Citizenship Tutorial

The citizenship oath is one of the final steps to becoming a US citizen. During the citizenship ceremony, you will need to take an oath which indicates your willingness to abide by the laws of the US. The current oath immigrants must repeat when becoming US citizens is:

"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."

You will generally be given prompts and help in repeating the oath, so you do not need to memorize it. Your oath will be recited at your naturalization ceremony. In order to get to that stage of the immigration process, you will need to:

• Apply for citizenship. Once you are eligible, you can apply for citizenship with the USCIS via an application form. You can easily apply for your US citizenship online at any time of the day or night through the US-Immigration.com portal.

• Pass the citizenship test. Once you have heard from the USCIS about your application form, you will generally be given a place and date to report for your citizenship interview and test. This test is intended to determine whether you have the English language skills and knowledge of American civics needed to become a US citizen. To pass the test, it is important to study so that you will be prepared. The U.S. Citizenship Exam and Interview Guide DVD [] from US-Immigration.com contains an interactive study session that includes sample questions and tips for passing the exam, so that you are prepared.

• Prepare for the naturalization ceremony. Once you have passed your exam, you will get a notice from the USCIS about where and when your naturalization ceremony will take place. To get ready for the ceremony, check out these free tips from US-Immigration.com.