Socially distanced Oath Ceremony at Newark, NJ

[RunTheRoad 75]

My immigration journey came to  a happy conclusion today, when I finally naturalized at a socially distant oath ceremony at the Newark office , nearly a year after I sent in my N 400. My GC came through in 2012 under the AOS category and I was in no hurry to naturalize, but the prevailing political situation finally pushed me to get it done. I sent in my N 400  in June 2019 and passed my interview at the Newark office on Feb 26 of this year.  However, unlike others who passed the interview with me on the same day, I could not naturalize because they had a problem with printing my certificate. At that point, I was told I could expect to naturalize by end of April 2020. And then COVID-19 struck, throwing everything into a tailspin.

 

Then, finally, on June 17, there was some light at the end of the tunnel, when my online status changed to 'Oath Ceremony Scheduled'. No other document was uploaded at that time, but when I checked in the next day, the status had inexplicably changed to "De-scheduled' and a couple of days later, I received the 'Descheduled' notice through USPS, with no alternate date given. It was only then that I learned that I had been scheduled to be sworn in on July 8 at 11 AM,  to be descheduled  again. A couple of agonizing weeks followed,  with me rigorously checking my online status twice a day, still no end. Then, suddenly on July 3, Friday, the Naturalization Notice showed up in my USPS mailbox, just like that, totally out of the blue. And I had been scheduled for July 8 at 1 PM (it had been 11 AM earlier).

 

By this point of time, I was highly skeptical that somehow this too would be jinxed. Yet, I showed up today at 12.30 PM and was checked in and asked to go to Floor #15 where I had to show my ID and then go over to the Immigration Officer who checked my completed documents and asked me to wait.  Masks are compulsory, once you enter the building. There was a mix of people at the waiting room, all of them seated six feet apart from each other, in chairs that had been specially arranged for social distancing. The USCIS office was also doing a limited number of naturalization interviews today. A few minutes later, another officer showed up and asked those who were scheduled for the oath ceremony to go over to Floor #16. 

 

Over at Floor 16, I had to turn over my GC and completed documents to a senior IO and was asked to take my seat in another socially distanced seating arrangement. No guests were allowed, so it was just us and the USCIS personnel. There were a total of 25 other oath takers in the room, along with me. Even at this point of time, as I was waiting to be sworn in, the self doubt would not go away, for I fully expected the officers to tell me that either 1) my oath ceremony had been de-scheduled again or 2) they could not locate my naturalization certificate and so I would have to wait for another indefinite period of time till that was fixed. It was not until the IO actually announced that we were all good to go that I breathed a final sigh of relief. I was on the last step of my US Citizenship journey.

 

What followed after that was rather anti climatic. The ceremony itself started at around 1:05 and was all done by 1:20. The IO first welcomed everyone present, then congratulated us on our path so far, gave a short inspirational speech and  asked us to raise our right hands to take the Oath of Allegiance (which we had to read out from a piece of paper handed to us). Then, we were handed over our certificates and asked to check for any errors and get them fixed before leaving the hall (if we noticed errors after leaving the hall, it would cost us an extra $500-$600 to get it corrected and it would take nine more months, ouch!). Mine was all good and we were then dismissed. Some of us took pictures (with masks on still) and then showed ourselves out. After all those long years/months of waiting, it seemed surreal and too-good-to-be-true to have it all done and dusted in under 15 minutes. No show, no fanfare, no long drawn out speeches.

So, now, the other processes have to be set in motion: apply for a new passport, register to vote, update my DL/SSN.  But, as of today, I am a citizen of this great nation and I couldn't be more happier. A few hours later, that reality is yet to sink in.

 

 

[ioxtremod 23]

1 hour ago, RunTheRoad said:

My immigration journey came to  a happy conclusion today, when I finally naturalized at a socially distant oath ceremony at the Newark office , nearly a year after I sent in my N 400. My GC came through in 2012 under the AOS category and I was in no hurry to naturalize, but the prevailing political situation finally pushed me to get it done. I sent in my N 400  in June 2019 and passed my interview at the Newark office on Feb 26 of this year.  However, unlike others who passed the interview with me on the same day, I could not naturalize because they had a problem with printing my certificate. At that point, I was told I could expect to naturalize by end of April 2020. And then COVID-19 struck, throwing everything into a tailspin.

 

Then, finally, on June 17, there was some light at the end of the tunnel, when my online status changed to 'Oath Ceremony Scheduled'. No other document was uploaded at that time, but when I checked in the next day, the status had inexplicably changed to "De-scheduled' and a couple of days later, I received the 'Descheduled' notice through USPS, with no alternate date given. It was only then that I learned that I had been scheduled to be sworn in on July 8 at 11 AM,  to be descheduled  again. A couple of agonizing weeks followed,  with me rigorously checking my online status twice a day, still no end. Then, suddenly on July 3, Friday, the Naturalization Notice showed up in my USPS mailbox, just like that, totally out of the blue. And I had been scheduled for July 8 at 1 PM (it had been 11 AM earlier).

 

By this point of time, I was highly skeptical that somehow this too would be jinxed. Yet, I showed up today at 12.30 PM and was checked in and asked to go to Floor #15 where I had to show my ID and then go over to the Immigration Officer who checked my completed documents and asked me to wait.  Masks are compulsory, once you enter the building. There was a mix of people at the waiting room, all of them seated six feet apart from each other, in chairs that had been specially arranged for social distancing. The USCIS office was also doing a limited number of naturalization interviews today. A few minutes later, another officer showed up and asked those who were scheduled for the oath ceremony to go over to Floor #16. 

 

Over at Floor 16, I had to turn over my GC and completed documents to a senior IO and was asked to take my seat in another socially distanced seating arrangement. No guests were allowed, so it was just us and the USCIS personnel. There were a total of 25 other oath takers in the room, along with me. Even at this point of time, as I was waiting to be sworn in, the self doubt would not go away, for I fully expected the officers to tell me that either 1) my oath ceremony had been de-scheduled again or 2) they could not locate my naturalization certificate and so I would have to wait for another indefinite period of time till that was fixed. It was not until the IO actually announced that we were all good to go that I breathed a final sigh of relief. I was on the last step of my US Citizenship journey.

 

What followed after that was rather anti climatic. The ceremony itself started at around 1:05 and was all done by 1:20. The IO first welcomed everyone present, then congratulated us on our path so far, gave a short inspirational speech and  asked us to raise our right hands to take the Oath of Allegiance (which we had to read out from a piece of paper handed to us). Then, we were handed over our certificates and asked to check for any errors and get them fixed before leaving the hall (if we noticed errors after leaving the hall, it would cost us an extra $500-$600 to get it corrected and it would take nine more months, ouch!). Mine was all good and we were then dismissed. Some of us took pictures (with masks on still) and then showed ourselves out. After all those long years/months of waiting, it seemed surreal and too-good-to-be-true to have it all done and dusted in under 15 minutes. No show, no fanfare, no long drawn out speeches.

So, now, the other processes have to be set in motion: apply for a new passport, register to vote, update my DL/SSN.  But, as of today, I am a citizen of this great nation and I couldn't be more happier. A few hours later, that reality is yet to sink in.

 

Congrats!

[Amadia 711]

Congrats and thank you for sharing your experience!!

Many others are waiting to hear back about that field office so I know they'll be glad to read that there's movement 🙂

[austex 42]

Congratulations. It is a great feeling to get it over and done with.

 

M.

[millefleur 5,035]

**Duplicated threads merged; please do not start multiple threads with the same topic**

 

VJ Moderation

[Quarknase 1,072]

Congratulations! What a journey... Newark filer here to. The printing hold back seems to be a recurring issue, wondering why they can't fix it...

[retheem 553]

Congratulations! Now please make sure you vote this November

 

[AJ2019 58]

Congratulations!