ohman

Online status for my wife's N400 citizenship indicates "oath ceremony noticed was mailed". It has said this for almost two calendar weeks now. 

My question is it states on the status "if you do not receive notice by August 4th, 2018, please go here (e request address)...". Can I get that online e request letter even though it is not August 4th yet?

Also, since it specifically says "August 4th", is that a clue as to when our ceremony will be? We were told the oath ceremony will be in Los Angeles, and I see the dates are only for July 24th and August 24th. 

Thanks.

1 hour ago, gnakr said:

Wow, I see. It's because my interview notice stated to bring a state ID, so I wasn't sure. Thank you.

Us too, my wife did not even have a state ID and interview went smooth. They seemed to be very interested in tax returns for us too, and you need copies of everything on that interview notice. 

46 minutes ago, wilkings0224 said:

I took the oath on July 3rd and I already have the passport! They don't ask for ID, just the naturalization certificate, 1 passport photo and the application filled out! That's it...since I'm traveling next week I got my passport expedited 1 one day!

I did not even know it was possible to get a passport that fast. Hope we can do that. Was it just the expedited handling that made it so quick for you?

Thanks for the report on the ID too. 

18 minutes ago, Going through said:

Did she apply online or paper application?

 

If she applied for the N400 online, it will be in the documents tab in the EGOV website once it posts after the oath ceremony is actually scheduled.

Thanks, yeah it was a paper application. I see. 

31 minutes ago, Going through said:

During her oath ceremony, she will have to turn the GC in...so she won't have it anymore.

 

When you apply for the passport, they need to see the original document PLUS retain a photocopy of said document...even if they did accept the photocopied GC as proof of identity (they wouldn't), she wouldn't have the original for them to verify the photocopy off of, anyhow.

 

She will be submitting her original naturalization certificate with her passport application---which serves as proof of citizenship and proof of identification.

 

Edited to add:  You may want to encourage her at a later date to obtain a State ID....she should have something on her which identifies her, for a multitude of reasons--emergency or otherwise.  

Hello, thank you again for the information.

I was noticing on "day 75" in your timeline it says there was a oath ceremony pdf document posted online. Can you outline quickly how I would get to that? 

Wow, thank you for the answers. I saw some conflicting reports but we will do this without the state id.

I was just looking and the state ID can take up to two months, so this information really helps.

It has been difficult getting through this while working full time, thanks again for the help!!

My wife only has a greencard as her ID. She does not drive. 

I was reading the list of required documents for the passport application, and of course she will need an state ID. I think they will take her green card away, so will we in fact need to get a state ID before we head to get the passport. It seems this way, I just wanted to double check that something like a photocopy of the greencard will not work.

Thanks. 

Does anyone know how much parking is on oath ceremony days? Thanks. 

This is the most accurate verbiage I have read concerning dual citizenship for Thais, at least in my opinion.

http://www.humanrights.ago.go.th/forum/index.php?topic=6510.0;wap2

17 hours ago, Jorge V said:

Hmm, are you sure? I'm no expert in Thai citizenship law but everything I find on the internet says that Thailand does not allow dual citizenship for adults. Obviously your wife can hide her US citizenship from the Thai authorities and thus carry two passports, but that'll likely land her in a world of trouble eventually.

 

As far as the US not warning you, they don't because they're not the ones who created or enforce this rule. While the US does not recognize a second nationality, they also won't make you give it up. Thailand, on the other hand, will take away your citizenship if they find out that you've taken on another.

 

Other countries, such as Mexico, operate similarly to the US. You can take up another nationality without giving up your Mexican citizenship, but to Mexico you'll always be a Mexican citizen only and they'll completely ignore your US citizenship. If you're a dual US/Mexican national, then the US considers you a US citizen only, Mexico considers you a Mexican citizen only, and every other country considers you both.

I got in touch with an actual expert in Thai immigration and visas. His response was there is a lot of misinformation out there, and that in actuality the natuonality act does not explicitly forbid dual citizenship or approve of it. To me, effectively anyway, it sounds a lot like the usa. When you become a us citizen you essentially renounce all other countries it would seem, according to the oath verbiage. Yet, people have dual citizenship all over the place. The "data" seems to back it up too, I think there would be a lot more warnings in visa forums warning others they will have to give up  thai citizenship. 

Well, for anyone browsing this in the future, the problem with checking the home country is it says you cant have dual citizenship, as other have noted. In actuality is seems you can, or at least you can carry two passports as a thai national. 

Just now, Jojo92122 said:

It's not the US Government's job to advise naturalization applicants on the laws of their home countries.  

 

This concern about dual citizenship is everywhere, you may not have considered to look for it.  You may never have considered Thai laws on dual citizenship.  

 

Up to you to consider what information you want to go with.  

 

Best of luck.

THat issue of whether or not the US should inform aside, I think pragmatically Thai people cana dn do in fact carry two passports. 

My guess on what is happening here is some actual document says one thing, and in practice in Thailand they do another... which happens a lot. 

I don't think it is up to me to consider what info to go with, we need to know what is actually happening to people. 

2 minutes ago, Jojo92122 said:

Yes, as a non-Thai citizen, your wife would need to do visa runs like any other US citizen.  

 

Why should US naturalization paperwork have warnings about losing Thai citizenship?  Imagine how long the US naturalization instructions would be if it had to advise on all the current and ever changing laws on dual citizenship around the world.  There are over 180 countries who change their laws all the time.  Imagine updating the N-400 instructions with that.

 

There are plenty of examples of this on VJ: Thai citizens and their spouses discussing dual citizenship and not naturalizing so they can retain ownership of land in Thailand.  It took me a single Google search to find Thailand's laws on dual citizenship. 

The problem is that the average American thinks only about US laws when it comes to US naturalization.  He unknowingly presumes that US laws on naturalization and dual citizenship are the only relevant laws.  He fails to consider the laws of the home country.  

 

The rule against dual citizenship also applies to lots of other countries like Japan.  

I am of the opposite mind, and not sure why they would not warn about that. It would take a single line of text. Plus, it would be posted everywhere, if a Thai national could only return to Thailand for 30 days after getting a us passport probably nobody would even do it... it certainly would be discussed everywhere not to do it. 

I already think it is wrong. Although not official information, this thread indicates otherwise. There is one poster in there who really knows his stuff on Thai laws and immigration, so i trust the information as long as it is not outdated.

https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/883404-is-dual-citizenship-in-thailand-allowed/

So if we go to Thailand she would have to do visa runs? Wow. Shouldn't the documentation state somewhere during the process the Thai citizenship will disappear? This is another bites the dust thread. Wow I am surprised this hasn't come up at all in any of our hours of research. 

Thanks everyone. I was pretty sure this would not be a problem, but my wife was concerned about it so i thought i would ask for peace of mind. Thanks!!

My wife is hopefully going to have her US passport soon, but when we bought the round trip flight for the interview from outside of the US, we used her Thai passport number I believe. Her name will be the same. I just wanted to check if there could be a problem with this as we leave the US having bought the ticket with her Thai passport (and at that point she will have a US passport as well). 

I want to first thank everyone for their help in my last thread. We scheduled a trip for the interview based on info gathered here and it has been very helpful.

My wife was approved at her interview. Amazing experience at the Tustin field office by the way, a very professional, organized and pleasant staff all around. 

After she takes the oath and gets her US passport, do we have to do anything at that point? I tried to search a sticky for this but I came up empty. Is she just simply a dual citizen once she has both passports? Or do we need to take some steps? I assume she will use the US passport when travelling to the US (or anywhere else), and the Thai passport when she arrives home to Thailand. 

Thanks you!

On 6/3/2018 at 9:10 PM, bsp said:

Yeah, it's possible that it won't even come up as COs expect people to travel back to see their families and 3 months is not unusual, but you never know so better to be prepared with whatever evidence you have.  Obviously if asked about it she can't lie as that could end up much worse.

Thanks for the info! Appreciated. She will do her best, and i will have my fingers crossed

23 hours ago, bsp said:

Assuming same day isn't offered - which it sounds like it isn't - then you're probably looking at ~6-8 weeks for the whole process if everything goes smoothly, but of course being USCIS things happen so 3 months probably gives you enough breathing room.   The alternative is presumably to fly back-and-forth twice which could get expensive, so perhaps just book the return leg as a fully-refundable flight so that you can move it forward or back as necessary? 

 

As others have mentioned, a bigger issue may be if the CO determines that your wife has abandoned her residency.  People often think of it as being a timeframe thing, but there's actually a few different ways you can abandon your GC including "mov[ing] to another country, intending to live there permanently."  This is obviously a tricky one as plans change so "permanency" is difficult to ascertain, but they'll look for things like maintaining a house/rental here in the US, insurance etc.  Not sure what your particular circumstances are, but your wife should probably be ready to address it at the interview if it comes up.

Thanks. 

Yeah we could very well have a problem with that, but what can you do?

8 hours ago, JoannaV said:

There are some more Santa Ana filers here:

It looks like Southern California is good in general at ensuring oath capacity matches applicants so they don't run months behind. But again, can't say if that applies to every single locality.

I  think i am going to assume five weeks for the oath. All the data i have looked at that seems reasonable. And maybe give a buffer of another couple of months to get the passport. So maybe book a roundtrip flight for 12-13 weeks? If anyone has any advise otherwise i am all ears. Thanks again. 

Thank you for the very helpful replies. So we will definitely need the new passport before we leave. 

What is the interum period like after an applicant gets approved for citizenship? Do they maintain their green card? 

We have an interview coming up and are going to have to leave right after the oath. I hope we can have the passport in hand by that time, but if not i have no idea what the status will be like. Thank you. 

Thanks for linking the chart. 

Most of them seem to be within a month, but it sounds like i can't bank on that. 

15 minutes ago, JoannaV said:

If you look at the N-400 timelines on this site, and then filter them to only those from Santa Ana field office, (think this link will take you straight there: http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/citlist.php?op6=All&op7=Santa+Ana+CA&op1=&op2=&op4=1&op5=5%2C10%2C11&cfl=0 ) there aren't a tonne of them to compare but none are same-day. Generally 3-4 weeks between interview and oath. But it's not just field office, depends on the locality where your residence is. The most recent Santa Ana timeline, the user wrote in one of his posts that at his interview the IO mentioned when his oath ceremony would be and it was indeed then. (But whether you'll get that useful information still depends on the IO and your own oath location.) I was able to find someone on Facebook in my city who had taken the oath recently to ask how long she had waited, but I was active in various local FB groups hence easily came across someone to ask. (*My* oath was one week shy of three months after my interview.)
 

Passport, eh. Some people get it in two weeks through the standard service. Other people end up having some kind of second waiting-for-petition-approval experience. However, if you need it in a hurry you can go to a passport agency with proof of travel and get it expedited.

Thank you. I will have a look at that chart.

I would like to change my question: what is the maximum amount of time we can possibly have to wait, assuming one interview and approval? It sounds like yours was three months. Maybe we can just spend three months there, or I suppose i can buy one way tickets but it costs about twice as much that way. That is just what i will have to do i suppose. Thanks again. 

1 hour ago, Hypnos said:

It could be a same-day oath; or you could wait a month or two or longer for an oath ceremony. 

 

Your wife failing to live in the US may be an issue. 

Thank you. So there is no way to know if we need to be there one day, or up to two or three months? 

If that turns out to be an issue it will be fine we will just consider it a failed attempt. Really my only concern is how long we will need to be there. But if it is impossible to know i understand. Thank you.