My Oath Ceremony rant

[Stella08 0]

Hmmm.... I don't think USCIS really cares about the "private lives" of immigrants. Other people get their invitation for the oath ceremony a week or ten days before the actual date and I'm sure some of them have to struggle taking off work, rescheduling appointments and so on. No, our lives are not on hold while we go through this process. So it can be very inconvenient when we have to change plans, make arrangements and so forth on relatively short notice. And yes, many people have plans for a holiday weekend. On the other hand I can't imagine any better date than July 4th to be sworn in as an American citizen. Come on, this is basically the birthday of this country which we chose to become citizens of. How much better can it get? But if the other plans you made are really more important than taking the oath, then reschedule. You always have that choice.

[jsnearline 2]

I didn't say you deport the citizens who fail the test out. That's a bit too draconian, even by my standards.

It seems to me that if you can be denied a driver's license for failing a test at the DMV, they should be able to have a standardized nationwide requirement that you must know some basic civics before you can vote. I think an uneducated voter can be just as dangerous (if not more so) than an improperly trained driver. I don't understand why there should be one standard for natural born citizens and a stricter one for naturalized citizens in this regard.

Admiinister the test when a natural born citizen registers to vote and make it so their voter registration isn't approved until they pass.

[KromiX 1]

I didn't say you deport the citizens who fail the test out. That's a bit too draconian, even by my standards.

It seems to me that if you can be denied a driver's license for failing a test at the DMV, they should be able to have a standardized nationwide requirement that you must know some basic civics before you can vote. I think an uneducated voter can be just as dangerous (if not more so) than an improperly trained driver. I don't understand why there should be one standard for natural born citizens and a stricter one for naturalized citizens in this regard.

Admiinister the test when a natural born citizen registers to vote and make it so their voter registration isn't approved until they pass.

AMEN! No more pop-culture votes

[MikeWilson 0]

So I received my Oath Ceremony letter today in the mail.

"You are hereby notified to appear for a Naturalization Oath Ceremony on: Saturday, July 4 2009"

Well whoopty-doo. Apparently the USCIS doesn't recognize the 4th (aka America's birthday) as a holiday where people may have plans.... like..... let's say.... go out of town? It's not really a big deal as I will just have them reschedule me but I'm anxious to get this over with. Like really, who schedules anything like this on the 4th?

Maybe I'm over-reacting......................

Maybe NOT!!!

Have a feeling it will be a few months before they re-schedule me. ARgghhhhh how annoying.

< / end rant>

I fully agree with you. Yes, it's Independence Day, but still, people have lives, plans, even non-refundable airplane tickets.

Just because we're about to become US citizens, it doesn't mean we need to join the herd of sheep. Last I checked, and learned from the test materials, the government is there for you, not the other way around.

Deutschland FTW!

[Stella08 0]

So I received my Oath Ceremony letter today in the mail.

"You are hereby notified to appear for a Naturalization Oath Ceremony on: Saturday, July 4 2009"

Well whoopty-doo. Apparently the USCIS doesn't recognize the 4th (aka America's birthday) as a holiday where people may have plans.... like..... let's say.... go out of town? It's not really a big deal as I will just have them reschedule me but I'm anxious to get this over with. Like really, who schedules anything like this on the 4th?

Maybe I'm over-reacting......................

Maybe NOT!!!

Have a feeling it will be a few months before they re-schedule me. ARgghhhhh how annoying.

< / end rant>

I fully agree with you. Yes, it's Independence Day, but still, people have lives, plans, even non-refundable airplane tickets.

Just because we're about to become US citizens, it doesn't mean we need to join the herd of sheep. Last I checked, and learned from the test materials, the government is there for you, not the other way around.

Deutschland FTW!

So what do you suggest? Should USCIS call you and schedule an appointment with you that fits your schedule? You always can reschedule the date they give you. I'm sure it happens all the time.

[^KK^ 3]

is it rude to want to tell someone to shut up?

[TracyTN 237]

Just reschedule it - what's the big deal really? Even if it weren't July 4th, there's still a chance that ANYone might have a vacation on the date they are allotted for the oath - July 4th or no. That's why you're allowed to reschedule.

[tmma 467]

So I received my Oath Ceremony letter today in the mail.

"You are hereby notified to appear for a Naturalization Oath Ceremony on: Saturday, July 4 2009"

Well whoopty-doo. Apparently the USCIS doesn't recognize the 4th (aka America's birthday) as a holiday where people may have plans.... like..... let's say.... go out of town? It's not really a big deal as I will just have them reschedule me but I'm anxious to get this over with. Like really, who schedules anything like this on the 4th?

Maybe I'm over-reacting......................

Maybe NOT!!!

Have a feeling it will be a few months before they re-schedule me. ARgghhhhh how annoying.

< / end rant>

Yeah-You are over reacting. You said "It's not really a big deal as I will just have them reschedule me...." So what's the rant about?

Reschedule it..

Congrats on the citizenship btw!

[jsnearline 2]

Like I said, I have no problem if someone wants to reschedule so they don't have an interview on the 4th of July. My issue was that the OP's "rant" made it seem as if USCIS had done him a grave injustice, when others would see it as an honor to naturalize on July 4th. Yeah it sucks that he has a schedule conflict, but he made the choice to plan a trip that weekend knowing that he was in line for Oath soon.

Having an Oath on a paid holiday seems better to me than having to take a day off work without pay like my wife will probably have to do. The only way she could avoid it is to ask to be rescheduled for July 4, 2010...

I wonder if the OP possibly could have avoided this by requesting at the interview that their Oath not be scheduled on July 4th because of a schedule conflict.

[jsnearline 2]

It sure would make things easier if USCIS allowed applicants to schedule their own biometrics, interview, and Oath appointments. They could send you a notice that requests you schedule within a 30 day window using an online system like InfoPass.

[anitacastillo 0]

--Continuation of above, max amount of characters...

It means nothing to me, and will enjoy the interview more than the Oath.. Laughing at the ridiculously easy questions and ridiculous sentences you have to read and write, can't beat that!

P.S I also think they should make the test ten-fold harder, it's just ridiculous in my opinion. AND they should require a test each time your going to vote, real easy questions, like, Who is the Democratic Candidate? Who is the Republican Candidate?. Alot of the American Entitlement Culture has dug us in a deep hole, and it is reflected in the kind of people that turned out to vote this last round because they saw a cool guy on MTV that was running for 'prez' and it was the in thing to wear trendy HOPE shirts and say "Yes we Can", just like it was kewlz to wear CHE GUEVARA shirts when no-1 had any idea who he was and was wearing the guy on their shirt.

You were educated in this country, but obviously missed the part about the Voting Rights Act. The US govt enacted this in 1965 because some polling places tried to prevent blacks from voting by saying they needed to be educated in order to vote.

[baron555 934]

Apparently the USCIS doesn't recognize the 4th (aka America's birthday) as a holiday where people may have plans....

And apparently you do not value US citizenship over your own personal life. Maybe not a good candidate?

Many men and women sacraficed their lives for you to do what you set out to do. Let's ask them what they think about your being inconvienced!

Please do them proud and put your values in proper order.

[Rehan 0]

I am sorry to say that but it is just a useless discussion. If he doesn't wanna go on July 04, all he has to do is to send that thing back and USCIS will send him another date for oath ceremony. One of the reasons USCIS does this is because they are all packed up for these oath ceremonies. Nowadays, USCIS is even doing Naturalization interviews in evenings and on weekends. Plus, those of you who really know USCIS, you can expect anything and/or everything from this agency that is stupid, chaotic,bizarre and outrageous!! Good luck!!

[jsnearline 2]

You were educated in this country, but obviously missed the part about the Voting Rights Act. The US govt enacted this in 1965 because some polling places tried to prevent blacks from voting by saying they needed to be educated in order to vote.

That's why my idea of a national exam probably wouldn't fly. Still, I wonder if a national civics test that is not left up to individual state or local jurisdictions to write would pass a constitutional test. If you apply it equally to everyone, regardless of race, gender, etc... I would think that there should be a balance between ensuring there isn't discrimination based on race, while ensuring that citizes have a basic understanding of civics. Otherwise you wind up with situations like my wife's home country, the Philippines, where actors and entertainers are elected to public office simply because they are popular... Oh wait... That happens here too.

[jsnearline 2]

One of the reasons USCIS does this is because they are all packed up for these oath ceremonies.

USCIS has done 4th of July Oaths for as long as I can remember. It has nothing to do with the backlog.