Philadelphia Oath Ceremony, now often?

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etonic

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Philadelphia Oath Ceremony, how often?

Hi everybody, I need to know if anyone knows how often does Philly INS office offer Oath ceremonies. I just passed my interview today and would like to know... At least a bulk part...
I appreciate any replies!!!

Also, any info on your philadelphia oath ceremony would be appreciated! (even if it was last year)

THANKS
 
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etonic,

can you post ur timeline and how did the interview go. I will be attending next month.

Regards
Vicmac
 
Vicmac, here's my timeline:
Priority Date: April 25, 2005
Fingerprint Date: May 31, 2005
Interview Letter Date: Approximatly First week of August (don't have the letter anymore, they kept it after my interview)
Interview Date: Sept 21, 2005

Now, the Interview was very quick and relatively easy.
I was asked to show my GC and my passport, then the officer asked me to swear that I am saying the truth and after that he had me sitted.
After that he started questioning me about my interest to become a US citizen, what my current address is, my phone number, where do I work, etc.
He then started going over my N-400 application asking me if I ever been arrested, and all that stuff.
Once that was done, he printed a piece of paper that had 10 questions on it, all from the 100 questions listed on their website (the questions about the history and government).
NOTE: the questions are not multiple choice! You have to write the answers yourself.
You only have to get 6 correctly out of 10, but you have to answer them all (at least that's what they're telling you to do).
I knew all the answers as I had anticipated, but remember the questions are not always the same, they are computer generated but drawn from the 100 questions off the website.
Once I finished answering the questions, I handed the page back to the officer and he quickly looked them over and says "Aaaand you passed!" .
I also had a slight problem with my photos that I had submited with my N-400 application, as being too small.
Yet, I had to go downstairs, outside the building where there are two trucks ready to take your pictures on the spot. Make sure you have cash on you if you think your pictures may not be the right size. I could've sworn I had them done right and measured but I guess I had not.
They are pricy, so have at least $20 bucks on you, as they cost about $15 for two passport size photos! BASTARDS!
Now I am trying to find out how long will it take for me to get my Oath letter and when the Oath ceremony is scheduled. I know they already had one the first week of September, but I HOPE they have one on a monthly basis...
That's it!
If you have any more questions, shoot...and GOOD LUCK with your interview!
Just be relaxed and answer the questions truthfuly, as they already know everything about you anyway :))

Manny



Vicmac said:
etonic,

can you post ur timeline and how did the interview go. I will be attending next month.

Regards
Vicmac
Click to expand...
 
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Oath experience

The best thing to do during your interview is to ask the officer about the Oath ceremony scheduled in coming weeks/months.Also sometimes they have a timetable/schedule sort of thing posted on the wall in the room about
the ceremonies. (That is ofcourse if one gets a chance to look around and given the chance to ask question).
After my Interview the officer asked me if I had any questions and I did ask "When is the Oath Ceremony?" and he told me the date.

I had my Oath ceremony on Sept 1st, 2005 At Philadelphia ( PA Convention Center) and 2500 people from 109 countries got naturalized that day.
Actually they had 2 ceremonies scheduled for that day at 11 am and 3 pm.
Due to the large number of people attending , they had asked us to report 2 hrs earlier for processing.

The Oath letter has to be presented at the entrance by each individual. The officers checked if the letter was signed at the back after answering the questions as YES/ NO.
We were asked to submit our Green cards along with the letter which were stapled together and taken away before we all were seated in a big hall.
We all were given large envelopes containing a printed message from George Bush, A welcome to USA citizenship book,Instructions on how to sign the Naturalization Certificate, A passport application and a small US flag.

There were some speeches by the guests speakers and 2 videos were shown to us ( 10 mins each).
Alphabetically , they called the names of the countries we all originally belonged to and we had to stand up .
The Oath of Allegiance was said and had to be repeated by the oath takers.
People took pictures of each others waving the flag , etc, etc.
The certificates were brought to us and the staff congratulated all of us several times.

The ceremony was a bit too long but was very organised.
If you want to take kids , its better to have a visitor guest along to watch them as they are seated separately.
There were some stalls/tables for Customer service by the Passport Agency to facilitate Passport Applications as some people were submitting the same day.

Hope this helps ! and Good Luck !
 
I just found this thread and will post my case.
If you know any Oath Ceremony schedule in Philadelphia next, please let me know.

This is the info. how my case processed.

N400 Received and Priority Date: Jan 28, 2005
Receipt with Exception Notice: Feb 04, 2005
Finger Print Notice: April 11, 2005
Finger Print Appointment: May 10, 2005
Interview Notice: Jun 29, 2005
Interview Appointment: Aug 30, 2005

My interview was almost same as like etonic described. The officer who took my interview was very nice and friendly person and everything went smooth and easy. But I needed to take pictures and went to the Photo Truck outside building, because my original pictures were small. This is the only problem I had during the interview. On that day, I saw two more persons who required to take new pictures.

Now, I am just waiting for final notice of Oath Ceremony schedule. I forgot to ask the officer about the Oath Ceremony date next in Philadelphia when the officer asked me "Any question?" at the end of interview.

If anyone is on same time frame and received the Oath Ceremony schedule in Philadelphia already, please update. It's been almost one month since the interview, but no notice yet...

Good Luck to everybody who is on immigration issues!
 
Updates

I had done a little bit of research and found this phone number from the US District Office in Philadelphia and called this very nice lady. She was the one that told me that the next Oath ceremony for Philly is going to be scheduled on October 20th. She also said, we all have to wait for our Oath letters to arrive and then see when and where we are scheduled.
In other words, she cannot promise me that I will be part of that ceremony in the 20th of October. (which is ok with me as long as I know I have a chanse!)...

Please please please if anyone received the Oath letter let us all know when your interview was and when you got the Oath letter and what the Oath date, and place is!!

Good luck to all of you and please post any news or updates you may have!

THANKS
 
etonic,

My colleague had his interview today and asked the officer about the Oath.She told her that there is one almost every month and that she would get a oath letter atleast two weeks before the date and the letter would be mailed in two weeks.

Regards
Vicmac
 
Ours is a little different. We live in Delaware:

PD: Nov. 8, 2004
FP: Dec. 7, 2004
Interview: In Philly on July 8, 2005 (Shall I add, we passed with flying colors! :-) )

We never received anything about Oath. On a previous thread "sunny914" had indicated that they had somehow written the wrong address for her husband's oath letter (thank you sunny914 for sharing all the information about your experience). We were wondering if it could have happened to us also. However, today we received the Oath letter. Our letter came from St. Albans (VSC) and it is not pink, just white paper. The oath ceremony is scheduled for October 6, 2005 (next Thursday) in Wilmington, Delaware. I think Philly schedules more number of interviews (more often) and hopefully you will get yours soon.

That being said, I would have been really happy if the oath ceremony for us had been held earlier this month or sometime in December. We are scheduled to go out of the Country on October 20th (already bought tickets) and we had all the ducks in a row. Now we have to rush around to get US Passport, Indian visa, etc., etc. in 14 days. There goes three days of my vacation time when I am already struggling to fit my India trip :-). As they say, Murphy's Law....

Good Luck.

PV.
 
Happy for you !

pv001 said:
Ours is a little different. We live in Delaware:

PD: Nov. 8, 2004
FP: Dec. 7, 2004
Interview: In Philly on July 8, 2005 (Shall I add, we passed with flying colors! :-) )

We never received anything about Oath. On a previous thread "sunny914" had indicated that they had somehow written the wrong address for her husband's oath letter (thank you sunny914 for sharing all the information about your experience). We were wondering if it could have happened to us also. However, today we received the Oath letter. Our letter came from St. Albans (VSC) and it is not pink, just white paper. The oath ceremony is scheduled for October 6, 2005 (next Thursday) in Wilmington, Delaware. I think Philly schedules more number of interviews (more often) and hopefully you will get yours soon.

That being said, I would have been really happy if the oath ceremony for us had been held earlier this month or sometime in December. We are scheduled to go out of the Country on October 20th (already bought tickets) and we had all the ducks in a row. Now we have to rush around to get US Passport, Indian visa, etc., etc. in 14 days. There goes three days of my vacation time when I am already struggling to fit my India trip :-). As they say, Murphy's Law....

Good Luck.

PV.
Click to expand...

Hi pv001,
I am so happy that you got the oath letter .
As you might have already researched , the passport can be issued the same day if you have proof of your travel overseas.(You mentioned that you have already bought the tickets to India) So, just make an appointment at the "passport agency" and you will get the passport the same day.

PHILADELPHIA Passport Agency
U.S. Custom House
200 Chestnut Street
Room 103
Philadelphia, PA 19106-2970
Hours: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., local time, M-F, excluding Federal holidays
Automated Appointment Number: 1-877-487-2778

NOTE: Philadelphia Passport Agency serves customers who are traveling within 2 weeks (14 days), or who need foreign visas for travel. An appointment is required.

For visas etc for India....I can only add that we just got our PIO Cards and it took us exactly 1 week BY MAIL to get them. There was an issue regarding the NY consulate overlooking the Expressmail payment for my husband (again... its him.. :rolleyes: )which caused 2-3 day delay. The Consulate staff was extremely helpful and even called me on my cell phone that everything was sorted out and they were mailing the PIO cards the next day.
Finally all the cards came at the same time in the same envelope.

If you keep all the paperwork ready, you can still make it !

Good luck and Congratulations!
 
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Philadelphia Oath Wait

Hi Etonic,

I had my interview on 08-16 at Philadelphia. And I was told my case would be recommended for approval. But I haven't received the oath letter and it's been one and a half month now.

Can anyone in the same time frame share their experience ?
 
Notice of Oath Ceremony

I just got a notice of a Naturalization Oath Ceremony. The date is on November 16th at 1600 Callowhill Street, Philadelphia. I will see you there. :)

Here is all my history.

N400 Received and Priority Date: Jan 28, 2005
Receipt with Exception Notice: Feb 04, 2005
Finger Print Notice: April 11, 2005
Finger Print Appointment: May 10, 2005
Interview Notice: Jun 29, 2005
Interview Appointment: Aug 30, 2005
Notice of Naturalization Oath Ceremony: October 17, 2005
The Ceremony Date: November 16, 2005
 
Manyung

Oath ceremonies..indeed!

OK folks .. Here's MY time line. Read it an weep!

Priority date Aug 7 2001
Interview date July 7, 2002 - passed. 10 questions correct. Photos FINE. All in order. Recommended for approval!! Yeh...

And now the bad news...

Today's date.. Oct 21, 2005.
That's right folks... I've been waiting for.. let's see..1277 days for my Oath Ceremony. And you are wondering what's going on after a month & a half??

How you must be suffering.

I'm about take USCIS to Court. They have completely screwed me.. through petty bungling on a sensational scale.
Pray this does not happen to your file
Manyung
:mad:
 
My colleague who had his interview on 27th Sept got his Oath letter yesterday scheduled for 7th Dec in Philadelphia. I passed my interview on Oct4th and waiting for the letter.

Regards
Vicmac
 
Oath letter received

I received my oath letter yesterday (11/16) and the ceremony is on 12/7. My PD is 02/28/05, interview date is 08/16.

I have one question: can I invite more than one (adult) visitor to the ceremony ? The oath letter says one visitor, I am not sure if it is meant literally....

Thanks.
 
hmmmm...

Hi all,

First of all I have received my Oath letter (on green paper) and I am also scheduled for 12/07/05.
I am very excited.
As far as bringing more than one person with you, I don't know what to tell you... If it says "one" I believe it should be no more than one. Unless you want them to not be able to attend and wait outside...which kinda' sucks...
My interview date was 9/21/05 for those of you who care.

Good luck to all of you !



ranchun said:
I received my oath letter yesterday (11/16) and the ceremony is on 12/7. My PD is 02/28/05, interview date is 08/16.

I have one question: can I invite more than one (adult) visitor to the ceremony ? The oath letter says one visitor, I am not sure if it is meant literally....

Thanks.
Click to expand...
:eek:
 
Oath Letter!

Hi all!

I have received my Oath letter on 11/16/05 and my Oath date is 12/07/05 at Convention Center.
Ohhh...did I mention my letter is printed on green paper?
I don't think the color is relevant at all, but I thought some of you want to know. My sister got her letter too and she has it printed on pink/red paper...

Good luck to all of you!

By the way, I don't think anyone should be bringing more than one person along with them unless of cours you want them to wait outside. :(
It sais on the letter to bring no more than one person with you, so I would comply...
 
Newim2000
I know someone who had interview on 28 Sep got the Oath for Dec7th, lets see how long it takes for us.

Regards
Vicmac
 
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