American Citizenship - Social Security Number

Finally, to officially complete the American Citizenship process: update the citizenship status.
It can be done before or after getting the American passport.

What will you need?
-Proof of citizenship: citizenship certificate or passport
-ID: driver's license or passport
-Social security card or the application if you still do not have the card

All documents must be originals or certified copies by the issuing agency. You may take them to the office personally or you may send them on the mail (in which case they will send them back home by mail too). I personally preferred to take them myself, and the schedule of the social security office in my area is from 9am to 4pm.

If nothing else has changed, that would be all. If your name has changed, they will send you a new social security card in a couple of weeks.

And the most important thing is to make sure that all the information is correct in the printout they give you before leaving the window, because there may be errors.

American Passport

To request the passport, start by filling the application that comes in the envelope you got at the Oath Ceremony. Another option is to go to the Post office and request a passport application there.
You will need:
*a filled application
*a passport picture
*an ID
*the citizenship certificate
*a check or money order that will be sent with the application (to get the passport at normal speed it will be $110, and more if you want it express - prices as of January 2017)
*cash, debit or credit to pay the office fee

With all of this, find a passport office or go to the Post office and ask. The passport office where I live opens on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each month. Once you are inside, it takes about 5 to 10 minutes to do everything, unless there is a line.

Good luck and congratulations!

American Citizenship - Oath

For the Oath, the moment in which you officially become an American citizen, you have to bring document N-445 with the Oath appointment. Make sure you fill the back, signature included. You will also need to bring your Green Card.

The Oath will be in the same place where the interview was. Remember the metal control! it is possible they will be more restrictive for the Oath than for the interview (I was not allowed to bring in my glass water bottle). Before passing the metal control you will need to show a type of ID (you and the people with you), and the document N-445. The next person will ask you for your Green Card given that without it you won't be allowed to do the Oath.

Once inside, your accompanying crew will pass to the waiting room and you will stand in a couple of lines to have someone check you have all that is needed, and later to hand over your Green Card and the N-445. Finally, you take your seat, where an envelope with a bunch of stuff will be waiting for you. Once all the applicants have handed over their documents and are seating down, the accompanying crew will enter.

All of this, I imagine, may change from place to place, so be aware of it. For my ceremony, the appointment time was 12:30, but I was recommended to arrive at 12. They also informed me we would be done between 2 and 2:30, and so it happened.

As part of the ceremony there will be some videos, the Call of Countries, the National Anthem (The Star Spangled Banner), the Pledge of Allegiance, the Oath of Allegiance, and the handing of Certificates.

In the envelope you will find:
- A booklet with the Declaration of Independence and the USA Constitution
- A booklet entitled the citizen's almanac, with fundamental documents, symbols, and anthems of the USA
- Your rights and responsibilities as a citizen
- Tips for new citizens
- 14 facts about federal elections
- An application for the vote registry
- An application for the American passport + process information
- A folder for the citizenship certificate
- A little USA flag
- A message from the president

If you have completed all this process I hope the information you found here was helpful and...
Congratulations colleague citizen!
It has been a decently long process and I hope you can feel proud of your accomplishment, and that you may represent well this country you are now part of.

American Citizenship - Interview/Test

Once you receive the letter informing you of the interview appointment, make sure to read it carefully. It lists not just date, time, and location, but also the necessary documents (many already needed for previous steps). Pay also attention to the second letter/checklist which also lists documents to bring.

Make sure you are proactive and collect all requested documents for the interview. However, if you are lucky, you may not need them. I ended up only needing passports, driver's license and green card, but I still brought the whole list of documents. Better safe than sorry!

On the interview day you will have to pass a metal control and take off your shoes, just like the airport controls. Thus, do not use complicated shoes nor too many accessories.

Once inside, walk to the window to get a number and wait until they call you. Then, they will bring you into an office to interview you.

Part of the interview is spent providing the documents the interviewer asks for, and the other part is the exam. The interviewer will ask you between 6 and 10 questions (if you pass all of them it will be enough with 6, if you fail any, you will get more. You can fail up to 4), and then you will be asked to read a sentence and write another. You will also get to answer all the questions on the last part of the paperwork, the ones that ask you if you are a terrorist, a communist, a duke,....


Once you finish, they will give you the document N-652 with the result of the interview. Then you will go back to the waiting room to wait until they give you document N-445, the appointment to the Oath Ceremony. In my case, the appointment for the Oath Ceremony was for the week following the interview. 

If your interview is in Charlotte, NC, I can tell you that Oath Ceremonies are done on Tuesdays and Thursday, and if your interview is such a day, you may be offered to do the Oath Ceremony that same day.

American Citizenship - Changing the appointment date

Once you receive the letter with your interview appointment, if it does not work for you we can now see what to do about it to change it.

First, read the letter carefully, and if your letter is like mine, there will be a brief sentence in the first paragraph indicating to write a letter to the office explaining why the change of date. The address of the office will be written at the end of the letter.

If there is no such indication you can call the number you find on the letter, it should be (800) 375-5283. However, it is not the direct phone number to the office, and they ask for a whole month to make sure the office receives the message. Thus, I would still write a letter to the office.

In the letter, mention your Alien number, the receipt number associated to the case, and the date in which the case was received (all these numbers should be in the header of the letter, in a rectangle). Besides you can add the explanation of why you cannot assist and have to change the date.

One more recommendation would be to send the letter with a tracking system to ensure the letter arrives to destiny.

Once they receive it you can check the status of your case as explained here or calling (800) 375-5283, for which you will need the receipt number.

Finally you will receive another letter with a new appointment.

That simple.

American Citizenship - Interview appointment

Shortly after 2 months from the Biometrics I receive a letter with the appointment to the interview. The appointment is in about a month; therefore, if you want to wait to receive the letter to start studying you would have time. However, I would recommend you at least read/listen the questions and answers once or twice in advance, that way it will be easier when starting to study.

Anyhow, I am afraid the given date is not a convenient one since I will be on vacation. The question is, how do we change the appointment?
You can read about it here!

American Citizenship - Check your case status

Wherever you find yourself in the naturalization process, and once you have received the receipt letter (form I-797) or an email note (as long as you filled the form G-1145), you should have all you need to check your status.

On the receipt or on the email you will find a receipt number. With that number yo can go to the Official Website of the Department of Homeland Security and click on  "Check your case status", or click here and insert the receipt number.

You may see something of the following sort, always depending on the status of your case.

Good luck, and I hope it is good news!