N-400 Dallas, TX Filers (Merged Threads)

[Crazy Cat 41,610]

Naturalization Ceremony scheduled at the Plano Event Center this morning, January 26, 2023 at 7:30am.

 

We arrived at the event center about 7:10am.  There were hundreds and hundreds of cars already in the parking lot.  There was already a long line around the side of the building.  At about 7:30 am, the line started moving toward the front door.  There were county voter registration people there to distribute voter registration form to those who wanted one.  They also had kiosks set up to accept the voter reg forms after the ceremony.  After standing in line about 40 minutes (32 degrees), we entered the building.  The USCIS officer who conducted my wife's N-400 interview was there to keep everyone organized.  

After entering the building, new citizen applicants were directed ahead to security and tables set up to distribute packets before entering the big auditorium area.  Family members were directed to small family rooms instead of entering the security area.  About 40 minutes after we entered the building, the last of the long line of new citizens finally entered. Around 9:00am (IIRC), the ceremony started.  Audio of the ceremony was piped into the family rooms.  The speaker said, "We are here to naturalize 1,000 new citizens today". The ceremony lasted about 20 minutes (IIRC).  The ceremony consisted of a short announcement by the local USCIS Director, recognition of each country represented (must have been 30 or 40), a taped message from President Biden, the spoken oath by all the new citizens, the National Anthem, and Pledge of Allegiance.   The officials then directed family members back outside to wait for the new citizens to exit.  After submitting my wife's voter registration form, we left the event center to warm up and enjoy some Starbuck coffee. All in all, it was a very nice event. 

My wife and I now say a "fond" farewell to USCIS!!!!

Next objective:  Submit US Passport application next Friday morning.  

Edited January 26, 2023 by Crazy Cat

[Nkrish83 65]

7 hours ago, Crazy Cat said:

Naturalization Ceremony scheduled at the Plano Event Center this morning, January 26, 2023 at 7:30am.

 

We arrived at the event center about 7:10am.  There were hundreds and hundreds of cars already in the parking lot.  There was already a long line around the side of the building.  At about 7:30 am, the line started moving toward the front door.  There were county voter registration people there to distribute voter registration form to those who wanted one.  They also had kiosks set up to accept the voter reg forms after the ceremony.  After standing in line about 40 minutes (32 degrees), we entered the building.  The USCIS officer who conducted my wife's N-400 interview was there to keep everyone organized.  

After entering the building, new citizen applicants were directed ahead to security and tables set up to distribute packets before entering the big auditorium area.  Family members were directed to small family rooms instead of entering the security area.  About 40 minutes after we entered the building, the last of the long line of new citizens finally entered. Around 9:00am (IIRC), the ceremony started.  Audio of the ceremony was piped into the family rooms.  The speaker said, "We are here to naturalize 1,000 new citizens today". The ceremony lasted about 20 minutes (IIRC).  The ceremony consisted of a short announcement by the local USCIS Director, recognition of each country represented (must have been 30 or 40), a taped message from President Biden, the spoken oath by all the new citizens, the National Anthem, and Pledge of Allegiance.   The officials then directed family members back outside to wait for the new citizens to exit.  After submitting my wife's voter registration form, we left the event center to warm up and enjoy some Starbuck coffee. All in all, it was a very nice event. 

My wife and I now say a "fond" farewell to USCIS!!!!

Next objective:  Submit US Passport application next Friday morning.  

Congrats on the successful completion of the journey!!

[Crazy Cat 41,610]

Got just got home from the Passport Office.  We used the East Dallas Office of the Dallas County Clerk Passport office at 3443 St Francis Ave, Dallas.   It's a small office.  It took about 10 minutes.  We are done!!!!

 

Note: Passport appointments ANYWHERE near Dallas are hard to find.  I suggest you start looking a few weeks prior to your oath ceremony.

Edited February 6, 2023 by Crazy Cat

[Ronald Jones2 0]

Good day,

 

I just got my Oath notice for the plano events center for March 9. I had applied for a name change so I'm a bit confused as it's not at a courthouse? Are they doing judicial ceremonies at the plano events center now? Or does a judge not need to be present once the name change certificate is signed?

 

And from the sounds of it, family must still wait in other rooms and just listen tot the ceremony at the plano center?

Thanks a million!

[Crazy Cat 41,610]

3 minutes ago, Ronald Jones2 said:

And from the sounds of it, family must still wait in other rooms and just listen tot the ceremony at the plano center?

That was the case 2 weeks ago when my wife naturalized in Plano. 

[LivFavor 17]

On 2/10/2023 at 2:48 PM, Crazy Cat said:

That was the case 2 weeks ago when my wife naturalized in Plano. 

How long was the ceremony?

[Crazy Cat 41,610]

Just now, LivFavor said:

How long was the ceremony?

The actual ceremony was about 20-30 minutes.  It started at about 9:00am.  

[LivFavor 17]

1 minute ago, Crazy Cat said:

The actual ceremony was about 20-30 minutes.  It started at about 9:00am.  

Oh wow, I asked because I was scheduled for 1:30pm however I have a job interview for 4pm which is a 30 minutes drive from Plano

[Crazy Cat 41,610]

Just now, LivFavor said:

Oh wow, I asked because I was scheduled for 1:30pm however I have a job interview for 4pm which is a 30 minutes drive from Plano

Afternoon might be different.  The morning my wife naturalized, 1,000 other new citizens did, too, in the same ceremony. 

[LivFavor 17]

5 hours ago, Crazy Cat said:

Afternoon might be different.  The morning my wife naturalized, 1,000 other new citizens did, too, in the same ceremony. 

Ok, so her ceremony started by 9am and ended 30 minutes later. But if I may ask, was 9am the time written on her invitation? 

[Crazy Cat 41,610]

1 minute ago, LivFavor said:

Ok, so her ceremony started by 9am and ended 30 minutes later. But if I may ask, was 9am the time written on her invitation? 

The appointment time for everyone was 7:30 am.  The actual ceremony started about 9:00am, and it ended about 9:30.

[LivFavor 17]

15 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

The appointment time for everyone was 7:30 am.  The actual ceremony started about 9:00am, and it ended about 9:30.

Ok thanks so much. 

[sanchari 1]

My oath ceremony has been scheduled ☺️☺️☺️

 

Does USCIS allow family into Irving location to witness the naturalization ceremony? 

[Nkrish83 65]

2 hours ago, sanchari said:

My oath ceremony has been scheduled ☺️☺️☺️

 

Does USCIS allow family into Irving location to witness the naturalization ceremony? 

Nope. At the irving office, it was just applicants with a notice. Others will have to wait outside in the parking lot or by the entrance. 

[InspectorGrover 14]

Hi everyone - I had my naturalization interview this morning at the Irving office and thought I would share some details for those who might be heading to interviews there soon. 

 

My appointment was scheduled for 10:15 am. I entered at 10:00 am, went through security, was assigned a number and asked to head upstairs to the interview waiting room (capacity 88 people, so it a decent size room). There are restrooms, tvs that were not on, and people were freely using their cell phones. I had to wait until 11:15 before being called for my interview, but the Officer apologized several times for the wait saying that it had been an "interesting day". The impression I got was that this was a longer wait than usual. During my wait, I would estimate about 35 other people were called for interviews. Usually they were gone for about 10 - 20 minutes, so things do move along. 

 

After being called, I was taken to an office, attested that my answers would be truthful, and then had the interview. Part 1, civics test, answered six correctly, pass. Part 2, read a sentence in English, then write a sentence in English, pass. Part 3, questions about me and my spouse: when we married, when I moved, where I work, confirm I have filed taxes, confirm address, phone numbers etc. Piece of cake. Part 4, respond to a set of questions that were on the N400 application (have you ever been in a terrorist group, have you ever lied to an immigration official, will you defend the USA if required by law). Then we double checked on a tablet that all my information was correct and signed. He said great you did wonderful you've passed everything I just have to wait for your file to get to us, it's moving quickly, so probably less than 30 days. Huh? He asked if I had questions and I said, oh so you don't have my file? And he said yes it will be here soon and there's no reason it won't be stamped approved and you will get your approval notice and Oath Ceremony date. So I am slightly confused, but he said several times I did great, everything is passed, and it will get approved. Perhaps because I only applied on 11/22/22 and have already interviewed that my case moved too fast, but anyways here I am waiting. My USCIS online case has no change from "Interview Scheduled". 

 

So, aside from my weird ending, everything was very smooth. All the Officers that came out to call interviewees were very nice. My Officer was very friendly and made some nice small talk about young children (since we both have them). I filed online and he did not ask to see any originals (marriage certificates, birth certificates, etc.) but I had everything with me in case. I was finished in 15 minutes. 

Hope this is helpful to those interviewing in the future! I will share any updates I get on when they "receive my file"?! in case this happens to others!

 

 

Edited February 24, 2023 by InspectorGrover