Student path to citizenship

As someone who has had a parent go through the citizenship process as an adult, and as someone who has gone through it myself as a minor, I have learned a lot about the citizenship process in the US.

In terms of applying, it requires every legal document and piece of personal information imaginable to be carefully entered online. Then the processing starts.

Personally, it took from July until November 2022, which was about 4 months, however this processing process can take a lot longer. Various reports mention a timeframe of 8-14 months of processing before they get back and update your status.

At the ceremony itself, all new citizens take the oath of citizenship, which reads as follows. “I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.”

Afterwards you receive an official certificate of citizenship and go off, all in all totaling to about 1-2 hours.