Oath ceremony with name change, but scheduled for Federal Plaza? (NYC)

[grayson]

Hi everyone! I've never posted before, but I've been using these forums for the last few years to help my spouse get through his naturalization process and I really appreciate everyone's help!

• Background: We live in NYC and my spouse did his naturalization interview at Federal Plaza on 9-28-2021. It was approved about an hour afterward. Today, we received his oath ceremony letter (abt 8 days later). The ceremony is scheduled for 10-20-2021 at Federal Plaza.

• Problem: I'm a little confused because he asked for a name change. He even discussed the name change thoroughly with the officer during his interview and she confirmed the details. So we expected that meant he would have a judicial oath ceremony at the Pearl St. courthouse.

• Questions: Has anyone else asking for a name change in NYC been scheduled for their oath ceremony at Federal Plaza instead? Did you still get the name change? Does this mean that his name change was rejected?

We're prepared to just go through the courts afterward if the name change didn't get processed for some reason, but wanted to know what to expect and if anyone else had this happen. Thank you!!

Update: I found this article and it leads me to think that the location change is a side effect of COVID rules. Perhaps the court rooms didn't have enough seats/space for proper social distancing. Or perhaps they're having extra ceremonies at Federal Plaza to get through the backlog (the court house only does naturalization ceremonies on Fridays, apparently, and my spouse's is scheduled for a Wednesday.) I guess we'll see when we get there. The uncertainty is definitely the hardest part of the whole process and the pandemic, too. I'll update here afterward so that others who encounter this will know what to expect. ☺