(a) An applicant may be granted an expedited oath administration ceremony by either the court or the Service upon demonstrating sufficient cause. In determining whether to grant an expedited oath administration ceremony, the court or the district director shall consider special circumstances of a compelling or humanitarian nature. Special circumstances may include but are not limited to:

(1) The serious illness of the applicant or a member of the applicant's family;

(2) Permanent disability of the applicant sufficiently incapacitating as to prevent the applicant's personal appearance at a scheduled ceremony;

(3) The developmental disability or advanced age of the applicant which would make appearance at a scheduled ceremony inappropriate; or

(4) Urgent or compelling circumstances relating to travel or employment determined by the court or the Service to be sufficiently meritorious to warrant special consideration.

(b) Courts exercising exclusive authority may either hold an expedited oath administration ceremony or refer the applicant to the Service in order for either the Immigration Judge or the Service to conduct an oath administration ceremony, if an expedited judicial oath administration ceremony is impractical. The court shall inform the district director in writing of its decision to grant the applicant an expedited oath administration ceremony and that the court has relinquished exclusive jurisdiction as to that applicant.

(c) All requests for expedited administration of the oath of allegiance shall be made in writing to either the court or the Service. Such requests shall contain sufficient information to substan

tiate the claim of special circumstances to permit either the court or the Service to properly exercise the discretionary authority to grant the relief sought. The court or the Service may seek verification of the validity of the information provided in the request. If the applicant submits a written request to the Service, but is awaiting an oath administration ceremony by a court pursuant to §337.8, the Service promptly shall provide the court with a copy of the request without reaching a decision on whether to grant or deny the request.

[60 FR 37804, July 24, 1995]

§ 337.7 Information and assignment of individuals under exclusive jurisdiction.

(a) No later than at the time of the examination on the application pursuant to $335.2 of this chapter, an employee of the Service shall advise the applicant of his or her right to elect the site for the administration of the oath of allegiance, subject to the exclusive jurisdiction provision of §310.3(d) of this chapter. In order to assist the applicant in making an informed decision, the Service shall advise the applicant of the upcoming Immigration Judge or Service conducted and judicial ceremonies at which the applicant may appear, if found eligible for naturalization.

(b) An applicant whose application has been approved by the Service who is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of a court pursuant to §310.2(d) of this chapter, shall be advised of the next available court ceremony and provided with a written notice to appear at that ceremony. If the applicant is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of more than one court exercising exclusive jurisdiction, the applicant will be informed of

(a) Notification of election. An applicant for naturalization not subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of §310.2(d) of this chapter shall notify the Service at the time of the filing of, or no later than at the examination on, the application of his or her election to have the oath of allegiance administered in an appropriate court having jurisdiction over the applicant's place of residence.

(b) Certification of eligibility—(1) Exclusive jurisdiction. In those instances falling within the exclusive jurisdiction provision of section 310(b)(1)(B) of the Act, the Service shall notify the court of the applicant's eligibility for admission to United States citizenship by submitting to the clerk of court Form N-646 within ten (10) days of the approval of the application.

(2) Non-exclusive jurisdiction. In those instances in which the applicant has elected to have the oath administered in a court ceremony, the Service shall notify the clerk of court, in writing, using Form N-646, that the applicant has been determined by the Attorney General to be eligible for admission to United States citizenship upon taking the requisite oath of allegiance and renunciation in a public ceremony. If a scheduled hearing date is not available at the time of the notification, Form N-646 shall indicate that the applicant has not been scheduled for a ceremony and the applicant shall be informed in writing that the application has been approved but no ceremony date is yet available.

(c) Preparation of lists. (1) At or prior to the oath administration ceremony the representative attending the ceremony shall submit to the court on Form N-647, in duplicate, lists of persons to be administered the oath of allegiance and renunciation. After the ceremony, and after any required amendments and notations have been made therein, the clerk of court shall sign the lists.

(2) The originals of all court lists specified in this section shall be filed permanently in the court, and the duplicates returned by the clerk of court to the appropriate Service office for retention by such office. The same disposition shall be made of any list presented to, but not approved by, the court.

(d) Personal representation of the government at oath administration ceremonies. An oath administration ceremony shall be attended by a representative of the Service, who shall review each applicant's completed questionnaire Form N-445. If necessary, the Service representative shall question the applicant regarding the information thereon. If the questioning reveals derogatory information, the applicant's name shall be removed from the list of eligible persons as provided in §335.5 of this chapter and the court shall not administer the oath to such applicant.

(e) Written report in lieu of personal representation. If it is impracticable for a Service representative to be present at a judicial oath administration ceremony, written notice of that fact shall be given by the Service to the court. The applicants to be administered the oath shall be listed on the appropriate forms prescribed in paragraph (d) of this section. The forms, memoranda, and certificates of naturalization shall be transmitted to the clerk of court, who shall submit the appropriate lists to the court.

(f) Withdrawal from court. An applicant for naturalization not subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of §310.3(d) of this chapter, who has elected to have the oath administered in a court oath ceremony, may, for good cause shown. request that his or her name be removed from the list of persons eligible to be administered the oath at a court oath ceremony and request that the oath be administered in a ceremony conducted by an Immigration Judge or the Service. Such request shall be in writing to the Service office which granted the application and shall cite the reasons for the request. The district director or officer-in-charge shall consider the good cause shown and the best interests of the applicant in making a decision. If it is determined that

the applicant shall be permitted to withdraw his or her name from the court ceremony, the Service shall give written notice to the court of the applicant's withdrawal, and the applicant shall be scheduled for the next available oath ceremony, conducted by an Immigration Judge or the Service, as if he or she had never elected the court ceremony.

[58 FR 49915, Sept. 24, 1993, as amended at 60 FR 37804, July 24, 1995]

$337.9 Effective date of naturalization.

(a) An applicant for naturalization shall be deemed a citizen of the United States as of the date on which the applicant takes the prescribed oath of allegiance, administered either by the Service or an Immigration Judge in an administrative ceremony or in a ceremony conducted by an appropriate court under § 337.8 of this chapter.

(b) When the taking of the oath is waived for a child pursuant to part 322 of this chapter, the child shall be deemed a citizen of the United States as of the date upon which the waiver was granted by the Service. The appearance of the child and the child's parent(s) at an oath ceremony, if the oath is waived under this paragraph, is not required. Nothing in this paragraph is to be construed as preventing the appearance of the child and parent(s) at an oath ceremony.

[56 FR 50500, Oct. 7, 1991, as amended at 60 FR 37804, July 24, 1995]

§ 338.1 Execution and issuance of certificate.

(a) Issuance. When an applicant for naturalization has taken and subscribed to the oath of allegiance in accordance with §§ 337.1, 337.2 and 337.3 of this chapter, a Certificate of Naturalization, Form N-550, shall be issued by the Service at the conclusion of the oath administration ceremony. For each applicant appearing at a judicial oath administration ceremony pursuant to §337.8, the Service shall prepare the Certificate of Naturalization and forward it to the clerk of court sufficiently in advance of the ceremony to ensure the timely delivery on the date the oath administration ceremony is conducted.

(b) Execution of certificate. The certificate shall be issued to the applicant in his or her true, full, and correct name as it exists at the time of the administration of the oath of allegiance. The certificate shall show, under "former nationality," the name of the applicant's last country of citizenship, as shown in the application and Service records, even though the applicant may be stateless at the time of admission to citizenship. Photographs shall be affixed to the certificate in the manner provided in part 333 of this chapter. The certificate shall be signed by the applicant. The Commissioner's signature shall be affixed to the certificate. [58 FR 49916, Sept. 24, 1993]

$338.2 Execution in case name is

changed.

Whenever the name of an applicant has been changed by order of a court as a part of a naturalization, the clerk of court, or his or her authorized deputy, shall forward a copy of the order changing the applicant's name with the notifications required by part 339 of

this chapter. The Certificate of Naturalization will be issued to the applicant in the name as changed.

[56 FR 50501, Oct. 7, 1991]

§ 338.3 Delivery of certificates.

No Certificate of Naturalization will be delivered in any case in which the naturalized person has not surrendered his or her Permanent Resident Card to the Service. Upon a finding that the card is destroyed or otherwise unavailable, the district director may waive the surrender of the card and the Certificate of Naturalization shall then be delivered to the naturalized person.

[56 FR 50501, Oct. 7, 1991, as amended at 63 FR 70316, Dec. 21, 1998]

§ 338.4 Signing of certificate.

If a child who has been admitted to citizenship under section 322 of the Act is unable to sign his or her name, the Certificate of Naturalization must be signed by the citizen parent who submitted the application for the child. The signature will read "(name of naturalized child) by (signature of parent)". A naturalized person whose application was signed in a foreign language may sign the certificate of naturalization in the same manner.

[56 FR 50501, Oct. 7, 1991]

$338.5

Correction of certificates.

(a) Whenever a Certificate of Naturalization has been delivered which does not conform to the facts shown on the application for naturalization, or a clerical error was made in preparing the certificate, an application for issuance of a corrected certificate, Form N-565, without fee, may be filed by the naturalized person. The application shall be filed at the Service office having jurisdiction over the place of residence of the applicant.

(b) If the certificate was originally issued by a clerk of court under a prior statute and the district director finds that a correction is justified and can be made without mutilating the certificate, he or she shall authorize the clerk of the issuing court, or his or her authorized deputy, on Form N-459, in duplicate, to make the necessary correction and to place a dated endorsement on the reverse of the certificate,

over the clerk's or deputy's signature and the seal of the court, explaining the correction. The authorization shall be filed with the naturalization record of the court, the corrected certificate shall be returned to the naturalized person, and the duplicate Form N-459 shall be endorsed to show the date and nature of the correction and endorsement made, and then returned to the district director. No fee shall be charged the naturalized person for the correction. The district director shall forward the duplicate endorsed authorization to the official Service file.

(c) If the certificate was originally issued by the Service, and the district director finds that a correction was justified, the necessary correction shall be made to the certificate and a dated endorsement made on the reverse of the certificate, over the signature of the district director and the seal of the Department of Justice. A notation regarding the correction shall be placed on the Form N-565 which shall be forwarded to the Service file.

(d) When a correction made pursuant to paragraph (b) or (c) of this section would or does result in mutilation of a certificate, the district director shall issue a replacement certificate on Form N-570 and the surrendered certificate shall be destroyed.

(e) The correction will not be deemed to be justified where the naturalized person later alleges that the name or date of birth which the applicant stated to be his or her correct name or date of birth at the time of naturalization was not in fact his or her name or date of birth at the time of the naturalization.

[56 FR 50501, Oct. 7, 1991]

§§ 338.6-338.10 [Reserved]

§ 338.11 Execution and issuance of certificate of naturalization by clerk of court.

(a) When a petitioner for naturalization, whose petition for naturalization was filed prior to October 1, 1991, has taken and subscribed to the oath of allegiance, and a final order of citizenIship has been signed by the court, a certificate of naturalization shall be issued in duplicate by the clerk of court on Form N-550 (rev. 11-1-87) or N

550C. If the court maintains naturalization records using the certificate stub, the certificates and the stub of the original certificate shall be signed by the petitioner. If the court maintains naturalization records on an electronic database then only the certificates shall be signed by the petitioner and the information contained on the stub shall be entered into and maintained in the court's electronic database.

(b) The certificate shall show under "former nationality" the name of the country of which the petitioner was last a citizen, as shown on the petition, even though the petitioner may have been stateless at the time of admission to citizenship. The clerk of court or the authorized deputy shall endorse the alien registration number on the certificate stub, or if using automation equipment, ensure it is part of the electronic database record. The clerk of court or the authorized deputy shall personally sign the certificate, and ensure that the essential facts from the certificate are on the stub or entered into the electronic database record. Both certificates and stubs shall be prepared in one operation unless an automated system is used. Photographs shall be affixed to the original and duplicate certificates in the manner prescribed in 8 CFR part 333.

(c) The stub of the original certificate or the information recorded from the stub that is maintained on the electronic database shall be retained by the clerk of court. Courts using the certificate stub shall file and maintain the stub in a 3'x5' card file container. The electronic record shall be maintained in an accessible database with a back-up system to ensure protection and integrity of data. The original certificate shall be delivered to the petitioner. The duplicate certificate shall not be separated from the stub, and shall be forwarded to the appropriate office of the Immigration and Naturalization Service with all other duplicate papers or records in accordance with 8 CFR part 333.

[56 FR 30679, July 5, 1991, as amended at 56 FR 50501, Oct. 7, 1991]

§ 338.12 Endorsement by clerk of court in case name is changed.

Whenever the name of a petitioner, whose petition for naturalization was filed prior to October 1, 1991, has been changed by order of a court as part of a naturalization, the clerk of court or his or her authorized deputy shall make the following endorsement on the front of the original and duplicate certificate of naturalization: "Name changed by decree of court from as part of the naturalization." inserting in full the original name of the petitioner. This notation will be inserted immediately following the year of naturalization. If the stubs are being kept as naturalization records, a similar notation will be made on the stubs of the original and duplicate certificates, an the stub of the original certificate will be signed by the petitioner in the name as changed. If the court is using an electronic database for naturalization recordkeeping, the name change information will be maintained in that database. The original certificate will be issued and the duplicate, with or without the stub, depending on the specific courts recordkeeping system, will be sent to the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

[56 FR 30680, July 5, 1991; 56 FR 38485, Aug. 13, 1991, as amended at 56 FR 50501, Oct. 7, 1991]

$338.13 Spoiled certificate.

Whenever a certificate of naturalization is damaged, mutilated, defaced, or otherwise spoiled before delivery by the clerk, the original and duplicate, with stubs intact, shall be marked "Spoiled" and transmitted to the appropriate immigration and naturalization office, in the manner described in § 339.2 of this chapter, with the monthly report of the clerk on Form N-4. This section applies to certificates prepared by the clerk of court pursuant to § 338.11.

[22 FR 9824, Dec. 6, 1957, as amended at 56 FR 50502, Oct. 7, 1991]