My US Citizenship Interview/Tests

It was one of the important days in my life and I made sure (I thought so!) that everything has been taken care of, though I was not feeling well because of cough and colds. Since I became a US Permanent resident, I've been visiting the USCIS office many times so I somehow knew the restrictions before you could get in the building. No cellphone allowed, firearms and the like. But I kinda messed up that day. Geez.

When I walked through the security, I heard my bag beeped. One of the security officers checked what's inside in my bag. My mind was like, "It's should be cleared, I did not bring my cellphone with me so I should be okay". The Security Officer or SO ran my bag again after she took my lipstick case out of my bag. It beeped again. "Ayayay!", I thought. 

So the SO checked my bag again. I was very shocked when I saw her holding the folding hunting knife she found in one of the pockets. I was like, "Oh my God! I totally forgot about it!" The first thing that came up to my mind was that, the SO wouldn't let me in for my appointment. I was scared as hell! But thank God, the SO only said to bring it outside or take it back to my car. While walking towards the parking lot, I scolded myself. "Stupid!Stupid!Stupid." I remembered last week, I was checking my stuff in the garage and I found that hunting knife which hubby received last Christmas. I thought I needed one in my bag for self defense, something like that. That's why it was there.

With low morale, I hurried back to the building and put my bag in the conveyor again. And, unexpectedly, it beeped again. I wanted to faint right there and then. I was like, "I don't think there is more inside aside from my personal stuff." The other Security Officer threw me a question, is this a real  Coach bag? I said, "Yes, it is." Then the other Security Officer felt the leather of the bag, also checked the logo inside and out. "It is genuine", she said. "I kinda figure it out now", the other SO said. Then they let me in. I felt relieved! But my mind was," Wait a minute! What's the relevance of the "genuineness" of my Coach bag to the beeping of the security alarm?" I wanted to ask them but I did not want to ask more trouble. Whatever, hehehe!

I waited for more or less 30 minutes before I heard my name being called by a lady. She introduced herself as the Commissioner. I had too many butterflies in my stomach that time that I thought I couldn't handle them anymore. I was still affected with what happened earlier. As soon as I took a sit, she asked me, "How many years you were married to your husband in the Philippines?' I answered, "4 years only Ma'am". She asked me again, "Ma'am how many years was your  first marriage lasted?" I took a deep breath and thought the question seriously. In my mind, I was like, "My ex and I separated after 4 years of marriage then I was a single mom for 12 years and the marriage got annulled  in 2006..." I figured it out already what she meant. I said, "I'm sorry I gave you the wrong answer. I was confused. The first marriage lasted more or less 15 years." She was satisfied. She had me signed my passport photos. Then she told me to raise my right hand to swear to tell nothing but the truth only. Afterwards, she started asking me questions about my children, SS number, address, my telephone number, etc. In between my answers, she asked me to spell out some words. She used my N400 Application on file as her guide and marked check to every answer I gave. Then she explained about the test which has 4 areas include speaking, reading, writing and civics test (knowledge about US history). She said I only answer six (6) questions only out of ten (10) questions.

My first six questions were as follows (with my answers) :

1. Who was the first President of the United States? "George Washington"

2. Give me two US National Holidays. "President's Day", "New Year's Day"

3. Who is the Governor of Nevada? "Governor Brian Sandoval"

4. Where is the Statue of Liberty? "New York Harbor"

5. What is one promise you make when you become a US Citizen? "Give up loyalty to other countries"... Honestly, I felt guilty afterwards when I realized this was my answer, hehehe, I could have answered "Obey the laws of the United States"'

6. What movement tried to end racial discrimination? "Civil rights movement"

I answered all the six questions correctly. She congratulated me. 

Then I was asked to read a sentence and to write a sentence that she dictated. She congratulated me again for passing the reading and writing test. She had me signed my N400 application then gave me a paper about the interview/test results and told me some important instructions about Oath Taking requirements and the like.

So I passed! Thank you God! I just need to wait for the final approval and the date of the Oath Taking in the mail. Hopefully, next month, my birth month :) I can't wait! I am excited to petition my Mom and my siblings. It could cost me a fortune but I will ask my siblings to pay for their respective applications, lol! 

Let me tackle about siblings petition. It will take 15-20 years before the approval. Yup, it's like waiting half of your entire life and that you might not enjoy it anymore, but do not to think about yourself, think about your children. Let me share a story real quick. My Pinay friend's ex husband petitioned his siblings, one of them said she is not interested. So all those petitioned siblings including their children moved to United States after long years of waiting. The children of that sibling who did not want to be petitioned blamed her. They thought their mother was selfish.

Well, thanks for visiting!