My Oath ceremony today (detailed with pic) - Fort Worth Texas

[Collie 122]

Well today was the final step in the long immigration process. I had my oath ceremony scheduled at 9.30am in the US district Courthouse in Fort Worth Texas. I knew that traffic would be bad so we (husband and 4mth old daughter) left well in time. Got to the courthouse and theres a sign saying no recording devices. Back to the car I trot (in my heels) and deposit the camera and cell. Back again to the courthouse I trot and the guard asks if I have a cell. I say no and that I left it back in the car with my camera. He tells me I should have my camera to take pictures. I trot back to the car and retrieve the camera. By this time thanks to the wicked wind blowing I realized there was no point at all in getting up early to straighten my hair which now resembled a complete fuzz ball or cousin IT from the Addams family .

Anyhow back to being on-topic. We are told to go to a jury holding room and an immigration officer tells us we have 73 people from 27 countries represented and goes off into a speech about how well we have done to get to this point and be citizens. Our greencards are collected along with the oath ceremony letter. two people were not allowed to do their oath. One travelled outside of the US for an extended period of time and another had lost her GC. We are also given a little book on the constitution of the United States and the words to the Oath and a history of the US book. In between all that I take to my daughter to the restroom (totally unfriendly for babies!) and change her diaper in her car seat while kneeling on the floor. My daughter was also talking up a storm and wanted to ensure that she was heard over the immigration officer . We kept her entertained but she was very chatty. The officer also tells us that we are US citizens now and have voting rights and that we have all the rights as everyone else and dont have to carry a greencard anymore, just our drivers licence. She also mentioned that as citizens we can now petition our relatives and encouraged us to do this. She was very much on our side encouraging us to use our rights as citizens, which was a nice change as usually when I have spoke to immigration officers they make you feel like you are inferior.

That all takes about an hour and my husband had to then leave to go to work unfortunately (he works in a hospital ER). I make friends with a girl called Mia from Mexico who is super nice. We then all go up to the courtroom, are given a US flag and each country is read out and we stood to be applauded fr representing our country. Judge McBryde comes in and says ALL RISE (that was cool cos it was the first time I had ever been in a US court, so it was very official).

He tells us congratulations and how its a great honor to be conducting the ceremony and its a nicer part of his job. All the family members sit behind the gate by the way and the aliens (although not very alienish now!) sit in the jury box and thereabouts. We place our right hand in the air and say the oath of allegiance, followed by the pledge of allegiance with our hand on heart.

After that he says that court is adjourned and leaves and then the certs are handed out (very informally as they just called the names - didn't get mine right of course- and you had to raise your hand and they brought it to you.

We were then allowed to take photos and we did that then outside we were given a voting form to fill in/mail in.

My daughter was a wee gem as she was so darn good and fell asleep in the courtroom, which was awesome as she had to be with me in the jury box. I was told if she cried, I would have to take her out, but thankfully she was good (which she normally is).

Finally its all over and I am very grateful to those of you on VJ who have helped me in this journey over the years. Its definitely worth it to get to this point and be a citizen of a great and powerful country as the United States.

For those of you that are waiting to get to this stage, have faith, work hard and never lose sight of that end point.

I'll be back to petition my parents in a few years, as they plan to move here having just bought a house here but until then, toodle-pip and good luck to each of you

[Falconslove 0]

Well today was the final step in the long immigration process. I had my oath ceremony scheduled at 9.30am in the US district Courthouse in Fort Worth Texas. I knew that traffic would be bad so we (husband and 4mth old daughter) left well in time. Got to the courthouse and theres a sign saying no recording devices. Back to the car I trot (in my heels) and deposit the camera and cell. Back again to the courthouse I trot and the guard asks if I have a cell. I say no and that I left it back in the car with my camera. He tells me I should have my camera to take pictures. I trot back to the car and retrieve the camera. By this time thanks to the wicked wind blowing I realized there was no point at all in getting up early to straighten my hair which now resembled a complete fuzz ball or cousin IT from the Addams family .

Anyhow back to being on-topic. We are told to go to a jury holding room and an immigration officer tells us we have 73 people from 27 countries represented and goes off into a speech about how well we have done to get to this point and be citizens. Our greencards are collected along with the oath ceremony letter. two people were not allowed to do their oath. One travelled outside of the US for an extended period of time and another had lost her GC. We are also given a little book on the constitution of the United States and the words to the Oath and a history of the US book. In between all that I take to my daughter to the restroom (totally unfriendly for babies!) and change her diaper in her car seat while kneeling on the floor. My daughter was also talking up a storm and wanted to ensure that she was heard over the immigration officer . We kept her entertained but she was very chatty. The officer also tells us that we are US citizens now and have voting rights and that we have all the rights as everyone else and dont have to carry a greencard anymore, just our drivers licence. She also mentioned that as citizens we can now petition our relatives and encouraged us to do this. She was very much on our side encouraging us to use our rights as citizens, which was a nice change as usually when I have spoke to immigration officers they make you feel like you are inferior.

That all takes about an hour and my husband had to then leave to go to work unfortunately (he works in a hospital ER). I make friends with a girl called Mia from Mexico who is super nice. We then all go up to the courtroom, are given a US flag and each country is read out and we stood to be applauded fr representing our country. Judge McBryde comes in and says ALL RISE (that was cool cos it was the first time I had ever been in a US court, so it was very official).

He tells us congratulations and how its a great honor to be conducting the ceremony and its a nicer part of his job. All the family members sit behind the gate by the way and the aliens (although not very alienish now!) sit in the jury box and thereabouts. We place our right hand in the air and say the oath of allegiance, followed by the pledge of allegiance with our hand on heart.

After that he says that court is adjourned and leaves and then the certs are handed out (very informally as they just called the names - didn't get mine right of course- and you had to raise your hand and they brought it to you.

We were then allowed to take photos and we did that then outside we were given a voting form to fill in/mail in.

My daughter was a wee gem as she was so darn good and fell asleep in the courtroom, which was awesome as she had to be with me in the jury box. I was told if she cried, I would have to take her out, but thankfully she was good (which she normally is).

Finally its all over and I am very grateful to those of you on VJ who have helped me in this journey over the years. Its definitely worth it to get to this point and be a citizen of a great and powerful country as the United States.

For those of you that are waiting to get to this stage, have faith, work hard and never lose sight of that end point.

I'll be back to petition my parents in a few years, as they plan to move here having just bought a house here but until then, toodle-pip and good luck to each of you

Congratulations, I became a citizen in 1985 and are now waiting for my Egyptian husband to get his visa.

[Cerize 0]

CONGRATULATIONS IT MADE ME TEAR EVERYTIME I READ STUFF LIKE THIS..

[Frenchwife 1]

congrats.

[karenros 0]

Congrats

[lissa04 3]

Congrats and best wishes!!!!

[wannabe_texan 0]

Congratulations USC :dance:

We had 1600+ people from 112 countries in the Houston Oath, and the line to take a picture with the judge was huge... so I didn't stay to get mine. So I'm glad to hear that you had a more 'personal' experience, with them calling your name etc, here it was just go back to the desk at the end of the ceremony and pick up your cert...

[raymaga 25]

Congrats and best wishes!!! Glad you're all done now.

Enjoy life!!

[rebelheart 0]

Congrats!!!! Enjoy life!!

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Congratulations fellow citizen!

[PrinceandPrincess 0]

Hi Collie,

Congratulations!

[~krakatoa~ 27]

Congratulations!

[antda 13]

Hi Collie,

Congratulations on your oath ceremony and thanks for sharing about your experience here on VJ.

Thanks too, for sharing your oath experience in detail and for providing a lovely photo of yourself with the certificate! You look happy and proud of such an achievement, indeed! Good thing the guard reminded you to go back to get your camera, as otherwise you would have missed such a moment! By the way, were you allowed to take photos during the ceremony too? It was nice of them too, to give you an extra booklet about the constitution and history and oath and the flag during your ceremony too. Yup, no need to carry your green card anymore, like they said, one less thing to worry about! And it's informative of them too, to tell you what your rights are as a citizen, and yes, you have certainly earned those rights by taking the oath!

I found it especially helpful that you described about your oath experience with your daughter, as I now know more what to expect and what concerns I have to bring up when I bring my son (who will be about the same age as your daughter) when I take my oath. Sorry to hear that you had to change your daughter's diaper her carseat while kneeling on the floor and that the bathrooms there were not baby-friendly. I know what you mean there, as I remember I had to do such before with my son (lol..in the middle of store during a bad rainstorm..but that's another story..). Good to know though, that you were allowed to bring her carseat in, as that probably was more convenient and more comfortable to do such. Oh well, at least you got her diaper changed in time before the oath ceremony, despite the inconvenience. Besides changing her diaper, did you also feed her before you did the oath ceremony? Did she accompany you to the jury room too when you were held there before the oath? Were the others bothered by her babbling during the oath ceremony and/or before then? Lol..I guess by baby babbling, that was her way of saying that she wanted to take part in the ceremony too? Glad to hear that overall your daughter was very well behaved during your ceremony and even fell asleep during such...Lol..I guess the ceremony tired her out here, be it that it was so long and all. No need for the warning that the guard mentioned about taking her out of the room if she cried (which didn't happen..she's a gem..gems don't cry......)

That's too bad that your husband had to leave early to go back to work. At least he went with you for as long as he could, so that's supportive of him anyways, especially since you brought your daughter along which could have been quite a handful that day. It's good too, that you met someone new during your oath ceremony, and that others were friendly and helpful to you that day. And yes, it would be more interesting for a judge to do oath ceremonies instead of doing court cases every so often. Too bad though that the oath-takers (aka. ex-aliens..lol...) and family members were not allowed to sit next to each other during the ceremony. Interesting to know too that you were given your certificate afterwards in any order and that you had to raise your hand when receiving such and that you got the voter's form afterwards.

I agree, being a US Citizen is worth it, and "never lose sight of that end point". And now that the end point is there for you as a USC....

Good luck with the rest of your life journey too as a US Citizen and in petitioning your parents from the UK to the USA as well, Collie.

Ant

Well today was the final step in the long immigration process. I had my oath ceremony scheduled at 9.30am in the US district Courthouse in Fort Worth Texas. I knew that traffic would be bad so we (husband and 4mth old daughter) left well in time. Got to the courthouse and theres a sign saying no recording devices. Back to the car I trot (in my heels) and deposit the camera and cell. Back again to the courthouse I trot and the guard asks if I have a cell. I say no and that I left it back in the car with my camera. He tells me I should have my camera to take pictures. I trot back to the car and retrieve the camera. By this time thanks to the wicked wind blowing I realized there was no point at all in getting up early to straighten my hair which now resembled a complete fuzz ball or cousin IT from the Addams family .

Anyhow back to being on-topic. We are told to go to a jury holding room and an immigration officer tells us we have 73 people from 27 countries represented and goes off into a speech about how well we have done to get to this point and be citizens. Our greencards are collected along with the oath ceremony letter. two people were not allowed to do their oath. One travelled outside of the US for an extended period of time and another had lost her GC. We are also given a little book on the constitution of the United States and the words to the Oath and a history of the US book. In between all that I take to my daughter to the restroom (totally unfriendly for babies!) and change her diaper in her car seat while kneeling on the floor. My daughter was also talking up a storm and wanted to ensure that she was heard over the immigration officer . We kept her entertained but she was very chatty. The officer also tells us that we are US citizens now and have voting rights and that we have all the rights as everyone else and dont have to carry a greencard anymore, just our drivers licence. She also mentioned that as citizens we can now petition our relatives and encouraged us to do this. She was very much on our side encouraging us to use our rights as citizens, which was a nice change as usually when I have spoke to immigration officers they make you feel like you are inferior.

That all takes about an hour and my husband had to then leave to go to work unfortunately (he works in a hospital ER). I make friends with a girl called Mia from Mexico who is super nice. We then all go up to the courtroom, are given a US flag and each country is read out and we stood to be applauded fr representing our country. Judge McBryde comes in and says ALL RISE (that was cool cos it was the first time I had ever been in a US court, so it was very official).

He tells us congratulations and how its a great honor to be conducting the ceremony and its a nicer part of his job. All the family members sit behind the gate by the way and the aliens (although not very alienish now!) sit in the jury box and thereabouts. We place our right hand in the air and say the oath of allegiance, followed by the pledge of allegiance with our hand on heart.

After that he says that court is adjourned and leaves and then the certs are handed out (very informally as they just called the names - didn't get mine right of course- and you had to raise your hand and they brought it to you.

We were then allowed to take photos and we did that then outside we were given a voting form to fill in/mail in.

My daughter was a wee gem as she was so darn good and fell asleep in the courtroom, which was awesome as she had to be with me in the jury box. I was told if she cried, I would have to take her out, but thankfully she was good (which she normally is).

Finally its all over and I am very grateful to those of you on VJ who have helped me in this journey over the years. Its definitely worth it to get to this point and be a citizen of a great and powerful country as the United States.

For those of you that are waiting to get to this stage, have faith, work hard and never lose sight of that end point.

I'll be back to petition my parents in a few years, as they plan to move here having just bought a house here but until then, toodle-pip and good luck to each of you

Edited October 25, 2009 by Ant+D+A