Missing Naturalization Certificate at Oath Ceremony

R

rare_case

Registered Users (C)
Just checking if anyone had similar experience. I was at the Philadelphia Oath Ceremony (with 1200 other people) on 4th April to receive my naturalization certificate. At the end of the ceremony (after submission of green card and taking the oath), when they started distributing the certificate, they said that my certificate was not there and I needed to talk to customer service at the oath ceremony. The person at the customer service gave me an appointment to meet them at Callowhill Office on the 6th of April. He did keep my green card (though in hind sight, I should have insisted on holding on to the green card :D ).
I did see 5 or 6 others in the same boat. I thought that the problem will be resolved on the 6th.
But on 5th of April, I got a voice message on my home phone saying that they needed more time and so needed to re-schedule my appointment. I kept calling them and never heard anything back after that.
I took an info-pass on Friday, but the information officer did not have any answers.
I have already booked for travel abroad in the next 2 months, but without the green card or naturalization certificate, I cannot travel.
I was wondering if anyone else went through this kind of situation and what can be done to resolve this.
 
Thats a little unusual. Normally if they have facilities to reprint them on the spot if something is wrong. Hope things sort themselves out for you.
 
This is indeed a rare case, at least for the forum. I don't have any previous experience. I would suggest to go to your USCIS local office with your itinerary or plane tickets and explain them your issue, that you have already taken the oath and need proof of citizenship/passport to travel out of the country. Hopefully this will be solved soon for you.

My 2 cents.
 
I was in afternoon ceremony on 4/4 in Philly too. When was your interview and when did you get you oath letter? Did they explain what may have happended?
 
My interview was on 7th February 2007. I got my oath letter around 19th March.
They did not give any explanation as to what happened.
The problem with Infopass is that the information officers dont have any info. and we are just not allowed to talk to the immigration officers directly.
I need to get to somebody who knows what is happening. I guess there is no one assigned to handle these situations.
I am looking into getting a lawyer involved.
Any ideas on how to get to the immigration officers directly.
 
Well you have a few things working for you. You passed your background check, interview, got an oath letter and took the oath. I think that makes you a USC and I hope they'll make your proof available to you soon. I'm not sure how you'd get access to the I/O but you should have a name and that is a start.
 
Get your congressman and/or senator involved. You are an American citizen now - you need to be treated like one. They can't take your green card away and not give you a natz cert. Without either one, you can't travel, you can't start a new job, etc.

This is such bull****. Don't put up with it.

If it were me, I'd get an infopass and basically make plans to be at the USCIS office the rest of the day. If the officer at the counter couldn't solve the problem, I'd do my damndest to politely escalate it, and if that didn't work, I'd continue to escalate it.

This is beyond unacceptable!!!!
 
Amen

Flydog said:
Get your congressman and/or senator involved. You are an American citizen now - you need to be treated like one. They can't take your green card away and not give you a natz cert. Without either one, you can't travel, you can't start a new job, etc.

This is such bull****. Don't put up with it.

If it were me, I'd get an infopass and basically make plans to be at the USCIS office the rest of the day. If the officer at the counter couldn't solve the problem, I'd do my damndest to politely escalate it, and if that didn't work, I'd continue to escalate it.

This is beyond unacceptable!!!!
Click to expand...

I agree! This is unbelievable! They basically leave you like a Nomad -without a motherland - no GC, no passport, no natz. cert! Wow. I too would basically camp out at the nearest USCIS office and make them wish they didn't have to see me again.

Just imagine if rare_case suddenly had to leave the country or get a new job or whatever? I wonder if the USCIS would come to his rescue :cool:
 
When you ask for INFOPASS, one of the options is to speak to an Immigration Officer as opposed to check the status of your case. Did you try to take INFOPASS using that option?
 
I was finally able to talk to someone with authority in the Philly Office. She said that they are trying to find my file (it is somewhere in the philly office). They are in the process of closing out all the records from April 4th ceremony. I am not sure why they have the big ceremonies (2500 people naturalized) if they cant handle the records.
She will let us know by May 1st what is going on after they close the other files. I will wait till then and figure out the next steps based on her response.
 
Whatever you do, DO NOT travel out of the country without a PASSPORT. You said "but without the green card or naturalization certificate, I cannot travel." and worried me, you can NOT travel with a Naturalization Certificate.
 
Finally got the certificate on 4th May (exactly one month after the ceremony)!!!!
I applied for my passport yesterday and should get it in 2 weeks. I will then apply for the visa.
Thanks everyone for your support and good luck!!!
 
Congratulationjs ...... so glad it worked out for you ... your story was rather scary !!!!!!!
 
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