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.