Are kids allowed during the interview in Chicago office?

[mma5566]

My Wife and I am scheduled for the interview in Chicago office. We both have intrview at the same time. Would it be a good idea if we take out 3 years old son with us? Any suggestions/experience?

========================================

01/21/07 Sent N400 by USPS Priority
02/11/07 FP Rec
02/28/07 FP Completed
03/15/07 IL Recd
04/25/07 Interview Date

 

[Superstring]

My Wife and I am scheduled for the interview in Chicago office. We both have intrview at the same time. Would it be a good idea if we take out 3 years old son with us? Any suggestions/experience?

========================================

01/21/07 Sent N400 by USPS Priority
02/11/07 FP Rec
02/28/07 FP Completed
03/15/07 IL Recd
04/25/07 Interview Date

I do not have Chicago office experience....but....can tell you this....

1) You can bring your kids to USCIS. They will ask that someone attend them while you are doing your interview. Generally, they will do their best to accomodate you. Probably, they will first interview you and then your wife.

2) HOWEVER, I firmly belive that it is not a good idea for you to bring your (small) kid to USCIS to accompany you for an interview. Why bring them? This is not an everyday activity, this once in a lifetime interview. This is not a hair-cutting apointment, grocery shopping or oil change service. You do not want ANY disruptions for you and your wife in a middle of an important interview process, plus it is making other applicants and people uncomfortable (particularly) if you can not control your kid.

Do yourself a favor....ask someone to watch your kid, put them in care etc.....Treat your interview as a "normal" work day.

3) During the Oath Ceremony (same day or later), PLEASE PLEASE do not bring your (small) kid with you, too. A 3 yr old kid does not understand importance of the event, and will spoil such a sacred ceremony for you and your future fellow Americans. USCIS people are generally nice and would do all the best to make this work, but do not push limits and destroy this pleasant experience for your and rest of the people.

My 2c........

Good luck!

P.S.: I'm not a lawyer or an immigration expert. I'm just an ordinary guy. You are soley responsible for your actions.

 

[boatbod]

3) During the Oath Ceremony (same day or later), PLEASE PLEASE do not bring your (small) kid with you, too. A 3 yr old kid does not understand importance of the event, and will spoil such a sacred ceremony for you and your future fellow Americans. USCIS people are generally nice and would do all the best to make this work, but do not push limits and destroy this pleasant experience for your and rest of the people.

Bah humbug. You got to call this one yourself, as only you know what your kid is like. A typical procedural ceremony held at a DO lasts maybe an hour total, with the bulk of the time going to registration and then collecting certificates afterwards. The "ceremony" part lasts maybe 15-20 minutes; brief introductory speech, stand to recite the oath, short video, recite pledge of allegiance. If you can keep your child occupied/quiet for that long, I don't see why they shouldn't be there.

My wife and I took our 1 month old son to her ceremony, which turned out to be unusual in that it took place outside at an "international festival". Unfortunately the event lasted close to 3 hours, which was a little challenging in 95 degree summertime temps, but somehow we all survived with our sanity intact. Not much else we could have done for such an infant who relied on regular breast-feeding, and wasn't yet old enough to substitute a bottle.

 

[CTZEN2B]

"why bring them?" Ummm...Maybe because they're your kids? If you can get your children to behave, I don't see why not.

 

[Superstring]

"why bring them?" Ummm...Maybe because they're your kids? If you can get your children to behave, I don't see why not.

Ummmm......Will companies allow you to bring your child everyday to work? (very few will...can not think of any frankly at the moment.....and mainly for non-client facing jobs....sort of administrative or back-office work).

Why not? Sure....if you can get them to behave .....but that is RARE and UNUSUAL. At least in America.....Out of all kids that were in my ceremony (20+), probably only couple of them "behaved" (and they were older kids - 15/16 Yrs).

Discplining your kid in the middle of naturalization ceremony is not a way to go....or having your kid run around when your fellow Americans are raising their right hand and giving an oath......or having a kid cry or scream while Judge is reading lines.......

Also, how a child let's say below 3Yrs or 5Yrs can understand the importance of the event? And how he/she would be able to remember anything? To begin with....he/she would be utterly bored.

Do not get me wrong....I like kids and frankly do not mind them playing around......but I think that the respect and sanctity of the oath ceremony outweigth any "convinience" justification in bringing your (small) kids, who in all respect most probably can not be effectivelly managed or controled. The Oath Ceremony is not your everydays grocery shopping...I'm sorry....

Boatboad.....I agree....Open door ceremonies are something different....I'm primarily talking about closed in-door events in a relativelly smaller spaces.

My 2c..

 

[boatbod]

USCIS tries to make these events as "family & friends" friendly as they can, given the solemnity of the occasion. For that reason I think the comparison to taking kids to work is probably a little off, but similarly I also see how a screaming 3yr-old with a temper tantrum wouldn't exactly enhance the experience for anyone.

Tough call, but only the parents can make the decision.

 

[Flydog]

Actually, if your kid can last through a long-ish ceremony (for example if you regularly take them to religious services), they should last through this. I think it's nice to have children, but, that's just me.

But, if your kids can't stand still, cry or need to run around every 15 minutes, etc, well, there are lot's of child care options.

You should definitely bring them if they are getting their US citizenship as a result of the oath that one or both of their parents takes (in my opinion).

Family pictures with the natz cert and the flag are nice.

 

[aabbcc11]

I don't know why this thread jumped from kids @ interview to kids @ oath. In the SJ interview office there is a small play area with toys for kids so obviously they are mindful of the parenting concerns of their clients. Check out the Chicago thread or try posting this question there.
My cousin living in the East coast took his kids and the couple took turns watching the kids while the other got interviewed.
There were a lot of kids at our oath ceremony y'day and some even cried and made noise.