I need advice regarding Naturalization
- Thread starter Marusia_GC
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cafeconleche
Registered Users (C)
Hehe.
Marusia_GC
Registered Users (C)
BigJoe, I guess you judge by your own experience? Anyway, thanks for being SO SO KIND to me!
BigJoe, I guess you judge by your own experience? Anyway, thanks for being SO SO KIND to me!
Yes, the excruciating experience of following this thread!
Congratulations
Congratulations ... and thanks for posting all the in-depth details about your case ... my case is with the St. Louis DO as well and your postings were very helpful to me in determining the timeline I can expect ... my oath is scheduled for Aug 31st.
Congratulations ... and thanks for posting all the in-depth details about your case ... my case is with the St. Louis DO as well and your postings were very helpful to me in determining the timeline I can expect ... my oath is scheduled for Aug 31st.
Marusia_GC
Registered Users (C)
Avmstl, thanks a lot for congratulations! Good luck with your oath ceremony! Will it also be in Thomas Eagleton Court House? It is a nice place. Very close to it you may find an open space parking lot, I paid $8 for the full day, though we spent about 4 hours total. There is also a multi-storey parking garage near by. The place is very close to the Busch Stadium and to USCIS building.
Marusia_GC
Registered Users (C)
Some questions about naturalization certificate
Hello, friends! I am back from travel to the Symposium, and on Monday I plan to go to the local Court House to the Passport Department to apply for US passport (our town's post office is not on a list of post offices which are authorized to deal with passport applications). I will give away my Naturalization Certificate and will get it back together with passport in a few weeks. However, would I be able to apply for a new Driver's License and update my SSN card without the original of the Naturalization Certificate? Would copies be enough for SSA and DMV? Also, I need to let HR at the University know that my status has changed. The same question about Nat. Cert. - would they need the original or a copy is Ok? Should the copies be notarized?
Thanks,
Marusia
Hello, friends! I am back from travel to the Symposium, and on Monday I plan to go to the local Court House to the Passport Department to apply for US passport (our town's post office is not on a list of post offices which are authorized to deal with passport applications). I will give away my Naturalization Certificate and will get it back together with passport in a few weeks. However, would I be able to apply for a new Driver's License and update my SSN card without the original of the Naturalization Certificate? Would copies be enough for SSA and DMV? Also, I need to let HR at the University know that my status has changed. The same question about Nat. Cert. - would they need the original or a copy is Ok? Should the copies be notarized?
Thanks,
Marusia
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No, copies will not be sufficient. You should go to the DMV and SSA either before you apply for a passport or after you get the passport and the naturalization certificate back.
For the purposes of updating your I-9 form with the HR to reflect your new status as a U.S. citizen, a naturalization certificate (whether it is an original or a copy) is not an acceptable document. They need to see a U.S. passport or a U.S. passport card. So once you receive a U.S. passport, you can go to the HR office at your place of employment and fill out a new I-9 form. Again, you must bring the original passport, not a copy.
madgu-gc2005
Registered Users (C)
Answer to your Question #1. You need original NC to update SSN card. If you Drivers license is not expired then there is no use of going to DMV. I went to DMV after my oath on the same day. The DMV staff said they cannot do anything in their system since my DL is good through for another 3 years. You won't be given a new DL because you are naturalized now.
Answer to your Question #2: You need to show your original NC when you go to your HR. They will make a copy of the same. You will have to fill out new I-9 form.
Hope this helps....
Marusia_GC
Registered Users (C)
Thanks to everyone who responded. About DL - we moved on 01/03/11 in the same town and changed address. We have separate white cards with address, but DL has our old address. Though my DL expires in 2014, I thought about changing it. My son's DL has something like "under 18 driver". He looks forward to change it. As for SSA and HR, we can do it after we get passports and original Nat. Cert. back. Thanks again for explanations!
Isn't it hilarious, when USCIS does not recognize the primary evidence of citizenship issued by ... USCIS.
madgu-gc2005
Registered Users (C)
Isn't it hilarious, when USCIS does not recognize the primary evidence of citizenship issued by ... USCIS.
Naturalization certificate works to prove that you are a citizen. My HR office wanted either NC or passport to update their system.
The discussion was in the context of I-9. For I-9, the certificate is not a legible document.
Exactly. After naturalization it is a very good idea (and in fact, in my understanding, a requirement, although USCIS does not inform anyone about this at the oath ceremonies) to update the I-9 with one's employer to reflect one's new status as a U.S. citizen.
Employers periodically get audited by ICE for I-9 compliance, and if there are any discrepancies discovered (even between the status of an employee being a U.S. citizen vs an LPR), this is a significant headache for both the employer and the employee. Also, more and more employees are mandated by state/federal law - or choose to do so voluntarily - to use the E-Verify system, and again, after an employee naturalizes and his/her GC becomes invalid, E-Verify will eventually produce a "no match" result.
So better be proactive and update the I-9 after naturalization.
For I-9 purposes the naturalization certificate used to be an acceptable document but several years ago the USCIS removed it from the list of acceptable documents. See the last page of I-9 http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-9.pdf
Some HR offices may also have their own ad-hoc additional record-keeping procedures that vary from employer to employer in terms of updating the employee's personal info such as U.S. citizenship status. In some cases a naturalization certificate may be acceptable for those purposes - but I-9 is more important and a U.S. passport definitely always works.
Marusia_GC
Registered Users (C)
So I should wait till getting the US passport and only then inform my HR for the update?
Yes, that's what I would do.
Another option is to update I-9 to the U.S. citizen status by providing one document from "List B" (e.g. a driver's license) and one document from "List C" (e.g. a social security card, assuming that there are no employment eligibility restrictions printed on the card). Technically, this is acceptable, but I think it is better if they have a copy of a "List A" document, namely a U.S. passport, on file.
cafeconleche
Registered Users (C)
I don't see a reason to wait for a list A document when you have a DL/State ID and SSC. Natural-born citizens do it every day. Even I, as an LPR, did only that. I do not volunteer any extra documentation than necessary.