Can guests attend the oath ceremony?

[Scott & Lai 12]

Lai has her oath ceremony in three weeks Does any one know if guests may join the ceremony?

[NickD 202]

Lai has her oath ceremony in three weeks Does any one know if guests may join the ceremony?

I alone, went with my wife with my camera, not sure what they would say if we invited everyone we invited to our wedding reception, like over 250 people. Wouldn't be room for them. Oh, and they didn't serve refreshments either.

[Scott & Lai 12]

I read something about "guests" waiting in a separate area

[sabrina bossie 0]

YES sure can. i take my husband with me. but we only have different entrance door. coz i have to go through the check in line before i can enter to the ceremony section. he was already sitted though we're all about 1,608 people took the oath of citizenship yesterday.

Edited March 5, 2009 by sabrina bossie

[NickD 202]

YES sure can. i take my husband with me. but we only have different entrance door. coz i have to go through the check in line before i can enter to the ceremony section. he was already sitted though we're all about 1,608 people took the oath of citizenship yesterday.

Probably as many different stories as there are places to say the oath. We had a special Wisconsin residents only at the St. Paul office, I was directed to the same waiting room that I waited in while my wife was having her interview, but was told to stand in the rear as the chairs were reserved for the oath takers. Wife was downstairs in the main lobby, with her N-445 and green card. She got to sit down, but had to stand up when her country was called, to say the pledge of allegiance, and for the oath. But I had to stand which wasn't bad after sitting down for 4 1/2 hours driving over. She made a new friend, a woman from her home country that lives 40 away, that was exciting for her. I chatted with my fellow Wisconsinites, most came in the night before and stayed at a motel. My wife was on call and didn't get off until midnight and we left at 4:00 AM, another good reason for me to go with her, she slept in the car.

[lucyrich 19]

You'll have to contact the local office to find out what the situation is, but many (most? all?) allow some guests. In San Francisco, they hold the ceremony in a large auditorium. The new citizens all have seats on the floor of the auditorium, while the balcony is open for guests. Anybody can get into the balcony, there are no tickets or anything like that, so you can have as many guests as you want. Guests who want good seats need to arrive early.

But that was only our experience. There's quite a bit of variation from one office to another.

[mattr 0]

You'll have to contact the local office to find out what the situation is, but many (most? all?) allow some guests. In San Francisco, they hold the ceremony in a large auditorium. The new citizens all have seats on the floor of the auditorium, while the balcony is open for guests. Anybody can get into the balcony, there are no tickets or anything like that, so you can have as many guests as you want. Guests who want good seats need to arrive early.

But that was only our experience. There's quite a bit of variation from one office to another.

Same in San Diego. I came with 5 guests.

Mattr.

[dalegg 143]

There are tons of guests. We even get our own line. A couple words of advice- bring cash. Not sure where you are going to have it, but if its in LA you'll need 10 bucks for parking, and I noticed that the line to get a Passport goes a lot faster with cash if you are going to do that. You might also want to by a 10 dollar frame for the certificate, but if you apply for a Passport that day you'll have to surrender it.

Also- guests have their own line. So if you want to sit down instead of standing up on the side you will want to separate from your wife immediately when you get there and find that line. If you don't care and want to be a nice man and keep your wife company until she gets to the front of her line, then you can do that too.

It was kind of crowded and you probably won't be able to see your wife very well anyway, so you might want to keep the guests to a minimum. If you both have cell phones, make sure they are on or you might not see her at all.

[warlord 72]

At my oath ceremony in the letter it actually encouraged you to bring guests to share in the festival of oath taking. The only thing they said is to please not bring young children and babies which may disrupt it. But they actually said please bring people as this is a life time achievement and needs to be witnessed and celebrated...

[Moldovandish 0]

My letter didn't say anything. I called and was told I can bring guests and we can take pictures.

I had 5 people come with me and there were children and a baby in the audience and nobody said anything. And this was in the courtroom with limited seating. But since there were just 40 people being sworn in, we all fit on one side of the courtroom and the guests on the other.

[dalegg 143]

At my oath ceremony in the letter it actually encouraged you to bring guests to share in the festival of oath taking. The only thing they said is to please not bring young children and babies which may disrupt it. But they actually said please bring people as this is a life time achievement and needs to be witnessed and celebrated...

I wish they had posted that at my wife's ceremony. Sheesh! This one woman had 3 of them and they were very loud and very disruptive. What happened to the days when people knew they were a problem and took their kids outside?