A court date is set (aka swearing-in ceremony). Court is called to order and the Hearing for Petitioners takes place. The Oath of Allegiance is recited, there is a Statement of the Court, then the Pledge of Allegiance is made. Court is adjourned, Certificates are distributed, and we have new United States Citizens—plus always punch and cookies following the Ceremony!

Two of our adult refugees studied persistently and thoroughly enough to pass the test and become citizens! Once they became citizens, their children under 18 years of age also became citizens, so we now have ten new United States Citizens in our midst! (In these two families, some children are over 18 years old who must take their own test, and some were born here in the United States.) 

- Stephanie Sepate

Oath of Allegiance

I, (state your name), hereby declare on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, or 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 services 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 law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, SO HELP ME GOD.