Can you bring family?

USCIS generally permits only spouses and minor children of the applicant to accompany them to the field office on the day of the naturalization interview, and even those family members are typically required to wait in the public reception area rather than enter the interview room. The interview itself is private, and the only people allowed in the interview room with the applicant are: the USCIS officer conducting the interview, an attorney or BIA-accredited representative who has filed Form G-28 (Notice of Entry of Appearance as Attorney or Accredited Representative) on the applicant's behalf, an interpreter for applicants who qualify for a language exception or whose Form N-648 disability waiver requires interpretation assistance, parents or legal guardians of applicants who are minors (although adult-only applies to nearly all naturalization cases since most applicants are 18 or older), and in rare cases a personal attendant for an applicant with a disability that requires assistance.

Family members in the public waiting area are subject to the field office's security procedures (similar to TSA airport screening), and they generally must check in at the front desk and wait until the interview is complete. Some field offices limit the number of accompanying persons in the waiting area to one or two per applicant due to space constraints. Children should generally not be brought to the field office unless absolutely necessary, since interview waits can be long and many offices do not have child-friendly facilities; if children must come, applicants should bring quiet activities and snacks.

By contrast, the Oath of Allegiance ceremony is a public event, and family members and friends are warmly welcomed to attend; ceremonies often have seating for 50 to 200 visitors in addition to the candidates. Applicants are encouraged to invite family and friends to the oath ceremony to celebrate the milestone of citizenship, and many offices and judicial ceremonies provide a guest area with photography and program materials. The contrast between the private interview and the public ceremony is intentional: the interview is an adjudicative proceeding, while the ceremony is a civic ritual.