What to do in case you have to travel while getting your citizenship!

J

jmkmx

New Member
Hello forum...

Tomorrow morning I'll be taking the test to become an American citizen but within two week I am going to go out of the country for just a few days... Today I was told that you can't get out of the country once you taken the test and I want to know if this is true or not and if it is... There's any way I can get some sort of permission to leave the country and return without affecting my process???

I can't miss my fly because this is a family reunion and I have to be there regardless of my situation here but at the same time I don't want to loose my chance to become an American and start the whole process again...

Please if you have an answer for this please help me out! I'm desperate and I really don't know what to do if they take away all my immigration papers tomorrow... :(
 
jmkmx said:
Hello forum...

Tomorrow morning I'll be taking the test to become an American citizen but within two week I am going to go out of the country for just a few days... Today I was told that you can't get out of the country once you taken the test and I want to know if this is true or not and if it is... There's any way I can get some sort of permission to leave the country and return without affecting my process???

I can't miss my fly because this is a family reunion and I have to be there regardless of my situation here but at the same time I don't want to loose my chance to become an American and start the whole process again...

Please if you have an answer for this please help me out! I'm desperate and I really don't know what to do if they take away all my immigration papers tomorrow... :(
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You are allowed to travel abroad using your green card between the naturalization interview and the naturalization oath. A long trip (a few months) may present a problem with the continuous residency requirement but a few days trip, such as the one you are planning, is not a problem at all.

There will be a short period of time after the naturalization oath and before you receive a U.S. passport during which, as a practical matter, you will not be able to travel abroad. At the oath they'll take away your green card and give you a naturalization certificate; you'll then need to apply for and obtain a U.S. passport before you can travel abroad.

If your DO administers same-day oaths (i.e. if the naturalization oath takes on the same day as the naturalization interview), this could indeed create a problem if you need to travel very soon after the oath. The only way around this is to schedule an appointment at a passport agency, where a passport can be issued in 1-3 days. See http://travel.state.gov/passport/npic/agencies/agencies_913.html
 
jmkmx, they told me the samething I just apply and my lawyer told me to not get out of the country.
 
baikal3 said:
If your DO administers same-day oaths (i.e. if the naturalization oath takes on the same day as the naturalization interview), this could indeed create a problem if you need to travel very soon after the oath. The only way around this is to schedule an appointment at a passport agency, where a passport can be issued in 1-3 days. See http://travel.state.gov/passport/npic/agencies/agencies_913.html
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Here in Atlanta, the DO administers same-day oaths, but the nearest passport agency is in New Orleans. That's 500 miles away by road (one way), so probably not a practical option in most cases. If jmkmx is in a location like Atlanta, I'd think he or she should simply ask to have their oath appointment postponed until after their trip.
 
sos83 said:
jmkmx, they told me the samething I just apply and my lawyer told me to not get out of the country.
Click to expand...

That's nonsense. Short trips are OK, as long as those trips don't result in missing the fingerprinting, interview, or oath.
 
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