el_greco

I had my Oath Ceremony in San Antonio last Friday (01/29). It seems that Fridays are reserved for Oath Ceremonies because the building was eerily empty save for Oath takers. I was scheduled for 12 pm, and I put myself in line outside the building precisely at 11:30. USCIS staff checked the Oath notice and verified answers to questions on page 4. Although I had filled in the form in Austin the morning of the ceremony, the officer changed the "city" to "San Antonio, TX" (city where the form was filled/signed). I surrendered my permanent and conditional green cards (was not asked about EAD) and entered the building.

After going through the metal detector and a temperature check, I was instructed into the Oath Ceremony room where other applicants were also waiting, seated very sparsely (only one half of the room, about 10 people in it, seated ~3 in each row, so ~5 seats apart. On each seat there was a small American flag and a USCIS envelope with a pamphlet and a passport application. No letter from the President, or the Citizen's Almanac or anything like that  At around 11:35 am two USCIS officers entered the room to start the ceremony. We were told that no photography/video whatsoever would be allowed, and were given a very short pep talk about how although things are scaled down due to COVID, the ceremony is still of great importance as we are being welcome into the United States as new citizens. We were reminded to register to vote on vote.org ("although an important election just took place, there will be other elections in the future") and change our status with the Social Security Administration. We were asked to practice saying "I do" in unison for after the Oath was recited.

Then we were asked to stand up and raise our right hand, and an officer recited the Oath. We said "I do" after the "So help me God" part, and then were asked to depart the room/building immediately one by one, starting from the front row and moving back. The naturalization certificates were on a table by the entrance, and we were asked to make sure there are no issues with the certificates, and notify someone immediately if any discrepancies were found. My certificate was ok, so I picked it up and exited the building. Since I was traveling alone to San Antonio, I asked someone to take a photo of me holding the mini flag and the naturalization certificate in front of the building, as most newly minted citizens did the same thing. The whole ceremony etc lasted less than 10', as I was outside the building taking my "new citizen photo" at 11:44...

Although it was very disappointing having such a long, drawn out process to be culminating to an administrative check no more graceful than going through a TSA checkpoint at an airport, missing all required pomp and circumstance of pre-COVID days, I am relieved that this whole process is over, and that everything was relatively straightforward. I acknowledge that I am very lucky that the San Antonio field office processed my case in a relatively rapid pace, and I can now move on with my life as a US citizen.

I dropped off a paper voter registration application, on my way back to Austin...

I ended up surrendering my permanent and conditional green cards - USCIS staff at the entrance of the Field Office in San Antonio asked me whether I had any other green cards on me on top of the permanent one, so I also gave him the temporary one which I had found and kept in my wallet. They did not inquire about EAD cards.

23 hours ago, cryo28 said:

Looking at previous comments it seems that San Antonio field office does not conduct same day Oath ceremonies. Is this correct?

I had my interview on New Year's Eve and they told me that they don't conduct same day ceremonies due to the Holidays, not sure if anyone who had their interview after the holiday season got a same day ceremony. For what it's worth, my IO told me that I should be expecting my ceremony to be scheduled on a Friday, and from what I see in the comments above, my ceremony is on 1/29, and another such ceremony on 2/5, so maybe they reserve Fridays for these post-dated ceremonies? Purely speculative.

My oath ceremony is scheduled for this Friday, and part of the requirements stated on the notice is that I surrender all green cards, as well as any other documents issued by USCIS in the past, such as EAD cards. I was issued two EAD cards (one for my F1-OPT after graduation, and one during the AOS process), and 2 green cards (one conditional after successful AOS, and the permanent one after ROC). I was wondering how strict the requirement is to surrender all 4 cards, as I am not sure I can find all old cards in my documents... Don't they really need just the current. permanent green card?   

My Oath Ceremony got scheduled for next Friday, January 29th, in San Antonio  -- within the 30 day time frame mentioned to me by the IO during my 12/31 interview

My oath ceremony got scheduled for next Friday, January 29th in San Antonio

I had my interview on 12/31, I had to use my finger and scribble on the iPad, so no auto-correct...

1 minute ago, SB5130 said:

congrats! which city? Im under Corpus Christi and nothing. I called the hotline and they could not put me in line somewhere else

I live in Austin, but when I asked the IO after my interview, she said that my oath ceremony would have to take place in San Antonio because they don't do oaths in Austin during COVID (something about it being too complicated for USCIS staff to come over here and set up the ceremony in a safe way) - I will know the exact details when the oath ceremony notice shows up on my.uscis.gov (how long does it usually take after the e-mail notification?), but I would be very surprised if the oath ceremony were not in SA.

My Oath Ceremony Notice was mailed! No idea about the actual date yet, waiting for the PDF copy to show up on my.uscis.gov

On 1/8/2021 at 8:16 PM, ioxtremod said:

I had the exact same experience same office same we don't do same day oath because of holidays the day before you. It sucks we can't do same day oath. I am worried about glitches, delays, or a lockdown of federal level that will push back and reschedule everything another 6 months

Agreed, although the IO mentioned that my Oath would be taking place on a Friday during the next 30 days (so until January 30th) I haven't heard anything new from USCIS since my status changed...

I entered the US in 2009 as an F-1 graduate student, so I obtained a social security card to receive my wages from the University during my graduate studies. This card states "VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION", but I have used it for employment after my graduation in the past 5 years with no issues. 

After graduate school I applied for OPT and received an EAD, but before the expiration of my OPT I got married to a USC, we filed for AOS, and I became an LPR (first conditional, then conditions were removed early 2020). Eventually I applied for Naturalization, had my interview a few days ago, and now I am waiting for my Oath Ceremony, and start thinking about the next steps, primarily a US Passport, as I would really like to be able to visit my family as soon as it is possible again.

My question is about whether I truly need a new Social Security card (without the "VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION" stipulation), and in that case, can I wait until it is safe to apply in person at the SSA? Will keeping my original SS card somehow affect my US Passport application, once I get the certificate of naturalization?

3 minutes ago, HNZ91 said:

Congrats

 

so they don’t have USCIS FO in Austin?

Thanks!

Nope, this is how it has always been, San Antonio FO is responsible for a huge area in South/Central Texas. Austin only has an Application Support Center (for biometrics) 

I had my interview on 12/31, was recommended for Approval, and now I am waiting for the oath ceremony notice in the mail. Detailed post here. Complete timeline in my forum signature. Good luck to everyone still waiting!

I had my N-400 interview in San Antonio on 12/31/2020. I was scheduled for 08:45 am, and I entered the building at 08:30. After checking in I was asked to wait at the naturalization ceremony room,  along with another ~10 people, very distanced from each other. It seems that they allow phones now, because I was the only one that had left it in my car (remembering that this was the case for our AOS interview a couple of years prior).

The IO called me at ~09:15 and we walked back to her office. I swore I would tell the truth, and then the IO spent a few minutes verifying dates between my application and her system to ensure I was eligible for filing (I filed online under the 3 year rule, the day that my window of eligibility had opened in August 2020). After that she just asked to see my passport and my green card, and just asked to verify that I am still married to the same person. Although I had brought originals of everything submitted electronically (marriage certificate, birth certificate of USC spouse, etc), the IO did not ask to see any of them.

Then we moved to the test portion of the interview. For English, I had to read the sentence "Who elects Congress?" from an iPad, and then scribble with my finger "The People elect Congress". As for the civics test, the six questions I got were:

• Eisenhower was a general in which war prior to becoming president? (WW2)
• What is the capital of your state? (Austin, TX)
• Describe one of the amendments that set who can vote (All citizens age 18 and older can vote)
• What is one right reserved only for US citizens? (Vote in a federal election)
• Where is the Statue of Liberty (Libery island, New York harbor)
• For how many years do we elect the president? (4 years)

After going over all Yes/No questions (terrorism, communism, prostitution, etc), the IO said she would recommend me for approval, and showed me the information that will go on the Naturalization certificate to make sure I don't need any changes. I asked whether there would be a same-day oath, but unfortunately they did not have oaths scheduled for 12/31 because of the holiday. I was told I would be asked to come back to San Antonio (alone, only bringing my Oath notice, my green card, and a pen) during a Friday over the next 30 days for the Oath, and that they schedule oaths between the hours of 8 am and 1 pm. I asked whether they would be resuming oath ceremonies in Austin (where I reside) but unfortunately this is not possible either due to COVID restrictions. Of course I also got the reminder that I am not a citizen yet, so I should not go register to vote, apply for passport, etc just yet.

All in all the interview lasted for ~20' and I was on my way back to Austin to ring in the New Year with my family. A few minutes after I left the USCIS office I got notifications that my online status had changed to "Post Decision Activity - Quality Review" and then to "Oath Ceremony". This morning (January 4th) I saw a weird change that over the course of the same minute (7 am) my status got to "Canceled oath interview" to "quality review" to "oath ceremony" again, so I think it must have been some system glitch. Waiting for the oath ceremony notice in the mail now.

I hope everyone gets as smooth an experience as I did, looking forward to the very last step before I become a USC!

5 hours ago, TheSkywalkers said:

My friend said she had to wait for 3 months for her oath taking in San Antonio but this was 2 yrs ago. I hope things have changed. I think dur to COVID they'd like to minimize having people over so they would most likely do it the same day so you wouldn't have to come back. Also, you have the perfect interview date. It would most likely be that the officer is in a good mood because it is the last day of the year and he/she would like to end the year and start the year right. You know what the holidays do to people lol. My interview is this coming Monday and it's Thanksgiving week so hopefully the officer is just as nice haha!

Good luck @TheSkywalkers and thank you for your uplifting response! I admit that I haven’t thought about the potential significance of the interview date itself for the USCIS officer too! Let’s hope that we will be all celebrating these holidays as newly minted Americans soon 🙂

On 11/13/2020 at 2:22 PM, ioxtremod said:

 

Ha! I am in the exact same situation. Living in Austin, TX scheduled similar time/date in San Antonio. Would be great if San Antonio does same day oath ceremonies! When did you applied?

My application was filed August 10th, so this has been rather quick. Checking the courts' websites for naturalization ceremonies, there are only 2 judicial (?) ceremonies in SA on December 2nd with the USCIS office stated as address, and no naturalization ceremonies scheduled elsewhere (such as the Austin Central Library), so I am confident that SA field office might be hosting same-day oath ceremonies since these interviews seems to be on the first half of the day on 12/31... Hoping!

So my interview got scheduled for December 31st at 8:45 am, San Antonio office. Good to know that the government is hard at work even on New Year's Eve! Does anyone know whether the San Antonio office performs oath ceremonies on the spot after a successful interview, or are "traditional" ceremonies back? I am based in Austin, but I haven't been able to find any scheduled ceremony here

I just got my interview notification for 08:45 of December 31st in SA! Do you know if SA administers same-day oaths, or are ceremonies being scheduled again? I live in Austin so I was wondering whether I could have an Austin ceremony.

7 minutes ago, MD2021 said:

I am in the my.usics.gov. I don't see anything under My account except home, inbox, profile, setting etc. next tab is resources and then sign out. Below is the just the case status saying the below. So not sure where to look for documents, estimated completion etc?

You successfully submitted your form

We are processing your form. It can take up to 72 hours for all of your case information to show on your home page.

We will notify you when we take an action on your case. 

Mine looks like this (on the main page, under "Home")

7 minutes ago, MD2021 said:

where do you all find the documents tab and completion esitmate once you log on USICS.gov? I don't see any of the those on my account

There are two accounts, one under my.uscis.gov (which has this information) and one under egov.uscis.gov which just shows the current case status. Information between the two databases is not always synced up.

5 minutes ago, happytree said:

did you originally file by mail or online? 

I filed online the day my window opened, August 9th

I just got an e-mail notification that an interview was scheduled for my N-400, and I should be expecting the official notice in the mail. The case status has been updated to reflect that on egov.uscis.gov, but not on my.uscis.gov (I cannot see any update or PDF copy of the interview notice there, the last update was my biometrics reuse notice from 11/2)

On 10/21/2020 at 11:00 AM, Muks said:

Yes the biometric was reused on sep 4...

got my interview scheduled for dec 9th..

 

@Muks I filed online August 10th and just got my biometrics reuse notice yesterday on my.uscis.gov. Odd how they decided to reuse my biometrics almost 2 months after you, although we filed our cases 1 day apart. Fingers crossed I'll get an early interview too! (my.uscis.gov still has me as June 2021 estimate)

Finally some movement with my case after the initial receipt notice August 10th - I just saw thet a Biometric Reuse notice was issued yesterday, November 2nd.

I'm in Austin, TX, so my field office is San Antonio.

14 hours ago, Danieltx said:

I sent them a message, and my status was updated this afternoon. 

Can you please elaborate on this? How did you send them a message, and what did your status update to?