Here is my experience of same day interview and oath in Seattle.

Interview

My interview was at 9:00 but I left early (6:30) since I live 30 miles away and traffic is a nightmare around there. I was lucky to bypass two bad crashes because I was listening to the radio and got to a Starbucks near there for breakfast.

I arrived at the Seattle USCIS office at 8:20. Parking is US$7.00 and they only accept cash. The place was mostly empty though and I got through security and check in quickly. They scanned my left and right index fingers and took a photo. They asked for the interview letter, my greencard and an ID. I was told to go to the second floor.

Second floor was mostly empty. There are two areas with rows of seats and I went to the one where there were people. Officers would sometime show up and call someone. I noticed though that sometimes officers from that side of the building would call names as well but they would always go after someone if no one answered.

There was a white board where it said “interviews 10 minutes” and I assumed that was how late they were. Next someone came and changed it to 20 minutes. No idea what was that since I was called at exactly 9:00am.

The building is big and I went through a maze until the officer’s office. She asked me to stand and answer her question. Here I was prepared to say “I do” based on the video USCIS has online but it was a yes/no question about telling the truth. I said yes.

She then went quickly to the form and asked me the basic questions. She asked about my wife and I told her she would do it next year. After the questions about personal data she started asking the questions on the form.

However, she was not asking the questions exactly like they were in the form. Basically she asked for the same information but in a different way. I was almost caught off guard when she started a series of questions where I kept saying “no” (section “A” questions). I had answered “no” for all questions in there. But she asked me question 4 “Do you pay taxes?” and I almost said no. I hesitated a little bit, smiled and said yes – of course I pay taxes. (question 4 says: have you ever failed to file a required Federal, State, or Local tax return).

Next, the dreaded question 16 on section D. I had answered “no” – never been arrested but I told here I had traffic tickets, all of them less than 500 dollars. She said that was okay and my answer was also okay.

After that things went pretty quickly. She gave me a sheet of paper and I read the first line- something about George Washington, I forgot what exactly it was. In another sheet of paper I had to write “Washington was the first president”.

Once we finished the form she asked me if I knew exactly what the oath of allegiance was and if I was willing to take it. I said yes. She then specifically said some parts of it – allegiance for the US and not for my country of origin; serve the military if needed; etc. I also said yes. She asked me to sign on the form and on the left side of the photograph. Note that she asked me to write my signature, not print my name. I liked that because I can use my signature in the naturalization certificate and passport.

On to the civics questions – not in this particular order:

21. The house of representatives has how many voting members
27. What month do we vote for president
37. What does the judicial branch do
40. Who is the Chief Justice of the United States Now?
69. Who is the father of our country
78. Name one war fought by the United States in 1900.

Finally, she told me she was recommending my application for approval and asked if I wanted to take the oath today. I was hoping to get same day oath at 1:15pm and said yes. She congratulated me and I was led back to the waiting room. It was 9:15 am.

ETA: While I was waiting I noticed a group of people - two women and a man that was obviously a lawyer. I overheard that the application had been initially denied. They had a bunch of documents and were reading laws, waivers, etc. People from USCIS were also coming there sometimes to chat. I felt bad for her and at the same time got concerned if something like that could happen to me or my wife. I also saw a little girl (maybe 3?) running around and saying "America", cute. Also saw hear at oath - they said that if you become a citizen children automatically become citizens as well but if they have more than 14 (and less than 18) they have to do the oath as well. All my kids were citizens already so they didn't have to do it.

Waiting for Oath

I had four hours to do something and I was over dressed (remember, hoping to get same day oath). Naturally I decided to go to CostCo (it is close by and far away from home). I had lunch there and went back to the previously mentioned Startbucks to wait.

Oath

I drove back to the parking lot at 12:30. I had to pay the parking fee again (I knew that). I went through security again but this time they didn’t tell me to check in. They asked me to go to the same place I was in the morning to wait.

Unlike early in the morning the place was packed. For a while I thought that everyone was there for Oath but officers were still calling people for interviews. I was close to the stairs and paying attention to what was happening. At this moment I filled in the form saying that nothing had happened between my interview and oath – I did not get a divorce, didn’t commit a crime (including traffic violations), didn’t leave the country, etc. The form specifically said to use black ink. I had one pen and two pencils with me (based on what to take to the interview sticky thread – but there was no mention in that thread of the color of the pen). Luckily the pen was black. Suddenly people around me were asking to borrow it.

Nothing happened at 1:15 but at 1:30 I heard a faint voice from downstairs that sounded like it was telling us to go downstairs and queue in two lines. Some of us went there reluctantly (we weren’t sure that we heard it correctly) but that was exactly what he had said.

This was next to the stairs near the entrance to an auditorium. They asked family and friends to go ahead and seat while the processed us. I gave my greencard and the form and I was assigned a numbered seat.

We got a big white envelope. Inside there was a voter’s guide, a copy of the oath of allegiance, star spangled banner and pledge of allegiance. A letter from the president was inside a yellow envelope. A folder congratulating us for becoming US citizens. There was also a big white cardboard-like sheet which I assumed was to store the certificate after we got it.

After everybody was processed the ceremony started. They first explained how the ceremony was going to be step by step. It started with a photo montage of people becoming US citizens. I can’t remember the order exactly but I think they asked us to stand up and sing the star spangled banner. People emotions were high and we could see a few crying. They asked everybody to seat and we watched a message from the president.

Then the officer that was presenting said that 79 people were becoming citizens from 37 nations. They would start calling by nation and people should stand up when they hear theirs. Nobody should sit again until the oath was made at which point – he said – next time you seat you all will be US citizens.

They started calling the nations names in what looked like alphabetical order. However, they missed mine. I was a little bit concerned here but at some point we were in the letter ‘T’ and more than half of the people were still seated. They can’t be all from Zimbabwe. They started again (I heard “Canada”) and they went through this semi-alphabetical order till everybody was up. There were 8 from the Philippines, the largest group.

Another officer showed up and did the oath with us. We all clapped and they asked us to seat down. Again, very emotional – a lot of the people were crying. They started calling us per rows (based on the numbering) and giving the certificate while family and friends could take pictures of the moment. After shaking hands with the officer they would also give us a booklet about being a citizen and a form to register to vote. I asked the person behind me to take a picture since my family is current abroad.

We were told to be very careful with the certificate. First we should check for any errors and we could fix them for free today. If we noticed something wrong and come back tomorrow they would charge us US$344. Also, if we lose or damage it we will also have to pay US$344. I wonder if I have to send it with the passport application now.

They asked us to sit again. At this point they told us that they were closing the ceremony (I think we did the pledge of allegiance after that) and they let anyone to go on the stage and take pictures. After that I went back to the car, send a message to my wife and left. I was finally an American citizen.

Next step is applying for passport. I went back home and I have the paperwork done for tomorrow.

The Seattle’s USCIS Office

I only have great things to say about this office. I did both my greencard and naturalization there. I was treated very well every time I was there. People were always friendly and it felt good to be there. I don’t know if I was lucky and everyone I interacted was nice or it is just like that – but my wife also did her greencard there and she had a similar experience.

ETA: Passport. I had scheduled an appointment for the Seattle agency about two weeks ago (they only schedule 14 days in advance). When I got home I did the paperwork - passport form - and a copy of my driver's license front and back in the same page. I also copied and scanned my naturalization certificate. I stapled a picture I had to the form.

I was there 7:30am next day (the 19th) and parked nearby. Almost no one was there at this time so I found parking on the street (paid parking).

In the building I went through security. Unlike USCIS it was like airport security and I had to take off my belt and shoes. I went up to the 6th floor. It wasn't open yet. You can't be there more than 15 min earlier (my appointment was at 8:00).

They opened the doors at 7:45 and I was the first one. A guy was pre processing the paperwork and gave me a ticket. But I was immediately called to a window so I didn't even get to sit down. They got my credit card, checked everything and asked if I wanted to pick it up or if it should be sent by mail. I said mail but I was worried with the certificate (they keep it) and, as I said before, it costs US$344. So I said I was going to pick it up. I signed the form, the credit card payment and she told me it would be ready on Monday after 11:00am. I'll pick it up next Friday, I think. I was out at 8:00am.