Corvus

Correction: It wasn't the supervisor but rather the officer who interviewed me.

I was considering traveling in the last week of December but was 50/50 on it, so this kinda takes the decision out of my hands. Try to get there and get checked in earlier if you can. The supervisor told me that the interview before me ended ahead of schedule and he could have started my interview earlier, which may have enabled me to make the cut-off of the same day oath. YMMV, of course.

My interview was at 2:30 pm and I just missed the cutoff time (I think it's 3 pm) for same day oath-taking. There was actually a snafu as I was told after the interview that since I had missed the cutoff, I would receive notice of my oath schedule in the mail. But then the officer sent me to another room to get my picture taken (apparently the photos we submitted with my application got lost somehow). The person who took my photo then erroneously sent me down to the first floor window where applicants who are doing same-day oaths get processed. Long story short (a lot of back and forth between the regular staffers and the supervisor), I ended up turning in my green card and waiting over an hour in the room where the oaths would be administered as they kept calling names until I was the only person left. I was eventually told (by a supervisor) that the person who took my photos should not have sent me down and that I would be scheduled to take my oath at the end of December. Unfortunately, they were unable to give me back my green card. So I currently don't have my green card and don't have a certificate of naturalization either. No foreign travels for me until next year. The supervisor did give me his direct number in case any issues came up.

Guys, just wanted to post my final update. Submitted the N-400 back in July (got busy with work and was not able to file immediately once I became eligible) and had my citizenship interview yesterday. Got approved. Happy to have finally reached the end of this journey (almost 15 combined years on F-1 and H1B visas since I first came to the US for good before getting my green card in 2019). Good luck to everyone still in the process of completing their journeys!