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Newark oath ceremony experience 2017
Hello everyone,
I just wanted to share my experience at the oath ceremony in Newark NJ. I wrote this last year but never got a chance to post it. so here it is;
Account Acceptance Notice:
8-4-2016
Appointment Scheduled:
8-6-2016
Interview Scheduled
2-1-2017
Oath Ceremony and Interview performed on the same day.
3-13-2017
Hello Everyone!
Today I wanted to share my experience of getting my USA citizenship at the NEWARK USCIS building in hopes of helping someone who might be going through the same process.
A little background first:
I had gotten my Greencard through my father in 2006. I wasn?t really planning on applying for citizenship, and honestly speaking ? paying roughly 700 dollars was a little too much for me.
But after seeing so much uncertainty in the post-Trump-election Era, I was a little scared and quickly applied to get started on the citizenship process.
Also , I would like to add that since 2006, I travelled a lot back and forth from my country to USA ? not staying more than 6 months.
My Interview Process:
My interview was scheduled for 1:45 pm. I arrived at 1:30 p.m. I waited and was called into their offices at around 2:15. The offices were located on the 15th floor of the building. They have a lot of security! As soon as you walk in, your purse goes through a conveyer built into the scanning machine. You walk through a metal detector; similar to airports, but the only difference is that they don?t make you take your shoes off.
The security guards are friendly and pleasant. As soon as I was done with security, we entered the main lobby. There was another security guard present who was probably the friendliest and kindest man I ever saw in my life. He was African American and in a very gentle voice requested me to show him my appointment letter. I showed it to him and he asked me to take the elevator to the 15th floor.
Once we reached our floor, there were two more security guards who also requested to see my appointment letter- I showed it to them and they showed me the way.
My point? Don?t put away your appointment letter immediately, You might be asked to show it over and over again .
I was attending this occasion with my three year old son, my 5 month old daughter and my father. Although it says that you cannot have any food inside, I did bring some apples for my son so he would not get hungry. Since the Newark Office conducts the interviews and the oaths on the same day, THE ENTIRE PROCESS WAS EXTREMELY LONG! I was so hungry by the time I was done, so make sure you have a nice big breakfast before coming here.
Once we got inside the place I was told by the security guard outside to go to window 4. I went straight to the window and showed him my appointment letter. He took my appointment letter and told me to sit down and wait to be called out. I took a seat.
It was a hall type of a place with chairs facing the officers behind a glass window. The officers were calling people one by one, and handing them an American flag, a white large envelope and asking them to sign some papers. Then they walked back to their seats.
As I mentioned, we waited for about 45 to 50 mins. I noticed the people around me. They all looked anxious as they waited for their turns. Some looked excited while others looked a bit tired. After 40-50 mins, a nice African American lady who was about 50-60 years old called my name. As I was getting ready to walk over to her, my three year old son made a huge fuss and asked me if he could come along. He came along with me to my interview. My Interviewer simply smiled and wasn?t bothered by the fact that my son was accompanying me. My heart was pounding in my throat as I made my way to her room. She entered her room and I followed her, then she sat down at her desk and I sat across from her. It was a tiny room that could fit about 3 people in.
she asked me to stand up and raise my right hand and take an oath saying that whatever I tell her would be nothing but the truth and only the truth.
Then she asked me look at the camera as she took my picture.
Then she asked me to press my index finger on a finger print-taking machine. She took fingerprints of both of my index fingers. ( I guess this is new because when my other family members had their interview and oath, they did not have to have their fingerprints taken)
Then I was tested on the questions:
What ocean is on the east coast of the USA?
What state borders Canada?
How many amendments to the constitution?
When was the constitution written? (I got this one wrong)
How many amendments to the constitution?
Who wrote the declaration of independence?
How many senators are there?
After the questions she asked me to read this sentence:
What are the colors in the Flag of the USA?
Then she gave me another piece of paper and she told me to write:
The colors in the flag are red, blue and white. (She said this and I wrote it down).
After that, she smiled and asked me some basic questions:
Do you support the constitution?
Are you willing to join the arm forces incase the need arise? (or something like that, I cant remember exactly)
Have you travelled outside the United States for more than 6 months?
These questions were asked basically to see if I qualified to become a US citizen.
Then she asked to see my passport. I had a brand new passport because my old one had expired a long time ago. She looked at my picture and my name to make sure the name on my passport matched the name on my forms and certificate.
After the interview (which lasted no more than 15-20 mins), the lady said that I would be attending my oath that same day. I was so happy I could hug her. Really I did everything in my power to control myself from leaping across the table and giving her a big bear hug and thanking her.
I just thanked her and I was asked to go to that same hall where my dad waited.
After about 1 hour I was called by one of the officers behind the glass windows. The young woman who called me asked me to sign some papers and then handed me a white envelope and two American flags. She smiled and said that one is for my toddler.
I would just like to point out that these officers were on their feet the whole time from 9 in the morning till 5 in the evening and they were so nice that I was blown away with their kindness. They made me feel comfortable and I felt extremely happy. The anxiety that I felt in the beginning was completely melted after interacting with the people who worked here. So Kudos to everyone who worked here from the guards to the officers!
After getting my envelope ( no citizenship certificate inside), we were all asked to go to another large room down the hall. The large room had some folks waiting already who had gotten their white envelopes. Everyone was talking in hushed tones and the entire ambiance of the room was extremely solemn. Until my three year stood in the middle of the room and started singing ?whip whip whip! Nae nae.. watch me whip.. watch me nae nae? and started dancing full fledge to a rap song. He definitely turned some heads and I am sure others were annoyed. ( I deeply apologize for my son?s behavior).
We waited.. and waited..and waited?
Then finally a young officer at 4.40 p.m. came inside the room. ( the place was about to close in 20 mins). The officer asked us all to scoot closer to him and fill the chairs so we were all sitting together. Our relatives were asked to sit on the sides.
The officer apologized for the delay and told us that another supervisor would come to conduct the ceremony.
The supervisor came into the room. Introduced herself and apologized for the delay again. (I guess they were running late).
Then the female supervisor asked us all to stand up and raise our right hand. It was time for the oath ceremony. She asked us to repeat after her.
The supervisor had the oath memorized and as she was saying it. She was looking at each and every person to see if we were really repeating the words after her. It was the strangest thing. She was going towards each person, looking at our lips with strange scrutiny making sure were repeating exactly what she said. At one point I felt like laughing because she made us feel a bit uncomfortable.
Anyways. After the oath, she asked us to form a line as she called our first names and receive our certificates. We all formed a line and got our certificates.
I honestly felt like this strange burden was off my shoulders. Even now, after about 10 days later, when I think about that moment when I got my certificate ? it was just so **** *al.
People who are born in the USA should never take that citizenship for granted because there are people in this country that have spend thousands of dollars, and have spend hours preparing for this one moment; where we are handed our certificate of citizenship; where we truly are now part of this country ? where we can vote and let our voices be heard.
It was a **** *al moment that I would never forget.
p.s
Guys, I WAS EXTREMELY NERVOUS. I was so scared. I kept reading words from my holy scripture and asking God Almighty to help me. Now that I think about it, it was so EASY BREEZY that it makes me laugh. I went to middle school and high school in the USA. I am fluent in English and I had taken a government class in high school which I Aced. I don?t know why I was scared! But I was! I thought I would forget all the answers that I memorized. I thought the officer would just deny my citizenship for some reason.
My point? Don?t be nervous or scared! Its so so so easy! The people working in the office are friendly! And just enjoy yourself! Drink plenty of water and eat a lot of food so you have alot of energy for this amazing moment!
I just wanted to share my experience at the oath ceremony in Newark NJ. I wrote this last year but never got a chance to post it. so here it is;
Account Acceptance Notice:
8-4-2016
Appointment Scheduled:
8-6-2016
Interview Scheduled
2-1-2017
Oath Ceremony and Interview performed on the same day.
3-13-2017
Hello Everyone!
Today I wanted to share my experience of getting my USA citizenship at the NEWARK USCIS building in hopes of helping someone who might be going through the same process.
A little background first:
I had gotten my Greencard through my father in 2006. I wasn?t really planning on applying for citizenship, and honestly speaking ? paying roughly 700 dollars was a little too much for me.
But after seeing so much uncertainty in the post-Trump-election Era, I was a little scared and quickly applied to get started on the citizenship process.
Also , I would like to add that since 2006, I travelled a lot back and forth from my country to USA ? not staying more than 6 months.
My Interview Process:
My interview was scheduled for 1:45 pm. I arrived at 1:30 p.m. I waited and was called into their offices at around 2:15. The offices were located on the 15th floor of the building. They have a lot of security! As soon as you walk in, your purse goes through a conveyer built into the scanning machine. You walk through a metal detector; similar to airports, but the only difference is that they don?t make you take your shoes off.
The security guards are friendly and pleasant. As soon as I was done with security, we entered the main lobby. There was another security guard present who was probably the friendliest and kindest man I ever saw in my life. He was African American and in a very gentle voice requested me to show him my appointment letter. I showed it to him and he asked me to take the elevator to the 15th floor.
Once we reached our floor, there were two more security guards who also requested to see my appointment letter- I showed it to them and they showed me the way.
My point? Don?t put away your appointment letter immediately, You might be asked to show it over and over again .
I was attending this occasion with my three year old son, my 5 month old daughter and my father. Although it says that you cannot have any food inside, I did bring some apples for my son so he would not get hungry. Since the Newark Office conducts the interviews and the oaths on the same day, THE ENTIRE PROCESS WAS EXTREMELY LONG! I was so hungry by the time I was done, so make sure you have a nice big breakfast before coming here.
Once we got inside the place I was told by the security guard outside to go to window 4. I went straight to the window and showed him my appointment letter. He took my appointment letter and told me to sit down and wait to be called out. I took a seat.
It was a hall type of a place with chairs facing the officers behind a glass window. The officers were calling people one by one, and handing them an American flag, a white large envelope and asking them to sign some papers. Then they walked back to their seats.
As I mentioned, we waited for about 45 to 50 mins. I noticed the people around me. They all looked anxious as they waited for their turns. Some looked excited while others looked a bit tired. After 40-50 mins, a nice African American lady who was about 50-60 years old called my name. As I was getting ready to walk over to her, my three year old son made a huge fuss and asked me if he could come along. He came along with me to my interview. My Interviewer simply smiled and wasn?t bothered by the fact that my son was accompanying me. My heart was pounding in my throat as I made my way to her room. She entered her room and I followed her, then she sat down at her desk and I sat across from her. It was a tiny room that could fit about 3 people in.
she asked me to stand up and raise my right hand and take an oath saying that whatever I tell her would be nothing but the truth and only the truth.
Then she asked me look at the camera as she took my picture.
Then she asked me to press my index finger on a finger print-taking machine. She took fingerprints of both of my index fingers. ( I guess this is new because when my other family members had their interview and oath, they did not have to have their fingerprints taken)
Then I was tested on the questions:
What ocean is on the east coast of the USA?
What state borders Canada?
How many amendments to the constitution?
When was the constitution written? (I got this one wrong)
How many amendments to the constitution?
Who wrote the declaration of independence?
How many senators are there?
After the questions she asked me to read this sentence:
What are the colors in the Flag of the USA?
Then she gave me another piece of paper and she told me to write:
The colors in the flag are red, blue and white. (She said this and I wrote it down).
After that, she smiled and asked me some basic questions:
Do you support the constitution?
Are you willing to join the arm forces incase the need arise? (or something like that, I cant remember exactly)
Have you travelled outside the United States for more than 6 months?
These questions were asked basically to see if I qualified to become a US citizen.
Then she asked to see my passport. I had a brand new passport because my old one had expired a long time ago. She looked at my picture and my name to make sure the name on my passport matched the name on my forms and certificate.
After the interview (which lasted no more than 15-20 mins), the lady said that I would be attending my oath that same day. I was so happy I could hug her. Really I did everything in my power to control myself from leaping across the table and giving her a big bear hug and thanking her.
I just thanked her and I was asked to go to that same hall where my dad waited.
After about 1 hour I was called by one of the officers behind the glass windows. The young woman who called me asked me to sign some papers and then handed me a white envelope and two American flags. She smiled and said that one is for my toddler.
I would just like to point out that these officers were on their feet the whole time from 9 in the morning till 5 in the evening and they were so nice that I was blown away with their kindness. They made me feel comfortable and I felt extremely happy. The anxiety that I felt in the beginning was completely melted after interacting with the people who worked here. So Kudos to everyone who worked here from the guards to the officers!
After getting my envelope ( no citizenship certificate inside), we were all asked to go to another large room down the hall. The large room had some folks waiting already who had gotten their white envelopes. Everyone was talking in hushed tones and the entire ambiance of the room was extremely solemn. Until my three year stood in the middle of the room and started singing ?whip whip whip! Nae nae.. watch me whip.. watch me nae nae? and started dancing full fledge to a rap song. He definitely turned some heads and I am sure others were annoyed. ( I deeply apologize for my son?s behavior).
We waited.. and waited..and waited?
Then finally a young officer at 4.40 p.m. came inside the room. ( the place was about to close in 20 mins). The officer asked us all to scoot closer to him and fill the chairs so we were all sitting together. Our relatives were asked to sit on the sides.
The officer apologized for the delay and told us that another supervisor would come to conduct the ceremony.
The supervisor came into the room. Introduced herself and apologized for the delay again. (I guess they were running late).
Then the female supervisor asked us all to stand up and raise our right hand. It was time for the oath ceremony. She asked us to repeat after her.
The supervisor had the oath memorized and as she was saying it. She was looking at each and every person to see if we were really repeating the words after her. It was the strangest thing. She was going towards each person, looking at our lips with strange scrutiny making sure were repeating exactly what she said. At one point I felt like laughing because she made us feel a bit uncomfortable.
Anyways. After the oath, she asked us to form a line as she called our first names and receive our certificates. We all formed a line and got our certificates.
I honestly felt like this strange burden was off my shoulders. Even now, after about 10 days later, when I think about that moment when I got my certificate ? it was just so **** *al.
People who are born in the USA should never take that citizenship for granted because there are people in this country that have spend thousands of dollars, and have spend hours preparing for this one moment; where we are handed our certificate of citizenship; where we truly are now part of this country ? where we can vote and let our voices be heard.
It was a **** *al moment that I would never forget.
p.s
Guys, I WAS EXTREMELY NERVOUS. I was so scared. I kept reading words from my holy scripture and asking God Almighty to help me. Now that I think about it, it was so EASY BREEZY that it makes me laugh. I went to middle school and high school in the USA. I am fluent in English and I had taken a government class in high school which I Aced. I don?t know why I was scared! But I was! I thought I would forget all the answers that I memorized. I thought the officer would just deny my citizenship for some reason.
My point? Don?t be nervous or scared! Its so so so easy! The people working in the office are friendly! And just enjoy yourself! Drink plenty of water and eat a lot of food so you have alot of energy for this amazing moment!
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