Please share oath ceremony experience

M

mrbluetooth

Registered Users (C)
Could someone describe their experiences at the actual ceremony? I couldn't find anything in the archives.

Specifically, does the ceremony usually start on time? How long does the ceremony take? Can family members come along, including small children?

Also, on the appointment letter, it mentions to bring along the re-entry permit. Does this mean the passport? A few visits were made abroad, each of duration less than a month. These visits are of course stamped on the passport. But I don't recall having any re-entry permit.

Thanks for any insight.

P.S. Timeline info for those interested:

App. mailed: 1/22/02
PD: 2/4/02
FD: 5/23/02
Interview date: 11/13/02, location Oakland, CA
Oath ceremony: 12/17/02, location SF, CA
 
No CHRISTMAS for new CITIZENS!

I am SORRY to be the first one to break the news to you:
In Chicago, the people who went for their Oath Ceremony
this morning under heavy snow and who drove for hours
to the court were turned away by INS and their Naturalization
were canceled because INS did not apply a 2nd security
check against their back ground. According to the media
report, INS is in the process of informing the other people
who received the invitation letters about the cancelation.
The new ceremonies may resume in January of the new year.
 
Attended the one in San Francisco on Nov 5, 2002. This was held at the Masonic center. assume it is in the same place for you too

1. It does start on time. The first hour is usually spent on explaining how the swearing in will take place, what is the oath of allegiance, .... etc
2. They had asked us to come in at 8:00 AM. The court proceedings/formalities/swearing started at around 9:00 AM. It took about 1.0-1.5 hours from that time onwards.
3. If you plan to apply for your US passport as well, add another 1/2 hour to submit your form to the Department of state booth outside.
4. You can bring your family members/small children. they are not allowed in the main auditorium but can view the ceremony from the balcony.
5. In terms of reaching on time -- do make allowances for traffic to san francisco, weather and parking.

I do not recall anything about a reentry permit. you can call INS 800 number to clarify what it means or if it is applicable to you.

It is a very solemn occasion but the INS folks try to make it very pleasant :)
 
nn2002: Thanks for the detailed info. It is exactly the info I was looking for. Yes, it will be at the Masonic as well. I once attended a George Winston concert there. :D

#1Chicago: Thanks for the info as well. I'm in the SF area, so I believe it only applies to the Chicago area and not nationwide. I don't think INS could fail to apply a secondary check on every single applicant. I didn't see anything on the INS website, either. If you have a link to this info, please forward it on to us.
 
Only one TV station in Chicago broadcasted that report.
Like you, I spent considerable amount of time trying to
find more info on INS web site and the other news media
web sites, but found nothing!

Unfortunately, it is not a local problem with the Chicago
office. It is at the federal level, and while the news report
did not mention the name of the additional security check,
most likely it is the IBIS. An earlier INS Memo (about 2 weeks
ago) required all field offices to include this test with all
applications, as a result a lawyer web site predicted that
the new measure will add few weeks or months to the
processing time of all applications including citizenship
interviews, now we know that it has affected the Oath
Ceremonies as well.

I wish you the best of luck on your long awaited day, and
join you in hoping that it will not affect the SF area, but at
any rate I will let you know how it will go on my Oath Ceremony
next week.
 
Hi could u please tell me when u recieved the letter for oath ceremony? I am still waiting for mine. Thank you.
 
I did a google search for IBIS, and it seems the INS had already begun to implement the security check back in May 2002. So it would seem that the check would have to have been done for applicants who receive an interview and oath ceremony invitation in December. Guess we'll have to see what happens...

My oath ceremony letter was dated Nov. 22, 2002 and I received it around five days later.
 
Oath Ceremony

I had my ceremony scheduled for 12/4/02, but received a "ceremony descheduled" notice on 11/25/02. The INS would not tell me what's going on. No mention of any security checks - nothing. They just said go back home and wait. I was at the district office yesterday (seattle), and they swore in about 100 people, some of the had their interviews on 12/3/02, 11/27/02 etc, way after mine (10/28/02). How do you know about the "second" check? What does it mean? how long will it take? Why other people didn't have to get wait and I was turned down?
Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
 
Hi Mrbluetooth
I recieved mine letter too and it also says to bring re entry permit, I think they mean passport, been trying to call them but it seems the line is busy forever.
 
The INS wants you to bring all the documents they had issued to you (Green Card, re-entry permit, also known as the Travel Document, if you have one; EAD etc) because you will not need them anymore once you become a citizen. They just want to make sure they collect all those documents from you once you become a citizen. My expirience with the INS shows that it's a good idea to bring ALL the important documents, along with their English translations whenever you go to the INS for whatever reason - your passport, birth/marriage certificates, divorce decree, letter of employment etc. On several occasions I was asked to produce one or the other to prove different things. Just bring all your documents with you to be safe, you don't want to be turned away becuase they had lost a copy of you birth certificate or something like that
 
#1Chicago

As I promised you mrbluetooth, this is to share my experience with the Oath Ceremony that took place today in Chicago as
scduled. I was one of the first new citizens to arrive to the federal building to find out that the assigned court room is being occupied by an army of corporate lawyers ( about 200 of them ) representing UAL in its historic bancruptcy filing and that our naturalization ceremony is being relocated into much smaller court room that in fact was big enough to accomadate the 99 new citizens along with their kids and families who were permitted to take photos even during Oath.

The first hour spent on checking documents and seating. The actual ceremony which lasted 20 minutes started exactly one hour later as the judge entered and a female INS officer asked him to grant the 99 person the American citizenship based on the recommendation of the Atterny General. The Judge agreed, administered the Oath, and gave a brief speech welcoming the new citizens who received their Naturalization Certificate thereafter along with a congrats letter from the President of the United States.

Immediately, I registered to vote outside the court room and then delivered my passport application to a nearby local court offical.

My experience with INS has given me a valuable lesson in patience, and as they say, the strike that doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Something I can use in my American Dream journey.

PS- The Administrator of this site must have revoked my permission to post as #1Chicago but at this point it really doesn't matter, or does it. Good luck to you all, you've been of great help!
 
#1Chicago - congrats on completing your Citizenship process. Seems like in your case the ceremony went pretty fast. I think in SF there will be lots more people (and more waiting in line).

I guess many of us can breath a collective sigh of relief regarding that secondary check. But I have no idea who gets delayed and who doesn't.

Good info from all.
 
#1chicago, congratulations.
If you read my experience under "interview and traffic ticket and new rules", you would find that I hit 2nd security check. Do you think this is the same as you mentioned earlier on your TV news? How long addtional time will it take?

Is it normal to mark "no decision could be made" instead of "congratulations"?

Any input will be welcome.
 
#1Chicago

emc,

I am sorry for the ordeal that you are going through, unfortunately it seems that you also are a victim of the new security measure.

The following link will take you to the INS memo about the
IBIS check and its implications:

http://www.getusavisa.com/Immigration News/5-21-2002-1.htm

Unfortunately also, you can not believe even what the INS itself says. The memo is a clear example, as it instructos the field offices not to cancel any scheduled Oath ceremony based solely on its failure to comply with IBIS, this on the other hand falls on INS's deaf ears as they canceled the entire ceremony earlier.

I can not comment on your particular situation as I haven't encounter any problem during the interview other that its lengthy duration ( 35 minutes ) as opposed to around 5 minutes in the case of a friend of mine who was interviewed on the same day but was scdueled for his ceremony one day later, on the other hand I had never encountered any problem with the law not even as simple as a traffic violation.

In regard to traffic violations, and during my interview I was able to clearly overhear most of the conversation taking place in the neigbouring cubicale and here is an exact transcript of that:

INS officer: "Have you ever committed a crime or offense for..."
Applicant : "NO"

INS OFFICER: "Have you ever been arrested.."

Applicant: "Oh, I remembered now, but that was many many years ago, I was arrested for driving without driving lisence.. like
I said that was 8 years ago"
INS officer smiling: "That's okay"!

At the end of the young lady interview she cheered to know that she has passed, that was her third naturalization interview.

From what I read on other disscussion boards, simple traffic violations will not affect your eligibility, on the other hand serious violations like DUI, or problems involving drugs could have an impact depending on how it is punishable by the law of that state. It is important not to accept a plea bargin that may reduce your criminal charges, but on the other hand may create major problem for you with INS.

In your case, I would advise to use your congressman or your senator to inquire on your behalf and therefore to put some pressure on INS. This tactic does work and I am a living proof.
Other than that you can only play the waiting game. INS is the master of this game simply because they can.

I hope to hear good news from you soon!:confused:
 
Hi, all
just got a note from my lawyer - latest on what's going on with the holds/delays on naturalizations. Hope this is helpful.

"National AILA - Update on Adjudications Halt - as of 12/11/02

Some call it a "freeze". Some say "halt". Some refer to a "delay". But it is all the same thing: INS District Offices and Service Centers are not issuing approvals on any adjustment of status applications, and many naturalization and asylum approvals are also being delayed. Indeed, some areas report that people have been pulled from naturalization ceremonies at the last minute. INS Headquarters continues to insist that there is no "adjudications freeze", and indeed cases are still being adjudicated. But where the case is ready for approval, the approvals are not being issued.

What is behind this? An 11/13/02 INS memo, described on InfoNet on November 21, 2002, required that no "benefits" be granted until the INS receives back from the FBI an affirmative response on the G-325A name/date of birth check. Previously, the INS had presumed that if it had not heard back from the FBI within a given period of time that there had been no issue with the check. INS has now indicated that the "benefits" in question are adjustment of status, naturalization and asylum. Ancillary benefits, such as advance parole and work authorization, are not subject to this process.

Because there was no automated mechanism in place for FBI to respond to each and every request, an adjustment to INS' CLAIMS system had to be made. AILA has been advised that that system adjustment is largely completed, so that the checks can be made on an ongoing basis. However, there remains a backlog of pending cases on which INS still needs FBI clearances. INS Headquarters indicates that the FBI has sent it tapes covering about half of those cases, but INS local offices are still indicating that they have not been given the clearance to issue approvals on these cases. "

good luck to all of you (and me) waiting for this mess to clear up
 
Thanks for your details.

Yes, your information is very updated and accurate.
Today (12/12/02), I had an interview in Latham, NY.
I was the second interviewee and everything went well.
The officer was nice and kind.

First, he just apologized that he may not be able to finish my application today, which usually was done on an interview day.

Before starting the interview, he said that he got a notice from his headquarter 10 minutes ago this morning noticing that they need one more check from FBI, which is a new policy.

He confirmed me, as soon as my record pops up on his computer, he will send a letter for an oath ceremony.

I really don't worry about the situation. Just it seems that we need to go though one more step. Hope the FBI computer works faster :)

I'll keep myself posted when I get some news from the INS.

Thanks.

Jennie
 
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Hi,

I was scheduled for the Oath Ceremony this morning at the Dallas office but they went through a list of people and said that they tried to call them to let them know about not to come today. The SYSTEM had put a hold on and they will contact us again and reschedule the Oath. No clear answer from them as usual. Have to wait again till next letter.

12/14/02
 
Oath Ceremony Cancelled

My oath ceremony was scheduled on 12/18/02 and yesterday i.e. 12/16/02 my wife got a call from INS Detroit asking us not to go for the swearing in ceremony as all the clearances were not complete. The lady from INS also mentioned that she had to get thru 200 more individuals and let them know about the cancellation. She said that the INS would intimate us later with a new date after the clearance.

Its disappointing but what else can we do...
 
Just got back from the oath ceremony in S.F. 12/17/02. No problems at all. As far as I could tell, no one was turned back.

Similar experience to that described in nn2002's post. A few hundred in attendance. Started on time at 8am. They only collected the oath ceremony invitation letter and green card as you entered (BTW, don't forget to fill out the back of the invitation letter!) The judge took some time to describe his own ceremony experience. The passport official also explained what was needed to submit the passport application if desired. The actual process of handing out the nat certificate was fairly quick. The entire ceremony finished at 9:30 am. Faster than I had thought.

Once the ceremony ended, many people submitted their passport applications at the booth outside. As there was no line to stand in, it almost seemed like a stampede. Hint: try to be the first to get there, or you'll wait :(

Sorry to hear about the continuing reports of people getting turned back. It seems like it depends on each case, or the location of the Service Center. I'm just glad to have finished the process. Good luck to all!
 
congratulations mrbluetooth.
could you tell us what materials needed for passport? i.e. how many passport photos, etc?
 
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