MIRA USA conducts workshop to lose the fear of taking the citizenship exam
Tampa, FL – A group of about 50 permanent residents seeking to obtain their American citizenship, gathered to lose their fear of taking the citizenship exam on Saturday, June 4, 2016, in the Jimmie B Keel library in the city of Tampa, Florida.
Click here to see pictures of the event.
Excited to have an exposure to the interview prior to having their actual appointment with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), participants arrived at the workshop that began promptly at 2:00 PM.
The workshop began taking a look at the eligibility requirements, application for naturalization, interview and oath ceremony. In this segment of the workshop, an American volunteer of MIRA USA conducted a mock oath in order to explain the significance of this ceremony and practice the same with the participants.
Then attorney Jorge Rivera of Rivera Picado Law firm made a presentation about the N-400 application, including recommendations to better prepare for the oral examination. Thus, the lawyer gave an overview of the laws that allow people over 60 years to take the exam in their native language when they have been permanent residents for more than 15 years. In the same segment, the lawyer offered free consultations to all workshop attendees to address their concerns about the naturalization process.
After a short break, the workshop continued practicing the questions of the N-400 form and the 100 civics questions. MIRA USA bilingual volunteers gathered in groups of 5 people to study the questions, giving each participant the opportunity to practice questions in English and thus give them the confidence they need to pass the oral and civics exam.
After 30 minutes of practice, students continued to their one-to-one interview. In order to make a complete mock interview, this included the oath, reviewing the N-400 application, civics exam and reading and writing examinations. The reaction of the participants after completing their interview was a resounding Thank you! “Thank you MIRA USA because this workshop indeed helps to lose the fear”. “Thank you because I feel more confident and prepared to take the exam.” “Thank you because I know what I need and have to study more to pass the citizenship test.” These were some of the reactions of the participants, who were very happy and confident thanks to MIRA USA’s citizenship workshop.
The workshop ended with happy faces and waving flags, with emotion as they watched a video of the naturalization ceremony. Among applause and smiles, they all sang the song “God Bless the USA” of the Artist Lee Greenwood and thanked MIRA USA for being the only organization to offer these citizenship workshops in the United States.
