Officially a US citizen - Seattle office interview experience

[astroboy3545 59]

I am not sure about what I am relieved about. Whether the journey has ended or I hopefully will never have to deal with USCIS again.

However had my US citizenship interview today and it was fairly straightforward. Here was my experience (please note this is specific to the seattle office so your experiences might vary depending on your home office)

Pre-interview
 

1. I reached 30 minutes before the appointment time and went through security. 
2. A confusing thing was post security, there was no signs what to do next and I immediately went upstairs to only find out then I need to checkin at the counter after the security zone
3. Walked down again and joined the line which moved at a snails pace. Got my picture taken, gave index finger thumb impressions and got a token number for the interview 
4. Walked up and waited for my interview. 

 

Interview experience

 

1. Got called in for the interview and as soon as I entered the room, was asked to stay standing and attest that I was say the truth and nothing but the truth. 
2. She then looked at my green card and verified it against the drivers license.
3. Had the reading and writing test after that - no biggie except the stylus was acting up and ended up writing using my finger on the tablet
4. Had the civics test after that- no issues there too
5. Post that she validated my travel dates and asked me to confirm I was willing to serve the united states as needed and give up all other allegiances
6. Was asked to verify my details on the tablet in front of me and sign it
7. Gave me a printout and told me that I should be in time for the next swearing in ceremony at 11:30 am
8. Then just sat in the office and twiddled my thumbs making small talk as she finalized some documentation

 

Oath ceremony

 

1. Walked down and waited for the oath ceremony
2. At 11:30 walked into the oath ceremony hall where I was given a packet containing a small flag, vote registration details (with emphasis that the voter details should be filled in and signed after the ceremony and not before that) and a small pamphlet
3. Waited for a bit here while we waited for others to file in and find seats
4. Once the doors closed, the presiding officer came on the stage and gave us a small speech and the do's and donts and asked us to stand for the national anthem
5. Post the national anthem, he asked the people who were becoming citizens to stand up and take the oath
6. Post the oath, Congratulations were said and again another small speech and then a video recording of a speech from Joe Biden
7. The naturalization certificates were then handed out to us and I registered to vote as well after that (there was a lady who was helping with it)

 

Officially was a US citizen by 12:15 PM and took some pics near the flag in the oath hall and left the building and went out for a fun lunch.

I was pretty nervous about this since I had filed 4 days after I landed back in the US after spending time with my dad and attending his funeral and I was worried I might be declined on that technicality that since I "didn't meet the 90 day rule" I might be declined or asked to apply again after I had been in the country for 90 days (please read this post for reference) - 

 

Maybe it was not a big deal or the document I submitted helped -

but I am glad it was not a issue and hopefully if you find yourself in a similar situation, you will find some hope in my story.

Good luck everyone. Happy to answer any questions you might have



 

Edited September 12 by astroboy3545

[Dashinka 24,448]

Congratulations!