Proto_type

Hello,

I need to postpone the citizenship oath ceremony because I just found
out that I need to file some paperwork with my country of origin, so
that I don't lose my citizenship there.

Basically, I don't want to become a citizen of the U.S. until I have
that paperwork in hand from my old country that says, "You can become a
U.S. citizen and remain a citizen of ours at the same time".

This process will take about 1 to 4 months, so I need to "buy myself
some time" by posponing the citizenship oath ceremony.

Question to the group: Has anyone here postponed their oath ceremony?
How much time has it bought them (Southern California).

Or has someone simply not shown up? (be it on purpose or an accident)
What happened in that case? Did it ruin your citicenship application
completely?

Generally, I want to avoid two things:

1.) Lying to the U.S. government about the reasons for postponement --

2.) Secondly, I want to avoid abandonment of my citizenship app.

Yet I fear that my personal desire to file that paperwork with my old
country is not seen by the U.S. as a worthy reason to postpone... it
may be seen as a personal luxury, or even an intent to abandon my
citizenship app. The U.S. govt. may take the position that "it's too
bad" that I didn't get that paperwork from my birth country sooner.
They may say, "show up or lose it".

I feel that a "standard" reason to postpone, such as "sudden illness",
"sudden business travel" would be approved more easily.

Again, no matter what the reasons are: How much time would a
posponement buy me?

Thanks!

Kevin Keane

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

My guess is that requesting a postponement will buy you just about the right
amount of time. As far as I know, citizenship oath ceremonies are held only
every couple months, usually on or near special dates such as the 4th of
July. Mine was September 16, the Friday before Citizenship Day.

With that said, I would caution you about actually doing what you are
planning to do. There are many people who consider it harmless, and most
likely there will not be a problem.

However, some people have suggested that applying for such a permit to
retain your old citizenship can endanger your US citizenship. This is
because in the US citizenship oath, you explicitly declare that you are
renouncing loyalty to all other countries. If you apply for permission to
remain a citizen of another country - and even request moving the
citizenship oath - you are taking an awfully big and obvious step that
indicates that you do not actually intend to renounce your loyalty.

If your country allowed you to keep your old citizenship automatically
without an application, this issue wouldn't arise. This is why, for
instance, UK or Canadian citizens can keep dual citizenship. People from
countries such as yours (Germany, for instance) who require an explicit
application may have the difficulty described above. That is why I would
recommend that you consider giving up your original citizenship.

proto_type wrote:

    > Hello,
    >
    > I need to postpone the citizenship oath ceremony because I just found
    > out that I need to file some paperwork with my country of origin, so
    > that I don't lose my citizenship there.
    >
    > Basically, I don't want to become a citizen of the U.S. until I have
    > that paperwork in hand from my old country that says, "You can become a
    > U.S. citizen and remain a citizen of ours at the same time".
    >
    > This process will take about 1 to 4 months, so I need to "buy myself
    > some time" by posponing the citizenship oath ceremony.
    >
    > Question to the group: Has anyone here postponed their oath ceremony?
    > How much time has it bought them (Southern California).
    >
    > Or has someone simply not shown up? (be it on purpose or an accident)
    > What happened in that case? Did it ruin your citicenship application
    > completely?
    >
    > Generally, I want to avoid two things:
    >
    > 1.) Lying to the U.S. government about the reasons for postponement --
    >
    > 2.) Secondly, I want to avoid abandonment of my citizenship app.
    >
    > Yet I fear that my personal desire to file that paperwork with my old
    > country is not seen by the U.S. as a worthy reason to postpone... it
    > may be seen as a personal luxury, or even an intent to abandon my
    > citizenship app. The U.S. govt. may take the position that "it's too
    > bad" that I didn't get that paperwork from my birth country sooner.
    > They may say, "show up or lose it".
    >
    > I feel that a "standard" reason to postpone, such as "sudden illness",
    > "sudden business travel" would be approved more easily.
    >
    > Again, no matter what the reasons are: How much time would a
    > posponement buy me?
    >
    > Thanks!

- --
Please visit my FAQ at http://www.kkeane.com before asking a question here.
It may answer your question. Remember, I am strictly a layperson without
any legal training. I encourage the reader to seek competent legal counsel
rather than relying on usenet newsgroups.
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.0 (GNU/Linux)

iD8DBQFDwpyN2STeoAchQDkRAmNNAJ4vlsZWDPpVUE/eoK6N4TO3VqwdjgCglSou
qMwo9b93PRHyqU2/aczZNSs=
=mNIQ
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----