On July 8, 2014, days before my 29th birthday, I completed the last milestone on my immigration journey. At a D.C. courthouse at 8 in the morning, I was sworn in during a Naturalization Oath Ceremony. I handed over my “green card” to the officials, and received a Naturalization certificate, denoting that I am now officially an American (foreign born.) Applying for my passport was next on the To Do list. However, I had no international trips on the horizon until I booked my travel ticket to Jamaica (29 days from now, and counting!) I applied for my passport expedited delivery on April 24th and I received my passport less than 2 weeks later on May 4th.
How to Apply for a U.S. Passport- if you never had one before
1. Get your documentation in order. I needed a license, my original Naturalization Certificate, my check which included the expedited amount ($184), and the application which can be downloaded online. If you’re not sure about something on the application leave it blank and the post office worker can help you.
2. I made an appointment with the local post office to file my application. Most post offices don’t talk walk-in’s. The whole “application” process took about 30 minutes, which included me being sworn that everything on the application was truf, handing over my Certificate and monies. The Naturalization Certificate must be the original and it will be mailed back to me in a couple of weeks.
That’s it! When I got the expedited envelope in the mail I was surprised at the quick turn-around time.
Here were some thoughts when I first opened the envelope:
“This is it! The American Dream!”
“My hair cute!”
“My forehead shiny!”
“2025- I got 10 years to fill this sucka up! Let’s bring it on..”
“OMG…I’m gonna be 40 in 10 years!”
Next stop: Montego Bay, Jamaica.
What about you, lovely reader? Where are you going, or want to be going in 2015?
globetracer 