stufromtexas

Quick update: 06/29/2023: Oath ceremony. Things happened slow for six years, then real freaking quick! Ceremony was at Gears Road office at 6:45(!!!)am, which is the first of the day (there was a subsequent one at 8:45). There was a queue to get in, it was hard to find a parking space there were so many people around. No guests or family. In the door and seated, then we went into the main waiting area in rows. The went row by row admitting people to the ceremony room, where your letter was checked, packets were given and documents (green-card, EAD, etc) were punched. 7ish little tables, which an office behind each one. There was a secondary inspection table that about 3 people went to for various reasons. Packets contained passport forms, voter forms, various patriotic bits and the oath. After about 30mins, everyone was seated and we kicked off around 7:30am. Around 160 ish citizens-to-be Staff were friendly and more personable than I have ever experienced from USCIS. 'Good morning's! Smiles! Laughs! After the oath (no video, no anthem) we filed back to the tables we were assigned, and were presented with our certificates. After checking all our details were correct, we walked out with the certificates in our hands! All told, it took around 1 hour and 30 mins. If it was mad outside before, it was then pandemonium! So many applicants, new citizens and families. But there was an atmosphere of celebration! I hope this helps anyone looking for information about naturalizing at the Gears road office! I have international travel booked in two weeks time. After calling the passports office, I was informed there were no appointments available. I called my congress person and explained my situation - they were able to get me an emergency appointment at the downtown Houston office. There are no walk-ins since COVID. If that fails, there are private agencies you can pay a shedload of money too, who have a separate avenue at the DOS who can get you a passport within a week or two (but it's money on-top of the ~$200 that you already have to pay).

This is my first post, but seeing as I've benefitted so much from everyone's stories, I figured I'd share mine: Timeline for context: 2021-07-27 - Lifting conditions filed while living in Louisiana. 2021-07-29 - Biometrics reuse and NOA date. 2022-10-03 - N-400 filed online - filed while living in Louisiana. 02-05-2023 - AR-11 to inform USCIS I had moved to Houston. 2023-06-13 - Interview appointment date. Something about moving seemed to light I fire - I got this appointment date *days* after I moved. 2023-06-15 - Status changed to approved on the I-751, and N400 change to oath ceremony mailed. Also, much to mine and my lawyer's surprise, this was a combo interview for the I-751 (but I didn't show up with my spouse, much to the officer's dismay). This was despite the letter being fairly explicit about just me being allowed in, this is for the N400, wait for other letters about other cases, etc... While this merited further grilling, in the end, the officer must have been satisfied, and everything was approved. Hunches: The n400 filling, in Houston specifically, seems to have sped things up. YMMV. If you're in a similar boat to me (pending I-751 and n400 interview): Bring your spouse. Even if security doesn't let them in, have them be close. I offered to go and grab my wife from nearby, but he was quite a taciturn man, and didn't reply. I read a story the other day though of an officer who insisted on it, and the applicant had to go back outside to get them. Things are moving quick in Houston, I can't believe they've already mailed an update about the oath ceremony. I'll add in the date when I know.