A person very dear to me has her naturalization ceremony in a couple of weeks. She is nearly 30. I would like to give her something to celebrate this. I will be attending the ceremony. I’d thought of doing a tree planting (are ANY of those legit?), but I’m just not sure. Traveling about an hour and a half for the ceremony. She’s not much into, “stuff,” and I sure don’t want a Christmas ornament with, “My First Christmas as a US Citizen,” on it. A passport cover seems too personal of a choice - would she even want that?
What does the hive mind suggest?
Editing to add that she’s lived here since she was a young child, so she isn’t, “new,” to the US if that makes a difference.
Does she have a strong heritage association with her home country? Something that is simple but cute and was popular among my “group” of naturalized citizens was something that combined the two, such as a mug that has both the US flag and home country flag with the flagpoles intertwined. (Some people had pins of this but not much occasion to actually wear those.) Or something quintessentially American - one was a candle with a US flag on the front and an apple pie scent. It wasn’t really a gift occasion and the ones that people got were generally more these little tokens than anything “big”.
I think a passport cover is a nice idea, actually. Barring that, maybe a nice bracelet or pin – not with flags or anything, just something to commemorate the occasion. It’s very thoughtful of you to attend!
I just want to add, it’s so nice you’re going to the ceremony. Ours was amazing and I think everyone has lumps in their throats. (I may even have teared up a little …)
My friend’s SIL became a naturalized citizen and had a party to celebrate. I gave him Michelle Obama’s “Becoming,” because I find it such an uplifting book.
I happened to get my US citizenship in June (many, many years ago), so we had a July 4th party a short time afterward. I had already been living in the US for a long time, but still getting citizenship is a big deal.
I agree with this. It is nice for friends to recognize that this is a big deal for the new citizen.
I am wondering about a coffee mug with a US flag on it. A coffee mug might not be a big present, but is something that they could have and use for a long time.
We added a friend’s name to the Ellis Island Wall of Honor when she got her citizenship and she was very touched. I believe the original wall is filled but I read there may be an addition.
A National Parks pass for a year
Her first passport (and a holder)
Take her to get a new driver’s license with a gold star on it
I don’t know her financial situation but it may have cost her a lot to get the citizenship and she may not have the funds to get all these things done immediately.
I just learned that a college friend only became a citizen about 20 years ago (I’ve known her for 50 years). I knew her mother is Dutch, but I had always assumed she’d been born in the US after her mother moved here. Nope.
We gave my husband an I’m American mug and made him homemade clam chowder and a blueberry pie. For snacks, I bought Cracker Jacks. We invited a few friends over and drank American beers and had Alexa play patriotic music all night. It was pretty fun with everyone shouting out what classic American tune they wanted to hear next. (There was a clear musical winner, which I won’t link here. If anyone is interested, look up the Team America sound track. The song starts with the word America. NSFW.)
I just checked and wow, the cost has gone up since I naturalized. The filing fee is $710 online/$760 paper form now (I think it was around $400-$500 when I did it, don’t remember exactly). If she had any complications that needed a lawyer that would have added significantly to the cost of course.
Is she someone you know well enough to give money? Like you could give all the monies starting at the penny and going up to the $100 bill (and don’t forget the $2 bill.) Altogether it would be about $200.
As an aside $2 bills are one of my favorite gifts. Great as stocking stuffers, great to send little kids in cards where gifts aren’t expected (e.g. a valentine card), great as a bookmark for bigger kids to give along with a chapter book.
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