Are kids allowed in the waiting area at the interview?

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prithis

Registered Users (C)
My DO is Chicago. My interview is coming up on 27 May. I may have a problem dropping off the kids at school early enough to get to downtown Chicago in time for the interview.

Are kids allowed in the waiting area while parents are being interviewed? I have two kids and they would be able to stay quiet by themselves in the waiting area without supervision in case my wife and I are interviewed simultaneously by two IOs, but the question is - will the security guards allow them in the building?

Anyone who has experienced this situation with kids in tow?
 
Mine is at 9.25 and my wife's at 9.45. However there is at least one case (I think rangav) where both husband and wife were interviewed by two seperate IOs simultaneously in spite of having different times on their letters.

sam99 said:
Are the interview timings same for both of you? I doubt that.
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hmmm...

So you leave the kids in the waiting area and one of you casually mention to the IO that the kids have been left by themselves among several other unknown strangers. Would that constitute a violation based on which your character can be questioned??? :confused:
 
No, read page 25 of the Guide to Naturalization. There are examples of what might constitute lack of good moral character. You would have to stretch your imagination to consider leaving two school going kids in a waiting room of an USCIS office "in the presence of unknown strangers" as lacking of good moral character.

I hope the IOs are cleverer than that.

trrajesh said:
So you leave the kids in the waiting area and one of you casually mention to the IO that the kids have been left by themselves among several other unknown strangers. Would that constitute a violation based on which your character can be questioned??? :confused:
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kids

my friends (hasbend and wife) had both an interview at Chicago District Office (last July or so), so they went there with two small kids and with me, and I took care for kids where
my friends were called into interview rooms (both almost same time).
There is a huge waiting hall and everyone is allowed to be there.
 
Thank you very much! That is exactly the information I was looking for. :)

atanase said:
my friends (hasbend and wife) had both an interview at Chicago District Office (last July or so), so they went there with two small kids and with me, and I took care for kids where
my friends were called into interview rooms (both almost same time).
There is a huge waiting hall and everyone is allowed to be there.
Click to expand...
 
We had interview on 04/28 and I see some parents broght their kids, but most of the cases one of the parent's looking after the kids. In some times if the interview gets delayed (my wife's was almost 2 hours delay) then make sure Kids will not get bored staying longer hours. Btw, you can request IO that whether you can take them to the interview room or ask them that whether it is OK to wait until your wife's interview done.

Thanks,
Why-R
 
Thanks very much!

Why-R2 said:
We had interview on 04/28 and I see some parents broght their kids, but most of the cases one of the parent's looking after the kids. In some times if the interview gets delayed (my wife's was almost 2 hours delay) then make sure Kids will not get bored staying longer hours. Btw, you can request IO that whether you can take them to the interview room or ask them that whether it is OK to wait until your wife's interview done.

Thanks,
Why-R
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Boston DO?

Does anyone have info about the Boston office waiting room? Are visitors (spouses, children) allowed in?
 
prithis said:
Mine is at 9.25 and my wife's at 9.45. However there is at least one case (I think rangav) where both husband and wife were interviewed by two seperate IOs simultaneously in spite of having different times on their letters.
Click to expand...

Yes. Thats me. I was called first and within minutes my wife was called. My DO allows kids inside the interview room. I went with 8 months old son and my wife took my 6 year old daughter inside.
 
Hi There, My wife and I have the Interview with Chicago Office. My wife and I have the same time 10.45 as the interview time mentioned on the invitation letter. Can anyone let me know if Chicago office allows kids with us? We dont have anyone coming with us who can take care of my son in waiting area. I have 2 year old and will be driving over there from North so cant drop kid to day care. Letter mentions 2 hours time , in practice how much time it takes. Please help with your experience - I see following options -
1. Find out the day care near USCIS office in Chicago and see if they can offer 1 day care ( not sure how much safe it would be and assume there wont be any waiting for the day care )
2. Take my kid with me and request interviews back to back for my wife ( first) and then I .
3. If IO does not rearrange the interviews then take the kid with me along .
 
djh said:
You paid $675 each for your application, pay the damn 2-3 hours for babysitting... sheesh
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Okay. Thanks for the reply. Money was never an issue here. You can not get the babysitting at 5/6 AM as the travel from home to downtown is involved. Anway... I wanted to provide my experience to help others in similar situations.

We tried very hard to get the babysitting at the above mentioned odd hours with no LUCK. So we decided to go ahead and take our kid with us. I asked the interviewing officer if it was okay to get my kid in the interviewing room. He was perfectly fine with it. my interview lasted around 15-20 minutes and my wife's interview was also in parallel scheduled. However, it took longer for her to complete her interview.

There is a dedicated kids' play area ( not a lot of toys there ) in the Chicago USCIS office waiting area ( all the way right side back facing congress parkway) . If possible take some toys so that kids can enjoy. I took my kid there while my wife was interviewed and it was perfect. You can even feed the kids in that area. Just dont use the cellphone. videos are fine too... but no talking.

Oh by the way , if you cannot find the Green card .... It happened in our case, I just forgot my wife's green card ( actual card ) at the copier at home while leaving. Realized it when in the waiting room. They were very friendly to accommodate this situation. She had to provide the written statement about what happened. IO asked her if she has seen her card the previous day and reminded her that she would need to bring the actual card for the oath ceremony.
 
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