Length of Fairfax, VA Oath Ceremony (or any post-covid ceremony)?

[saturnalian 1]

Hi all!

So excited - finally got scheduled for my oath ceremony! It's at the Fairfax, VA USCIS building though, meaning no guests are allowed. 

I have a pretty large group coming to congratulate me and we're going out to lunch after, so I'm trying to get a sense of how long the ceremony may take so I can make a reservation. 

It starts at 10:30am. Does anyone have any experience either with their ceremony being held at this particular location, or any other USCIS location that didn't allow guests? I've seen varied reports on how long it could take from 15 minutes to 3 hours!

 

Thanks so much in advance. :)

[JeanneAdil 6,510]

Large group of people to naturalize too?

they start by checking the form u have to take to interview (quesitons that u have answered and need to sign in front of the USCIS officer) one person at a time

so, this takes time to go thru each one individually 

then ,  there can be speakers who welcome the group as citizens (DAR,  and other community groups and/or mayor or senator) a lot of this depends on the new regulations since covid but expect at least one speaker

and then announce any name changes that were approved thru the petition for naturalization

then,  the judge or USCIS officer will administer the oath to the group

 

then,  hand out individual certificates to people and allow for  selfies with the officer

 

if they are having a morning and afternoon session ,  it will be done in time to allow the afternoon session to begin

[CMJuilland 485]

I got naturalized in Fairfax on a Saturday morning at the beginning of November.  Our time was set at 7.30am, and by 7.37am, we had been made citizens.  There were 21 of us in the room, and they only had us take the oath, handed us our certificates, and then, we were asked to leave as they had the next group scheduled 30mins later.  If it is still the same, I would say, don't expect more than 20mins tops.  However, they might allow larger groups now, and it might take longer because of that, but most likely not much more (provided, like you said, that they still don't allow guests). 

 

Congrats on becoming a citizen!!  It's such a great feeling :) 

[JeanneAdil 6,510]

1 minute ago, CMJuilland said:

I got naturalized in Fairfax on a Saturday morning at the beginning of November.  Our time was set at 7.30am, and by 7.37am, we had been made citizens.  There were 21 of us in the room, and they only had us take the oath, handed us our certificates, and then, we were asked to leave as they had the next group scheduled 30mins later.  If it is still the same, I would say, don't expect more than 20mins tops.  However, they might allow larger groups now, and it might take longer because of that, but most likely not much more (provided, like you said, that they still don't allow guests). 

 

Congrats on becoming a citizen!!  It's such a great feeling

wow,  they did away with so much 

they made a little thing out of a big deal

 

congrats 

need to change info with SS office, get passport and register to vote 

[CMJuilland 485]

13 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

wow,  they did away with so much 

they made a little thing out of a big deal

 

 

Yeah, I was actually pretty bumped as my wife and I had really been looking forward to my becoming a citizen and her witnessing it.  But we celebrated afterwards, just like OP plans to, with friends and family. 

 

Also, I think they are trying to catch up on at least some of the delay due to Covid.  Normally, there are no ceremonies on Saturday mornings (at least not at 7.30am) at the Fairfax office, and a normal ceremony pre-Covid was about 1.5 hours (I witnessed a friend's 2.5 years ago).  Right now, they're back to back, and I even met somebody that same morning who was there for an interview at 7.15am (again, on a Saturday!).  They also urged us to leave the building right after getting our naturalization certificates and take selfies outside as they had to rush to get the room ready for the next group.  

I hope they will bring back speakers, songs, voter registration assistance, etc. at some point, but I also think it's not a bad thing to try to catch up on delays, even though it results in "no frills ceremonies" like mine.  

That being said, it was still a good one, and I will still cherish it for the rest of my life as it is such an important step. 

Edited March 11, 2022 by CMJuilland

[saturnalian 1]

54 minutes ago, CMJuilland said:

I got naturalized in Fairfax on a Saturday morning at the beginning of November.  Our time was set at 7.30am, and by 7.37am, we had been made citizens.  There were 21 of us in the room, and they only had us take the oath, handed us our certificates, and then, we were asked to leave as they had the next group scheduled 30mins later.  If it is still the same, I would say, don't expect more than 20mins tops.  However, they might allow larger groups now, and it might take longer because of that, but most likely not much more (provided, like you said, that they still don't allow guests). 

 

Congrats on becoming a citizen!!  It's such a great feeling :) 

 

Wow!! I agree with @JeanneAdil - so unfortunate that such a big day is kind of reduced to just being a number... not that USCIS made me feel like any more than that lol, but this was kind of something I'd been envisioning since beginning this journey. :( I'm down in Charlottesville now and the officer who did my interview said that for us down here, they typically rent out a room at the Monticello, guests are allowed, etc, "but if they have a covid situation happen it'll be in Fairfax"... Kinda feel like they're probably sending everyone to FFX now, lol.

 

Anyway, thank you so much for your insight! I'm sure the process is still the same (give or take extra people). I bumped up the reservation to 11:30! 

I'm excited to become a citizen regardless of the ceremony, and like you, we'll celebrate after anyways. :D

 

[Jakk 67]

On 3/11/2022 at 2:33 PM, Saturnaliia said:

 

Wow!! I agree with @JeanneAdil - so unfortunate that such a big day is kind of reduced to just being a number... not that USCIS made me feel like any more than that lol, but this was kind of something I'd been envisioning since beginning this journey. I'm down in Charlottesville now and the officer who did my interview said that for us down here, they typically rent out a room at the Monticello, guests are allowed, etc, "but if they have a covid situation happen it'll be in Fairfax"... Kinda feel like they're probably sending everyone to FFX now, lol.

 

Anyway, thank you so much for your insight! I'm sure the process is still the same (give or take extra people). I bumped up the reservation to 11:30! 

I'm excited to become a citizen regardless of the ceremony, and like you, we'll celebrate after anyways.

 

How did your oath ceremony go? Mine is tomorrow and I'm still unsure if I should be bringing my spouse or not.

[saturnalian 1]

2 minutes ago, Jakk said:

How did your oath ceremony go? Mine is tomorrow and I'm still unsure if I should be bringing my spouse or not.

Definitely bring them! That week was actually the first week they started allowing "spectators". I had 12 guests who were going to just be waiting for me outside and all of them were allowed in. The man leading the ceremony was super hyped to have people celebrating again! I'm guessing they're still allowing people in.

I'd say it lasted between 30 mins - 45 mins. They did rush us out a tad bit at the end - after the ceremony I think we were given 2 minutes to take whatever pictures we wanted.

Good luck, and congrats!!

[Jakk 67]

2 minutes ago, Saturnaliia said:

Definitely bring them! That week was actually the first week they started allowing "spectators". I had 12 guests who were going to just be waiting for me outside and all of them were allowed in. The man leading the ceremony was super hyped to have people celebrating again! I'm guessing they're still allowing people in.

I'd say it lasted between 30 mins - 45 mins. They did rush us out a tad bit at the end - after the ceremony I think we were given 2 minutes to take whatever pictures we wanted.

Good luck, and congrats!!

Oh that's good to know! I'm so glad I asked since they said that no one else is allowed in in the oath letter. Thanks so much!