Rescheduling oath ceremony

[BlueDevil 61]

Hello.  I know I"m jumping the gun a little but I need to plan for the timing of the oath ceremony due to travel plans.  My interview is scheduled for February 14, 2023.  I am already booked for a business trip to my home country (India) from April 21 through May 26.  Assuming my interview goes well and I get approved for naturalization, here are some potential dates for the oath ceremony taken from the State of Tennessee 2023 Naturalization Calender:

 

February 16, 2023 (this might be too soon being only a couple of days after my interview).

March 2, 2023

April 27, 2023

May 16, 2023

 

By some stroke of luck, if they schedule me for the Feb interview, I will likely have enough time to get my documents in order before the trip.  However, in the event that they schedule me for either the March or April ceremonies, I'm afraid I will not have sufficient time after the ceremony to apply for my passport, and once I have that, apply for a tourist visa.  

 

So my question is: in my request to reschedule the oath ceremony, are we allowed to specify that we would like it to be scheduled after a certain date?  Or do they just schedule it for the next available month, which could possibly be the very next month?  If the former is possible, I should be okay since I can ask them for a date after my return, but if it is the latter, I am going to be in a bind. 

 

Thank you!      

[MillerTime 22]

38 minutes ago, BlueDevil said:

So my question is: in my request to reschedule the oath ceremony, are we allowed to specify that we would like it to be scheduled after a certain date?  Or do they just schedule it for the next available month, which could possibly be the very next month? 

You can try to put in a request but it's totally up to USCIS if they're going to do that or not. I read a thread that someone sent in a request in their oath rescheduling letter and they didn't care. Like what I said, it doesn't hurt to try but also have a back up plan if it doesn't go your way. Good luck!

[ImmigrantKrish 75]

The will most likely reschedule based on their availability not your travel plans. At least that’s what I have been reading here.

Since you’re planning to go to India, you need at least 45 days to get your visa (OCI takes longer along with relinquishing Indian passport) and US passport. Maybe if you’re lucky then you can get expedited US passport be done in 10 days or two weeks after oath ceremony.

[OldUser 4,827]

15 minutes ago, ImmigrantKrish said:

you need at least 45 days to get your visa

Why not just a quick e-visa for the trip and care about 10 year visa or OCI later?

Edited January 13, 2023 by OldUser

[ImmigrantKrish 75]

22 minutes ago, OldUser said:

Why not just a quick e-visa for the trip and care about 10 year visa or OCI later?

You didn’t fully take my message. 45 days including USPassport then get the naturalization certificate back. That too if the OP can get the expedited appointment.

[TBoneTX 43,061]

A hijack post plus replies have been split from this thread into their own thread in this forum.

[BlueDevil 61]

1 hour ago, rafadreyes said:

Hi, this is the only forum I found about the topic. I had my interview on January 20th (one day before a trip) I was approved and they said I could do the Oath Ceremony that day, but I wouldn't be able to travel the next day because of the passport. I told the officer that I won't be back until the end of March. Today I checked my USCIS online account and it says I was scheduled (today) for March 2nd for the Oath Ceremony. I called the number on the notice to reschedule and the lady said I have to send a letter, but what the officer told me is something different. I am afraid the letter won't get there on time (before my appointment March 2nd) and I might run into issues later on. Is there anything else I can do?

If you absolutely cannot make it to the ceremony, one option is to send the letter via courier.  I'm pretty sure the mailing address is a physical address where you can courier the letter to.  Will an international shipment be pricey?  Likely so, but it beats the alternative.

 

I might be in the same boat down the road myself.  I have an important business trip I simply cannot miss and I'm hoping my oath ceremony does not get scheduled during the same time.  

 

Its not the end of the world if you miss one ceremony.  Be prepared for a delay in getting the oath rescheduled if it came down to it.  Now if you miss two in a row, that's bad news.