American Citizenship - My experience

Hi beautiful people.

I haven't been here in awhile now but I do have something really exciting to share with you all. I become a American citizen.  It all happen 2 years ago, I wasn't sure about becoming a citizen because to me it is more then title and paper work. I wanted to become a citizen when I felt comfortable as a part of this country, where I felt comfortable making decision .. like voting and other responsibilities that comes with been a part of a nation. Luckily for me I am able to maintain my previous citizenship and add on a new one without having to give up the rights to here I was born.


When I had my baby I felt like I needed to make a decision... so I started my application.

First I check my eligibility which I was sure of but just for the sake of this post I will mention here. I am married with an American citizen for more then 3 years and because I am married with a citizen I was eligible to apply for the N-400 after 3 years of marriage but I waited until I was sure that this is what I wanted, so I ended up applying at the 5 years mark, this was after I had my baby girl.

To start the process I filled out the form N-400 and sent all the requested documents proving my relationship with my husband and our financial situation. Some of this documents are:

my husbands prof of citizenship
our marriage certificate
birth certificate of my daughter
employment letters, proving we are working
tax returns
bank statements

Also added a check for $725 ($640 for the N-400 + $85 for the biometrics).

The biometrics appointment was scheduled for approximately two months after USCIS received my paperwork and assigned me a case number.

During the biometrics appoint at the address provided I filled out a very simple questioner with questions regarding my eye and hair color, height, weight and ethnicity. After awhile of wait I was called to take a picture and finger prints. As I was leaving the appointment I was provided with the famous naturalization booklet.

From this point on I was always studying the USA history and asking people to quiz me on the questions and facts. It is funny to think that a simple booklet can put so much pressure on you.

It took almost 7 months for my case to be updated in the USCIS case status webpage with an interview date. The interview was dated to approximately one month after the notification.

My interview was schedule for the morning time. Which for me was good and bad because my baby was still very young and exactly on the night before my interview she decided to wake up in the middle of the night and stay awake for 2 hours, by the time I was at the interview I could barely keep my eyes open.

The interview was very short (which was good because I was feeling like a walking zombie), the immigration officer was a female (also a foreigner) very nice lady. She went through my form and asked me to confirm a some personal information, my address and some travel dates. She also asked me to wright one phrase about presidents day and asked the 5 random questions from the booklet.

I was very happy when she handed me a form saying that my case was eligible to be sent for approval. That was a great feeling. I was so tired but I felt really happy that this whole immigration process was going to end. The officer mentioned that I was going to miss the closest citizenship oath ceremony by a few days so I had to wait another month before I could receive my naturalization certificate.

Pass forward a month, I was finally ready to attend the ceremony. The ceremony was held in a theater 20 minutes away from my house (519 people from all sorts of immigration journeys received their naturalization certificate that morning). My husband and my baby were able to attend as well. It was emotional for me to hand out my green card, because I knew that all the years working on the immigration process and all the interviews, fees and everything else my husband and I had to go through was going to end there and a new era was about to start. I could see the same emotion in so many peoples faces.

The ceremony took approximately 1 one hour and 30 minutes. Some people from the USCIS office shared information about next steps (SSN update and how to apply for the American Passport), we watched a video from the president, took the oath and sang the national anthem as citizens for the first time. I definitely shared a few (a lot) of tears.


Overall my experience was great. I was well received in all USCIS office visits, the paperwork was simple enough to understand that I was able to process everything on my own without an attorneys help, which is a big money saver.

I am proud to be part of this nation.

I hope this post helps you in any way you may need.

Until next time friends!

XOXO