I've been here twice and have had great experiences. The first time I had my citizenship test. Security process at the door went smooth and once I sat in the waiting area, I got called in early. The interview went well and the officer was friendly. The second time I went in for my oath ceremony. It was busier this time. Every employee that I encountered was friendly, helpful and patient. I did not see anyone that was rude to candidates or applicants. In fact, I felt their excitement for us becoming US citizens which I thought was so sweet of them. What also stood out to me was that the employees were very friendly, warm and respectful to each other, which is more than you can say of some work environments in corporate America. There is a parking lot across from the building. I believe it's free to use if you have an appointment, but we parked on the street a block away. read more

The officer acted unprofessionally during the interview. He refused to accept my interpreter's U.S. passport as ID (even though it is valid government identification), argued unnecessarily, and only allowed the interview to continue after delay. He required my spouse to leave the room without clear explanation. He then asked me a confusing question ("What's happening in Florida in 2023?"), did not allow the interpreter to fully translate, and raised his voice at me when I tried to clarify. read more

I have no idea if my first review will ever go through, so I'm trying a second one. I was at this office 6/11/24 for a naturalization citizenship ceremony. First and foremost: If you're planning on coming to this facility as an oath taker or as someone who is meeting with case workers, BRING A LAWYER, INTERPRETER, OR IMMIGRATION SPECIALIST. Please don't try to brave the appointment alone. Security is AWFUL. They yell and talk to non English speakers like children. Screamed for a deaf woman and had to be calmly told that she can't hear them. They separated oath takers from family members and wouldn't let us get up to talk to them at all. We had to text each other from several rows over. At one point, someone stood up. The large security guard with the cane began HORRIBLY shaming this person, saying, "Why are you standing?? Everyone, look at this guy! He's the reason this takes so long!" and other security was LAUGHING! I'm not even confident the person they were shaming spoke English fluently enough to fully understand why he was in trouble, and even if he did--public shaming? Really? Jesus Christ. They were in such a damn hurry to get it done that it felt like we didn't matter at all. The process to get citizenship took half a decade and a lot of money we didn't even have at the time. I can ONLY IMAGINE how much of a struggle it was for everyone else in that room. Only to have us moved around and herded like cattle for a 20 minute presentation in a dinky crowded room with shitty chairs? They didn't even wait more than two seconds for applause and celebration between handing out certificates. And then they made another comment about how we weren't applauding enough. I want to hear the names and celebrate the individual, not clap over them. I understand there were 49 people to get through. But a 2 minute clip from the President and a booth to register to vote is not a sufficient way to honor these people for their perseverance. You want immigrants to "do it the right way"? FUCKING ACT LIKE IT! As a side note, update your damn oath. You shouldn't be proud that it comes from the 1700s. Nobody should have to swear off their old country to be a US citizen. read more

Philadelphia USCIS - This is the ceremony room. In all its glory. - Public Services & Government Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Went here for my green card interview 3 years ago and back for my citizenship test a week ago. The officers and security are nice and courteous. I Was very concerned about being in Philadelphia because of the crime rate. I planned to be at least 30 minutes early and was apprehensive about sitting in my car in Philly. Thankfully there is a gated parking lot directly across the street from the building so for $20 I felt safer than just waiting on the street. I waited for my name to be called about 30 minutes. The officer was nice but focused, don't get distracted or let your guard down because he asked about the weather or he's wearing jeans on a Saturday. While walking down the hallway he asked me for my green card so by the time we were seated he was expecting me to hand it to him. He asked a few questions that he already knew the answer to as my entire life history was sitting on the desk in a massive file folder. While in mid conversation he started asking me the civics questions, I really thought he would maybe say ok let's start your questions now but instead the first question was right in with "where do you work? What is your current address, How many senators are there?" He asked me 10 questions and I got all 10 correct. ( I thought they stopped after the first 6 correct answers). He followed up with additional questions from my file and then had me sign a tablet. He did not ask for any additional paperwork besides my green card. He then printed a notice that I passed and later that night I received an alert on my phone that a notice was mailed with the oath taking date. My appt was at 12:55 I was out by 1:45 and this included wait time. I was with the officer for about 20 minutes. Attire: I wore black cowl neck sweater, black capris, black flats. Checkered coat, black purse. Conservative hair style and small earrings. While in the waiting room I was careful to sit up straight and not look bored. Do have all your paperwork with you, keep them all together. Do not rummage around in your bag and wallet for your green card but have it very handy. Do review your application to refresh your answers. Do stay quiet and only answer the questions asked and answer clearly and directly. Do not comment on anything in their office, not their family or pet pictures, not the football team poster or book laying on the desk. Nothing, just shut up and focus! Application received 1/31/22 (did on own without lawyer) Interview date 3/26/22 Awaiting date for oath ceremony ( notice mailed on 3/26. Study your 100 questions, focus more on the ones you tend to get wrong. Listen to YouTube tutorial on 100 questions on commute. Stay off IG, FB and study. This is life changing don't blow it! God Bless! Update: 4/20 Oath taking was 4/13 @ 1:30pm at the same location. I made it with 10 minutes to spare but thankfully they didn't start at the time on the notice. After checking us in (estimated 50 ppl) the ceremony started at 2pm or a few minutes after. It was very, very brief and took about 10 minutes to say the oath and a few introductory words. Thanks to covid no one else is allowed in the room except translator or someone who needs assistance. Our names were called and we went up and collected our certificates. After we were dismissed they invited anyone who wanted to take pictures in the room to do so and if they had families waiting outside they could bring them in at that time. I had no family with me so I choose to leave but I tell you it was emotional for me. I cried during the ceremony (my struggle was 27 years so it was a breath of fresh air for me) For some of you it might not be as big a deal but please be present in the moment and respectful to others who might be having a cry under their mask like me. Turn your phones and alerts of and be appreciative for the opportunity. There were people there with the phone ringer on and their alerts blowing up every few minutes and just texting away without a care in the world. Personally considering the journey for most just for this one time be respectful. Thank God for my amazing beautiful and loving husband. I love you beyond measure for this gift you have given to me.... 11 years of loving you. Please feel free to ask me any questions you might have. Also my attorney in the beginning was awesome she is located in the Philadelphia area. read more

This is worst Immigration office experience I ever been to. The security guard was very rude and unprofessional , didn't even greet by saying hi hello. I was giving wrong mislead information upon arrival for my Us Citizenship and Ceremony . The Security guards was flirting with the immigration officers, totally bad experience. I drove 2 hours and expect to get rude, unprofessional service. They didn't give a certificate holder after I invested over a 1000 dollars for all this effort and preparation, Officer Mc Curdy was very rude and unhelpful and has a bad attitude. read more

Went in for an appointment early in the morning and found street parking a block away that was a 2 hour zone, so I was a little worried, but those fears were unfounded because everything went smoothly and swiftly! The security was very friendly, showing us where to go and even wished us luck. Once we were in the waiting area, we were called about 5 minutes after our scheduled time. The officer that conducted our interview was very nice and easy-going, and made the whole process a very pleasant time while still being professional about it. We got our approval and left all in under an hour! Overall, was very pleased with the experience. Hopefully, we don't have to come back here anytime soon, but if we do it's a comfort to know this place is good! read more

The security guys were very kind and helpful. Staffs were friendly and awesome !! My appointment was at 9:30am and they called us inside around 9:45am. Otherwise, you can bring your phone with you ( I read the other reviews from other places, they said that phone wasn't allowed inside), so just let you guys updated. read more

As federal agencies go, USCIS sets the standard for how to treat people right. The new facility on North 41st Street in West Philly is a vast improvement over Callowhill Avenue. Not only is the space well renovated for more comfort during the inevitable security screening and wait for your appointment, but the guards and staff are trained to treat people with respect and assistance. They patiently repeat instructions and never lose their cool. The meetings are conducted across a counter and thick glass wall, but the interaction remains low key and humane. They intend to answer questions fully, and will make formal inquiry when they do not have a reasonable answer on their computer screen. Don't forget that most visa files are not in Philadelphia, and they cannot see everything in them. Street parking, metered or not, is usually available if you are driving, and the subway is not far away. Too, this part of town, just beyond the universities and at the edge of Powelton Village, offers many tasty distractions before or after conducting your business. read more

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services: My wife and I arrived the other day for the 2nd to last leg of our long, winding journey. Today she was taking her citizenship exam. We had submitted her Form N-400, Application for Naturalization in Sept of 2007. Finally, In August of 2008 we received a letter from the USCIS directing us to go here and take the test. The test itself consists of 10 random verbal questions, about our nations government, supreme court, presidents, flag, constitution, history or anything else related to the USA. It seems easy, but there were tons of things I had to look up myself before hand. They sent us a book that questions and answers beforehand, and we had studied for months. When my wife finally took the test, we had been waiting over an hour in this small room, they just asked if she was still married, what her address was, did she have any other names, was she ever a communist, things like that, then gave her the test itself, she got all of them correct, if you get 4 wrong you fail. If you fail you have to appeal. This is our third visit in the past 6 years. First for fingerprinting, then for removing conditions on a permanent resident. The building itself is older, and usually always has a line around it. there are armed guards who check everything when you first go in, pat you down, scan you with a metal detector, and check your ID. They have elevators & stairs to go up or down. As of Sept 26th, 2008 my wife and I went back for her naturalization ceremony, it took place on the 6th floor. there were about 50 other people in the room also: chinese, indonesian, korean, serbian, armenian, jamaican, barbadian, venezualan, colombian, polish, nigerian, malian, angolan, etc. The Ceremony lasted about an hour and a half, they gave everyone little flags to wave, and there was a film, along with a greeting letter from he President, and at the end everyone had to take the oath of Allegiance. What a great day to become a citizen! some sample questions: A) Who Interprets the law? B) Who is the head of the executive ? C) What do the colors of the flag stand for? D) What are the original 13 colonies? E) What freedoms does the Bill of Rights guarantee? F) Who are the current justices of the Supreme Court? G) How many senators does each state have? read more

See all

My husband and I moved amid the pandemic. We submitted his application for citizenship in January 2020 we heard back in December 2020 about the test. We had moved by then and updated the address June 2020 but just purchased a house we changed the address in the allotted 10days. We called USCIS to confirm that we should still do the trip. Unfortunately, we flew across country, went to the test to be told that we need to reschedule the test to California. I'm immunocompromised and had to fly amid a pandemic. My biggest issue was how rude the employee was. Instead of being apologetic for the various USCIS employees who told us the wrong thing and wasted our time he was rude and halfway through the interview turned them around. I would like USCIS to accept some accountability. Immigrants come to this country every day in pursuit of a better life. I understand that it's a pandemic but I think a lot of these agencies use this to be lazy and ineffective and it's so disappointing. These are actual people's lives that are being debilitated by terrible employees. read more

I was here twice: once for my citizenship test and once for the swearing-in ceremony. (My biometrics appointment was at a different USCIS field office in Dover.) There is no inexpensive parking in the area, but I think the best / safest option is the multi-storey garage across Callowhill Street. Expect to pay something like $12 for a few hours. I don't like the guards in the lobby of 1600 Callowhill Street. One or two of them have this schtick of speaking fast and then chiding immigrants for not understanding their instructions. Once I got upstairs to the USCIS office, I found the immigration officers to be nice and relatively efficient. I may have gotten there on a good day but I didn't need to wait terribly long for my citizenship test and the test itself was quite brief. (If you get every civics question right, you'll pass after only 6 questions. Also, the reading and writing tests are only one sentence each. So most of the interview really is to confirm your information on the N-400 form.) The swearing-in ceremony took longer but only because they had to deal with some 60 new citizens individually, but again, the immigration officers were very nice there. read more

I have to say this new location looks good. The waiting time is not bad at all. I had an appointment for a naturalization interview and I only waited for 30 minutes. Even when I tried to reschedule my oath ceremony, the process seems to be minimal. I just had to get an info pass and talked to an officer. Very good service! read more

Like all things bureaucratic, this operation and the government workers that work there do their thing, sometimes at a snail's pace, and some of them in a very disgruntled manner. The new location here is not the easiest to get to, but the building is clean, new and modern unlike the previous digs at 16th and Callowhill. Security (cheerful, friendly, happy!) here is possibly the highlight of your visit, which should tell you all you need to know. Inside, is not where the magic happens. The waiting times have vastly improved, but the attitude of a good deal of the people leaves something to be desired. I cannot even begin to imagine how challenging and intimidating it must be for those foreign speaking individuals that must come here and interact with the personnel, because most of them, do not have the patience or kindness to do their job. Plenty of street parking on 41st street in early morning or later in the day, just be sure to bring change because there are no electronic parking ticket machines. Skip the $12 lot. read more

Been here a couple of times with my grandmother so she can replace some of her documents. The place is clean and modernized. Security is ALWAYS awesome. I think they are following some type of politeness policy because it seems unreal that everyone is "naturally" kind and inviting allllll the time; nonetheless, they are. Other staff here as well are friendly and professional. I find it a bit annoying that you have to schedule a appointment online or use the kiosk inside for EVERYTHING! I mean just to pick up an application, you need an appointment. Smh, but as they said, all forms are online and everything is pretty simple after that......when your a young American.... But for a foreigner, I can see how all the formalities and rules of everything can be very annoying, intimidating and frustrating to complete. 911 happened and now we have to take higher safety measures, so yes, I get it. Thanks to the security/staff for not adding fuel to the fire of what can be a scary process for some. read more

At the end of the day - this place is what it is for - in that your here for legal reasons - why the 5 stars - this is one of the first places I have been where government employees actually smile and enjoy their job - yes I did see 6 DHS police storm a room but everyone remained calm and it was a pleasant experience - I was there for an interview and was nervous but from the guard at the front to the interviewer - ''twas good read more

I concur with many of the other reviews on this site. I was met with nothing but courtesy and friendliness in my dealings with this office. Based in my experience, it is obvious that the staff genuinely enjoy their role in helping immigrants negotiate the immigration and naturalization process. My Mistress of Ceremonies at my naturalization ceremony was particularly awesome. She was funny, a little irreverent, and helped make everyone feel at ease. read more

Surprised at the good attitudes and smiles the staff and security personnel have at both Philadelphia locations. The field office interviewer took us as a walk-in after hurricane Sandy forced the office to close earlier in the week and canceling our scheduled appointment. It was so painless it was amazing. read more

Having had the dubious "pleasure" of dealing with other USCIS offices elsewhere in the country, have nothing but praise for the staff at this office. The staff, including the security personnel, are invariably courteous, professional and helpful. read more

This is a review for the 41st (new) location. This place is easy to get to by subway which is a lot more convenient than the northeast office. I have came here twice, once for an info pass and once for biometrics. The staff are really friendly. They do take walk ins for finger print once you have your letter. Just be very polite and patient about it. Good luck everyone. read more

I had a very positive experience with this particular branch. Customer service is really good and they will try their best to help you with any issues you might have. read more