Vicki's US citizenship test and ceremony

Once upon a time there was a British woman who came to America for six months and then

she met me. More than 20 years later, she's still here. First she got her green card,

a permit to work in America. And then we got married. That was a wonderful day. And now

you've seen us together in more than 300 videos. And this week, Vicki celebrated another milestone.

She became a US citizen. So, Vicki, what made you want to become a

citizen after all these years? I read an article in the newspaper and it

was about a course at the Museum of the American Revolution. And it was designed for people

who were thinking of taking the citizenship test, but who wanted to know a little bit

more about civics and government and history. And I thought, 'Oh, that sounds interesting'.

So I wrote to them and said, 'Can I come to your course?' However, I wasn't actually planning

to take the citizenship test. And they said, 'Hey, no problem! Come along.' And they welcomed

me and they were my inspiration. So what was the course like?

It was terrific. We had lessons twice a week, over a month, and they were about 4 hours

long. And at the beginning, we'd have a little lecture on some aspect o f American history,

but then we'd move into the museum, and one of the museum's experts would talk to us about

this or that exhibit. I loved it and I met lots of people from different countries there

and they made me want to become a citizen. So you applied for citizenship and then what

happened? Well, we heard crickets. Okay. 'Crickets'

is what they say in America when they mean nothing.

If you hear nothing, you hear crickets. But that was because of COVID?

Exactly. Yes. COVID slowed everything down. But then eventually I had my interview.

Oh what was that like? Oh, it was quite nerve-racking. They asked

questions about me, but then they also asked history and the government of the United States.

Did you get them right? Yes, I got them all right!

Good for you! But I've heard of people have been so nervous

that they've got really quite simple questions wrong. Questions they knew the answer of,

you know. So you passed the test and then what happened?

Okay, well, I was scheduled to take my oath at a ceremony.

Uhuh. Yes. Then something really good happened,

because at the interview they had told me that, because of COVID, I couldn't bring friends

and family. But then I heard that the venue for my oath-taking was to be at the

Museum of the American Revolution, which meant it was a public space and everybody could

come. And of course, for me, that was also extra meaningful because it was the place

that had inspired me to become a citizen. So let's tell everyone about the ceremony

and what happened. It all began with the national anthem. And

then there were dignitaries from the immigration service and also from the museum. And they

introduced themselves and they welcomed us. And then they asked all us candidates to stand.

And there were 24 of us, and we came from 19 different countries. So it was a very diverse

group and we all clapped when the different countries were called up. So when we were

all standing. We raised our right hand and we promised to support and defend the Constitution.

Did you hear from anybody special? Well after that, there was a video of Joe

Biden saying, welcome to America, my fellow citizens.

And the next thing that happened? Oh I don't remember. What was next?

They called everybody's name. Oh, yes and we went and collected our certificates.

And then after that we met my friends. And that was just lovely. I had friends from all

walks of my American life there. There were my girlfriends from my play reading group,

a friend from the University of Pennsylvania, lots of neighbors who we've known over the

years. Oh, my friend from YouTube, Rachel was there. It was great to see Rachel's English.

And then the museum invited everyone to go and have a look at the exhibits and lots of

friends came back and we had a party.

But before that you got a special present for one of our friends who himself became

a citizen only three years ago. Oh, yes.

Tell us about that present. Okay. So this was from Arun and he gave me

something that someone had given him at his citizenship ceremony, which was a flag, but

you could turn it over and we got all our friends to sign it. Oh, and another person

who signed it was my teacher. My teacher from the Museum of the American Revolution course

was there as well. I was really touched that so many people gave up their time to come

and join in the ceremony. Now, before they came back here and we all

had lunch, there was something special that you did as part of your new role as an American

citizen. Oh, I registered to vote.

Good thing! There was a big queue at the table, but I

managed to get my name in there. So come the primary elections in May, I'm voting.

So now that you're a US citizen, did you have to give up your British citizenship?

No, I was very lucky because if you come from the UK or if you're American, you're allowed

to have dual citizenship with these two nationalities. So now you need an American passport, don't

you? Yeah.

So here we are in Philadelphia, which is rightfully called the birthplace of American democracy.

The Declaration of Independence was signed here. The Constitution of the United States

was ratified here. It's a really interesting place if you're

interested in government and civics. Well, now that you've learned all this stuff

for your citizenship test, should we be making more videos about that?

I'd like to. That's my plan. And I know having taken the test myself, how nerve wracking

it is. So anything we can do for people who want to take the citizenship test to help,

I'd like to do and also I think it was so interesting that a lot of you will be interested

in it as well because it's about culture and other stuff too.

Okay, one more update from us. What's doing with our move?

We haven't sold our house yet, but it's on the market and we hope to sell it soon and

we still don't know where we're going to move. We're working on it. We'll let you know as

soon as we know. Okay. So that's all for us for today. We just

wanted to pass on this news about my citizenship and we'll make some more videos about it later.

And if you like this video, please share it with a friend.

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