Hey, how come this time you are super fast! Let me know which office when you get the letter.
New York City - N-400 Timeline - Naturalization Experiences
- Thread starter JohnnyCash
- Start date
Hey, how come this time you are super fast! Let me know which office when you get the letter.
New York - Timeline - Interview experience
I went for interview at Holtsville this morning; had to wait quite a long. Finally called after one hour behind schedule but the officer was very nice. He felt sorry for this delay. He said the immediately preceding candidate had a difficult time with him. Previous candidate was unable to answer any question from the application and kept saying he does not remember; he was asked to go and review his application which he had not brought with him saying that is in his car. According to the officer he had to wait for this guy who took lot of his time and he was upset and seemd to be in bad mood. I had to bolster him to come back to normal and he was very nice. He was very professional and felt very happy on my quick answers to all his questions. He was an old man and took very long in each question and he took almost 40 minutes in a job which could have been accomplished in not more than 10-15 minutes. Ultimately he was very pleased to confirm approval of my applications. Then I requested his help if he can get me the oath letter today. He agreed to help and finally asked me to wait. Finally I got the Oath letter. Oath is scheduled for April 4 at Central Islip Court complex.
Wish you all good luck
NRI 107
I went for interview at Holtsville this morning; had to wait quite a long. Finally called after one hour behind schedule but the officer was very nice. He felt sorry for this delay. He said the immediately preceding candidate had a difficult time with him. Previous candidate was unable to answer any question from the application and kept saying he does not remember; he was asked to go and review his application which he had not brought with him saying that is in his car. According to the officer he had to wait for this guy who took lot of his time and he was upset and seemd to be in bad mood. I had to bolster him to come back to normal and he was very nice. He was very professional and felt very happy on my quick answers to all his questions. He was an old man and took very long in each question and he took almost 40 minutes in a job which could have been accomplished in not more than 10-15 minutes. Ultimately he was very pleased to confirm approval of my applications. Then I requested his help if he can get me the oath letter today. He agreed to help and finally asked me to wait. Finally I got the Oath letter. Oath is scheduled for April 4 at Central Islip Court complex.
Wish you all good luck
NRI 107
Process of getting US Passport after Oath
After passing the Interview yesterday, I have been scheduled for Oath ceremony on April 4, 2012 at Central Islip, Long Island, NY. Can u please help in posting the total process of obtaining US Passport at the earliest.
Thanks for your help
NRI 107
After passing the Interview yesterday, I have been scheduled for Oath ceremony on April 4, 2012 at Central Islip, Long Island, NY. Can u please help in posting the total process of obtaining US Passport at the earliest.
Thanks for your help
NRI 107
Get passport form from US Dept of State website. Fill it out and print it. Get one passport photo. Get your Naturalization Certificate. Take a blank check or two. Go to the post office. Sign application in front of post office person. Pay them. Wait for docs and your passport to arrive at your home via the post.
I got the interview Letter, April 23 2012. NYC is moving a long .
N-400 (5 YEARS)
12/27/2011 - MAILED TO TX
12/28/2011- Received
1/03/2012- Check cashed
1/04/2012- I-797C Notice of Action Received
1/06/2012 FP Notification Notice Date
1/17/2012 FP DONE WALK-IN
2/13/2012- Yellow Letter- State I.D
3/14/2012- Online status changed to Interview and Testing
3/23/2012- IL Received
4/23/2012- Interview Date
N-400 (5 YEARS)
12/27/2011 - MAILED TO TX
12/28/2011- Received
1/03/2012- Check cashed
1/04/2012- I-797C Notice of Action Received
1/06/2012 FP Notification Notice Date
1/17/2012 FP DONE WALK-IN
2/13/2012- Yellow Letter- State I.D
3/14/2012- Online status changed to Interview and Testing
3/23/2012- IL Received
4/23/2012- Interview Date
Hi tipotodo, your case is moving quickly! Where do you live? And where is your interview gonna be?
Hi I live in Manhattan and my interview is at Jacob K. Javits Federal Office Building
Thank you for your reply! I hope all the nyc application will be processed faster!! Cross my fingers! =)
Awesome... Congrats. Can you highlight any documentation that was asked by the officer? Anything else we should be aware of about the interview process? Can we bring spouses with us...
Thanks
N-400 Marriage based NYC
Hi everyone, this is my first post. I filed N-400 on 11/21/11 based on the 3 year rule. Interview was scheduled on 3/19/12 at NYC (Federal Plaza). I was a little nervous because everybody was telling me that the NYC office is really hard on marriage based citizenships. Interview was scheduled at 7:00am, there were like 100-150 people on the room (7th floor). I was called in at 8.10am. The first thing the officer asked me (even before saying good morning) was "did you bring your wife and a lot of evidence with you?" I said yes she is here, would you like me to call her? He made sure she was there and told me all he needed was her driver's license. Then he finally took me to his private office and after having me sworn he asked me to have a seat and start reviewing the application meticulously, asked me for my passports, green card and drivers license. My complete A-file was in his desktop so he reviewed everything and told me "did you have to come for a second interview when you applied for your green card?" I said yes, i had a stokes interview at the 6th floor almost 4 years ago. Then he went to the civics test: what is the rule of law, why 13 stripes on the flag, what is the ocean on the west coast, how old you have to be to vote in a federal election, what is the name of the national anthem, and who is the speaker of the house. For the english test he made me read "what do we pay to the government" and made me write "we pay taxes". After i passed the tests he went to the evidence, i have attached the past 3 years of taxes along with the application so i gave him the just filed 2011 with official IRS transcripts (he was thankfully and glad i brought these), then i gave him proof of joint car insurance, utility bills, joint credit card statements, and he said that he was very satisfied and doesnt see anything shady in my app and stamped a big red APPROVED stamp on the N-400. He gave me the N-652 saying that i pass the tests and that a decision will be mailed to me, wrote "non waiting" at the bottom of the form and told me that i should receive an oath letter soon and not to worry. Yesterday my status online changed to "on March 27! We scheduled you for an oath ceremony and sent a notice providing the date, time, and location" supper happy yayy. Oath ceremony scheduled on 04/13/12 at Federal Plaza.
Here is my N-400 timeline:
Filed 11/21/11
Fp. 12/20/11 (Varick st. Nyc)
IL 2/20/12
Interview 3/19/12. (NYC Fed. Plaza)
OL sent. 3/27/12
Oath. 4/13/12
Hi everyone, this is my first post. I filed N-400 on 11/21/11 based on the 3 year rule. Interview was scheduled on 3/19/12 at NYC (Federal Plaza). I was a little nervous because everybody was telling me that the NYC office is really hard on marriage based citizenships. Interview was scheduled at 7:00am, there were like 100-150 people on the room (7th floor). I was called in at 8.10am. The first thing the officer asked me (even before saying good morning) was "did you bring your wife and a lot of evidence with you?" I said yes she is here, would you like me to call her? He made sure she was there and told me all he needed was her driver's license. Then he finally took me to his private office and after having me sworn he asked me to have a seat and start reviewing the application meticulously, asked me for my passports, green card and drivers license. My complete A-file was in his desktop so he reviewed everything and told me "did you have to come for a second interview when you applied for your green card?" I said yes, i had a stokes interview at the 6th floor almost 4 years ago. Then he went to the civics test: what is the rule of law, why 13 stripes on the flag, what is the ocean on the west coast, how old you have to be to vote in a federal election, what is the name of the national anthem, and who is the speaker of the house. For the english test he made me read "what do we pay to the government" and made me write "we pay taxes". After i passed the tests he went to the evidence, i have attached the past 3 years of taxes along with the application so i gave him the just filed 2011 with official IRS transcripts (he was thankfully and glad i brought these), then i gave him proof of joint car insurance, utility bills, joint credit card statements, and he said that he was very satisfied and doesnt see anything shady in my app and stamped a big red APPROVED stamp on the N-400. He gave me the N-652 saying that i pass the tests and that a decision will be mailed to me, wrote "non waiting" at the bottom of the form and told me that i should receive an oath letter soon and not to worry. Yesterday my status online changed to "on March 27! We scheduled you for an oath ceremony and sent a notice providing the date, time, and location" supper happy yayy. Oath ceremony scheduled on 04/13/12 at Federal Plaza.
Here is my N-400 timeline:
Filed 11/21/11
Fp. 12/20/11 (Varick st. Nyc)
IL 2/20/12
Interview 3/19/12. (NYC Fed. Plaza)
OL sent. 3/27/12
Oath. 4/13/12
Last edited by a moderator:
New York - Interview experience at Holtsville, LI
My wife accompanied me and she waited in the waiting hall. Nobody at the security even asked or objected.
Nothing special. Since I was well prepared with all the supporting documents, but never asked. Only thing asked was last five year Tax Returns which I had filed with the application itself and he could find them. Six civics questions - all right. He went through each column on the application and kept on asking questions. Suggest you must thoroughly go through your application, all columns and answers. My Interviewing Officer was in fact in a very bad mood and upset with the immediately preceding candidate and I had to bolster him with some good sermons and advised him to forget and move forward positively. Finally I could bring him in a cheerful mood and all that happened when I could answer very quickly and correctly and he felt happy. He was an old man moving very slowly on each question, point and asking replies on each one of them.
When finished, I made him a request to get me the oath letter the same day. He said he cannot commit but let him try and finally told me that I shall have to wait at least for one hour; I said it is fine. I waited and got the oath letter. All ended very well and went through smoothly.
You will be fine. Good luck.
NRI 107
My wife accompanied me and she waited in the waiting hall. Nobody at the security even asked or objected.
Nothing special. Since I was well prepared with all the supporting documents, but never asked. Only thing asked was last five year Tax Returns which I had filed with the application itself and he could find them. Six civics questions - all right. He went through each column on the application and kept on asking questions. Suggest you must thoroughly go through your application, all columns and answers. My Interviewing Officer was in fact in a very bad mood and upset with the immediately preceding candidate and I had to bolster him with some good sermons and advised him to forget and move forward positively. Finally I could bring him in a cheerful mood and all that happened when I could answer very quickly and correctly and he felt happy. He was an old man moving very slowly on each question, point and asking replies on each one of them.
When finished, I made him a request to get me the oath letter the same day. He said he cannot commit but let him try and finally told me that I shall have to wait at least for one hour; I said it is fine. I waited and got the oath letter. All ended very well and went through smoothly.
You will be fine. Good luck.
NRI 107
Cell phones
After 9 years of permanent residency (employment based), I have applied my N-400 couple of weeks ago. I got my biometrics scheduled at Varick St, and I understand that my interview and oath would be at Federal Building. Couple of questions about cell phones:
1) Are cell phones (the ones with cameras) allowed in Varick St USCIS office?
2) Are they allowed in USCIS office in Federal Building (during interview/oath)?
3) If they are not allowed, did anyone (who has their biometrics, interview, or oath done) notice any enterprising person providing cell phone deposit services for a fee outside these locations? (when I googled for information, I found in some forum that outside Oakland Federal building someone was providing such a service for $5)
Appreciate any responses.
After 9 years of permanent residency (employment based), I have applied my N-400 couple of weeks ago. I got my biometrics scheduled at Varick St, and I understand that my interview and oath would be at Federal Building. Couple of questions about cell phones:
1) Are cell phones (the ones with cameras) allowed in Varick St USCIS office?
2) Are they allowed in USCIS office in Federal Building (during interview/oath)?
3) If they are not allowed, did anyone (who has their biometrics, interview, or oath done) notice any enterprising person providing cell phone deposit services for a fee outside these locations? (when I googled for information, I found in some forum that outside Oakland Federal building someone was providing such a service for $5)
Appreciate any responses.
You can bring your phone to both locations. At Federal Plaza, however, the guard posted at the entrance to the interview area will make you turn the phone off and watch you do it.
Hi, everyone. Here is my today's interview experiences. My interview was scheduled at 8:10am. I was about 35 mins earlier before my interview time. It was early but there were still a lot of people waiting for their interview in the naturaliztion waiting room. I waited for about 45 mins to get called by my IO. He's nice guy with not too much talk and mostly focus on his work. I followed him to enter his office and he got me sweared. He's very professional and doing thing pretty fast. He checked my green card and passports. Then he asked all the questions in the N-400 form. He asked me how do I go to work? I told him sometimes by train and sometimes I drive. When we went on good moral character questions, I told him I got 3 citations(tickets) which I forgot to mention on the N-400 form. It seemed he didn't much care about it, not even asked me to give him the dispostition papers. So I asked him do you need the dispostition papers. He said yes and then looked my dispostion papers about the details of my tickets for correcting my form. He's done very quickly on it. He also printed out my selective service paper despite I had it with me during the time. Then we move on the english and civics test, I easily passed. He told me I passed the test and gave me the recommandation for approval, but because of the three tickets he needs my case to get supervisor's review. He offered me to 2 choices: (1)To wait for 2-3 hours to get my oath letter today or (2)Go home and wait for the oath letter to be sending in the mail. I chosed first chioce. He told me not to leave and led me to the oath letter waiting room. The total interview time lasted less than 15 mins. I waited for almost 3 hours to get my interview letter. It's pretty good interview experience! 
And thanks to the folks here because you've been all helpfull!!
MY DO: NYC 26 Federal Plaza
Time line:
10/17/2011 N-400 mailed
10/19/2011 Priority Date
11/15/2011 FD Done by walk-in on 11/10/2011
11/28/2011 Case status changed to in line for interview
12/15/2011 Yellow letter received
03/01/2012 Received interview letter
04/02/2012 Interview Date(Approved)
05/01/2012 Oath Done
And thanks to the folks here because you've been all helpfull!!MY DO: NYC 26 Federal Plaza
Time line:
10/17/2011 N-400 mailed
10/19/2011 Priority Date
11/15/2011 FD Done by walk-in on 11/10/2011
11/28/2011 Case status changed to in line for interview
12/15/2011 Yellow letter received
03/01/2012 Received interview letter
04/02/2012 Interview Date(Approved)
05/01/2012 Oath Done
Last edited by a moderator:
rick92
Volunteer Moderator
Varick, forget about it. It is too small. / Fed Bldg you might have a chance. Listen. as long as you don't do it openly, start yelling like if you were in the market, or bother anyone, they will not look at you. Would be better if you send sms/text messages instead of making phone calls. If they see you, they will eye ball you and they will tell you to shut it down. But guess what, you can step out of the waiting room and make your phone call in the hall at the Fed Bldg. Good luck and dont over do it. Remember to be courteous.
Ladyoflovers
Registered Users (C)
Oath letter
My interview is Apr 4th at Federal Plaza.
What's the point of receiving the oath letter on the same day as interview? Do they expedite the oath date if you wait for it for couple of hours? Otherwise, how long would it take for us to receive the letter?
My interview is Apr 4th at Federal Plaza.
What's the point of receiving the oath letter on the same day as interview? Do they expedite the oath date if you wait for it for couple of hours? Otherwise, how long would it take for us to receive the letter?
All, wanted to share my interview experience today at USCIS - Holtsville.... arrived at 12:30 PM for 13:05 PM inteview, very light crowd, was promptly called in at 13:10PM. The officer was very cordial and while walking to his office, first thing he suggested was that he wanted to change the eligibility status to 5 yrs since GC vs. the 3 yr route through spouse, which meant avoiding all the unnecessary paperwork req'd to verify marital relationship, etc. So that seemed like a good start to the interview process. Next, we came to his office, he swore me to tell the truth and then I sat down. He opened my folder, which seemed like a 500 page bundle (containing my entire immigration history, I suppose...), and then asked me for my green card and my passport. We did the three required tests, all cleared w/o issues, he pointed out that I did well and that questions were set random. He seemed very open and willing to strike a non-formal conversation at any point. Then started to verify all the questions on the N400 form, asked me if I had travelled anywhere since filing the application. Noticed that last I had travelled was to Africa, asked me about that visit and then spent about 3-4 mins talking about his past vacation experiences.. At this point I was getting anxious to just get the process completed .
Then continuing through the paperwork, he changed my eligibility status to 5 yr rule, everything was going smooth, couple of more general verification, and then came to page 10 (moral character) where the drama began...he asked me any citation and I indicated I had received a jumping the red signal traffic violation (red light camera notice) in the mail for which i had paid via cc (~$60). He stopped, and then related to it saying yes my wife has taken care of such instances in the past but how does it work? He questioned further, what happens if you don't pay or do you need to go to the court, etc... he was not sure anymore, asked me to wait as he went to verify the notice with a colleague. After about 5 mins, returned and said I think I need my supervisor to weigh in on this one as it seems to be a citation but this should not derail my application. And then he edited ques #15 to #17 as "Yes". He again commented that offense here is a loose term so I should not be concerned and made my put my initials on the edits. Basically, this violation now becomes a citation and I did not want to argue and upset him, so just accepted his concern. We cont'd on, and he repeated that he will recommend a "grant" on my application but will need his supervisor to weigh in on the citation. He made me sign the last page of N-400 and then I saw him circle "grant" in another sheet along with the date stamp. He took the citation and pinned with the app and said that we were done. He told me that the oath letter should arrive in a few days and gave me the directions to the federal court house in Central Islip.
All in all, a very bitter sweet experience, though I strongly believe that the officer was doing everything right and wanted to do the right thing but at the same time until you as an applicant know that you don't have a confirmed "Approved" status, you don't have the peace of mind. I also suggested should I could stay longer if needed but he was quick to note that I should go and wait for the decision in the mail... Overall, the entire process from start to finish lasted about 20 mins and the officer was very professional and courteous. I was not asked any papers or documents as he felt it was a straight forward application.
At about 4PM EST, got a status update on my case - "Post Decision Activity - Your case is under review with a supervisor". I only hope that this gets resolved and is a non-issue.
Good Luck for the rest of you...
. Then continuing through the paperwork, he changed my eligibility status to 5 yr rule, everything was going smooth, couple of more general verification, and then came to page 10 (moral character) where the drama began...he asked me any citation and I indicated I had received a jumping the red signal traffic violation (red light camera notice) in the mail for which i had paid via cc (~$60). He stopped, and then related to it saying yes my wife has taken care of such instances in the past but how does it work? He questioned further, what happens if you don't pay or do you need to go to the court, etc... he was not sure anymore, asked me to wait as he went to verify the notice with a colleague. After about 5 mins, returned and said I think I need my supervisor to weigh in on this one as it seems to be a citation but this should not derail my application. And then he edited ques #15 to #17 as "Yes". He again commented that offense here is a loose term so I should not be concerned and made my put my initials on the edits. Basically, this violation now becomes a citation and I did not want to argue and upset him, so just accepted his concern. We cont'd on, and he repeated that he will recommend a "grant" on my application but will need his supervisor to weigh in on the citation. He made me sign the last page of N-400 and then I saw him circle "grant" in another sheet along with the date stamp. He took the citation and pinned with the app and said that we were done. He told me that the oath letter should arrive in a few days and gave me the directions to the federal court house in Central Islip.
All in all, a very bitter sweet experience, though I strongly believe that the officer was doing everything right and wanted to do the right thing but at the same time until you as an applicant know that you don't have a confirmed "Approved" status, you don't have the peace of mind. I also suggested should I could stay longer if needed but he was quick to note that I should go and wait for the decision in the mail... Overall, the entire process from start to finish lasted about 20 mins and the officer was very professional and courteous. I was not asked any papers or documents as he felt it was a straight forward application.
At about 4PM EST, got a status update on my case - "Post Decision Activity - Your case is under review with a supervisor". I only hope that this gets resolved and is a non-issue.
Good Luck for the rest of you...
All, wanted to share my interview experience today at USCIS - Holtsville.... arrived at 12:30 PM for 13:05 PM inteview, very light crowd, was promptly called in at 13:10PM. The officer was very cordial and while walking to his office, first thing he suggested was that he wanted to change the eligibility status to 5 yrs since GC vs. the 3 yr route through spouse, which meant avoiding all the unnecessary paperwork req'd to verify marital relationship, etc. So that seemed like a good start to the interview process. Next, we came to his office, he swore me to tell the truth and then I sat down. He opened my folder, which seemed like a 500 page bundle (containing my entire immigration history, I suppose...), and then asked me for my green card and my passport. We did the three required tests, all cleared w/o issues, he pointed out that I did well and that questions were set random. He seemed very open and willing to strike a non-formal conversation at any point. Then started to verify all the questions on the N400 form, asked me if I had travelled anywhere since filing the application. Noticed that last I had travelled was to Africa, asked me about that visit and then spent about 3-4 mins talking about his past vacation experiences.. At this point I was getting anxious to just get the process completed
Then continuing through the paperwork, he changed my eligibility status to 5 yr rule, everything was going smooth, couple of more general verification, and then came to page 10 (moral character) where the drama began...he asked me any citation and I indicated I had received a jumping the red signal traffic violation (red light camera notice) in the mail for which i had paid via cc (~$60). He stopped, and then related to it saying yes my wife has taken care of such instances in the past but how does it work? He questioned further, what happens if you don't pay or do you need to go to the court, etc... he was not sure anymore, asked me to wait as he went to verify the notice with a colleague. After about 5 mins, returned and said I think I need my supervisor to weigh in on this one as it seems to be a citation but this should not derail my application. And then he edited ques #15 to #17 as "Yes". He again commented that offense here is a loose term so I should not be concerned and made my put my initials on the edits. Basically, this violation now becomes a citation and I did not want to argue and upset him, so just accepted his concern. We cont'd on, and he repeated that he will recommend a "grant" on my application but will need his supervisor to weigh in on the citation. He made me sign the last page of N-400 and then I saw him circle "grant" in another sheet along with the date stamp. He took the citation and pinned with the app and said that we were done. He told me that the oath letter should arrive in a few days and gave me the directions to the federal court house in Central Islip.
All in all, a very bitter sweet experience, though I strongly believe that the officer was doing everything right and wanted to do the right thing but at the same time until you as an applicant know that you don't have a confirmed "Approved" status, you don't have the peace of mind. I also suggested should I could stay longer if needed but he was quick to note that I should go and wait for the decision in the mail... Overall, the entire process from start to finish lasted about 20 mins and the officer was very professional and courteous. I was not asked any papers or documents as he felt it was a straight forward application.
At about 4PM EST, got a status update on my case - "Post Decision Activity - Your case is under review with a supervisor". I only hope that this gets resolved and is a non-issue.
Good Luck for the rest of you...
After a full week, today my case status was updated online indicating case review with supervisor is complete. A notice will be mailed once a final decision has been made... hopefully its the oath letter.
candyattitude
Registered Users (C)
am finally a citizen!
sharing my Oath experience at the Brooklyn courthouse.
scheduled for 8:30am. you can take subway there but we decided to drive and paid $14 for an all day pass about two blocks away. Got in about 7:45am. went through security. cellphones are not allowed so we checked it in. went up to second floor and partner was told to go to third floor and wait in the cafeteria. went in and sat down. had to sit in the sixth row as there were a lot of people in there already. people kept coming in till about 9:15am and the whole room got filled up. about 229 people. we just sat around and people kept giving us things. packet filled with info, message from the president, passport application form etc., citizen's almanac, guide to the constitution, voters registration form which i filled up right there and there. we had to go up row by row, went to one table, handed in the oath, described any changes after interview (if there were), then on to next table, looked at naturalization certificate, checked for errors and signed (i signed like i do on all my credit cards and all other documents). then went back and sat down. while the rest of the room went through the process i filled out my passport application (bring a book if you can, it gets boring). then we waited for judge. the main officer tried entertaining us by telling us what countries were represented and how many and another lady spoke to us about filing a complaint in case we faced any discrimination (i thought: welcome to america, here's how to file a compliant...lol).
then the families were brought in and were scattered all over the room. judge walked in, we raised our right hand and said the oath of allegiance, then put our hand on our heart and said the pledge of allegiance and sat down. the judge gave a short speech about his own story which was very nice. my boyfriend thought this was the best part of what he saw. then we quickly went row by row and picked up our naturalization certificates and walked out. tonight i party a a newly minted American citizen!
sharing my Oath experience at the Brooklyn courthouse.
scheduled for 8:30am. you can take subway there but we decided to drive and paid $14 for an all day pass about two blocks away. Got in about 7:45am. went through security. cellphones are not allowed so we checked it in. went up to second floor and partner was told to go to third floor and wait in the cafeteria. went in and sat down. had to sit in the sixth row as there were a lot of people in there already. people kept coming in till about 9:15am and the whole room got filled up. about 229 people. we just sat around and people kept giving us things. packet filled with info, message from the president, passport application form etc., citizen's almanac, guide to the constitution, voters registration form which i filled up right there and there. we had to go up row by row, went to one table, handed in the oath, described any changes after interview (if there were), then on to next table, looked at naturalization certificate, checked for errors and signed (i signed like i do on all my credit cards and all other documents). then went back and sat down. while the rest of the room went through the process i filled out my passport application (bring a book if you can, it gets boring). then we waited for judge. the main officer tried entertaining us by telling us what countries were represented and how many and another lady spoke to us about filing a complaint in case we faced any discrimination (i thought: welcome to america, here's how to file a compliant...lol).
then the families were brought in and were scattered all over the room. judge walked in, we raised our right hand and said the oath of allegiance, then put our hand on our heart and said the pledge of allegiance and sat down. the judge gave a short speech about his own story which was very nice. my boyfriend thought this was the best part of what he saw. then we quickly went row by row and picked up our naturalization certificates and walked out. tonight i party a a newly minted American citizen!
Good question, I don't know the answer but I'm guessing it makes no difference since it sounds like people are getting oath appointments 3-4 weeks after their interview, so ample time to receive the letter by mail. I had my interview at Federal Plaza. After approval, I was told to go to another room to pick up the oath letter. When I got to the other room, the security guard said 'it's a 2-3 hr' wait. As much as I love waiting, I asked him what would happen if I just left and he said "they'll just mail you the letter". That was a couple of days ago and I'm waiting for the letter. My online status did change to 'oath letter' on the same day. Only way I'll regret leaving is if I don't actually get the letter then I have to deal with the delays related to that (which may be worse than waiting 2-3 hrs).