So, I just want to post an update. On January 12, I received a letter in the mail saying that my citizenship test date would be January 29. There were three pages in the envelope: a page with the test invitation and location info, a page that said if I passed the test I would become a citizen in an oath ceremony immediately after, and a page that was a waiver that said I was okay if my photo was taken during the ceremony and used. It said the oath ceremony would be approximately 2 hours after the start time of the test and said that we could invite people.
The test went well. I studied a ton (every fact and caption in the book) and used the Richmond library practice questions to quiz myself as part of my process. I found my exam questions to be basic and I could have studied less and still done well, but I am glad to know so much more about Canada's history now. (An interesting timeline detail: they said that if you cheat, there is a two-year wait to take the test again, but if you fail the test, there is only a two-month wait to take the test again.)
After the test, they called people one by one for interviews. My interview was with a very nice officer and it was maybe about 10 minutes long. Perhaps less. He told me my test score, looked at my IDs and asked a couple basic questions. Then he said congrats and said the ceremony would follow shortly. I then called and texted the couple people I had invited to come (if I passed the test), and they came and the ceremony actually began about 2.5 hours after my appointment start time. I think there were 67 people who became citizens in my group. The ceremony was really good. (Are all ceremonies bilingual? I guess so, since they are federal.) It lasted maybe an hour. They let us take our photo with the judge afterward. As I was leaving, I realized that there was a new group entering the auditorium, just like we did. So I suspect they had another group start their tests after us, and they were going to do another ceremony too with this second group.
It was pretty intense to do the test+oath in one day. The uncertainty of not knowing if I would pass or if the interview would go okay was unnerving and stressful, especially because I invited a couple people, but it was SUPER nice to do it all in one day. And I suspect that it all would have been very stressful in any case, so I am thankful to have done it all at once! It was a huge, important day....and I was exhausted at the end of it. And thankful. Very thankful.
I wish all of you well, especially you fellow June 2014 applicants, and I hope your waits are over soon. This forum has been an essential resource in my PR and citizenship journey, and I am so thankful to have found it back years ago when I was trying to figure out what in the world the process was to become a PR. Thank you all!
The test went well. I studied a ton (every fact and caption in the book) and used the Richmond library practice questions to quiz myself as part of my process. I found my exam questions to be basic and I could have studied less and still done well, but I am glad to know so much more about Canada's history now. (An interesting timeline detail: they said that if you cheat, there is a two-year wait to take the test again, but if you fail the test, there is only a two-month wait to take the test again.)
After the test, they called people one by one for interviews. My interview was with a very nice officer and it was maybe about 10 minutes long. Perhaps less. He told me my test score, looked at my IDs and asked a couple basic questions. Then he said congrats and said the ceremony would follow shortly. I then called and texted the couple people I had invited to come (if I passed the test), and they came and the ceremony actually began about 2.5 hours after my appointment start time. I think there were 67 people who became citizens in my group. The ceremony was really good. (Are all ceremonies bilingual? I guess so, since they are federal.) It lasted maybe an hour. They let us take our photo with the judge afterward. As I was leaving, I realized that there was a new group entering the auditorium, just like we did. So I suspect they had another group start their tests after us, and they were going to do another ceremony too with this second group.
It was pretty intense to do the test+oath in one day. The uncertainty of not knowing if I would pass or if the interview would go okay was unnerving and stressful, especially because I invited a couple people, but it was SUPER nice to do it all in one day. And I suspect that it all would have been very stressful in any case, so I am thankful to have done it all at once! It was a huge, important day....and I was exhausted at the end of it. And thankful. Very thankful.
I wish all of you well, especially you fellow June 2014 applicants, and I hope your waits are over soon. This forum has been an essential resource in my PR and citizenship journey, and I am so thankful to have found it back years ago when I was trying to figure out what in the world the process was to become a PR. Thank you all!
