FYI, they usually hand that out as part of the new citizen “pack” - along with a passport application form, new citizen guide and copies of the constitution and Declaration of Independence, and a letter from the president. At our ceremony, you could submit your passport application right afterwards and there were people outside to help people to register to vote right there and then. That said…if for some reason OP’s friend doesn’t get any of this info, that’s a good idea.
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I am not sure that is always the case anymore. I am quite involved with the League of Women Voters in my state. They helped register new citizens, but are now being prohibited from registering new citizens at naturalization events. Given this, it would surprise me if the government were doing it. I hope that I am wrong.
https://www.npr.org/2025/09/02/nx-s1-5525875/trump-naturalization-voter-registration-uscis
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A pocket US constitution. Or a book like this will be more fun to read.
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It’s been 23 years, but my daughter got none of that. We went to the immigration office, I signed papers, they gave me the certificate, took her green card and that was it. she did get two little American flags (that we still have). She was 4 so she didn’t need a driver’s license or to register to vote, but we didn’t get a new citizen package or anything else telling me what to do. She was never invited to a ceremony (some adoptees were, but she never was). I took the certificate to the SSA office to change her status (VERY IMPORTANT TO DO). I got her a passport about 6 months later. SSA was free, everything else had a fee.
No letter from the President. I know a lot of parents delayed the Certificate of citizenship because they didn’t want that president’s signature on the certificate. Then they ‘forgot’ to get one. Oops.
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Presidents’s signature is not on the citizenship certificate so they delayed for nothing …the signature is the USCIS commissioner or whatever they call him. The president did sign a letter congratulating us on being new citizens (somewhat insincere considering his views, but anyway).
Also my kid didn’t get the pack, just a flag when she got her citizenship certificate but all the adults in our family who had to naturalize got the full pack. I wonder if they do it differently in different states, though that wouldn’t really make sense as USCIS is federal.
Signature is on my daughter’s certificate, but it is from 2001, before 9/11 and before Homeland Security
These are what were in our pack along with the letter from the president, a flag, a passport application and of course the naturalization certificate.
When my friend became a citizen, I ordered a U.S. flag to be flown over the Capitol the day of the ceremony. Of course, I could not give her the gift until a few weeks later, when I received the flag (along with a lovely letter), but I gave her a card letting her know something would be coming.
The flags have to be ordered through your senator’s or representative’s office; I’m not sure how the shutdown would impact this, but hopefully things will be resolved by the time of your friend’s special day.
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I thought of that too. I’d like that, or one for her birthday, or 4th of July (which happens to be my birthday).
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My daughter (then 3.5) became a citizen at 26 Federal Plaza, NYC. The ceremony was all for internationally adopted kids and was lovely–USCIS employees sang the Star Spangled Banner for us. No flags but I had bought some at a subway station candy/magazines/cigarette lol shop in the middle of the platform. Many happy memories. I rushed to get her application because the fee was going up from $85 to $115. I think it was 1999.
Of all the suggestions, I liked the mad money one–maybe some euros, yen and Canadian coins too.
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