National Archives to Host Naturalization Ceremony
Media Alert · Monday, September 12, 2022

Washington, DC

To celebrate Constitution Day (Sept. 17), 25 new citizens from 21 nations will be sworn in as new U.S. citizens in front of our nation’s founding documents (Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and Bill of Rights) in the Rotunda of the National Archives Museum. The ceremony will feature keynote remarks from broadcaster and author Roger Bennett, and will take place on Wednesday, September 14, at 10 a.m. It is closed to the public.

The press is invited to cover the ceremony. Accredited media representatives should use the Constitution Avenue special events entrance, at 7th Street, NW, and set up by 9:45 a.m., as the ceremony begins promptly at 10 a.m. RSVP to public.affairs@nara.gov.

Constitution Day, September 17, 2022, marks the 235th anniversary of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Learn more online about the U.S. Constitution through our public programs, family activities, and online resources.

The September 14 ceremony will include a welcome from Acting Archivist of the United States Debra Steidel Wall and remarks from Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs of the Department of Homeland Security Marsha (Catron) Espinosa. Students from Alice Deal Middle School, a District of Columbia Public School, will recite the Preamble to the Constitution.

The Honorable Beryl A. Howell, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, will preside as the petitioners for United States citizenship take the oath of citizenship at the National Archives. The new citizens are from 21 nations: Albania, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, China, Congo (Kinshasa), El Salvador, Germany, India, Iran, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, South Korea, Sweden, Taiwan, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

The Use of Flash and Additional Lights is Prohibited in the Rotunda.

The National Archives Museum in the National Archives Building is located at Constitution Avenue and 7th Street, NW, in Washington, DC. Metro accessible on the Yellow and Green lines, Archives/Navy Memorial/Penn Quarter station. 

This program is presented in partnership with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and the Department of Homeland Security U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Please note: due to the ceremony, the Rotunda and the National Archives Museum will open to the public at 11:30 a.m. and remain open until 5:30 p.m. Regular hours of 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m. resume on September 15.