jaysaldi

My wife's card took exactly two weeks to arrive in the mail.

We went and did this today. 1 hour 45 minute wait. I guess we could have made an appointment but I also heard that the office we went to only takes appointments by phone and that no one answered the phone. I filled out the SS-5 paper ahead of time, request for new card. When we checked in at the kiosk, it printed out her queue number and that ticket had a QR code to also complete the new card application online and give a confirmation number. And at the bottom it also had a "schedule appointment" button. I can't find that website now though, when I click through update citizenship on card on the SSA website it doesn't prompt me to fill in the info for a new card, it just prompts me to print out the PDF and then bring it to the office. Anyway, the staff member saw the SS-5 and asked for it and I said do you want the confirmation number of the online application instead an she said yes. It seems like you need one or the other when you go up to the window, a completed SS-5 or a confirmation number for a completed online application, otherwise you may risk having to go back and sit down and fill out the form and wait longer.

What happens if she never goes to the SSA office and instead gets a job, uses her American passport as proof of citizenship, and then just tells the employer her SS number?

Boarding pass was in Cambodian name. I'm guessing they did put the US passport info into APIS as there was no issue on arrival with the CBP officer scratching his head and say "we weren't expecting you" or anything like that

My wife came on a K-1 visa and got a Social Security card that says "VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION." She has since adjusted status and naturalized. We want to get her a new SS card without that language on it. Is there any way to do that without going into the SSA office? Can it be requested in writing, online, by phone, etc.? They know her address and should know the person with this SS number is a US citizen now, does she have to go in person to request this? The SSA website suggests that going in person is required, I wonder if that's correct and why that is necessary.

Just wanted to update @top_secret and everyone else on what happened here. We went to the EVA Air desk in Phnom Penh to check in for the flight to the USA. Handed over her Cambodian passport in maiden name which matched the ticket name. Also handed her American passport in married name which permits entry to the USA. No problem at all. They didn't even want to see the marriage certificate proving the name change, which they have previously scrutinized when we presented passport in maiden name and green card in married name. I guess they just looked at her photo and DOB in both passports and could tell it was the same person, despite different names. It probably didn't hurt that when we married and she changed her name, she kept her maiden name as her middle name. Probably also didn't hurt that she was traveling with the American husband and with American child who has same middle name and last name as hers. Thanks for the advice, the consensus here was correct.

Thanks. I didn't get anywhere with the EVA call center, which is not surprising. I'm a little afraid to go to a ticket office beforehand, or to the airport beforehand, and have someone say "You need to buy a new ticket" and then make notes in the reservation to that effect.

Thanks, we'll just show up at the check in counter with both passports and the marriage certificate and see what happens. Flight is a a few weeks. I will report back on how it goes.

Like I said, that's never been an issue when traveling on passport and ticket in maiden name and green card in married name. I just can't find any data points online about doing this when the passenger intends to use a U.S. passport to enter the USA but the ticket is in a different name.

As an update, I tried calling EVA airlines, the operating carrier, but the EVA phone agent couldn't give me an answer and just said "WE advise changing the ticket." When I asked if she could fly with the documentation I mentioned. He put me on hold for a while, then the call dropped. The problem here is the ticket is booked using Avianca frequent flyer miles. EVA says they can't change the name because Avianca issued the ticket. Avianca says they can't change the name on the ticket at all. So they only options are (a) cancel the ticket, pay a $200 fee, hope the frequent flyer seat goes back into inventory and that the miles are reinstated quickly and she can rebook to fly with us, or (b) roll the dice and show up with the documents at the airport and see what happens, or (c) try to get some assurance in advance from EVA that they will accept her US passport in a different name.

My wife applied for her assort and passort card in Houston this week. She had travel booked five days away. They took her original naturalization certificate and a copy, as well as a copy of her drivers license. She got a receipt telling her to come back the next day between 1130a - 3p to collect the passport. There was a line right on the receipt for her to authorize someone else to collect the passport for her. She signed authorizing me to collect it. The next day I drove to the office with the signed receipt, they checked my ID and they handed me an envelope containing her new passport, her original naturalization certificate, and her new passport card.

Update: I took everyone's advice here and had my wife apply for passport at the passport office the day after her ceremony and she got the passport the next day

My wife had her oath ceremony at the M.O. Campbell educational center yesterday March 27. 1300 new citizens. Friends and family allowed. It's a small basketball arena. Friends and family sit in the upper deck, new citizens sit in the lower section. Her letter said to arrive at 8. We got there at 7:20. Plenty of parking. At 7:30 or so they started letting people in. Friends and family through one line to the upper seats, new citizens to the check in lines and lower seats. Then they would have the new citizens get out of the seats row by row and do more checking in and whatnot. The actual ceremony started at 10 am when the judge showed up. 45 minutes of judge talking and then a lady giving a speech. Lots of emphasis on voter registration. Ceremony ends and then new citizens have to line up again to get their certificates. My wife got out at 11:30 a.m. Call me jaded but I think this ceremony is best avoided. It was a 45 minute drive there and then 2.5 hours of waiting for the ceremony to start and then the ceremony itself is pretty boring and it's not like your family member is getting singled out for an award. The M.C. said a few times "We do this every month on Wednesdays." I don't know if that means the last Wednesday of every month, or the fourth Wednesday of every month. Someone posted back in the thread about a ceremony on March 6 I think, which would suggest they are more often than once a month. My wife's interview was Feb. 28, so I'm sure it was too late for the March 6 cutoff. But anyway, if someone is naturalizing through the Houston office, and you want to guess when your oath ceremony will be, I think 3-5 weeks after your interview and on a Wednesday is a pretty good guess.

My wife interviewed in Houston on Feb 27 2024 and was approved on the spot. Within two days he myuscis account showed oath ceremony date of March 27. Letter arrived in mail a week later

She will have a US passport to fly back to the USA. The US passport is in her married name. Her Cambodian passport is in her maiden name. The ticket was already booked months ago in her maiden name. The question is do we need to change the name on the ticket to her married name or can she just show her US passport and the marriage certificate and check in with her Cambodian passport.

This is what she has done for the last two years, when the green card that authorizes entry to the USA bears a different name from her Cambodian passport. She carries the marriage certificate. But in those situations, she would be "flying on the Cambodian passport" under her maiden name and CBP would get its advance passenger information of her arriving on the Cambodian passport, despite her having green card in married name. I just thought maybe the process might have to be different now. Like she can't show passport A to match the booking and then show passport B in new name as proof she can enter the country. I worry the airline won't allow it. Maybe I'm overthinking this.

Because Ive already booked the flight back in August under her maiden name. I haven't booked the flight there.

US now. She has her oath ceremony in a few weeks and then we plan to get her a US passport and fly to Cambodia, returning in August.

For the last couple of years, my wife has had a green card in her married name and Cambodian passport in maiden name. When she flies to the USA, we book in her maiden name, she shows her Cambodian passport in maiden name, and then the airline will ask for proof she can enter the USA and we show her green card in married name and marriage certificate proving name change. And they accept that. My wife should be naturalizing and getting a US passport later this month. This is faster than we expected. I have already booked her on a one way trip from Cambodia to the USA in August, in her maiden name. Her new US passport, like her soon to be confiscated green card, will be in her married name. So here is the question. Can she keep the August reservation in her maiden name, check in for the flight, and when the staff says "Where is your proof you can enter the USA'' she just shows US passport in married name and marriage certificate, like she did with the green card before. And then when she arrives in USA, she shows the American passport? Or does she now have to do a name change on the August ticket?

The other thing I meant to mention is that my wife's citizenship interview consisted only of the reading/writing/civics test. No questions about our marriage, her 380 days spent outside the USA in the last three years, no looking at the tax returns, bank statements, proof of my own US citizenship, our marriage certificate, her passport, etc. It was just reading, writing, civics, done.

September 19 2023. Interview notice was mailed on January 11, 2024. Interview date February 27, 2024.

My wife had her interview at Gears Road yesterday. Everything went smoothly. We arrived 15 minutes before her appointment time. You check and they give you two numbers to listen for. The first number is to get called to a window for biometrics. This took about 30 seconds for her number to be called, even though the waiting room had a lot of people waiting. Then 10 minutes after she finished the biometrics they called the second number to go to Door 1 for her interview. She was back there about 10-15 minutes. They tested her on reading and writing and asked her some of the civics questions. It sounds like they may non-randomly choose easier questions from the 100 question prep book. Like they didn't ask who authored the Federalist papers and who is your Congressional representative. They asked the easier stuff. She passed and they said she'll get a letter in the mail about her oath ceremony.

We may want to leave the USA within a few days after her oath ceremony. Not for an emergency reason. I have a solo vacation planned for mid-April and she doesn't want to stay in the US alone while I'm gone, she'd rather go back to Cambodia for a few weeks. Initially we planned that she would stay with my sister in New England but that has fallen through.

I've gotten replacement passports or valid second passports at the embassy in Cambodia about four times, most recently in 2023. It generally takes 8-10 days.

What's the process for replacing a naturalization certificate while abroad? Is it much different from traveling abroad with a green card and losing the green card? I figured it would involve going to the embassy, hopefully showing a copy of the naturalization certificate, showing your Us driver's license, etc. if you have that, showing your foreign passport, and saying "Hi, you issued me a K1 visa here 5 years ago, I moved to the USA and naturalized and seem to have lost my certificate, can you get me a new one and issue me a US passport?" No good? I do see now that there is a form N-565 to replace naturalization certificate and that takes six months in the USA. I can't find any reference to whether US embassies abroad issue these certificates. My gut tells me there must be thousands of naturalized American citizens living in Mexico, many of whom returned to Mexico without ever getting a US passport, and who later lost their naturalization certificates and Us passports if they ever had one, and who need replacements while in Mexico. I'm just not seeing any data points about what replacing a naturalization certificate and getting a passport abroad entails. We all know that the "must enter/leave the USA on American passport" rule isn't enforced, but I do have some concern that the embassy could give her a hard time if she lost the certificate and/or applied for a USA passport, as they might say "If you were really American you would have left the USA on an American passport. It's giving me something to think about anyway. We live in the Houston area, can I wait until she hopefully passes the interview and gets an oath ceremony date and then book her flight for 4-5 days after that and make an emergency passport appointment for the day after her oath ceremony?