I'm a British citizen!
I had my citizenship ceremony yesterday afternoon, applied for my passport through Check & Send straight after and I just registered to vote.
I didn't know what to expect, so here's my experience.
Citizenship ceremonyThere were about 20 new citizens and about 10-15 guests (we were only allowed 1 guest each, kids did not count in the 1 guest rule).
The ceremony was scheduled to be at 2p so DH and I got there about 15-20 minutes early.
They didn't start to seat us until 2p (they checked photo IDs of all the new citizens as we entered) and once everyone was in the room, they reseated us - new citizens at the front with those saying the oaths on one side and the affirmations on the other in alphabetical order by first name, I think.
The mayor gave a 10-15 minute speech about the awesomeness of our borough and then we did the oath/affirmation, saying our names individually and then the rest as a 'repeat after me' even though they gave us a print out what we were saying.
We were called up individually to get our welcome packet and take photos with the mayor (it reminded me of graduation ceremony) and then we sang the national anthem (they gave us a sheet with the words).
They supposedly had a professional photographer there, but I think most people just took photos with their phones. For new citizens without guests there, other new citizens offered to take photos for them.
The mayor hung around for a few minutes after to chat and take photos.
Everyone was dressed up. The invite said jeans were not allowed.
First UK passport applicationI had the application all filled out, so I just needed to enter the nationality certificate date and number. Everything was dated a week earlier (my stuff and my countersignatory's section).
I wasn't sure what to put for 'Place of Issue' in Section 5 as it wasn't clear on my certificate, but I asked at the post office when we did Check & Send and they said to write 'Home Office London'.
I had a print out of my grandparents' details (continued from Section 4). I wasn't sure how to best write it, but here's the format I decided on (I typed it in all caps to be safe):
Applicant: surname, first middle
Date of birth: dd/mm/yyyy
Section 4 continued
Grandparents' details
(Maternal grandmother) surname, first middle (née maiden)
Born: city, state, USA
dd/mm/yyyy
(Maternal grandfather) surname, first middle
Born: city, state, USA
dd/mm/yyyy
Married: dd/mm/yyyy
(repeat for other set of grandparents)
We had to send off my nationality certificate with the passport application and had we thought it through, we would have scanned it before applying for my passport, but we forgot in the excitement. We were paying the extra £3 for the certificate and my US passport to be sent back by Secure Delivery anyway and I had written down my certificate number, so in the rare event that it's lost, I've got the number.
Registering to voteI registered to vote
online.
The only thing I needed that I didn't know off the top of my head was my national insurance number (easily found on my payslips).
I did not need my citizenship ceremony number or anything. Just my address, birthdate and citizenship (you need to tick both British and 'other' to select US, no passport numbers needed), but I'm assuming they will check that I'm actually a UK citizen.
Celebration!We went to our favourite Indian restaurant for dinner with a few friends and I brought homemade Victoria sponge cupcakes with raspberry jam filling and buttercream frosting to prove my British-ness.
All in all, a very exciting day. DH and I spent the rest of the day singing the Imperial March with words from 'God Save the Queen'.
