Name Change: Oath Experience Fairfax Virginia

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naani

Registered Users (C)
Hello Friends
I became US citizen on 18th June 2009. I have opted for name change, and it has taken 4 months get oath date by the Court.

My oath was scheduled on 18th June, at the Alexandria Courthouse, Alexandria, Virginia. (Near King’s street) The court asked us to reach the venue at 8:00 AM. We have started early but the road is so confusing near the court house. We reached around 8:45 AM and parked just behind the court ( Public Parking Garage - $10.00) Cell phones and Camera's are not allowed. I just missed taking the photographs of the ceremony.

I thought, I was the last person to reach, but many people came even after me. We reached the 7th floor after the security screening. I kept my camera & cell phone in a shop just opposite to the court house(DELI) for $2.

In the 7th floor court room many people were seated already with a seat number. Few people were in a line, where our oath letter will be checked and green cards will be taken back from us. I just verified my certificate and handed over my oath letter with new information marked and my green card. I have been assigned a seat number and I just seated where my number was marked.

At 10:00 AM the Judge arrived and gave a small speech. One guy called each person's new name one by one. At that moment every one just got up and told their country of origin. I have seen many people from different countries. After that we have taken oath. People from 2 different organizations gave 5 minutes speech. Then we collected the Citizenship Certificate and 2 original court order certificate of name changing.

I think we left the court by 11:00 AM

I feel it is worth waiting for my name changing. Now my next job is handle all concerned people/dept. with my new name.

Thanks for all your support and Rajiv Khanna's wonderful website/free service.
Naani
 
Congratulations. An alternative would have been for you to get name change done after regular oath, which would have been faster. A name change document is valid with naturalization certificate if you decide to change name.
 
family name change after marriage

I got married and change my family name into my husband's last name. I did this 2 years before I applied forcitizenship.Does this also mean I have to go to court to have the oath taking ceremony?
My citizenship was approved but I was told I have to wait until the judge approves my name change and have my oathtaking with the court. I am just concerned, how come my friends who also got married did not have this problem, they had their oathtaking right after their n400 was approved. I'm concerned that the one who interviewed me made a mistake.
 
k2ksanz said:
I got married and change my family name into my husband's last name. I did this 2 years before I applied forcitizenship.Does this also mean I have to go to court to have the oath taking ceremony?
My citizenship was approved but I was told I have to wait until the judge approves my name change and have my oathtaking with the court. I am just concerned, how come my friends who also got married did not have this problem, they had their oathtaking right after their n400 was approved. I'm concerned that the one who interviewed me made a mistake.
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My wife faced a similar issue but she had a marriage certificate that showed her full married name. So although the green card was issued with her old name, the IO just made the change directly on the N-400 application and she was able to take the oath on the same day. The only difference I can see from your case is that my wife already had an official government document (marriage certificate) with her new name on it, and hence the name change that the IO did on the form was not a "legal" name change. For a name change to be official, it has to be certified by a court or some kind of public official who has the authority to certify it.
 
k2ksanz said:
I got married and change my family name into my husband's last name. I did this 2 years before I applied forcitizenship.Does this also mean I have to go to court to have the oath taking ceremony?
My citizenship was approved but I was told I have to wait until the judge approves my name change and have my oathtaking with the court. I am just concerned, how come my friends who also got married did not have this problem, they had their oathtaking right after their n400 was approved. I'm concerned that the one who interviewed me made a mistake.
Click to expand...

If you've changed your name through marriage and have a marriage certificate with your new name, it constitutes a legal name change. There's no need for a judge to approve your name change for naturalization, nor is there a need for you to have a judicial oath. I suggest making an InfoPass appointment and explaining what happened. Based on the facts provided in your post, the IO was wrong.
 
I recently had taken judicial oath in Alexandria court(due to name change). I want to share my experience, hope it will help anyone who is going through the process. On the Alexandria court website it says the ceremony is held on the third Thursday of every month. My ceremony was however on the Oct 2nd at 1pm.
The whole process took about 2 hours. I arrived at 12:55 pm. Going through scureity check first (no electronics in the building, leave your phone in the car) , go up to the second floor using escalator. Then using the elevator on the right to go to the 8th floor. After you come out of the elevator, line up outside the courtroom to wait. I waited outside the courtroom for about 15 min before able to get in. (Family member /friends who are attending the ceremony are allowed in right away to sit in the end of the courtroom). The attendees are sit in the middle section with assigned seat. After you get in, there is a table where two immigration officer will take your oath letter and greencard and instruct you on how to proceed afterwards. The whole ceremony is pretty straight forward and short. I left the courthouse at exactly 3pm. You will get your natulization certificate and two copies of certified name change court order. You will also be able to fill out the voter registration form that they hand out and collect before you leave.



Some tips:
Parking is confusing. Be sure to use the "USPTO West Parking Garage" for parking(550 Elezabeth Ln, Alexandria, VA) . It's the closest garage to the courthouse. It's just on the left side of the courthouse building. All you have to do is cross the street and the courthouse main entrance is there. $10 for a whole day. The full name of the courthouse is : Albert V Bryan US Courhouse. You can also use street parking, but street parking is 2 hrs only , but it's really cheap 1.50( I think) /hr.
No electronics allowed in the building, so you won't be able to take picture. People tend to overdress for this ceremony, business casual is sufficient enough( you have to sit for a long time, so wear some thing a little more comfortable).

Also, a side note. For whose of you who wanted to change name , but afraid the scheduling might take too long. Don't worry, it took me only 45 days from interview date to oath date.

Good luck everyone!
 
hi everyone.
i had interview at fairfax, Virginia on 11/24/2015.. passed... name changed requested. but its almost a month not get any update for the judicial oath ceremony.. any one here on same boat?
 
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