Remote oath ceremonies?

[bing10 114]

Any thoughts on if USCIS will allow remote oath ceremonies, or allow the live ceremony to be skipped?

 

Apparently Congress allows them to do this:

 

https://www.boundless.com/blog/coronavirus-shutdowns-delay-naturalization/
 

[arken 4,197]

Where does it say Congress allows remote interview or oath?

[bing10 114]

3 minutes ago, arken said:

Where does it say Congress allows remote interview or oath?

 

At the bottom of the article:

 

And as for the 126,000 people who have already passed their interviews and just need to take the Oath of Allegiance, Congress has given USCIS the power to skip the live event “when a judicial oath ceremony is impracticable.”

 

and on the link:

 

For any naturalization applicant who successfully completed their naturalization interview and is waiting for an oath ceremony to be scheduled, the USCIS has, and should exercise, its statutory power to provide for immediate administrative naturalization when a judicial oath ceremony is impracticable. The oath should be administered via teleconference or telephone, if the applicant is able.

 

No idea about the accuracy of any of this though.

 

Edited April 15, 2020 by bing10

[arken 4,197]

Interesting, yeah couldn’t find anywhere about that but if true would be good. 

[Dashinka 23,229]

 Might be nice, but not sure how practical it will be for mass oaths.  It seems this provision is more for one-on-one type oaths.

 

Who knows.

[bing10 114]

2 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

 Might be nice, but not sure how practical it will be for mass oaths.  It seems this provision is more for one-on-one type oaths.

 

Who knows.

 

If they have the power to waive the live oath, my thought was they could perhaps mail you the oath as a letter that you sign and return with your green-card, then they mail you the certificate.

 

I doubt it will happen though of course!

 

[Dashinka 23,229]

24 minutes ago, bing10 said:

 

If they have the power to waive the live oath, my thought was they could perhaps mail you the oath as a letter that you sign and return with your green-card, then they mail you the certificate.

 

I doubt it will happen though of course!

 

The big issue is with identification of the person taking the oath.  I remember at my wife’s ceremony that took quite a long time.

[Ortolan 381]

Ah....we'll just wait for the real thing. It'd be nice to be able to vote in November, though...I guess that's not going to happen.

 

[Mounat02 63]

1 hour ago, Dashinka said:

The big issue is with identification of the person taking the oath.  I remember at my wife’s ceremony that took quite a long time.

I don't think that's such a big issue at all. The lineups that happen at oath ceremonies is to collect GCs, verify info on new naturalization certificates and organize people into seating. Oath ceremonies are just that, ceremonies, feel good events, a celebration of new citizenry and their families. Sitting in a stadium of 5,000 people, no one could really tell who took the oath and who didn't. You could be singing "Barney is a dinosaur" an no one would be any wiser.

 

Under this pandemic, It's not unreasonable to ask those *just* waiting for oath ceremonies to mail in their GCs to a certain address with a signed/notarized oath declaration and then receive their new naturalization certificates in the mail.

[Dashinka 23,229]

25 minutes ago, Mounat02 said:

I don't think that's such a big issue at all. The lineups that happen at oath ceremonies is to collect GCs, verify info on new naturalization certificates and organize people into seating. Oath ceremonies are just that, ceremonies, feel good events, a celebration of new citizenry and their families. Sitting in a stadium of 5,000 people, no one could really tell who took the oath and who didn't. You could be singing "Barney is a dinosaur" an no one would be any wiser.

 

Under this pandemic, It's not unreasonable to ask those *just* waiting for oath ceremonies to mail in their GCs to a certain address with a signed/notarized oath declaration and then receive their new naturalization certificates in the mail.

I don’t disagree, but this is USCIS we are talking about.  By the time they actually organized that, they will probably be re-open.

[Mounat02 63]

1 hour ago, Dashinka said:

I don’t disagree, but this is USCIS we are talking about.  By the time they actually organized that, they will probably be re-open.

It's a cost saving measure too but you're right, USCIS will not get this organized in time. Hope corona is merciful and goes away.

[bing10 114]

Interestingly, Australia has already implemented online citizenship ceremonies at short notice:

 

https://neoskosmos.com/en/162235/citizenship-ceremonies-held-via-video-links-due-to-coronavirus-threats/

 

 

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

2 hours ago, Mounat02 said:

Under this pandemic, It's not unreasonable to ask those *just* waiting for oath ceremonies to mail in their GCs to a certain address with a signed/notarized oath declaration and then receive their new naturalization certificates in the mail.

Where you gonna get it notarized? I don’t think that’s an essential business, or is it?

 

Me, I’d rather wait than send my green card away in the mail and wait for my n400 to arrive by same, personally, unless there was some pressingly urgent need to become a citizen ASAP.

[Mounat02 63]

2 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Where you gonna get it notarized? I don’t think that’s an essential business, or is it?

 

Me, I’d rather wait than send my green card away in the mail and wait for my n400 to arrive by same, personally, unless there was some pressingly urgent need to become a citizen ASAP.

If WWE is an essential business, nothing is non-essential

 

Seriously though, only urgency I see is for those wanting to vote this year. (Bernie! 😢)

 

 

 

[geowrian 22,335]

2 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

Where you gonna get it notarized? I don’t think that’s an essential business, or is it?

At least in my state, they waived the in person requirement for notaries so long as they still have live video and can show and verify ID.