klems10024

Yeah it was at a courthouse. My invitation was at 9am, and there were a LOT of people. 160 folks were getting their naturalization. They dont start anything until everyone is there, so nothing really started until 9:45am or so. Then they check everyone in individually, take your green card, then you line again to sign your certificate of naturalization. Then you sit again, you wait some more, the judge comes to do a speech, and then you wait for your turn to be called to get your certificate. I was out around noon. I'm not really sure why we had to wait for everyone to have arrived so they could start processing.

Quick update: I had my oath ceremony this morning (took almost 3 hours!), and I had snagged an appointment at the passport agency this afternoon. I was in and out in 10 minutes, I showed my proof of travel and they told me my passport will be ready on Tuesday! So it all worked out ! Appreciate everyone's advice!

But the thing is that the US cannot refuse entry to their own citizens. Although it is really not recommended to do so (and technically illegal, although it doesn't seem like a lot of fines are issued for that), it is still possible to enter via a land border with a certificate of naturalization - but you will be sent to secondary inspection and it can take hours. It's completely impossible by air travel though, since the airline won't even let you board the plane.

Well I did secure the passport appointment just after my ceremony and I will have proof of international travel for a few days later so it should work just fine. Traveling with the naturalization certificate is the worst case scenario if for whatever reason they refuse, or cannot print my passport within the few days I have. But absolutely everyone I know or talked to who needed a passport immediately because of international travel, managed to have it done same day (or the day after). And the reason I prefer trying to do that is because I have to travel often. I have more international travel planned a few weeks after, so if I delay the oath ceremony the likelihood of finding myself in a similar situation again is high. It seems like normal processing times for a new passport can be well over a month, if not 2, and given my job this is impossible for me to wait this long.

Well I got online just after midnight today as I figured that's when passport office appointments would open for the day of my ceremony, and had no issues getting one! My ceremony is at 9am, I read somewhere it can last up to 3 hours, so I booked an appointment at 2:30pm on the same day. At least one part is secured !

Great, thank you so much!! Looks like as long as I'm able to secure an appt I should be able to pull this out.

I'm in NYC! Did you go to the main office ?.

From doing the train ride from Montreal to NYC years ago, I remember we stopped at the border for quite some time and Border control inspected everyone's documents, we were stopped for a couple of hours. Honestly as long as I can cross a land border with the certificate, that solves my problem! Yeah, I'm going to start monitoring every day to see when dates open so I can grab a slot maybe the afternoon of my ceremony or the following Monday!

@harry.st yeah, that's the plan. I'm fully expecting not to be able to board the plane with just the naturalization cert, and won't even try to do so. I also won't be able to do anything where I'm going to (Peru) and getting a passport there, I'm on the ground for a mere 48 hours and will have zero time for anything. So basically before I leave, if I don't have my US passport in hand, I will just exit with my French passport, and get cheap plane ticket from Lima back to Toronto and enter at Niagara Falls, or Montreal and take the train back indeed (which I've also done before!). I'm confident I'll be able to get an appointment for my passport even if I have to travel somewhere to do it, so that would really be the worst case scenario! Once again appreciate the tips here .

Thank you all! I managed to also discuss with other people, and the consensus is to basically get an appointment as soon as the window opens on the schedule so I can lock in a date (even if I'm securing the appt before the ceremony - it seems easy enough to do online). My naturalization is on (Friday) Feb 2nd, and my travel is on Feb 9th, so I essentially need to have a passport by Feb 8th. If I can secure a slot that same Friday in the afternoon or even Monday, and show a printout of my itinerary, they will be able to make it happen. Some other folks suggested other hacks that are probably not best mentioned here but that gives me hope. Also thanks @harry.st - this is a very, very useful tip. I'm thinking that if for whatever reason I can't get my passport in my short window, I can still go, change my flight back to Toronto or something and re-enter the US on land. That would be grueling but probably the ultimate backup plan.

Thank you very much @Crazy Cat, appreciate your response! I saw that there is a way to get a same day passport once you have an appointment at the passport center, but you're pretty much at their whim and they might decline it. Basically, I'm worried that if I try to do something like that and it doesn't work, I won't make it to my work trip and I'd much rather reschedule my oath ceremony if it comes to that. I'm also considering checking for a 3rd party service that guarantees they can expedite the passport in a couple of days...

Hi everyone, After a quicker than expected naturalization process (applied early October 2023, interview early January 2024), I just received my oath ceremony letter and it's scheduled for February 2. The problem is that I have international travel planned the week after that on February 9th, for a work trip that I cannot postpone. I assume there is no way for me to get my US passport in that time frame, is that correct? I looked on the USCIS site and it seems like the only way is a "life or death" emergency, which I likely won't qualify for. Also wanted to confirm, is there a way I could re-enter the US with my other passport (French passport), since I will be a dual citizen? All the answers I found say no. So I feel like my only option here is to ask to have my oath ceremony postponed. Has anyone ever done that, or has any advice? I know it's really not an ideal idea but not going on that trip will create enormous issues. Thank you for your help, those questions have probably been asked already but didn't find anything like my case upon searching.