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First of all let me pay my tribute this site and fora. I have had the best help on Immigration starting from green card from this site and all the discussion fora than anywhere else. Kudos to the Moderator and the folks who maintain this site. Can't thank you enough. An absolutely great resource.
My final immigration step, obtaining American citizenship concluded yesterday with my family and I being naturalized. In all it took 83 days for the USCIS from the receipt of my application, fingerprint, interview and then naturalize.
We had our interviews scheduled yesterday (self, spouse and my 19 year old daughter). We arrived 25 minutes before the interview time at the Atlanta Office and dropped off the interview letters in a tray. We were called for the interview separately about 5 to 10 minutes before the scheduled time. Our experiences were all similar - the officers were polite, went through the N400 form asking about every entry in the form. The civics and history questions were very simple - though one needs to answer them orally. They are not multiple choice type or require written answers. But the best part is all of the questions were from the limited set of questions that are available on this web site.
I had to write my name in cursive on the application and the photographs (not sign or print). One of these photos will end up on the Naturalization certificate. I verified the details of name, DoB, etc., My wife's name was mis-spelt from the beginning of the process. She had it corrected during finger printing, but it still was the same in the interview letter. They did correct it during the interview though, without any hassles.
At the end of the interview the Officer congratulated me and then offered if I would like to take the Oath the same day itself or would like to have it scheduled for later. Duh? Nice to have the flexibility though.
The oath process was perhaps longer than necessary. The person who initiated the process explained on how to get passports, register for voting, petition for immediate relatives and so on. We had another chance to make sure that all our details are correct on the certificate. We then went thorough another presentation by another USCIS officer, who recognized all the individuals by name and their countries. We then took oath repeating after the officer and then swore allegiance to the flag. We were then presented with our certificates.
I have a son who is under 18. He gets his citizenship by the virtue of both his parents becoming naturalized citizens. We can apply for his passport along with ours showing documentary evidence like our certificates and his birth certificate. But to get a citizenship certificate of his own, we will have to apply for him via N600 form. Looks like that is not a biggie.
Again, thanks to all and esp. to those who make this site happen. Good luck everyone else.
My final immigration step, obtaining American citizenship concluded yesterday with my family and I being naturalized. In all it took 83 days for the USCIS from the receipt of my application, fingerprint, interview and then naturalize.
We had our interviews scheduled yesterday (self, spouse and my 19 year old daughter). We arrived 25 minutes before the interview time at the Atlanta Office and dropped off the interview letters in a tray. We were called for the interview separately about 5 to 10 minutes before the scheduled time. Our experiences were all similar - the officers were polite, went through the N400 form asking about every entry in the form. The civics and history questions were very simple - though one needs to answer them orally. They are not multiple choice type or require written answers. But the best part is all of the questions were from the limited set of questions that are available on this web site.
I had to write my name in cursive on the application and the photographs (not sign or print). One of these photos will end up on the Naturalization certificate. I verified the details of name, DoB, etc., My wife's name was mis-spelt from the beginning of the process. She had it corrected during finger printing, but it still was the same in the interview letter. They did correct it during the interview though, without any hassles.
At the end of the interview the Officer congratulated me and then offered if I would like to take the Oath the same day itself or would like to have it scheduled for later. Duh? Nice to have the flexibility though.
The oath process was perhaps longer than necessary. The person who initiated the process explained on how to get passports, register for voting, petition for immediate relatives and so on. We had another chance to make sure that all our details are correct on the certificate. We then went thorough another presentation by another USCIS officer, who recognized all the individuals by name and their countries. We then took oath repeating after the officer and then swore allegiance to the flag. We were then presented with our certificates.
I have a son who is under 18. He gets his citizenship by the virtue of both his parents becoming naturalized citizens. We can apply for his passport along with ours showing documentary evidence like our certificates and his birth certificate. But to get a citizenship certificate of his own, we will have to apply for him via N600 form. Looks like that is not a biggie.
Again, thanks to all and esp. to those who make this site happen. Good luck everyone else.
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