Interview/Oath question

[satishr]

Friends,
I have my citizenship interview scheduled on Nov 1st 2007.
But I have planned my vacation to India betwen Oct19 and Nov11. But since I dont want to re-schedule my interveiew, I will reschedule my vacation. But

1).After my interview, how long till I take the oath. Is there a schedule ?
2).can I change my interview date. I mean pre-pone it ?.
3). If I re-schedule my interview date, what would be my processing time, approximately.

I appreciate your help this regard.
Satish

[donelly]

Hi Satish,
I think it depends on where you are. When I had my interview here in Portland, OR earlier this year, I was offered to take part in the oath ceremony the next day since there is one scheduled each day. I would suggest contact your local uscis office. One thing you should keep in mind is in case you want to embark on a vacation trip right after you've been naturalized is that you also need to apply for a US passport in order to reenter the country.

donelly

[knowledgeable]

U.S. Passport --> Indian Visa

You do know that once you're an United States citizen, your Indian passport is invalid and you cannot use it to travel to India.

You need to apply for your U.S. passport once you get your Naturalization certificate.

Then based on the U.S. passport you'll need to apply for your Indian visa or a PIO card or an OCI.

Good luck.

[satishr]

Thank you guys. I just met with an immigration officer locally. I will re-schedule my trip. I will attend my interview, but probably postpone my oath ceremony.

As per the immigration officer, she cannot tell when the Oath Cermony would be. It all depends on the mystery "scheduler". However, one has 30 days to respond, might you miss the oath ceremony on the schduled date to request for another.

As you guys said, once I take the oath, i need to surrender my GC, apply for an American Passport, and a PCI card, which could take several months.

When do I apply for my PIO card? Can I apply at the same time I apply for my US passport (which is after my oath ceremony) ?.

I really appreciate all your comments.

Satish

[waitin_toolong]

after you get tha passport, because you will need those details

[knowledgeable]

Plan

Some of the USPS Post Offices accept applications for passport. Schedule an appointment on the next day after your oath ceremony as you'll need the naturalization certificate to apply for your US passport.

For India, you can get a 6 month to 10 year visa on the same day. You'll need your US passport for Indian visa.

For a long term project, PIO card will get you 15 years, takes about 3 weeks or so and OCI is lifetime, takes about 4 to 5 weeks.

Good luck.

[givemebreak]

Interview in ATLANTA

Hi There,

Please help me here .

I got interview letter for OCT 23rd in Atlanta.
we will be travelling to India on Nov2nd to DEc4th . Given the USpassport/PIO card we cannot get all that and we cannot postpone our trip

Question here is :
1) Can i deny to take a oath same day and ask them to postpone . Does it impact your interview decision ?

2) Is it wise to postpone your interview

Please help us as we don't knwo anyone who has experience in Atlanta for Interview.

Thanks in advance.

GMB

[knowledgeable]

Yes, no and maybe

Hi,

You don't "DENY" your oath, you politely & professionally request to take it another time.

If your trip is that much important then you got to do what you got to do. You be the judge of what you want to do and how much critical or important is your trip.

Any government work takes a long processing time. Your delay in oath may result in a quick re-schedule or postponement of several months. It's your choice.

Once you've passed your interview, your delay in scheduling for the oath ceremony is not going to have any impact otherwise.

Personally, I would recommend that you finish everything here, get your process completed, get a six month India visa in one day and go to India based on the same.

Once you're back in the US then you can apply for your PIO or OCI card.

Good luck.

Hi There,

Please help me here .

I got interview letter for OCT 23rd in Atlanta.
we will be travelling to India on Nov2nd to DEc4th . Given the USpassport/PIO card we cannot get all that and we cannot postpone our trip

Question here is :
1) Can i deny to take a oath same day and ask them to postpone . Does it impact your interview decision ?

2) Is it wise to postpone your interview

Please help us as we don't knwo anyone who has experience in Atlanta for Interview.

Thanks in advance.

GMB

[givemebreak]

Thanks Knowledgable for your response

"Once you've passed your interview, your delay in scheduling for the oath ceremony is not going to have any impact otherwise""

We are fine with little delay on Oath as long as we get it at later time . All i was concerned abt that delaying oath ceromany should not impact on PASS?FAIL in interview and my guess is they only ask abt OATH later after interview only....is that right ?

[knowledgeable]

Absolutely

Still my suggestion would be to get the USC and then go to India on your Indian visa. Exception should be only for emergencies or critical nature of your visit.