harry.st

How come you are not dual yet? If you were sworn.. then you are a US citizen. Aren't you a citizen of the Philippines already? Also: > So that means I can use my Philippine passport to fly to the Philippines from the US Technically (ie legally) you have to depart with a US passport, if you are a citizen (does not matter if you are a citizen of 10 other countries, too). In practice, they do not check. So you show the TSA officer/airline your Philippino passport + they let you board (there is a small chance USCIS is conducting extra checks - I read it happens in Miami periodically. In that case... all bets are off - they may not let you board the plane. But you have to be REALLY unlucky. Also, if they catch you, they cannot punish you - there is no penalty for violating this law. At most you do not board the plane). > BUT I have to make sure I have my US passport when I fly back to the US. The airline will likely not let you board the plane (when flying back) without a US passport. However, if you can somehow make it to the border (either at an airport - by persuading the airline to let you fly, or land border - Canada/Mexico - or some port, if you come by boat), AND can persuade the immigration officer you are indeed a US citizen (eg via a copy/picture/... of the naturalization certificate/social security number... basically whatever evidence you have), you cannot be denied entry. The hard part is making it to the border. You can also apply for an emergency passport w/ the US Embassy in Manila (this is typically issued in 1-2 days. It is of limited duration - basically just to get you back). Or you can apply, in Manila, for a real passport + hope to get it fast (I got mine, from another US embassy, in 9 days).

Went to the US embassy/consulate in Athens, Greece on Oct 17 (citizens services appointments are not plentiful... had mine scheduled in August!). They made a copy of my naturalization certificate (+ gave me back the original), and told me that I will get my passport "in about a month". Email on Oct 25 "your passport has arrived at the embassy - we are sending it to you via courier". Arrived the next day. Note that I had not requested expedited processing. The downside is I did not receive the passport card I requested (apparently it is fairly common). Need to contact them, though, as they do not have a self-addressed envelope for that - unlike for the passport). Can't complain though! -- h PS1 I left the US by train (NYC -> Montreal - lovely trip - HIGHLY recommended) using my Enhanced Driver's license (that I got 10 days after applying, which happened 2 hours after taking the oath, at the DMV downtown NYC) PS2 I suspect I did not really need the Enhanced Driver's License to enter Canada - my greek passport should have sufficed (it did, in the past...).

@Kentucky0452 Look here https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/citlist.php?cfl=&op5=5,10,11 (use the filter to see the info for your CIS office). This will give you a fairly-reliable picture of what the wait times are. Knowing this, plan accordingly.

There was a passport office employee doing an AMA on reddit that said that Walgreens was their nightmare - they got it wrong all the time. I went to the USPS (for pics only - will submit the application at the embassy in Athens). A lady took the pics w/ a hand-held Sony camera; they looked fine (have still not submitted an application, though, so am not sure about the final verdict).

...spoken the truth 🙂

If you look here https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/citlist.php?cfl=&op5=5,10,11 (enter the appropriate CIS Office for your case) oath dates are listed, too

If you live in one of the 5 states that issue enhanced ids, your wife can get one within 2 weeks of applying (she needs to have taken the oath), and then travel via Canada/Mexico (needs to drive there first + board the flight at, say, Toronto. Basically she can only use land border w/ the enhanced Id). But from Sept 27 -> Oct 24... there is no time even for that.

Haha 🙂 You should get Jim Hacking to sue them.

Disclaimer: this is an unimportant question - skip if busy. I took the oath last Thursday - my uscis account still says "Oath Ceremony Notice Was Mailed". Will it stay like this forever? Will the account exist forever (as a memento? that would actually be very cool)?

I got an unrestricted SS card when I first arrived in this country, in 1991, on an F-1 (but I had to work as a teaching assistant at the university - this was part of my financial aid package. Which is the reason I got the card).

Would have been interesting to ask him what was the dress-code like, then...

...forgot to mention that, unlike what I have seen written hereabouts, they were keeping all old green cards, EODs etc (the immigration officer who interviewed me - Oliver sth - was the one collecting the docs from each person, asking whether anything has changed since the interview, etc).

Yesterday in NYC: most people were "ok" dressed. Business casual, at best - nothing too formal. Think what employees wear at the local bank branch. Nobody had a tie. The lady in front me was wearing washed-out blue jeans and a "lady" shirt. The fact that most people were semi-well-dressed gives the event a vague "semi-well-dressy" feel; probably this is all that matters. The odd-one not dressed well does not affect the overall feel (which means you can wear whatever you want - as long as it is not outrageous).

The appointment time on the invitation was 11:20. The staff checking our papers, stapling them together etc referred to it as the "11:30 ceremony". It started shortly after 11:30. Was out of the building by noon. There was no line entering the building, so even if one showed up at 11:15, it would have been fine (I inquired, to the security guys at the entrance, about the rumored long lines - mentioned that I had never seen one, etc etc - and they said "These are not rumors - you should have been here earlier this morning, to see").

At said interview I wore this: https://www.uniqlo.com/us/en/products/E458183-000/00?colorDisplayCode=03&sizeDisplayCode=004 (bought for the occasion. W/ a darkish - for contrast - gray t-shirt, and black - but spanking new - black jeans). @M+K IL at the biometrics I wore what I wear at the grocery store/DMV. So did everybody else (but I never wear shorts).

The lawyer said to wear exactly what I wore at the naturalization interview.

Those were not really sarcastic. Interesting. I used to be a developer, and when people would come to ask sth, I always tried to make sure they had - at least somewhat - attempted to solve the problem themselves (before coming to me). Very welcome. We are here to learn; and this forum is a god send in many ways (kina like stackoverflow ;-})

My sarcasm? No sarcasm whatsoever - this is what the law said! Did I say - or imply - you are? (even if I did, it is perfectly within your rights to do so. They cannot de-naturalize you for this). -- h (retired programmer, btw)

How long do you think? Also, what would the questioning be like? (Also, what can the officer do if you refuse to answer? De-naturalize you on the spot?) -- h PS In all fairness, there was something in the law about obtaining the citizenship with the intention to abandon the country. Murky + practically unenforceable. In any event, this language was removed from the law in the mid-late 90s.

This should be a question on the naturalization interview, tbh - one of the civics ones.

I read many experiences, here and on reddit, but one question... I could not find an answer to (except in very old, pre-COVID and, probably, by now, irrelevant posts). So figured I could ask here. Here goes: What time was listed in your Oath letter, and what time did you leave the building (after the ceremony)? (want to schedule an appointment after my ceremony, so some actual data points would be super-useful) Thanks in advance...

@JeanneAdil Certainly interesting, not that surprising. Doubt they can do it w/o changes to the INA law, though (am not a lawyer, though)

This is called "hate-watching". You and @Redro seem to fancy the sport. Good!

We should start a topic bashing/praising him 🙂

Very hard to bring myself to do it. Many people could use relief from a sinus infection, too. But bringing it up (esp more than once), at a venue where people discuss serious conditions...