How To Register To Vote As a New U.S. Citizen | Step By Step Guide

The midterm elections are coming up on November 8, 2022 -- and in most cases, if you're a new U.S. citizen, you still have time to register to vote. In this video, we'll give you step-by-step instructions for registering to vote and what to plan for on election day.

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[MauriceLeviejr]

The FIRST a thing you do on the day you get sworn in is to make 10 color copies and 1 scan of your naturalization certificate.
The SECOND thing you do is to go to the DMV and update your driver’s license. You will get a temporary license (piece of paper). You take that DL and the certificate to city hall and then register to vote.
The THIRD thing you do is to take the DL, your certificate AND your social security card to the local social security office THAT DAY (I did it) and make sure they change your status to US citizen. As I found out the SSA had truncated my mother’s maiden name (long Dutch name), fix it using your original passport as proof or original birth certificate.

The FOURTH thing you do is to make a passport application for the NEXT DAY. Take literally ALL your paper work with you, pay for the passport photos, and …. Hand in your original naturalization certificate. And they WILL staple it to your application (remember the USCIS officer swearing you in instructing you not to do anything to that piece of parchment paper? Yeah, it hurt me hearing the stapler go click). Now you wait.

In the meantime, your new DL shows up in the mail, and now you have this vaguely uncomfortable feeling of not having that I-551 in your wallet. A week or so later, your new social security card shows up, and toss a coin up in the air because depending on whether you paid extra for speedy processing it may take a while for your passport to show up, or not at all.

Caveat: I had my notice of swearing in within 6 days of my interview and my dad who just turned 84 gets something life threatening and lands in the hospital.. in Holland. Even though I technically wasn’t a citizen yet I called the passport helpline for emergency passport applications, and guess what, the department of state already KNOWS about your approval status. Should you immediately have to travel upon swearing in, you can travel to the nearest service center and appear in person with all your documents THAT DAY (proof of need for travel is needed, but they’re amazingly flexible about how to get that). Anyway, dad pulled through so I happily never had to travel to Chicago in the end.

Finally, send the scan of your naturalization certificate by email to your HR department so they can update your records. Although only a few companies are blatant about this, every company you work for will keep track of when your green card expires,
And whether you are aware of this or not a silent countdown clock is running on your employment. The outsourcer I worked for called this date the MAXOUT. If you’re paranoid like me, file an I-9 with HR about 3 weeks after your swearing in date just to be sure.

Congratulations to all that came this far. I suddenly got a flood of targeted mail from all types of political campaigns about a week or so after my swearing in date, and that junk mail preceded even my passport. Funnily, I also started getting credit card offers all of a sudden, not sure if becoming a citizen also changed my credit score but hey, it was flattering.

[rusjacobson]

The first thing to do, if you're an illegal, is leave the country an don't even think about registering to vote.