Can I postpone my oath ceremony without major repercussions?

[Tarumba 9]

I have a very expensive vacation booked and my oath ceremony is about 10 hours before I get back into town. I thought about postponing it (there are instructions for that on the letter), but talking to an immigration counselor friend, I hear there are horrible mix ups when the oath ceremony date is changed. He told me he has never had a good experience, and I should just go even if that means losing tons of money/the chance of spending new years with my family.

Has anyone changed the date succesfully? Should I attempt to? What do you recommend?

Thank you

[nwctzn 55]

I have a very expensive vacation booked and my oath ceremony is about 10 hours before I get back into town. I thought about postponing it (there are instructions for that on the letter), but talking to an immigration counselor friend, I hear there are horrible mix ups when the oath ceremony date is changed. He told me he has never had a good experience, and I should just go even if that means losing tons of money/the chance of spending new years with my family.

Has anyone changed the date succesfully? Should I attempt to? What do you recommend?

Thank you

I heard of people changing but the stories are inline with what your friend told you. Mix-ups and delays are pretty common. With USCIS do not try to stop or interrupt a well going case

You do not have a medical condition or family emergency. Hence, I would attend the oath at the scheduled day even if it means losing money and the vacation. Just my personal opinion.

[adiiann 163]

I am due to give birth on Dec 22, and so I asked the officer if I could have later date for my oath taking. Until now, I am still waiting for the letter for the oath taking even though at the website I was in queue already since Nov 21. I heard that changing oath taking date is a bit tedious that's why I request for later date.

[Darnell 8,478]

i say get a later date, now,

and have a friend show up on the previously assigned date,

with your prior stuff in hand, and the new stuff in hand,

just to CYA, telling the fellas at the local office -

She's not coming today - please note the new date from 'your system'.

then call it a day..

[Brother Hesekiel 2,235]

Sure you can.

Postponing the Oath is actually pretty easy.

[Tarumba 9]

Yeah, I am really confused because I have heard it's really a bad idea to postpone the oath, but I am not sure what people mean by "really bad".

So, I would like to know which one is correct:

A. getting infopass + rescheduling oath ----------------> DISASTER/TOTAL SCREW UP/PAY $680 AGAIN/I WILL NEVER BE A CITIZEN

OR

B. getting infopass + rescheduling oath ----------------> POTENTIALLY LONG WAIT BUT EVENTUALLY OATH

If B, then I will postpone the oath. If A, then I have to kill the trip.

Which one reflects reality?

[warlord 72]

Yes you can easily postpone the Oath, what it does though is put you back in that system that took you this long to finally get out of. So many people get lost back inside the system again. People have been known to have to wait for months and longer before even hearing back about the re-scheduled Oath.

So requesting a postponement of it now is fine, but you could be waiting a long time before you hear anything back from them regarding a new date. And remember, you don't get to choose when you get the new date, it is chosen for you.

This is why it's never advisable to make vacation plans while in the N-400 period...

[nwctzn 55]

I would say scenario B. will happen with 99.9% likelihood (USCIS does the re-scheduling well and does not screw up the paperwork) and scenario A. with 0.1% likelihood (USCIS screws up the paperwork and assumes you did not show up for the oath and abandoned your citizenship application).

Make sure someone is checking your mail while you are gone so that you do not miss your re-scheduled oath notice/date.

Still, I would not postpone the oath. Just reflecting my personal opinion and my own experience with USCIS which managed to send my green card to a stranger living in a different city.

---

Edited December 19, 2012 by nwctzn

[Tarumba 9]

Hm. yeah. I am not planning to leave the country in the next 3 years, and if for any reason I do, I will just use my original passport. I doubt my new ceremony plus any complications will occur outside this huge 3 year time frame, so I just got an infopass appointment for this afternoon and will start procedures to reschedule my oath.

Worst case scenario if I have to leave to a country that requires a visa for Peruvian citizens, I'll just get one. I've done it before many times and for several different countries and it was pretty painless.

Thank you team!

Yes you can easily postpone the Oath, what it does though is put you back in that system that took you this long to finally get out of. So many people get lost back inside the system again. People have been known to have to wait for months and longer before even hearing back about the re-scheduled Oath.

So requesting a postponement of it now is fine, but you could be waiting a long time before you hear anything back from them regarding a new date. And remember, you don't get to choose when you get the new date, it is chosen for you.

This is why it's never advisable to make vacation plans while in the N-400 period...

warlord...I've been browsing all threads about this subject and I see that you pretty much copy and paste the same answer to all of them for the last 5 years. I am not sure that what you're saying really adds to the conversation besides creating a little drama and more uncertainty. "so many people"...do you have any numbers? any documentation? I see in other threads you even say it takes years...which I think is extremely unlikely, more like a statistical outlier. What I'm saying is you (probably) don't get paid by reply, so maybe think of the actual contribution of your replies before posting them a million times?

Edited December 19, 2012 by Tarumba

[nwctzn 55]

Hm. yeah. I am not planning to leave the country in the next 3 years, and if for any reason I do, I will just use my original passport. I doubt my new ceremony plus any complications will occur outside this huge 3 year time frame, so I just got an infopass appointment for this afternoon and will start procedures to reschedule my oath.

Worst case scenario if I have to leave to a country that requires a visa for Peruvian citizens, I'll just get one. I've done it before many times and for several different countries and it was pretty painless.

Thank you team!

Just for future reference, once you get re-scheduled can you report back about the time difference between your old and new ceremony date?

[Tarumba 9]

Just for future reference, once you get re-scheduled can you report back about the time difference between your old and new ceremony date?

Yes! I actually just got back from my super quick infopass appointment (I had no idea you can schedule them online). They were really nice and helpful, and they didn't even ask me why I needed to reschedule, although I did tell them I had a trip planned. The lady issued me with a letter which read "Oath ceremony descheduled by USCIS", an told me my original date had been cancelled. Then she issued a new date for about 6 weeks later (My appointment was in the first week of January, now it will be in mid February).

She told me it would be better for me to have the date cancelled by USCIS rather than by me (which is why I got that letter saying "sorry, we have to cancel your oath ceremony..."), because that way I don't lose my place in line.

So...happy ending! I get to go on holiday and I got a new ceremony date

[nwctzn 55]

Yes! I actually just got back from my super quick infopass appointment (I had no idea you can schedule them online). They were really nice and helpful, and they didn't even ask me why I needed to reschedule, although I did tell them I had a trip planned. The lady issued me with a letter which read "Oath ceremony descheduled by USCIS", an told me my original date had been cancelled. Then she issued a new date for about 6 weeks later (My appointment was in the first week of January, now it will be in mid February).

She told me it would be better for me to have the date cancelled by USCIS rather than by me (which is why I got that letter saying "sorry, we have to cancel your oath ceremony..."), because that way I don't lose my place in line.

So...happy ending! I get to go on holiday and I got a new ceremony date

Great! Glad that it worked out. Have a safe trip! Will be most likely the last trip without a US passport

[Tarumba 9]

Great! Glad that it worked out. Have a safe trip! Will be most likely the last trip without a US passport

Aw, thanks! It's great to think I will have an American passport in a few months!

[Darnell 8,478]

Happy Endings, indeed !

Congratulations !

Whatcha cooking, to celebrate?

[Tarumba 9]

Happy Endings, indeed !

Congratulations !

Whatcha cooking, to celebrate?

Just made hummus for some pita chips, and nutella crepes for dessert!