RunTheRoad

UPDATE: I received my passport and passport card today, via separate mailings. Applied July 22, documents in hand today. Yet to receive Naturalization Cert back.

I am not going to believe this is happening until it really happens, but here is the story: I naturalized on July 8, applied for my passport at my local post office on July 22, my personal check was cashed early this week, and today I received an email stating that my application has been approved and I would be receiving my passport etc in 6-8 weeks. I checked my status at travel.gov and it says my passport has already been shipped and I should get it within 10 days! And they have even provided a tracking number. 
 
Are they really working this fast? Or is this a system glitch? My  head is reeling at this point. 

My immigration journey came to  a happy conclusion today, when I finally naturalized at a socially distant oath ceremony at the Newark office , nearly a year after I sent in my N 400. My GC came through in 2012 under the AOS category and I was in no hurry to naturalize, but the prevailing political situation finally pushed me to get it done. I sent in my N 400  in June 2019 and passed my interview at the Newark office on Feb 26 of this year.  However, unlike others who passed the interview with me on the same day, I could not naturalize because they had a problem with printing my certificate. At that point, I was told I could expect to naturalize by end of April 2020. And then COVID-19 struck, throwing everything into a tailspin.
 
Then, finally, on June 17, there was some light at the end of the tunnel, when my online status changed to 'Oath Ceremony Scheduled'. No other document was uploaded at that time, but when I checked in the next day, the status had inexplicably changed to "De-scheduled' and a couple of days later, I received the 'Descheduled' notice through USPS, with no alternate date given. It was only then that I learned that I had been scheduled to be sworn in on July 8 at 11 AM,  to be descheduled  again. A couple of agonizing weeks followed,  with me rigorously checking my online status twice a day, still no end. Then, suddenly on July 3, Friday, the Naturalization Notice showed up in my USPS mailbox, just like that, totally out of the blue. And I had been scheduled for July 8 at 1 PM (it had been 11 AM earlier).
 
By this point of time, I was highly skeptical that somehow this too would be jinxed. Yet, I showed up today at 12.30 PM and was checked in and asked to go to Floor #15 where I had to show my ID and then go over to the Immigration Officer who checked my completed documents and asked me to wait.  Masks are compulsory, once you enter the building. There was a mix of people at the waiting room, all of them seated six feet apart from each other, in chairs that had been specially arranged for social distancing. The USCIS office was also doing a limited number of naturalization interviews today. A few minutes later, another officer showed up and asked those who were scheduled for the oath ceremony to go over to Floor #16. 
 
Over at Floor 16, I had to turn over my GC and completed documents to a senior IO and was asked to take my seat in another socially distanced seating arrangement. No guests were allowed, so it was just us and the USCIS personnel. There were a total of 25 other oath takers in the room, along with me. Even at this point of time, as I was waiting to be sworn in, the self doubt would not go away, for I fully expected the officers to tell me that either 1) my oath ceremony had been de-scheduled again or 2) they could not locate my naturalization certificate and so I would have to wait for another indefinite period of time till that was fixed. It was not until the IO actually announced that we were all good to go that I breathed a final sigh of relief. I was on the last step of my US Citizenship journey.
 
What followed after that was rather anti climatic. The ceremony itself started at around 1:05 and was all done by 1:20. The IO first welcomed everyone present, then congratulated us on our path so far, gave a short inspirational speech and  asked us to raise our right hands to take the Oath of Allegiance (which we had to read out from a piece of paper handed to us). Then, we were handed over our certificates and asked to check for any errors and get them fixed before leaving the hall (if we noticed errors after leaving the hall, it would cost us an extra $500-$600 to get it corrected and it would take nine more months, ouch!). Mine was all good and we were then dismissed. Some of us took pictures (with masks on still) and then showed ourselves out. After all those long years/months of waiting, it seemed surreal and too-good-to-be-true to have it all done and dusted in under 15 minutes. No show, no fanfare, no long drawn out speeches.
So, now, the other processes have to be set in motion: apply for a new passport, register to vote, update my DL/SSN.  But, as of today, I am a citizen of this great nation and I couldn't be more happier. A few hours later, that reality is yet to sink in.
 
 

This is how I did it (in order): 1) Naturalized. 2) Registered to vote at my local County office. You need to submit copies of your Naturalization Cert and they may ask you to show the original. 3) Applied for my passport and passport card. You have to send in the original Naturalization Cert which will be returned to you in a separate mailing, after you receive your passport and passport card. 4) Received my passport and passport card. 5) Will now go to my local DMV to update records. DMVs are open but insanely crowded, so I will wait till things ease up. It is not a priority, at least for the next few days. 6) Will update my SSN records once the offices reopen. This would be the least of my priorities.  For # 5 and #6, you only need to submit photocopies of your documents but you may need to carry the originals with you, if they want to check.  #2 is also typically not a priority, unless you want to vote in a presidential primary. You can register to vote till 21 days before an election. I just got that one out of the way, because my County office is close by to where I live.
Please DO NOT send in your Naturalization Cert through mail for SSN updating. You don't want to take that risk.  My passport was processed remarkably quickly (within 10 days), but typical wait times are a few weeks to few months. 

To be on the safer side, I attached a copy of my Naturalization Cert to my Voter Registration Application. In normal times, you may be required to provide ID proof during in person voting. This season, with mail in ballots being the norm, I thought it prudent to provide proof during the registration process itself, just in case. Just bear in mind that you do not need to prove citizenship at the time of registering, but I just went ahead and did it anyway.
 

To be on the safer side, I attached a copy of my Naturalization Cert to my Voter Registration Application. In normal times, you may be required to provide ID proof during in person voting. This season, with mail in ballots being the norm, I thought it prudent to provide proof during the registration process itself, just in case. Just bear in mind that you do not need to prove citizenship at the time of registering, but I just went ahead and did it anyway.
 

I am sorry, I really don't have an answer. I hope someone else can help you. All the best!

Deeply held moral and ethical values, as allowed by Volume 12: Citizenship and Naturalization, Part J, Oath of Allegiance, Chapter 3, Oath of Allegiance Modifications and Waivers [12 USCIS-PM J]: “May be eligible for modifications based on religious training and belief, or conscientious objection arising from a deeply held moral or ethical code.”
 
Anyway, i applied yesterday, i said i cant take the full oath and attached a letter explaining this and requesting to remove this line. Will see how much trouble they will give me. Let the fun begin again LOL

I applied back in 2015 and lost it as well. I reapplied in July this year and received it in about 2 weeks. I lost my passport as well that had the stamp for renunciation. Do you have passport with a stamp that reads "cancelled after acquiring foreign nationality"? If you have that, then it should work. Read my guide for instructions on applying. If you apply now, you will need to pay the fees and could also have to pay $250 extra if it's been over 3 years. It costed me close to $575 to certificate.

May not be really the case. A US citizen just has to do mandatory  14-day quarantine in the arriving country (in some cases) and quarantined only if showing symptoms in other countries. 
I don't think anyone is rushing, they couldn't even if they wanted to. It is just a case of getting behind everyone in line and waiting. Because the other options do not exist at this point of time and never may.
 

We are up against a virus that no one has any clue about. It is not too far out to think Phase 3 may be indefinitely delayed. If you apply through the normal process, at least you are somewhere in a queue and there is some movement happening. Now that  Phase 2 is slowly opening up, I would think it wiser to at least get your foot in the door. Plus, I think people just hate the uncertainty of the waiting game and getting your passport application in gives you a sense of 'I am doing something'.

I agree 100% with you.....I was not sure if i register to vote and not update my record on SSN/and or DMV would have any problem...but your statement helped me to realize that this could probably wait till after everything opens up and I'm going to register to vote soon without updating SSN record   Thank you though.

I totally agree, I was in the same situation as yours. I naturalized on July 8, applied for my passport on July 22 and had my passport in hand in just seven business days. Yes, just a week! No one can be sure why some passports are processed faster than others, but yes, things are happening pretty efficiently. 

UPDATE: I also received my Naturalization Certificate back in the mail today, exactly ten business days after I received my passport. So glad that it was not lost in transit. 

UPDATE: I also received my Naturalization Certificate back in the mail today, exactly ten business days after I received my passport. So glad that it was not lost in transit. 

Thank you. I've already registered to vote. Just waiting for the SS offices to reopen to update status

UPDATE: I also received my Naturalization Certificate back in the mail today, exactly ten business days after I received my passport. So glad that it was not lost in transit. 

I totally agree, I was in the same situation as yours. I naturalized on July 8, applied for my passport on July 22 and had my passport in hand in just seven business days. Yes, just a week! No one can be sure why some passports are processed faster than others, but yes, things are happening pretty efficiently. 

I was in the same situation as yours. Sceduled, cancelled, scheduled again, descheduled again and then finally scheduled. On the day of the oath ceremony, until I finally had my Naturalization Cert in hand, I was not sure of anything. If I were you, I would still go, just in case, because you have nothing to lose (except time and fuel for your car) by going in person. If it was indeed cancelled, then all good. If not, you would never be able to forgive yourself later (at least, that was my thinking). I can understand how frustrating this is, but that huge sigh of relief in the end will be worth all of this.

Today, I completed the final step in my visa journey. I received my passport and passport card via separate mailings. Naturalized on July 8, applied for passport July 22, via my local NJ post office, standard processing. So, essentially, within eight business days!
 
I want to thank this wonderful VJ community for all that it has done for me: right from the time of my AOS  in 2012 down to this moment, when my immigration journey is at its final stop. Love you all and may this community go from strength to strength.
 
For those of you asking how I got my passport in such record time, my answer is I honestly do not know. I had braced myself for a very long wait time, reading from other timelines. What MAY HAVE helped is that I did not submit an application filled by hand, but one that used the online Form Filler which lets you download the completed application form along with a bar code that practically eliminates manual labor from the processing time. It looks like my passport went straight to printing (the same day my check was cashed). I have been reading that when you hand fill an application, the staff then has to manually enter data into their database and that takes a very long time, due to reduced staff hours. Trust me, automation does have its benefits, so go ahead and use the Form Filler. My passport was shipped from the Little Rock, Arkansas regional office.
 
To all those of you nearing the end of your journeys too, congratulations and see you on the other side. To those halfway there, more power unto you and godspeed! I remain forever grateful to the relationships this group fosters.
 

I was in the same situation as yours. Sceduled, cancelled, scheduled again, descheduled again and then finally scheduled. On the day of the oath ceremony, until I finally had my Naturalization Cert in hand, I was not sure of anything. If I were you, I would still go, just in case, because you have nothing to lose (except time and fuel for your car) by going in person. If it was indeed cancelled, then all good. If not, you would never be able to forgive yourself later (at least, that was my thinking). I can understand how frustrating this is, but that huge sigh of relief in the end will be worth all of this.

1. That's correct. They just print like that.
2. Last couple of pages in your US passport should say "amendment and endorsements". Just include a copy of those. I believe I included all the pages that said that.

Today, I completed the final step in my visa journey. I received my passport and passport card via separate mailings. Naturalized on July 8, applied for passport July 22, via my local NJ post office, standard processing. So, essentially, within eight business days!
 
I want to thank this wonderful VJ community for all that it has done for me: right from the time of my AOS  in 2012 down to this moment, when my immigration journey is at its final stop. Love you all and may this community go from strength to strength.
 
For those of you asking how I got my passport in such record time, my answer is I honestly do not know. I had braced myself for a very long wait time, reading from other timelines. What MAY HAVE helped is that I did not submit an application filled by hand, but one that used the online Form Filler which lets you download the completed application form along with a bar code that practically eliminates manual labor from the processing time. It looks like my passport went straight to printing (the same day my check was cashed). I have been reading that when you hand fill an application, the staff then has to manually enter data into their database and that takes a very long time, due to reduced staff hours. Trust me, automation does have its benefits, so go ahead and use the Form Filler. My passport was shipped from the Little Rock, Arkansas regional office.
 
To all those of you nearing the end of your journeys too, congratulations and see you on the other side. To those halfway there, more power unto you and godspeed! I remain forever grateful to the relationships this group fosters.
 

Note that for most renewals it's with a different form (Form DS-82) and can be filed by yourself by mail:

You'll have to send in the actual passport book or passport card in your possession with Form DS-82. That's where having both passport book and passport card comes in handy because you only have to send one of them in to process the renewal.

Today, I completed the final step in my visa journey. I received my passport and passport card via separate mailings. Naturalized on July 8, applied for passport July 22, via my local NJ post office, standard processing. So, essentially, within eight business days!
 
I want to thank this wonderful VJ community for all that it has done for me: right from the time of my AOS  in 2012 down to this moment, when my immigration journey is at its final stop. Love you all and may this community go from strength to strength.
 
For those of you asking how I got my passport in such record time, my answer is I honestly do not know. I had braced myself for a very long wait time, reading from other timelines. What MAY HAVE helped is that I did not submit an application filled by hand, but one that used the online Form Filler which lets you download the completed application form along with a bar code that practically eliminates manual labor from the processing time. It looks like my passport went straight to printing (the same day my check was cashed). I have been reading that when you hand fill an application, the staff then has to manually enter data into their database and that takes a very long time, due to reduced staff hours. Trust me, automation does have its benefits, so go ahead and use the Form Filler. My passport was shipped from the Little Rock, Arkansas regional office.
 
To all those of you nearing the end of your journeys too, congratulations and see you on the other side. To those halfway there, more power unto you and godspeed! I remain forever grateful to the relationships this group fosters.