New U.S. Citizen: My Naturalization Interview and Taking Citizenship Oath

As the last step in my application for US citizenship, I received a letter from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (http://uscis.gov) requesting my presence for an interview at 1pm at their offices in the Rodino Federal Building located in downtown Newark (NJ).

I showed up promptly at 1pm, went up the elevators to the 15th floor, and was ushered into a huge waiting room filled with other applicants and their family members who had come along for moral support. As instructed, I deposited the interview notice at the box by Window 1 and waited for my name to be called. Every few minutes or so, one of the Immigration Officers would appear behind the glass windows and call out a name on the microphone, instructing that person to go to either one of the three doors where the officer would meet them and lead them inside for the naturalization interview.

After thirty minutes or so of sitting around and watching financial news, I was finally called and walked behind the officer (A. Cruz) down the hallway into his cubicle. I was sworn to tell the whole truth, and then was asked questions about my background and other basic information that was already in the application form. A basic civics and history exam was included in the interview, I had started reviewing the sample questionnaire that is available for download from the US CIS website, and while the answers seemed straightforward, I was still a bit anxious. Officer Cruz proceeded to ask me the following questions:

1. Who becomes President of the United States if the President dies?
Answer: The Vice-President

2. How many changes or Amendments are there to the Constitution?
Answer: 27

3. Who is the current governor of New Jersey?
Answer: Jon Corzine

4. What were the 13 original states of the United States called before they became states?
Answer: colonies

5. What are the two major political parties in the United States?
Answer: Democratic and Republican

6. What is the national anthem of the United States?
Answer: Star Spangled Banner