taking kids to biometrics, interview and oath taking

[Rob & Chris 0]

Hi,

I would like to ask a question about taking kids during the interview and also during the oath-taking. Hubby will be gone for deployment by the time that I start the N-400 application by mid this year. I don't have any close friends whom I can leave my kids to or family nearby, nor even hiring a babysitter an option - we don't trust leaving our children to strangers.

I know it'll be hard, I have a 4 and a 3-year old whom I'm planning on taking with me, but it seems like I have no choice. I just wanted to seek advice if it would cause any problem at all. I would like to know in advance and foresee how things will seem to be (since experiences like these are always unpredictable), and it'll be hard to be caught in a situation on-the-spot and not know what to do.

Any insights will be of great help.

Thank you.

Chris

[KyngSilva 0]

I'm sure others have taken their kids with them.....or will have some great advice for you. I personally feel you should try and go on your own and see if family can come the day before and stay at your home.

[JustMeHere 0]

I'm sure others have taken their kids with them.....or will have some great advice for you. I personally feel you should try and go on your own and see if family can come the day before and stay at your home.

In our case, we have absolutely nobody that we can leave our kids with. All of our family of any kind is more than 2000 miles away. We recently moved to where we're at now, and don't know anyone, much less anyone we would feel comfortable leaving our kids with. Even with sitters, there's a vetting process that we just don't have the time to get through.

So I for one am really interested to find out if anyone else has stories or info about bringing kids with you to the biometric or interview. As long as the kids chill out, all should be well, but then again, I guess it really depends on CIS policy.

[NickD 203]

Is your husband in the military?

[Stella08 0]

I totally understand your worries about leaving your children with strangers. Since your husband is going to be deployed though, I only can suggest that you start looking for sitters before he leaves. I take it he will be gone for months or maybe even a year at a time. And sooooo many unpredictable things can happen, e.g. you might get sick or have an accident and have to stay at a hospital (I hope not). In such a case you would need help FAST and couldn't wait for relatives to arrive from far away. And in such a situation you don't want to leave your children with somebody you and they've never met before. I'm a military wife and after 15 years of being married to a soldier I only can stress the importance of having a reliable network of people who can help you in case of an emergency. Especially when you have children. Your friends become your family.

With this said, look on post if maybe ACS or the CDC have a list of reliable and approved sitters. Also, CDC often offers hourly care. Or check if maybe one of your neighbors, acquaintance from church or somebody from your FRG can accompany you to the interview and watch your children in the hallway while you go in for 15 or 30 and take your test. That way you wouldn't really have to leave them with a stranger but you would be close by and only separated for a short time. And you could concentrate on your interview without any interruptions and without the officer getting annoyed about little kids maybe roaming in his office, maybe getting into things, maybe crying, maybe interrupting and so forth.

I think one of the most important things as parents we have to learn is to let our children go step by step and let them become independent. And by the age 3 or 4 they're read to take the first little steps on their own.

[NickD 203]

Deployed to me inferred military, when I was in, we all took care of each other, hell, nobody else would. Stella's suggestion of having somebody ride with you is excellent. I have no idea what would happen during your interview, but can see exceptions with your oath. Doesn't your husband have any buddies with wives that can assist you?

[sheepnfish 0]

Hi,

I would like to ask a question about taking kids during the interview and also during the oath-taking. Hubby will be gone for deployment by the time that I start the N-400 application by mid this year. I don't have any close friends whom I can leave my kids to or family nearby, nor even hiring a babysitter an option - we don't trust leaving our children to strangers.

I know it'll be hard, I have a 4 and a 3-year old whom I'm planning on taking with me, but it seems like I have no choice. I just wanted to seek advice if it would cause any problem at all. I would like to know in advance and foresee how things will seem to be (since experiences like these are always unpredictable), and it'll be hard to be caught in a situation on-the-spot and not know what to do.

Any insights will be of great help.

Thank you.

Chris

Hi

I don't have any children but let me tell you what I saw at the Vermont office.

When we got to the office they were waiting for a group orphens. The nice officer put on a children show on TV and the other officer came with crayons and coloring books. The children were so good about 12 of them.. The Vermont office very Great with them...

Maybe if you can not find someone to care for them call USCIS and ask them what to do ? They are humans too....

[Stella08 0]

Hi

I don't have any children but let me tell you what I saw at the Vermont office.

When we got to the office they were waiting for a group orphens. The nice officer put on a children show on TV and the other officer came with crayons and coloring books. The children were so good about 12 of them.. The Vermont office very Great with them...

Maybe if you can not find someone to care for them call USCIS and ask them what to do ? They are humans too....

Wow, that's really nice! Of course that would involve leaving the children with strangers again.

[JustMeHere 0]

While I certainly appreciate the suggestions and alternatives, I'm personally more interested in hearing from someone that has either successfully attended an interview with children, or was told to take the children out. We were hoping we could get one of our Swiss friends to fly out here to come and watch the kids, but not sure they'll be able to make it. So still, nowhere to "dump" the kids.

Edited March 8, 2009 by JustMeHere

[Stella08 0]

https://egov.uscis.gov/crisgwi/go?action=of...r.zipcode=22901

BRINGING SMALL CHILDREN TO AN INTERVIEW OR OATH CEREMONY:

Unless the presence of your child is required at an interview, please do not bring any small children to you scheduled interview or oath ceremony. We have limited seating capacity in our waiting room areas.

If I were you, I would call your local office and find out how they handle this issue. Some field offices might be stricter, others might provide childcare. I don't think you'll get a "one fits all" response in this forum. And I would make sure before you go there for the interview and get sent home.

Edited March 8, 2009 by Stella08

[keithNvaleria 0]

No good parent would ever think of leaving their children in the care of strangers. When my fiance and I went to the US Embassy in Costa Rica for our sons' Consular Report of Birth Abroad, we always took all 3 kids along. May I suggest that you find a sitter or even a casual friend to accompany you and the kids to the embassy, to assist you. That person can remain in your line of sight and simply occupy the kids for a bit while you conduct your business. The kids can see that mom is nearby and are less apt to panic. My experience is that the Consuls are very understanding and even enjoy seeing a family working at being together.

Edited March 8, 2009 by keithNvaleria

[Stella08 0]

No good parent would ever think of leaving their children in the care of strangers. When my fiance and I went to the US Embassy in Costa Rica for our sons' Consular Report of Birth Abroad, we always took all 3 kids along. May I suggest that you find a sitter or even a casual friend to accompany you and the kids to the embassy, to assist you. That person can remain in your line of sight and simply occupy the kids for a bit while you conduct your business. The kids can see that mom is nearby and are less apt to panic. My experience is that the Consuls are very understanding and even enjoy seeing a family working at being together.

I take it you're homeschooling your children then? Of course no good parent would leave their children with somebody they don't know at all. But you can get to know your babysitters first, watch them interact with your children, get references and so forth. I entrusted "strangers" with my children before: teachers, coaches, babysitters and so forth. And my children got so much out of spending time with these people. They learned, they grew, they became independent and confident. And I would do it the same way again.

As I said, I think it really depends on the individual USCIS field office and maybe even on the individual immigration officer how they feel about small children attending the interview. We took our children to the consulate in Germany, too, when I had my greencard interview. While I talked to the officers there and took care of the paperwork, my husband watched the children. But that's a different scenario from taking your interview and citizenship test with your children on your lap, I think.

[sheepnfish 0]

Well the waiting room in Vermont is small and even if you left your children with the guard in the front you can still see them where the office

I am sure not all offices are the same

I really like the Vermont Service Center they always really friendly to us

[JustMeHere 0]

Well the waiting room in Vermont is small and even if you left your children with the guard in the front you can still see them where the office

I am sure not all offices are the same

I really like the Vermont Service Center they always really friendly to us

Yeah, to me that would be an acceptable proposition. My kids wouldn't freak out much at all as long as they could see that Daddy and Mommy are just there in the room. Good idea, but would be interested to hear what the other offices are like, as we'll be going to a field office in Atlanta.

[antda 13]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks Chris for posting this topic, as I was wondering the same thing too...."Can we take kids to biometrics, interview, and oath?"

Likewise, I don't trust other strangers to take care of child/children either, so I know what you mean about not being able to find reliable childcare there. I hope in your situation, Chris, that you do manage to find good quality childcare whenever you need it, and/or you are able to make arrangements to accommodate your children to be with you throughout your immigration process. It would definitely be a lot better if the USCIS can accommodate such for you, as you shouldn't have to additionally worry about your children during such a stressful immigration situation.

As for me, when I go through the citizenship process later this year, I will have to take both my husband and future baby/child with me, as I would need my husband to drive me there (lol...our "local" office in Buffalo NY is quite a distance away in the city from where we are in the rural area, which I don't like driving in due to the high traffic and increased stress of the immigration situation) and I do not have any other babysitting options available either. Besides, citizenship is a "family experience", so why not bring my immediate family with me? I hope that the USCIS doesn't give me and my husband any problems when we bring our baby with us then (by the way, our baby will only be a few months old at that time). And hopefully our baby won't cause too much of a fuss in the waiting rooms and/or waiting areas too....

By the way, has anyone else had any problems when they brought their baby/child (especially a very young one, less than a year old) with them during any of the immigration processes (especially for citizenship)? Do you have make prior arrangements to inform them of such? Overall, was the USCIS accomodating about non-immigrant children attending such processes? Is there anything else I should be aware of when bringing babies/children to such?

Thanks in advance for your help here too. Good luck on the rest of your immigration journeys.

Ant (Babies/Children+USCIS...yes or no?)

Edited March 8, 2009 by AntandD