Dan2015

I got a notification this evening as well that an oath ceremony has been scheduled. Hopefully I see the date tomorrow. Exciting news though

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...

Yes everything was pretty quick, I got there as per letter 30 earlier but I went just in case little bit earlier 😅 as I was exiting the car a guy was asking people are you here for oath? We all went 40 minutes earlier, the entire process was like 20 minutes, it was about 35 people no pictures inside no nothing, I asked the lady about oath in Cc she said there is nothing she can do especially if you wait for a month, but she said if you wait more than 120 days then contact them.

Called them today. I mean  USCIS and I explained that the courts aren't scheduling any oath now or in the nearest future per covid. I was told by USCIS that I am still on the line for an oath ceremony based on the request I made last month. I was told I couldn't make another request until after 30 days after the previous one. I will call them again next Friday, when the 30 days would have elapsed. I hope your oath ceremony went well?

Sure, I will call them again tomorrow and let them know that the courthouse in corpus christi is not conducting any oath ceremony. Thanks for the info.

This platform has been super helpful during my ROC (I-751) journey. Although my ROC journey has now come to an end, I will like to say a big thank you. Below is the timeline of my ROC process. I am a Texas filer(SRC).
Package sent September 17 2018
USCIS received package September 24, 2018
18 Months extension sent October 15, 2018
Biometric waiver May 18, 2019
Biometric letter sent October 11, 2019
Biometric done October 30, 2019
RFE received December 17, 2019 (Wife needed to sign section 8 again)
RFE responded December 27, 2019
USCIS  acknowledge receiving RFE response December 31, 2019
ROC Approved January 25, 2020
Card Mailed January 29, 2020
All the best to those still waiting...cheers

This platform has been super helpful during my ROC (I-751) journey. Although my ROC journey has now come to an end, I will like to say a big thank you. Below is the timeline of my ROC process. I am a Texas filer(SRC).
Package sent September 17 2018
USCIS received package September 24, 2018
18 Months extension sent October 15, 2018
Biometric waiver May 18, 2019
Biometric letter sent October 11, 2019
Biometric done October 30, 2019
RFE received December 17, 2019 (Wife needed to sign section 8 again)
RFE responded December 27, 2019
USCIS  acknowledge receiving RFE response December 31, 2019
ROC Approved January 25, 2020
Card Mailed January 29, 2020
All the best to those still waiting...cheers

I received my RFE on December 17, and I sent the response back on December 27, 2019 because of the holidays. I was given 90 days to respond, which would have elapsed in March 2020. I hope my answer helps?