Monroe resident from Bulgaria gives keynote speech at naturalization ceremony
Monroe. Svetlana Simeonova works in the County Clerk’s office as a recording clerk after moving to the U.S. from Bulgaria in 2011. She became a naturalized citizen in 2021.
| 29 Jun 2022 | 01:49
Kelly Eskew (right) and Svetlana Simeonova (left) at the County Naturalization Ceremony on Thursday, June 23.
Goshen, N.Y. – Svetlana Simeonova, a native of Bulgaria who works in the County Clerk’s Office, was the keynote speaker at the Naturalization ceremony on Thursday, June 23 at the County’s Emergency Services Center.
County Clerk Kelly Eskew administered the Oath of Allegiance to new citizens and Orange County Supreme Court Justice E. Loren Williams presided over the ceremony.
“Svetlana has a wonderful story and we enjoyed that she shared it at the Naturalization ceremony,” Eskew said. “It resonated with the audience and the new citizens.”
Simeonova was born and raised in Bulgaria and came to the U.S. in July of 2011 with her children, Georgi, and Monika. Her husband, Simeon, had arrived in the country three months earlier after winning the Green Card lottery in 2009. Svetlana Simeonova started working for the County Clerk’s Office in March of 2018 and lives with her family in Monroe. She became a naturalized citizen in 2021.
Sixty-one people from 27 countries took the Oath of Allegiance, the final part of the naturalization process, renouncing all foreign allegiance while pledging to support and defend the American Constitution and to follow the laws of the United States.
“We are proud to recognize this profound accomplishment of these new citizens and welcome them to our great country,” Orange County Executive Steven M. Neuhaus said. “What makes Orange County and this country so exceptional are the people from all over the world who through this process become part of the fabric of our communities.”