Citizenship Ceremony

I'm putting this year as this is a discussion about your actual ceremony, not the paperwork or anything leading up to it.  Just the ceremony!  What was your ceremony like for you?  What was your impression of the other people becoming citizens: their attitudes, manner, dress etc?

I had my citizenship ceremony yesterday afternoon and I felt that I was probably one of the few (there were about 30 people physically there for Citizenship) that actually took it seriously.  Most of the other people were dressed worse than scum as if they'd crawled out of rubbish bins & smelled of it too!  Their attitude to being there was as if it was a chore rather than a privilege or honour.  I dressed up (well dressed up for me: skirt, blouse & heels) and my husband wore a suit (he normally wears just a shirt & slacks to work- he took an hour over his lunch break to attend) and we put DD in a nice outfit!     Most of the people were wearing jeans and t-shirts and yet they had iPhones and N96 mobiles (like the guy sitting next to me).  There were some people that made an effort and yes I know you can wear jeans and look smart, but seroiusly - this wasn't smart casual, except for one eastern european girl (who had a horribly bratty child that screamed through the whole ceremony and was running up and down the aisles - he wasn't going for citizenship & his father just let him do what he wanted - before, during & after the ceremony & even during photos!)  The guy sitting next to me asked me in all seriousness (seriously he wasn't joking) "is this the first time you're doing this?"  WTF?  Oh yes, I do this every week.    

Personally, I think the ceremony went really well, but I was just shocked at the other people's attitude to the occasion.  I mean c'mon, this is a legal ceremony with a bit of pomp & circumstance and yet peoples attitudes to it just shocked me.  Did anyone else have a similar experience?

what a strange experience! (but congrats!!) I haven't dealt with UK citizenship obviously, but at my US citizenship ceremony (which was held in a basketball arena as there were hundreds of people there), basically everyone was in smart dress, smiling, taking pictures, etc, and there was definitely a 'pomp and circumstance' feeling to it, I won't ever forget it.

I have no experience with a UK citizenship ceremony either, but my US one sounds a bit like what you saw, Teletabby. I don't think it was a particularly big deal for anyone there ... just sort of a necessary procedure. Nobody dressed up or took photos or anything. It was kind of impersonal and blah, to be honest.

Congratulations!!!!
Wow, it's kind of shocking to me to hear that. (US and UK ceremonies) 

My Grandparents and mom became Citizens (Of the US) in the 60's and back then it was a VERY big deal.  My grandfather esp. was so proud to be an American

I'm excited for my Ceremony. (Hopefully not to far away)

Congrats, Teletabby!

Great idea for a thread too - thanks for sharing your experience of your ceremony.

Personally I take the whole thing very seriously and plan to dress up and have my husband take piccies.  The nice lady at the council who explained the whole process to me over the phone yesterday said there would be coffee served afterwards for anyone who wanted to stay and chat, which is also nice - and of course I plan to do so!

DH and I got married at a registry office, and in spite of it not being a religious ceremony, it still meant a lot to me (as I expect the citizenship ceremony will) and I'll never forget how special it was and how the people involved with it (the council people as well as our guests) made such an impact on the day.

One last thing in praise of how the UK handles this, is that they offer you the choice of taking an oath or an affirmation of allegiance.  As the affirmation doesn't include the word "God", that is what I chose when I secured my ceremony date yesterday.  I don't want to hijack this thread, so maybe I'll start another thread elsewhere to ask if anyone knows if the US offers the same option (e.g., when being sworn in as a trial witness).

I have no experience with a UK citizenship ceremony either, but my US one sounds a bit like what you saw, Teletabby. I don't think it was a particularly big deal for anyone there ... just sort of a necessary procedure. Nobody dressed up or took photos or anything. It was kind of impersonal and blah, to be honest.

My US one was the same. I dressed up, and I will dress up for the UK one (cross fingers it'll happen soon!) but I just can't take these ceremonies seriously, I don't know why.

Not the citizenship, mind. I was very happy to get my US one and will be happy to get my UK one. It's just the ceremonies that I personally (my opinion only) consider kinda silly.

ETA: Congrats, Teletabby!

... US citizenship ceremony (which was held in a basketball arena as there were hundreds of people there), basically everyone was in smart dress, smiling, taking pictures, etc, and there was definitely a 'pomp and circumstance' feeling to it, I won't ever forget it.

I recently attended my husband's US ceremony and it was very emotional, despite us only getting his citizenship for convenience. People were truly sothankful to be there and took it seriously. It was very memorable, indeed! I'd say the entire world was represented in that room and there were a lot of tears.

Your experience sounds bizarre! But congratulations on your ceremony!

One last thing in praise of how the UK handles this, is that they offer you the choice of taking an oath or an affirmation of allegiance.  As the affirmation doesn't include the word "God", that is what I chose when I secured my ceremony date yesterday.  I don't want to hijack this thread, so maybe I'll start another thread elsewhere to ask if anyone knows if the US offers the same option (e.g., when being sworn in as a trial witness).

I don't recall being offered an option, but I didn't ask. I was young and nervous. My decision was to keep silent during certain parts of the oath. I found a lot of it really offensive, to be honest. By keeping silent, I felt I was doing the right thing for myself and was able to keep a clear conscience.

I don't recall being offered an option, but I didn't ask. I was young and nervous. My decision was to keep silent during certain parts of the oath. I found a lot of it really offensive, to be honest. By keeping silent, I felt I was doing the right thing for myself and was able to keep a clear conscience.

When I had my ceremony, we didn't even have to repeat the oath, just hold our hands up while the judge said it!  I thought that was a bit weird.

I recently attended my husband's US ceremony and it was very emotional, despite us only getting his citizenship for convenience. People were truly sothankful to be there and took it seriously.

Honestly, my US citizenship ceremony was very moving for me- I moved to the US as a child, grew up there, considered myself American, so it meant so, so, much to me to finally be able to call myself an American citizen.  With the UK it's very different, I'd basically be getting UK citizenship simply for the convenience of it.

Congrats on your citizenship Teletabby!!!!       Just thought I would throw a little smiley party in your honour!
No experience with this stuff (yet) but I know I would be very excited and would dress up for deffo. And congrats to Lip Balm Addict who will be having her ceremony next month!
My shot at citizneship won't come for quite a while, but time passes pretty fast, so probably before I know it I will be doing that as well.

Thanks for the congrats.  I got it for the convenience as well, but you know you just show a bit of reverence or respect for the occasion, regardless of the reason I would think...

People were truly sothankful to be there and took it seriously. It was very memorable, indeed! I'd say the entire world was represented in that room and there were a lot of tears.

See, this is what I was thinking some people would be like, but it seriously was like meh to people.  I understand why people would do it and I agree with Mort its just a display ceremony, but still...  You wouldn't show up to a church wedding or a funeral in jeans & a T-shirt...maybe a registry wedding or a Vegas wedding, but you get the idea.    Maybe its just me being pedantic and idealistic.

Congratulations!!!!
My Grandparents and mom became Citizens (Of the US) in the 60's and back then it was a VERY big deal.  My grandfather esp. was so proud to be an American

This is exactly what I'm talking about, the pride in being a citizen.  Ok, I don't expect myself or anyone else to go around wearking Union Jack / St. George's cross (St. David's, St. Patrick's or St. Andrew's crosses) either, but at least just a little something.   Again, the idealist in me feels a bit trodden on.  

This is exactly what I'm talking about, the pride in being a citizen.  Ok, I don't expect myself or anyone else to go around wearking Union Jack / St. George's cross (St. David's, St. Patrick's or St. Andrew's crosses) either, but at least just a little something.   Again, the idealist in me feels a bit trodden on.  

I would sport one of those Union Jack hats to my ceremony ala Joey Tribiani! 

I don't want to hijack this thread, so maybe I'll start another thread elsewhere to ask if anyone knows if the US offers the same option (e.g., when being sworn in as a trial witness).

It does. Definitely for trial witnesses, probably for citizenship ceremonies as well.

"(a) an oath, affirmation, or declaration, in an action or a proceeding, may be administered by obtaining an affirmative response to one of the following questions:
(1)"Do you solemnly state tht the evidence you shall give in this issue (or matter) shall be the truth , the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" (2) "Do you solemnly state under penalty of perjury, that the evidence that you shall give in this issue (or matter) shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?" (b) In the alternative to the forms prescribed in subdivision (a), the court may administer an oath, affirmation , or declaration in an action or a proceeding in a matter that is calculated to awaken the person's conscience and impress the person's mind with the duty to tell the truth. The court shall satisfy itself that the person testifying understands that his or her testimony is being given under penalty of perjury." (California Code of Civil Procedure, Section 2094)."

These are forms in use in California and I bet others states are not substantially different.

In Federal Court:

"Before testifying, every witness shall be required to declare that the witness will testify truthfully, by oath or affirmation, adiminstered in a form calculated to awaken the witness' conscience and impress the witness' mind with the duty to do so." (Federal Rules of Evidence, Rule 603).

ETA: According to my google search, you're allowed to omit "so help me God" in when taking the oath of citizenship and when asked to sign the oath, you can cross out those words.

Again, the idealist in me feels a bit trodden on.  

No need for that. Everyone comes to this point in their lives from very different directions. You shouldn't let other people's attitude diminish this occasion for you. Just because someone else might not treat this with the solemnity that you do, shouldn't make the experience less meaningful or special.

Congrats, Teletabby!

What was your ceremony like for you?  What was your impression of the other people becoming citizens: their attitudes, manner, dress etc?...Did anyone else have a similar experience?

No, mine wasn't like that.  Leeds' ceremonies are very big - they have at least two per week with capacity for 100 new citizens in attendance, and possibly some other smaller 50-person ceremonies (based on what the council's NCS lady told me).  The primary ones are held in the banquet hall room of Leeds Civic Hall - the building with the gold owls that faces Millennium Square.

I don't remember anyone being dressed particularly scroungy-like.  There may have been some jeans, but certainly a lot of folks - some entire families - were well turned out.  There were some screaming children there, but also well-behaved ones as well.

My impression of many of the new citizens in attendance was that their first language was not English - as there was a lot of general confusion in the mass of people over where they had been told to sit, when they were supposed to stand & which of the two oaths they were saying, etc.  (People saying the 'god' oath were to sit on one side, the godless on the other side  , and you stood up & said your bit at different times.  But as some were confused, some people stood & spoke their oath in a fashion that was a law unto themselves.)  On the whole, they seemed earnest enough about why they were there, and it was really great seeing some of the families (from all over) there together.

Leeds also served tea, coffee and biscuits as part of the event, and we each got a commemorative coffee mug with the seal of the city of Leeds upon it.

My thought about the ceremony itself was that it was nice, but kind of stuffy.  The mayor wasn't there, but some guy (in a funny suit with a sash on it) who is a deputy for the Queen's representative in Yorkshire was our local dignitary present.  So the Registrar lady started it off by saying a few words.  She read off a list of all the countries where the new citizens present were all originally from (not by person, just the list of countries).  That was really interesting!  Most of them were from Africa, the Middle East or Asia.  Not very many from anywhere the other side of the Atlantic.

Then she introduced the dignitary guy who talked for a bit about the rights & responsibilities of British citizenship.  Then we said our oath or affirmation to the Queen, and then our pledge to the UK.  Then it was rather like a graduation ceremony (lol!) where they called each of us individually up to the front by name, the dignitary handed us our Naturalisation Certificate and shook our hand -- and we got our photo taken there.  Then the Registrar lady talked again for a short bit, then they played God Save the Queen & it was all over.  And my party headed for lunch at the pub!