Zarathustra

I interviewed at the Fairfax office last summer and also had a friend who just did in Nov - you 'more then likely' have an Oath the same day....what time is your appointment - morning or afternoon? If it's in the morning, they tend to schedule you that same day in the afternoon. You will only have a Citizenship cert after the OATH - your GC is entirely taken away (of course). Then your issue is getting a US passport before you leave....which you might be able to in theory if you go all the way into the DC passport issuing office...I think they do sameday or issue them very quickly if you want to come back to pick it up (Look it up).

You can also run into the situation that the afternoon OATH is already full so they scheduled me a week later.....you really cannot rely on anything. What if you're not approved right away? You may have something outstanding they require....there's always the off chance.

Anyhoo.....They make it very clear at OATH that you cannot travel using your citizenship certificate. May want to reorganize the travel plans for further out until you have the passport. Expedite it and you could ahve it with 10 days or less.

Thanks for your response Udella&Wiz,

My appointment is at 10:40AM, and so I take your point that if all goes well I may or may not be able to participate in oath ceremony that day. I also know of other people that have attended the oath ceremony the same day of their interview at the Fairfax offices.

BTW - for obvious reasons the interview appointment notice does not make any comment regarding the oath ceremony. If I was to attend an oath ceremony on the same day as my interview, would my spouse be able to attend the ceremony?

After the excellent advice received here and contacting the DC passport office, I decided to make travel plans - I can't really move an important family birthday

Thanks for your advice, I really am not counting my chickens as I realise that there could be any number of things that could crop up in the interview.

- Z

Hi! I hope that i can add some helpful tips based on my own experience recently. Firstly, most USCIS offices do not provide same day oaths and you keep your greencard until the actual oath ceremony day (you hand it in upon signing in at the ceremony). If your office does not offer you a same day oath, you can travel in between the time of the interview and the time of the ceremony as long as it doesn't affect your physical presence or continuous residence requirements. You would need to make a note of this absence on your Oath Letter which you will hand in at the Ceremony. I had to travel in between my interview and my oath, and it was not a problem.

Now, on to the other matter of passports- there is a possibility not mentioned yet. You can make an appointment with the Passport Agency nearest you ( the nearest one to you is in DC and i have posted info and links below) and if you show proof of travel, they can issue the passport the same day, or within one or two days. When i took my Oath, i took along ID photos, filled out the passport application form, and high tailed it down to the Passport Agency here in San Diego. As a special gift to we newly naturalized citizens, they allowed us in without an appointment- we just had to show our naturalization certificates. I applied for my passport at 11:30 am and picked it up 24 hours later. The man actually apologized that he couldn't give it to me the same day!(i would recommend making an appointment using the links below just to be sure). You'll have to pay the expedite fee, but you'll have your passport within at most 48 hours. The passport agency in DC is located at 1111 19th Street, N.W., First Floor, Sidewalk Level, Washington, DC 20036 and appointments are available from 8-3 or 9-3 on Wednesdays. Here's the link to information and procedures http://travel.state.gov/passport/npic/agencies/agencies_902.html

I hope this is helpful for you

Thanks peacefulocean

Your response is indeed very helpful. Thanks for clarifying that the GC is retained until naturlisation itself, and that it would it be requested at the oath ceremony. It is also comforting that you were able to travel abroad between the interview and oath ceremony with no issues.

In reviewing the state department website I totally missed the option that you have highlighted. Thanks so much for including the link, I actually work in North-West DC and so the offices are actually very close to where I work.

Very grateful to you for highlighting this, I have booked up flights to fly to the UK next week. Fingers crossed that all goes well this week

Thanks again,

- Z

Thanks very much Inky,

I take your point. I guess it makes a difference how busy each office is, certainly all the people that I know who have been lucky enough to pass the interview at the DC office did take part in the oath ceremony the same day with a number of others. But I see what you mean, it may or may not occur the same day.

Thanks,

- Z

All,

I have had a look and could not find an answer to my exact question, apologies as I'm sure the topic has come up before...

I am lucky enough to have been issued an appointment date for my naturalisation interview on February 8 at the Fairfax, VA offices. I am quite excited having received the date and hope that all goes well in the interview.

I was previously planning to travel outside of the US (to my native UK) on February 17. My concern is that I understand that if the interview is passed they will ask that I return the physical permanent resident card and would provide me with a naturalisation certificate. The expedited service for applying for a US passport takes 2-3 weeks, so clearly I could not count on receiving it in time to leave on February 17.

I realise that this is a nice problem to have, but is anyone aware of any temporary measure that can be taken so that I would be able to re-enter the US on my return? At this point all I would have is a UK passport and a US naturalisation certificate.

Of course this is not the end of the world if I were not able to leave the US for the time it takes to process a US passport application, but if there is a mechanism for handling this situation it would be great for me to attend a family function in the UK.

Thanks, and best of luck to all!

- Z

'Crime' here relates to US federal law, if there is a US federal law prohibiting downloading electronic music in this manner, you should divulge this offense.

Good news - I see that my status has been changed to 'card production ordered' today!!

Given that the card has been ordered on 4th December and it may well not arrive at my house before 21st December (when I travel back to England), am I still good with travelling with the extension letter? or has that been overridden because of the decision?

Thanks for the responses - I do feel reassured on hearing that there are no problems re-entering the US in this circumstance.

I guess I was more concerned about a prospective employer recognising the GC/NOA1 as sufficient proof as employment verification...

Apologies, I feel like I'm asking a pretty rudimentary question....... but I searched through the first 20 pages of the 'removing conditions' forum and also tried searching on the word 'stamp'..... and didn't see a discussion on this exact issue.......

My conditional Green Card is going to expire in a few days time (10/23/2009), and I have received my NOA1 which states that my 'conditional resident status is extended for a period of one year'. I have attended by biometric appointment and await a decision or or communication. So far, so good....

From a few asides that I have found in VJ it seems that a combination of my expired Green Card and the original NOA1 letter might be sufficient for me to re-enter the US. Is that correct? I'd feel safer if I had an I-551 stamp in my passport. Is it possible to fro me to make an INFOPASS appointment in this circumstance and receive a stamp in my UK passport once the conditional Green Card expires?

Also, I have been working since I got my conditional Green Card, but have just ceased to work and am job-hunting as we speak. Looking at the I-9 form, it doesn't mention whether the expired Green Card/NOA1 is sufficient proof of employment authorisation - wouldn't I need an I-551 stamp in my passport in this circumstance?

Any advice from anyone who has been in either circumstance would be welcomed.

Thanks for your time, Z.

Thanks - I'll just be sure to make sure I explain the situation as thouroughly as I can.

Hi All

I will be filing my I-751 in the future and notice that I would have to furnish the USCIS with documentation relating to any arrests. I was arrested in early 1997 in England and received a caution (for US readers this means I got sent away with no charges filed).

For my K-1 visa I obtained the UK police certificate which stated that there were absolutely no records of me in the national police computer database. I have a hand-written note from the local police station dated several weeks asking me to come into the station to offically receive a caution, but have no official arrest document. When I attended my K-1 interview at the US embassy in London they asked why I had mentioned the arrest at all seeing as nothing ever came of it, I just replied that the form asked if I had ever been arrested and that the answer to that was yes.

When i file the I-751 I will have to state that I was previously arrested. At this moment in time, all I can provide is:

-the same copy of the UK police certificate dated early 2007 (showing no criminal history)

-a hand-written note asking me to come to the statiuon to receive an official caution

-I can describe exactly what happened, when, and a description of the evidence that I can provide.

Has anyone from the UK (or otherwise) had to go through something similar and is able to tell me whether this is likely to be sufficient or not?

Thanks in advance.

Z

Cough....

Hi World!

I lived half of 2007 in the UK and half in the US....... I had taxable income in both countries, and have paid what I believe to be due in both cases.

I am a 'resident alien' here in the US and my wife an I intend to file a joint tax return.

Considering we live in Northern Virgina, can anyone suggest a good accountant he has a track record of working like cases? Alternatiely, any ideas as to how to find a suitbale accountant would be greatly appreciated?

Thanks, Z.

The new law restricts the ability of illegal immigrants to obtain government IDs or public assistance. It also gives police authority to check the immigration status of anyone arrested, which can lead to deportations.

Checking the immigration status of anyone arrested, eh? So, what if you don't have an immigration status because you were born here? Are you going to have to prove that too?

Mainly I'm just wondering how this anti-illegal immigrant law is going to affect regular Joe Blow Americans.

off topic

From what I've experienced, Oklahoma is a rather bad place to live. Tattoos are illegal and their roads suck, too. Are they EVER going to finish redoing that stretch of I-35 just north of Oklahoma city and south of Kansas? I swear to god, they've been working on it since I was 6.

/off topic

Thomas J was a DUDE!

What was the intent of this by the OP'er? Another tedious II debate?

Perhap the intent was to point out Oklahoma's new tough law that targets people who are illegally.

at least that's what I get from the TITLE.

###### clever aren't you........... have you actually got anything to add to the debate?

Please can you leave us lamb eaters alone!!!!

I work hard thanks, so does my wife.............

What was the intent of this by the OP'er? Another tedious II debate?

Maybe it was .. Illegals ... go the fuque home .. we don't want you here ..

No it ###### wasn't.

So does tedium.

Initial quote far too long

What was the intent of this by the OP'er? Another tedious II debate?

Can you go to a restaurant to enjoy it together first?

Wow, fantastic. Thanks Guys.

We have been so lucky at every stage so far, although as the first GC was transferred to CSC I would think that I will need to interview to receive the second GC.

Congratulations it means you have been approved and your welcome to America letter is on the way... next you should get a card production email then the greencard will arrive in the mail....

Kez

Thanks, I was hoping that is what it meant. So would you have any idea on timescale, is it a matter of days or weeks before the card is likely to be ordered after that? Thanks again.

I have seen people learn of good news with their AOS by seeing messages like 'Card Production Ordered' or 'Approved'........ I see the following status on the USCIS website, could someone elaborate on what this means in reality, have I passed the FBI namecheck? etc.....

"Current Status: Notice mailed welcoming the new permanent resident.

On October 24, 2007, we mailed you a notice that we had registered this customer's new permanent resident status. Please follow any instructions on the notice. Your new permanent resident card should be mailed within 60 days following this registration or after you complete any ADIT processing referred to in the welcome notice, whichever is later. If you move before you get your new card call customer service. You can also receive automatic e-mail updates as we process your case. Just follow the link below to register."

It would also be worth mentioning that I would be filing 1099's.