confused about oath ceremony

[Fr8dog 504]

1 minute ago, OldUser said:

I wouldn't say to all. Only to those who have an urgent, already booked trip within the next 14 days

To all US citizens that meet the urgent travel requirement. 

As in there are no special provisions for new citizens during the ceremony.

[steeeeve 24]

i wonder how much notice they typically give for the oath ceremony appointment? if we are out of the country we'd need time to get flights back.

 

i guess USCIS should send the appointment notice withing 30 days of interview so i can work with that

Edited Sunday at 04:17 PM by steeeeve

[OldUser 10,629]

6 minutes ago, Fr8dog said:

To all US citizens that meet the urgent travel requirement. 

As in there are no special provisions for new citizens during the ceremony.

Urgent travel within 14 days wasn't mentioned in earlier comment you posted. It is the most important requirement for urgent passport service.

[OldUser 10,629]

5 minutes ago, steeeeve said:

i wonder how much notice they typically give for the oath ceremony appointment? if we are out of the country we'd need time to get flights back.

 

i guess USCIS should send the appointment notice withing 30 days of interview so i can work with that

Your mileage can vary. Typically at least 10-14 days notice is given.

[steeeeve 24]

9 minutes ago, OldUser said:

Your mileage can vary. Typically at least 10-14 days notice is given.

that's not a lot of notice but depending on timing we'll likely wait for the interview appointment before booking any travel. we like a few month in Europe in the summer and  all winter in Thailand. 

[Caligirl1 228]

3 hours ago, OldUser said:

No clear criteria known to public. Some folks are luckier than others. My guess is, if officer is experienced and has time, plus case is straightforward, they may conduct ceremony right after interview.

It also depends on how many N400 interviews are happening that day at that office- in my case,I had oath ceremony after 2 hours with ~10 others outside the office in the garden area of the office. 

[Scandi 4,342]

Whether you get a same-day Oath Ceremony or not depends on your particular field office and it can even be a "day by day" thing too. Some field offices do same-day Oaths all the time, others (like mine in Los Angeles) did not do it when I had my oath during the pandemic. However, L.A. had oath ceremonies every Tuesday, so if you had your interview early enough on a Tuesday, there was time for them to get your certificate ready and you could attend your oath ceremony that same Tuesday, later in the day. So again, it differs a lot, even within the same field office.

If you have a name change, some field offices require you to take your oath in front of a judge, which can take months as courts don't have time doing this all the time. 
My field office in L.A. did not have a judge present and we did our oath outside the USCIS building. So not all field offices require a "judicial ceremony" when you change your name. You just get your name change document (signed by a judge) in hand together with your certificate at the end, when you hand in your greencard.

You are a greencard holder until you take the oath. That means you are still a greencard holder even after you pass the interview, so you can keep traveling with your greencard even after the interview, until you take the oath. 

If you cannot get a US passport in time for your travel, you can let the IO know at the interview which date you will be back in the US and they won't schedule your oath until then. Many have been successful with this, however, it's still USCIS and anything can happen. Personally I would not let anything get in the way of me becoming a citizen and get my US passport, especially not something as unimportant as "travel". Once the citizenship and passport part is done, you're DONE with USCIS and can do whatever you like, including travel without restrictions. 

[jostermacedo 63]

4 hours ago, Fr8dog said:

After approval of the N400, there will be either a judicial oath ceremony (Judge) or an administrative oath ceremony (USCIS). Name change will result in a court house.

Administrative will be at the USCIS office and if they have the option, they can offer same day service (initiated by USCIS).

Some jurisdictions may insist on Judicial (Virgina was/is one of them) and that means court house.

 

Same day passport service is available to all US citizens. It requires confirmed travel plans and a trip to the Passport centre. As most ceremonies are later in the day it's basically impossible to do both on the same day.

 

This will probably depend on the jurisdiction. Both myself and my wife did the oath at the end of the interview. She changed her name and still got the Naturalization Certificate on the same day. The court document with the name change came through the mail a few days later. USCIS Buffalo/NY office.

Edited Sunday at 08:54 PM by jostermacedo

[JeanneAdil 7,275]

https://www.tompkinscountyny.gov/All-Departments/County-Clerk/Naturalization-Services

 

 

this is lists of dates for Ithaca NY (thompins County) Last listed date was September 25th 

you can check this site for further updates 

 

dont' miss a scheduled one 

You may be able to participate in a naturalization ceremony on the same day as your interview. If a ceremony is unavailable, we will mail you a notice with the date, time, and location of your scheduled naturalization ceremony on Form N-445, Notice of Naturalization Oath Ceremony.

If you cannot attend your scheduled naturalization ceremony, return the notice, Form N-445, Notice of Naturalization Oath Ceremony, to your local USCIS office, along with a letter requesting a new date and explaining why you cannot attend the scheduled naturalization ceremony. Failing to appear more than once for your naturalization ceremony may lead to a denial of your application.

[Scandi 4,342]

17 minutes ago, jostermacedo said:

This will probably depend on the jurisdiction. Both myself and my wife did the oath at the end of the interview. She changed her name and still got the Naturalization Certificate on the same day. The court document with the name change came through the mail a few days later. USCIS Buffalo/NY office.

Agree, there seems to be many ways of doing it. I too didn't have a judicial oath ceremony, didn't see a judge at any point and had a normal oath at USCIS with all others. I had my oath 4 business days after my interview and got the name change document in hand at my oath, so the judge must've signed it quickly. 

Lucky us. Others wait for months because their field office requires a judicial ceremony and it's up to the court what day there's time for it. I imagine they try to gather as many applicants as possible and have a big oath for all of them at the same time. 

[steeeeve 24]

2 hours ago, Scandi said:

Once the citizenship and passport part is done, you're DONE with USCIS and can do whatever you like, including travel without restrictions. 

 

that's why we are spending years of our lives dealing with this BS. A Thai passport is barely worth the paper it's printed on. all we want is freedom to travel when and where we want without visas.

[Scandi 4,342]

11 hours ago, steeeeve said:

 

that's why we are spending years of our lives dealing with this BS. A Thai passport is barely worth the paper it's printed on. all we want is freedom to travel when and where we want without visas.

Exactly, so don't let anything get in the way of getting that citizenship and passport, even if it means staying put in the US until the ordeal is over.

Don't reschedule due to travel or anything else that isn't important at this moment.