Oath Cerimony Optional?

[bradcanuck 1]

I have my interview in 13 days. I found out today I have lost my job, and I have enough cash to stay here for 43 more days. April 1st I will need to leave the US and move back to Canada until I can get on my feet.

I heard from a Filipino that she didn't go to the Oath, and they just mailed her all of the information like passport app and naturalization certificate. Is it possible to not be present for it? My guess is I will be scheduled for an oath in April and I won't have the ability to fly down for it.

Thoughts/feedback would be appreciated.

[Barbara J 115]

I have my interview in 13 days. I found out today I have lost my job, and I have enough cash to stay here for 43 more days. April 1st I will need to leave the US and move back to Canada until I can get on my feet.

I heard from a Filipino that she didn't go to the Oath, and they just mailed her all of the information like passport app and naturalization certificate. Is it possible to not be present for it? My guess is I will be scheduled for an oath in April and I won't have the ability to fly down for it.

Thoughts/feedback would be appreciated.

I am not sure why you are worried about losing your job for ctizenship and that you only have 43 days left? You have a 10 yr GC yes? You are a permanent resident now. You have AOS as your status but you timeline shows you are going for citizenship? Iam confused

[Anh map 2,098]

It sounds like you will reschedule your oath ceremony at a later date. In the meantime you're still an LPR.

[bradcanuck 1]

This has nothing to do with LPR. I can't afford to stay here.

[NickD 202]

In automotive, many of our jobs that were shifted to Canada to take advantage of your lower health insurance rates are now be shifted to China for not only that, but much lower labor rates as well.

So shouldn't you be going to China instead?

As far as I am concerned, the oath ceremony is a farce, you already read and signed the oath in front of an officer of the USCIS. The ceremony is another long drive, an additional time period that has to be counted for if you were naughty, lip service, and watching a bunch of videos, plus losing another days pay getting off of work. If they do send out your certificate if you don't show up, would be wonderful, but never heard of that.

Aren't you eligible for unemployment compensation? Could draw on that, after all, you paid for it. But the latest trick is only working 39.5 hours a week considering a person part time, so no benefits are given.

Pardon my mood, just got a letter from Obama stating we need better education, a couple of my kids with advance degrees and high honor roll students could only find a job handing out carts at Wal-Mart. And with 900 billion of our tax dollars going to corporate foreign own farms he is refusing to look at that was on the news this morning. Then looking over the new tax forms where we are getting robbed blind. Maybe we all should leave or get rid of all these people that are causing the problems.

[milimelo 4,473]

Try asking for same-day oath if they have one. Or if you tell them you have immediate travel plans, they can accomodate you with the next available oath ceremony (worked for me).

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Whatever you heard -- and I can tell you stories that involve hot Russian girls, the Easter Bunny and Santa himself -- is nonsense. The Oath Ceremony is when you become a US citizen and thus it's not optional, but essential.

I don't know your personal situation, but you need to have an emergency fund for at least 5, better up to 8 or 9 months. What that means is if you lose your job and can't find another one, you can survive for a certain amount of time until you have to leave the country or find another way out. If you don't have one now, time to get started on it.

I hate to joke about money, but if you now have your interview in 13 days, you really should hold out until you had your Oath. Thereafter get a US passport card for $30 + $25 and head back to Canada. If that's absolutely not possible for you, find, borrow, or steal the money for that one flight from Canada to California to attend your Oath Ceremony. Once you have become a USC, you have all the time in the world to come back, even if that's many years from now. If you remain an LPR, you sooner or later will regret that you gave up 1 yard short of the finishing line.

[bradcanuck 1]

I'm not looking for life advice right now, I wanted to know if the Oath was optional. It isn't, so I'll just figure it out when I receive the date. I'll plead to have it in March with the IO and go from there.

[Susan73 5]

Someone has lost his job here and is going through a hard time and I am surprised at 1 or 2 of the replies posted here!!

If people here cant answer his question correctly and to the point they should refrain from typing nonsense for the heck of it.

Im amazed at the moronic answers some adults can give to another human who is in need....Obama, Hot Russian girls..Are you kidding me...Seriously!!!

Not everyone has savings or money to live off of for 8 months...

I am speaking out my mind coz i feel for the person...so dont pounce on me with a few more silly replies.

Bradcanuck, I dont have an answer to your question but my best wishes are with you.

I hope you figure things out and everything works out for u....

Edited February 15, 2011 by Susan73

[raaza 0]

I have my Interview in Santa Ana on 22nd feb, will update you about the oath ceremony. But I think we will get the one in March.

I have my interview in 13 days. I found out today I have lost my job, and I have enough cash to stay here for 43 more days. April 1st I will need to leave the US and move back to Canada until I can get on my feet.

I heard from a Filipino that she didn't go to the Oath, and they just mailed her all of the information like passport app and naturalization certificate. Is it possible to not be present for it? My guess is I will be scheduled for an oath in April and I won't have the ability to fly down for it.

Thoughts/feedback would be appreciated.

[safroot 1]

i don't know if that will help, but remember it's taxes season and when you file your taxes, you will get a refund may be that money will help you with your expenses until you get your passport. just an idea

[jkelly07 120]

i go along with justbob,..you waited so long and all these years time and money, don't waste it fine a way to go to the oath ceremony to become a us citizen, and have that certificate in your hand, you will be glad you attended,, good luck

[RICARDO4EVA2 194]

Someone has lost his job here and is going through a hard time and I am surprised at 1 or 2 of the replies posted here!!

If people here cant answer his question correctly and to the point they should refrain from typing nonsense for the heck of it.

Im amazed at the moronic answers some adults can give to another human who is in need....Obama, Hot Russian girls..Are you kidding me...Seriously!!!

Not everyone has savings or money to live off of for 8 months...

I am speaking out my mind coz i feel for the person...so dont pounce on me with a few more silly replies.

Bradcanuck, I dont have an answer to your question but my best wishes are with you.

I hope you figure things out and everything works out for u....

I guess some may think it is something that is obvious and should be known. I think he should stay at all cost - sorry.

[Alex B 9]

Sorry for your situation.

The oath ceremony is absolutely non-optional. It is only then that you become a citizen and not one moment before you take the oath.

It's only 13 days away! You should stay if at all possible! At my ceremony here in Seattle I walked to the stage, received my naturalization certificate right then and there. You don't need to wait for a passport before leaving the country for work. Once you have the certificate you can leave, and apply for your passport at your leisure. AFAIK the only way they can strip your citizenship is if they can show some kind of fraud at any prior step in the process. As an example, there's a local case of a Nazi in Bellevue. He lied on his immigrant visa so they can strip his citizenship! He was naturalized in the '60s and he's now over 80 himself.

Once you have your ceremony done. Go find work wherever in the world you want, get enough money together and then apply for your passport to come back should you ever desire. Go check the State Dept's website - to be a dual national absolutely isn't illegal. They consider it problematic, and they can kiss my American-British nether regions on that one! ;-) (If I'd ever given up the British I'm sure my mum/mom would have had a stroke!)

Good luck

Alex.

[NickD 202]

Have no problem in being sympathetic to the poster having been born with six brothers and sisters then having our dad abandoning the family. Then serving a country that paid me nothing and having to use half of my miserable paycheck to buy and maintain my uniforms. Sure, they gave us the first set for free, but then expected us to maintain and replace them while doing dirty things that wrecked them. Or stationing us thousands of miles from home and trying to save a few cents so could see my family once in awhile at our own expense.

But at least I lived in a country where their was opportunity, if you studied and worked hard, could make a darn good living, today, that was taken away from us. Being sharp a statistics and mathematics, did try the stock market, but almost lost my shirt in that. Didn't take me long to realized I lacked insider knowledge that those that do make millions have. And we have laws to protect them. Today we have more people making money with money than ever before, not very productive and they are the ones that get the best tax breaks. Those with earned income are getting screwed. We fall in the earned income group.

I have nothing against trade, fair trade that is, we had a trade deficit for the last 40 years that is strictly controlled by the government. Attempts to solve our energy crisis failed due to nothing else except laws made by our congress that is suppose to protect us. I lost a company that I built up due to a hostile takeover by a competitor when our anti-trust laws were abolished. Before that, such an action would be illegal. And also lost a fortune with a kid with a precondition that was kicked off my health insurance policy. Not good having a congress owned and operated by Wall Street, the energy and health insurance companies.

In the late 80's with the greedy corporations in Japan, we finally could compete with them, so what does our government do? Bring in China. And the laws we once had to prevent foreign ownership of our industries and communications were abolished, have a congress that is selling us out, positive traitors to this once great country.

Even in a small town, we have these loan shark payday loan places that charge outrageous interest that is finally being looked into, counted five of them. And most of the jobs are based on a 39.5 hour work week, part time they call it so no benefits are given. So how are honest people suppose to have a 40 week reserve when we are living in a country run by crooks?