Who administers the oath?

The Oath of Allegiance is administered by either a federal judge (or magistrate judge) at a court ceremony or by a USCIS officer at an administrative ceremony, depending on the venue and the applicant's election. The dual-track system is set out in section 310(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and 8 CFR section 337.2. Federal courts have original jurisdiction to administer the oath, a power retained from the long history (going back to the Naturalization Act of 1790) of conducting naturalization in court.

In judicial ceremonies a U.S. district judge, a magistrate judge, or a designated bankruptcy judge presides, delivers brief remarks, and administers the oath. The Naturalization Act of 1990 also authorized USCIS (then INS) to administer the oath in administrative ceremonies, which now account for most naturalizations. In administrative ceremonies a USCIS officer (often a Field Office Director or Deputy Director) presides.

Both types of ceremony confer the same citizenship and produce the same Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550). Some districts allow applicants to elect a court ceremony in writing on Form N-445 (the ceremony notice) if a USCIS administrative ceremony was scheduled; the request typically delays the ceremony by a few weeks. State court judges no longer administer the oath; their authority was removed by the Immigration Act of 1990.

The presiding official must be in person; the oath generally cannot be taken by remote video, although USCIS conducted some virtual ceremonies during the COVID-19 pandemic before reverting to in-person practice. Judicial and administrative ceremonies confer identical U.S. citizenship and use the same oath text.