically.  I think even SHE was wondering why her co-worker was so abrupt with everyone, despite her *own* prior unpleasantness towards participants.  

 

One poor girl who had requested a name change pointed out to the worker that the certificate didn't reflect her request.  The worker asked her what her name was supposed to be, and then flippantly remarked "Well they didn't do it.  Sign your name!"  The young lady, for obvious reasons, hesitated in signing it and the worker looked up at her and actually said "What's the problem?"  When the lady repeated that her name is not as requested on the certificate, she was again told to sign it as written.  She did end up signing it, and then respectfully asked "What do I do now, though, about the wrong name?"  The lady abruptly said "You have to go to civil court." and LITERALLY TURNED HER BACK TO HER in her swivel chair!!!  Completely ignored her until she walked away, head down, and confused.   "Next---what's your number?!"

 

Our families did eventually come down and were herded together into a small section partially away from us all. 

 

The judge arrived, we all rose out of respect and then were told to be seated again.  The judge immediately told us that she had just found out this morning that she would be presiding (from eavesdropping on the staff, I could hear them discussing which judge to call to administer the oath just before).  She gave a brief 5-minute off-the-cuff speech about the importance of voting, and serving on a jury.  There was no discussion about the importance of the day, no talk about immigrants contributing to the country, no mention about personal experience with the process.  Just a statement about voting, and jury duty---and a mention of "Happy Diwali" to those celebrating it.  She also introduced her new office clerk to us, a disinterested looking young man sitting next to her.  Overall, she had a pleasant personality, just wished something more poignant was said.  Anything.  Anything at all.   Something to make the day seem special.  Near the end of her comments, she spoke about how we should go forth and be respectable members of society and pay our taxes.  I noticed a few side-eyes being given and maybe we all thought the same thing....that we already *have* been paying taxes and *have* been good members of society.

 

We took the oath of allegiance, and then recited the pledge of allegiance.  We all clapped for ourselves and each other.  The judge handed us our certificate and shook our hands with a perfunctory "congratulations" and then we were immediately directed to leave the courthouse.  Her new clerk, adding to his aura of disinterest, stood next to her with his hands in his pockets, not speaking unless directly spoken to.  

 

All in all, it was a disappointing day.  There was no memorable moment, no feeling of a journey acknowledged, no special gathering, no poignant moment where I felt included as a citizen, no....niceness....about the entire experience.  I remarked to my husband later that it felt like I had just left another USCIS appointment where I just handed over some paperwork.  It was abrupt, the staff seemed mostly annoyed with our presence, rude for the most part, and just an anti-climatic moment all-around since my immigration process began.

 

Am I happy that my journey is over and I'm a citizen as the main thing?  Yes, I suppose so.  Just wish more thought was put into making it an actual special day for people who have struggled, and sweated, and cried, and stressed and sacrificed to make it as far as they did.  Previously reading other people's oath ceremonies in different cities/states had me thinking today wouldn't be "just like any other day".   

 

All in all, the highlight of my ceremony was giving @vkhutchings a hug as we congratulated each other outside of the courtroom.  

 

So that's it.  Oh yeah, that sums up nicely how I felt as soon as I left the courthouse.... "That's it?"

Congratulations on becoming a citizen! I am sorry your big day wasn’t what you expected. Do you have the names of the “nice” civil servants? Do you think it is worth it to file a complaint? Also, I wonder what to do in the situation when they try to force you to sign your name when it is wrong? Are they not going let you to get sworn in that day if you refuse to sign it? It makes me worried because I requested a change too.

[shell20 746]

7 hours ago, Going through said:

So ok...this was my experience at my Oath Ceremony today in Brooklyn.

 

Went through security relatively quickly and easily considering I showed up a good 40 minutes early.   Now, I had gone ahead and called Camdan Plaza East where the ceremony was going to be held, so I already knew that no cameras or cell phones were permitted in the courthouse (whether participants or guests), and I already was aware that there would be a possibility that guests were not able to view the actual ceremony.

 

All Queens, NY filers must have their oath ceremony at the court house regardless of whether or not a name-change is requested.  Just how it's done for Queens filers.   The building itself is beautiful inside, with wide spiral staircases, and lots of marble and artwork on the walls.   Headed up to the 2nd floor, where my husband and child were directed to the 3rd floor cafeteria.  I asked if they would be able to view the ceremony at all, and was told they would be called down later on.

 

Fast forward to 8:30AM when we got started with everything.  Applicants were taking up only 3 rows of the court benches, so it wasn't a long process to get everyone situated with how to fill out the back of the Oath Letter.   A few moments later, a representative from the voter registration office gave a small speech on how to vote and pressed us to fill out the application form and immediately hand it back over to her, and then she left the room never to be seen again.   After that, no one spoke to us or gave out any information on how the day would go, or welcomed us, nothing like that and participants were pretty much left on our own to just sit there and wait for....whatever was going to happen next. 

 

We were called up again to hand over the green card and receive an envelope.  Inside the envelope was a hard folder to place our certificate in, a copy of the oath, the passport application, and information on voting/serving on a jury.  Wish I'd gotten a flag, but oh well.  No welcoming letter from the President, but truth be told I didn't really expect one.

 

After about an hour, another lady started talking to us about passport applications and telling us that we can apply for the passport anytime after the ceremony (but not with them in any way, must be done through the post office or passport agency).  One person asked a rather simple question about the form, and when the staff didn't understand him due to a language barrier, I re-stated the question more coherently (I was sitting infront of him). The man was then replied to in a long, drawn-out condescending way that he "shouldn't be asking them anything about passports---ask us about immigration only!  When you go to the post office, you ask them questions about the post office, right???  I can't tell you anything about passports or the post office because I don't know anything about that."  Kind of went on and on increasingly condescendingly....okaaaayyyy....well they DID present the passport application forms to us and asked if people had any questions, but whatever.  She then stated we should apply for our SS status to be changed no less than 10 days after the oath ceremony, and asked if we had any questions about that process.  No one said a peep, probably because they were afraid of being lectured for asking a question.

 

After another wait, the 3rd lady came into the room and started setting herself up at a desk.  I was sitting in the front and could hear the staff conversations taking place since the room was nearly silent, and they were only a few feet away seated at the table.  At that point, one of them said to her "did you bring the country list?"  to which she replied "nah I didn't bother with it".  From reading other oath ceremony threads, and watching videos, I knew then that there would be no announcement of the countries recognized at the ceremony, which was a downer to me because I was looking forward to that part....almost like feeling like our immigration success was a global community effort we all shared in, but wasn't going to happen at my ceremony today.   It was also sad that they just seemed to decide on-the-spot to not be bothered with it and brush it off for whatever personal reason the woman had (maybe laziness?).

 

Soon enough, boredom sets in, since we are not being engaged in any way, and a few of us (myself included) start chatting among ourselves, not loudly.  We have a few giggles discussing our immigration journeys, what country we are from, etc. and generally how we're happy to become citizens.  About 10 minutes into our conversation, one of the workers comes over to us and ----- to my disbelief ---- tells us "You are getting too excited about this now, alright?  You all calm down and be quiet."  We, as a small group, were stunned that we were actually told to stop socializing with each other and just continue to sit there staring ahead in silence.  Personally, I was flabbergasted that she implied we shouldn't even be HAPPY about reaching this day in our lives.

 

One of the workers stood up and threatened everyone that if they didn't hand in all previous USCIS-issued documents (EADs and expired GC's) to them now or failed to mail them in at a later date "We have everything on file so we already know.  We can find out...I'm just letting you know we will find out"  I felt this was completely unnecessary of them to say this out-of-the-blue, and in a passive-aggressive manner.

 

Afterwards, we were called up by line to view our naturalization certificates.  As we approached the desk in single file, the lady barked out "what's your number?!" without explaining exactly what number she was referring to (I learned quickly she meant the last 3 digits of the alien number) then whipped out the certificate and gave each person literally a two-second glance at it before barking at us "sign your name!"  To the woman's eye-rolling annoyance, I refused to give it barely a 2-second glance, knowing this would be the only time I could get the certificate corrected for free, and looked over everything not just my name. Upon sitting down, I remarked purposefully loudly to the woman next to me (who whispered to me how rude she was) "You know, I've never been referred to as just a number before, I thought they only did that in jail."  The other worker met my eyes and slightly smiled sympathetically.  I think even SHE was wondering why her co-worker was so abrupt with everyone, despite her *own* prior unpleasantness towards participants.  

 

One poor girl who had requested a name change pointed out to the worker that the certificate didn't reflect her request.  The worker asked her what her name was supposed to be, and then flippantly remarked "Well they didn't do it.  Sign your name!"  The young lady, for obvious reasons, hesitated in signing it and the worker looked up at her and actually said "What's the problem?"  When the lady repeated that her name is not as requested on the certificate, she was again told to sign it as written.  She did end up signing it, and then respectfully asked "What do I do now, though, about the wrong name?"  The lady abruptly said "You have to go to civil court." and LITERALLY TURNED HER BACK TO HER in her swivel chair!!!  Completely ignored her until she walked away, head down, and confused.   "Next---what's your number?!"

 

Our families did eventually come down and were herded together into a small section partially away from us all. 

 

The judge arrived, we all rose out of respect and then were told to be seated again.  The judge immediately told us that she had just found out this morning that she would be presiding (from eavesdropping on the staff, I could hear them discussing which judge to call to administer the oath just before).  She gave a brief 5-minute off-the-cuff speech about the importance of voting, and serving on a jury.  There was no discussion about the importance of the day, no talk about immigrants contributing to the country, no mention about personal experience with the process.  Just a statement about voting, and jury duty---and a mention of "Happy Diwali" to those celebrating it.  She also introduced her new office clerk to us, a disinterested looking young man sitting next to her.  Overall, she had a pleasant personality, just wished something more poignant was said.  Anything.  Anything at all.   Something to make the day seem special.  Near the end of her comments, she spoke about how we should go forth and be respectable members of society and pay our taxes.  I noticed a few side-eyes being given and maybe we all thought the same thing....that we already *have* been paying taxes and *have* been good members of society.

 

We took the oath of allegiance, and then recited the pledge of allegiance.  We all clapped for ourselves and each other.  The judge handed us our certificate and shook our hands with a perfunctory "congratulations" and then we were immediately directed to leave the courthouse.  Her new clerk, adding to his aura of disinterest, stood next to her with his hands in his pockets, not speaking unless directly spoken to.  

 

All in all, it was a disappointing day.  There was no memorable moment, no feeling of a journey acknowledged, no special gathering, no poignant moment where I felt included as a citizen, no....niceness....about the entire experience.  I remarked to my husband later that it felt like I had just left another USCIS appointment where I just handed over some paperwork.  It was abrupt, the staff seemed mostly annoyed with our presence, rude for the most part, and just an anti-climatic moment all-around since my immigration process began.

 

Am I happy that my journey is over and I'm a citizen as the main thing?  Yes, I suppose so.  Just wish more thought was put into making it an actual special day for people who have struggled, and sweated, and cried, and stressed and sacrificed to make it as far as they did.  Previously reading other people's oath ceremonies in different cities/states had me thinking today wouldn't be "just like any other day".   

 

All in all, the highlight of my ceremony was giving @vkhutchings a hug as we congratulated each other outside of the courtroom.  

 

So that's it.  Oh yeah, that sums up nicely how I felt as soon as I left the courthouse.... "That's it?"

Congratulations on your citizenship and becoming an American/Canadian.

 

I am so very sorry you went through that and all the people who took their Oath today also did too. It sounds like you all had committed some heinous crime. I just don't understand why they could be thoroughly unkind towards you all. I can't get into the minds of people who behave that way, however if the shoe was on the other foot how would they feel to be treated so unkindly and by the sounds of it with a little bit of contempt.  I don't know if the people who treated you all this way were once immigrants themselves, or understand the emotional or personal sacrifices we have made, when the majority of us, (not all) had simply fallen in love with an American or citizen of America.

 

I just feel sad that anyone would want to take away such a special, special memory and the poor person who wanted a name change, well if I was that  person I would most certainly put in a complaint. None of you did anything wrong, so there was absolutely no excuse to be treated that way. I guess if they are unhappy with their job, perhaps they might consider changing jobs or changing positions within the company.

 

I know if I get to the point of taking my Oath, I will not build it up into anything now.  So anything that happens i.e if it is a good experience, will then be a pleasant surprise.

 

Let me take the  opportunity  to say once more Congratulations to you ALL and WELCOME TO AMERICA!!!  Please remember to toast this occasion with a much deserved glass of champagne and know that God is there smiling down on you!

[Diane and Chris 651]

Wow!  What a disappointing day. That makes me so sad for you. You deserve so much more!  I was recently taking to my daughter about when Chris (my husband) will become a citizen. I cried just thinking and talking about it. Now, I’m not so sure. I’m so proud of you. I wish it would have been better with more caring people. It makes me ashamed of this country that you were treated this way. 

[Going through 5,671]

7 hours ago, Yuliya Lipina said:

Congratulations on becoming a citizen! I am sorry your big day wasn’t what you expected. Do you have the names of the “nice” civil servants? Do you think it is worth it to file a complaint? Also, I wonder what to do in the situation when they try to force you to sign your name when it is wrong? Are they not going let you to get sworn in that day if you refuse to sign it? It makes me worried because I requested a change too.

If you refuse to sign the certificate, then they'd probably ask you to leave the ceremony since they wouldn't be able to swear you in?  Not sure....

 

Is it worth it to file a complaint?  Nope---would mean getting involved with USCIS again on some level which I'm gladly able to avoid by just keeping my mouth shut.  My husband said after I wrote all this in a joking manner "They're gonna find you and take the certificate away".  I told him that I hope they DO read this, and maybe it will change how they treat people at these things afterwards".

[Going through 5,671]

6 hours ago, Diane and Chris said:

Wow!  What a disappointing day. That makes me so sad for you. You deserve so much more!  I was recently taking to my daughter about when Chris (my husband) will become a citizen. I cried just thinking and talking about it. Now, I’m not so sure. I’m so proud of you. I wish it would have been better with more caring people. It makes me ashamed of this country that you were treated this way. 

It's a NY thing, maybe?  NY'kers aren't always the nicest people around....

[Going through 5,671]

1 hour ago, CookieCat said:

Congratulations!!! It sucks you had to go through a handful of uncaring people at oath. But look at the bright side. This day will be just a day past in your life but your US citizenship remains with you for life with all its benefits you wanted. There are many, many other people who would wish they were at their oath, especially those who have been forever waiting to hear something, anything from USCIS.

 

I would suggest you complain about the two people who were really rude to you all. The one person was really wrong to force the lady to sign her naturalization certificate without the name change because now that lady might end up having to pay for the name change.

 

Lastly, the comment about not expecting Trump to provide a video for new immigrants... I've seen a few similar comments floating around here. It's kind of bewildering that people expect a new president to already have a naturalization video ready. He has a lot of other priorities right now as a new incoming president before making a video for us, new immigrants.  

I didn't expect the video, never mentioned a video at all actually....but I would assume it would be a simple and quick process for someone in his office to pen an acceptable letter for the President to check over and then sign his name to, as has happened under previous administrations?  It's not like he would need to actually write the letter himself.

 

It could be a case of other priorities in his mind.

Or, it could be just simply a case of he doesn't want to do it.

 

The welcoming letter would have been a nice keepsake to have, is all, since there would have been something positive about the day in that, in combination with how the rest of the proceedings went.

 

The lady who was forced to sign her certificate----she'll end up having to pay for the name change in civil court, most likely.  

Edited October 20, 2017 by Going through

[Going through 5,671]

Just now, CookieCat said:

I also wish people would report unruly behavior of staff to USCIS because USCIS is most likely not aware of such people. By remaining silent, we are passively letting such people continue their harsh behavior on future immigrants.

I think most people figure if they report/complain it may somehow affect their application/benefits in some way.  USCIS holds a lot of power over people's lives so I guess they try not to rock the boat in any way when it comes to them?

 

And then....when it comes to reporting staff behaviour at oath ceremonies, who would one actually complain to?  The presiding judge?---they have no control over USCIS staff.  The human resources at the building itself?---they don't employ them, I don't believe.  USCIS customer service in general?---a complaint there most likely wouldn't go very far.

 

I ask this, only because there's no way of knowing who the chain of command is for those specifically working the oath ceremonies.  For example, if I were to report an IO at a field office, I could report them to their direct supervisor.   Who would I report these people to?

[implife 318]

15 hours ago, Going through said:

So ok...this was my experience at my Oath Ceremony today in Brooklyn.

 

Went through security relatively quickly and easily considering I showed up a good 40 minutes early.   Now, I had gone ahead and called Camdan Plaza East where the ceremony was going to be held, so I already knew that no cameras or cell phones were permitted in the courthouse (whether participants or guests), and I already was aware that there would be a possibility that guests were not able to view the actual ceremony.

 

All Queens, NY filers must have their oath ceremony at the court house regardless of whether or not a name-change is requested.  Just how it's done for Queens filers.   The building itself is beautiful inside, with wide spiral staircases, and lots of marble and artwork on the walls.   Headed up to the 2nd floor, where my husband and child were directed to the 3rd floor cafeteria.  I asked if they would be able to view the ceremony at all, and was told they would be called down later on.

 

Fast forward to 8:30AM when we got started with everything.  Applicants were taking up only 3 rows of the court benches, so it wasn't a long process to get everyone situated with how to fill out the back of the Oath Letter.   A few moments later, a representative from the voter registration office gave a small speech on how to vote and pressed us to fill out the application form and immediately hand it back over to her, and then she left the room never to be seen again.   After that, no one spoke to us or gave out any information on how the day would go, or welcomed us, nothing like that and participants were pretty much left on our own to just sit there and wait for....whatever was going to happen next. 

 

We were called up again to hand over the green card and receive an envelope.  Inside the envelope was a hard folder to place our certificate in, a copy of the oath, the passport application, and information on voting/serving on a jury.  Wish I'd gotten a flag, but oh well.  No welcoming letter from the President, but truth be told I didn't really expect one.

 

After about an hour, another lady started talking to us about passport applications and telling us that we can apply for the passport anytime after the ceremony (but not with them in any way, must be done through the post office or passport agency).  One person asked a rather simple question about the form, and when the staff didn't understand him due to a language barrier, I re-stated the question more coherently (I was sitting infront of him). The man was then replied to in a long, drawn-out condescending way that he "shouldn't be asking them anything about passports---ask us about immigration only!  When you go to the post office, you ask them questions about the post office, right???  I can't tell you anything about passports or the post office because I don't know anything about that."  Kind of went on and on increasingly condescendingly....okaaaayyyy....well they DID present the passport application forms to us and asked if people had any questions, but whatever.  She then stated we should apply for our SS status to be changed no less than 10 days after the oath ceremony, and asked if we had any questions about that process.  No one said a peep, probably because they were afraid of being lectured for asking a question.

 

After another wait, the 3rd lady came into the room and started setting herself up at a desk.  I was sitting in the front and could hear the staff conversations taking place since the room was nearly silent, and they were only a few feet away seated at the table.  At that point, one of them said to her "did you bring the country list?"  to which she replied "nah I didn't bother with it".  From reading other oath ceremony threads, and watching videos, I knew then that there would be no announcement of the countries recognized at the ceremony, which was a downer to me because I was looking forward to that part....almost like feeling like our immigration success was a global community effort we all shared in, but wasn't going to happen at my ceremony today.   It was also sad that they just seemed to decide on-the-spot to not be bothered with it and brush it off for whatever personal reason the woman had (maybe laziness?).

 

Soon enough, boredom sets in, since we are not being engaged in any way, and a few of us (myself included) start chatting among ourselves, not loudly.  We have a few giggles discussing our immigration journeys, what country we are from, etc. and generally how we're happy to become citizens.  About 10 minutes into our conversation, one of the workers comes over to us and ----- to my disbelief ---- tells us "You are getting too excited about this now, alright?  You all calm down and be quiet."  We, as a small group, were stunned that we were actually told to stop socializing with each other and just continue to sit there staring ahead in silence.  Personally, I was flabbergasted that she implied we shouldn't even be HAPPY about reaching this day in our lives.

 

One of the workers stood up and threatened everyone that if they didn't hand in all previous USCIS-issued documents (EADs and expired GC's) to them now or failed to mail them in at a later date "We have everything on file so we already know.  We can find out...I'm just letting you know we will find out"  I felt this was completely unnecessary of them to say this out-of-the-blue, and in a passive-aggressive manner.

 

Afterwards, we were called up by line to view our naturalization certificates.  As we approached the desk in single file, the lady barked out "what's your number?!" without explaining exactly what number she was referring to (I learned quickly she meant the last 3 digits of the alien number) then whipped out the certificate and gave each person literally a two-second glance at it before barking at us "sign your name!"  To the woman's eye-rolling annoyance, I refused to give it barely a 2-second glance, knowing this would be the only time I could get the certificate corrected for free, and looked over everything not just my name. Upon sitting down, I remarked purposefully loudly to the woman next to me (who whispered to me how rude she was) "You know, I've never been referred to as just a number before, I thought they only did that in jail."  The other worker met my eyes and slightly smiled sympathetically.  I think even SHE was wondering why her co-worker was so abrupt with everyone, despite her *own* prior unpleasantness towards participants.  

 

One poor girl who had requested a name change pointed out to the worker that the certificate didn't reflect her request.  The worker asked her what her name was supposed to be, and then flippantly remarked "Well they didn't do it.  Sign your name!"  The young lady, for obvious reasons, hesitated in signing it and the worker looked up at her and actually said "What's the problem?"  When the lady repeated that her name is not as requested on the certificate, she was again told to sign it as written.  She did end up signing it, and then respectfully asked "What do I do now, though, about the wrong name?"  The lady abruptly said "You have to go to civil court." and LITERALLY TURNED HER BACK TO HER in her swivel chair!!!  Completely ignored her until she walked away, head down, and confused.   "Next---what's your number?!"

 

Our families did eventually come down and were herded together into a small section partially away from us all. 

 

The judge arrived, we all rose out of respect and then were told to be seated again.  The judge immediately told us that she had just found out this morning that she would be presiding (from eavesdropping on the staff, I could hear them discussing which judge to call to administer the oath just before).  She gave a brief 5-minute off-the-cuff speech about the importance of voting, and serving on a jury.  There was no discussion about the importance of the day, no talk about immigrants contributing to the country, no mention about personal experience with the process.  Just a statement about voting, and jury duty---and a mention of "Happy Diwali" to those celebrating it.  She also introduced her new office clerk to us, a disinterested looking young man sitting next to her.  Overall, she had a pleasant personality, just wished something more poignant was said.  Anything.  Anything at all.   Something to make the day seem special.  Near the end of her comments, she spoke about how we should go forth and be respectable members of society and pay our taxes.  I noticed a few side-eyes being given and maybe we all thought the same thing....that we already *have* been paying taxes and *have* been good members of society.

 

We took the oath of allegiance, and then recited the pledge of allegiance.  We all clapped for ourselves and each other.  The judge handed us our certificate and shook our hands with a perfunctory "congratulations" and then we were immediately directed to leave the courthouse.  Her new clerk, adding to his aura of disinterest, stood next to her with his hands in his pockets, not speaking unless directly spoken to.  

 

All in all, it was a disappointing day.  There was no memorable moment, no feeling of a journey acknowledged, no special gathering, no poignant moment where I felt included as a citizen, no....niceness....about the entire experience.  I remarked to my husband later that it felt like I had just left another USCIS appointment where I just handed over some paperwork.  It was abrupt, the staff seemed mostly annoyed with our presence, rude for the most part, and just an anti-climatic moment all-around since my immigration process began.

 

Am I happy that my journey is over and I'm a citizen as the main thing?  Yes, I suppose so.  Just wish more thought was put into making it an actual special day for people who have struggled, and sweated, and cried, and stressed and sacrificed to make it as far as they did.  Previously reading other people's oath ceremonies in different cities/states had me thinking today wouldn't be "just like any other day".   

 

All in all, the highlight of my ceremony was giving @vkhutchings a hug as we congratulated each other outside of the courtroom.  

 

So that's it.  Oh yeah, that sums up nicely how I felt as soon as I left the courthouse.... "That's it?"

I don't mean to offend you personally, but yes, this is America today, and you're fooling yourself and others when you make it seem like you didn't know what you signed up for. This "ceremony" is just another bureaucratic formality in a long list of bureaucratic formalities you've been subjected to. Did you expect fireworks on your "special" day? Those of us who come to the US from relatively (or completely) stable and safe countries often behave as spoiled children pretending as if we are owed something, when in fact we didn't suffer enough to deserve this. This "ceremony" is not for us, it is for those who have gone through hell to get to a safe shore. For you, even the ability to get an American passport (which is what I was thinking of as my ultimate goal when I went through this nonsense)  doesn't mean much, as you already have a perfectly adequate Canadian one. 

There shouldn't be any surprise that this "ceremony" in NYC is just like NYC subway: it's slow and it stinks, but it will eventually get you there.

In any case, best wishes to you and yours! 

[Going through 5,671]

7 minutes ago, implife said:

I don't mean to offend you personally, but yes, this is America today, and you're fooling yourself and others when you make it seem like you didn't know what you signed up for. This "ceremony" is just another bureaucratic formality in a long list of bureaucratic formalities you've been subjected to. Did you expect fireworks on your "special" day? Those of us who come to the US from relatively (or completely) stable and safe countries often behave as spoiled children pretending as if we are owed something, when in fact we didn't suffer enough to deserve this. This "ceremony" is not for us, it is for those who have gone through hell to get to a safe shore. For you, even the ability to get an American passport (which is what I was thinking of as my ultimate goal when I went through this nonsense)  doesn't mean much, as you already have a perfectly adequate Canadian one. 

There shouldn't be any surprise that this "ceremony" in NYC is just like NYC subway: it's slow and it stinks, but it will eventually get you there.

In any case, best wishes to you and yours! 

No offense taken. 

 

 Maybe I expected too much out of the day itself.  I spent a lot of time beforehand in the weeks leading up to my ceremony date reading others' experiences and jubilant thoughts, and I expected the day to be more..special...not quite sure how to word it.   I didn't expect just lining up, filling out stuff, handing stuff in, do the oath, line up to get the certificate, leave, and that's it.

 

I guess the main thing out of all of it is that I have the certificate in my hands (well, at least until I send it away with my passport application).

 

As to the comment about how the ceremony is more for people who have gone through hell to get to a safe shore----I'm sure there were those present yesterday as well.   How much someone "suffers" should not be a determining factor in how they are treated by someone else....but I see what you are saying, as well.

[Going through 5,671]

20 minutes ago, implife said:

There shouldn't be any surprise that this "ceremony" in NYC is just like NYC subway: it's slow and it stinks, but it will eventually get you there.

LOL this should be NYC's transit logo!

Edited October 20, 2017 by Going through

[Going through 5,671]

8 minutes ago, CookieCat said:

If it gives you some solace... except for the rude staff, my oath was quite like yours with the getting in line, handing over stuff and waiting for what felt like hours. We also had staff that was largely disinterested in us and one lady giving us instructions very matter-of-factedly like it was routine business for her. We also had a constant crying baby among guests.  :-P But in my case, the judge made the whole experience worth it as he was really happy to make us citizens and happy to take photos with us outside. Did you get a chance to have your pic taken with your judge?

No.  There were no cameras allowed in the building, or cell phones allowed.  Participants and guests had to hand them over when passing through security two floors down in the lobby, and retrieve them as they left the building.

 

No photos are allowed in the building itself---if you want, you can take a photo on the street outside infront of the doors to enter.

 

The judge left the courtroom after shaking everyone's hands.

Edited October 20, 2017 by Going through

[C-ma'am 684]

Congrats! We will celebrate with you!

 

Definitely did not sound like a good experience. A memorable one but for the wrong reasons. Mine was a few months ago and, while it didn't have all the pompousness of the mass ones you see sometimes, it was nice and the staff did make us feel welcome. In fact, they were the ones that would "pump the crowd" if someone was walking up to get their certificate and seemed a bit gloomy. 

 

No more paperwork, other than getting a passport and going to SSA (which I have not done yet). Speaking of the post office, just in case you don't know and just so you don't start sweating like me, they will keep your citizenship certificate and you will receive it later on in the mail; it will come separately from the passport and may arrive before or after in a manila envelope.

 

Grats again!

[Going through 5,671]

6 minutes ago, C-ma'am said:

Congrats! We will celebrate with you!

 

Definitely did not sound like a good experience. A memorable one but for the wrong reasons. Mine was a few months ago and, while it didn't have all the pompousness of the mass ones you see sometimes, it was nice and the staff did make us feel welcome. In fact, they were the ones that would "pump the crowd" if someone was walking up to get their certificate and seemed a bit gloomy. 

 

No more paperwork, other than getting a passport and going to SSA (which I have not done yet). Speaking of the post office, just in case you don't know and just so you don't start sweating like me, they will keep your citizenship certificate and you will receive it later on in the mail; it will come separately from the passport and may arrive before or after in a manila envelope.

 

Grats again!

Yep knew about the passport thing---just finished making a couple of photocopies of my certificate a few moments ago incase I need them in the event it gets lost in the mail.  Am waiting for a day off work next week before going in to apply at one of the central post offices in Manhattan that specifically has a separate passport "office" set up there.

 

I have the non-driver's State ID, and can't remember if I had to claim my LPR status on that or not when applying for it, so not sure if that has to be updated in any way.  The SS thing I'll do after getting the passport back.