My Road to Becoming a Citizen
Last week was a momentous week for me as I become an American citizen on Thursday.
The journey has taken me nearly seven years. I first arrived in this country on November 5, 2001 clutching my fiance visa. Tom and I married at the end of November and in the following February I was given my first Green Card. It was only for two years and before I received my ten year Green Card, Tom and I had to prove that we were still married and living together.
Last year I decided it was time to become a fully fledged citizen and started the process by filling in the necessary paperwork at the end of July. In December I had my fingerprints and biometrics done and my interview and test were on June 23 this year.
(Click on the images for larger versions)
Six weeks after my interview I received the letter giving the date, place and time for the Naturalization Ceremony. It was to be held at the Santa Clara Fairgrounds on Tully Road at 10 am on Thursday, August 14. The letter contained very little information apart from the above and I had many questions - What is the parking like? Can I bring guests? If so, how many? Can I take a camera? I went on line to find out what I could and eventually gleaned some answers. Parking was no problem. Guests could attend and there was no limit but it was first come first served. Cameras were allowed. I also discovered that there were gong to be three ceremonies at the Santa Clara Fairgrounds in August, one on the 7th and two on the 14th; one at 10 a.m. and the second at 1 p.m.
The day after the first ceremony I read a newspaper report that 3,000 people had become American Citizens. The ceremony had been delayed by one and half hours due to traffic chaos on Tully Road. As there were estimated to be another 3,000 at both ceremonies on the 14th, the same was likely to happen again so we made plans to arrive early.
Don and Arlene, Tom’s parents, wanted to attend so they arrived the day before. Thursday dawned and we were up bright eyed and busy tailed and the four of us were the very first to arrive at 6.50 a.m, so no chance of my guests not getting a seat. We were able to walk into the hall because there was nobody else around. It was an enormous space. In the middle, 3,000 white folding chairs all with letters, brochures and a small American flag; 500 brown folding seats at the side for guests; a small stage and large screen at the front. The first officials arrived soon after and said we had to wait outside but I persuaded them to let Don and Arlene stay inside because 3 hours would have a long time for them to stand in line.
Tom had to go to the other side of the building to line up and I was at the front of the line of new citizens.
Soon there was a long line behind me and I could see the traffic getting snarled up on the road outside as more and more people arrived. At 8.15 we were allowed into the hall and we all had to go to our allotted section. I was about half way down in Section 2. I had to hand in my letter and Green Card and was directed to the chair I was to sit in. Somehow Don, Arlene, Tom, plus three of my friends from work, all managed to sit together but not within speaking distance of me.
It was a slow process to get everyone seated. I had a grandstand seat, front row of my section and next to 
the central aisle. One of the envelopes contained my voters’ registration card so I immediately filled it out. The brochures made interesting reading, information about the Declaration of Independence and the writing of the Constitution but I spent most of my time observing what was going on around me. Patriotic songs were playing and videos of scenes from all over America were displayed on the screen. The official in charge of our section made an effort to keep us amused by asking questions about the Constitution and Amendments. Every time somebody gave the right answer they were told their prize was ‘Fame and Glory’.
The main part of the ceremony got under way at 10.30, half an hour later than planned but an hour earlier than last week’s ceremony. It began with a long speech about filling in the voters’ registration form. It was then repeated in four other languages! Then came the presenting of the colors and we all sang the national anthem. Roll call came next and the names of all the 110 countries present were called out. When your country’s name was called, you had to stand and stay standing until everybody was on their feet. The United Kingdom was near the end so I was almost the last one sitting. There was a speech from our local Congresswoman. The last part was to make the pledge and to swear our allegiance. For the pledge, we had to raise our right arm and repeat after the leader the words of the pledge.
For the swearing of allegiance, we had to place our right hand on our heart and recite the words. We were then allowed to wave our flags, stomp our feet and cheer. There then followed a video of President Bush welcoming us as new citizens. There were subtitles on the bottom but strangely they were in English!
The guests then had to leave while we remained seated until handed an envelope with our Certificate of Naturalization. I was lucky to be one of the first to receive one so I was soon outside with family and friends. The first thing I did was to post my voters’ registration card into a box. Then there 
were the hugs, kisses and photographs. Arlene had brought a hat for me to wear so of course had to wear it. By this time it was gone 12 and we were starving but it took simply ages to get out of the car park. Of course, by this time, the soon-to- be new citizens and their guests were congregating.
The four of us grabbed a quick lunch in a suishi bar and then I went to work. There they had a small celebration for me with cake and ice cream. All in all it was an exhausting, emotional but uplifting day.
Note from Tom - I’m very proud of you sweetie. You’re pretty amazing. It’s been a long haul but I’m sure you’ll always be British at heart, at least I hope so. We would sure miss teasing you about your funny accent.
Congratulations and lots of hugs and kisses.
August 18 2008 05:37 pm | Further Afield
Nannee on 06 Nov 2008 at 8:43 pm #
Can I ask you a question about becoming a citizen?
my boyfriend will go to citizen interview on 19 Oct
he curios about whether he can attend the Naturalization Ceremony at the same day of the interview or he have to wait for a while ? I read your journal and discovered that you had to wait for 6 weeks so my question is , Is it necessary that everyone have to wait for 6 week, or it’s depending on the government.Please kindly reply me shortly. Thank you so much.
Margaret and Tom on 06 Nov 2008 at 9:32 pm #
Hi Nannee,
Margaret is sending you an email about her wait time.
Tom