jeff051177

Hi all - thanks for your replies! Ceremony was yesterday (now a citizen - yay!) so I'm just coming back to close-the-loop on this question in case anyone has the same question in the future. Seating was mixed, with guests and applicants all sitting together. When it was time for the pledge, all the applicants just stood up. The kids came up to the front with us to collect the certificate and have our photo taken - again, absolutely no issue. Having the kids there sitting with us was absolutely no problem - there were heaps of people there in the same position. The speeches weren't too long, but there was a fair bit of waiting around as all the applicants were called up to the front to collect their certificate and get a photo with the Mayor. PLOT TWIST: I have to admit to being slightly dishonest in by opening post - when I phoned the local council office to ask about this, they didn't just repeat what was on the website.... they actually told me that the kids (1 and 3) would not be allowed to sit with us during the ceremony and that we would have to either leave them at home with a babysitter, or bring a guest to the ceremony who would have to sit with them in the "guest area". I'm glad this turned out to be total BS (as I suspected at the time) - but thanks again for your real-word experiences, on the basis of which we just decided to ignore what they said and turn up with the kids in tow. As it turns out - this forum is a more reliable source than the lady at the council office! Thanks again all!

Thanks both. This is very much what we are expecting (and had hoped) the event would be like - good to hear! The whole process has actually gone quite smoothly with no dramas/stress at all. Yeeeeeees..... I made a couple of calls (dept of imi and the local council) and neither were prepared to tell me anything other than reading aloud what was written on the website: "Your guests might have to sit apart from you during the ceremony. Make sure any children are well supervised" This obviously doesn't help me one way or the other - hence my appeal on here for peoples real-world experience I think we are just going to rock-up with the kids and see what happens..... will report back in case anyone finds themselves in this situation in future!

Hi all My wife and I are scheduled to attend our citizenship ceremony (Inner west council, NSW) next week - and we have a question about attending with young children. It'd be great to hear from anyone that has any insights. Our children are 1 and 3 and already citizens - we want to know whether they can sit with us during the ceremony. The letter/website/people I phoned to ask were very vague about it.... so I wonder if anyone has any experience to share? We weren't planning on having any guests attend, and It's a really awkward time to find childcare (plus, we'd like our kids to be there with us). Do people have their children/babies sitting with them? or are they going to turn us away if we show-up with our 2 young children and no grandma to look after them?