N-400 January 2015 Filers

[JoRu16 7]

Hi there, Just to congrats everybody that have became citizen. I came back to se how is going on for you guys.

Reading some post I just remember the questions the IO asked me and are the same for aprox 4 people here in diferent cities. that is important I guess for those haven't had their interviews. the questions are

• What is one promise you make when you become a United States citizen?
• What movement tried to end racial discrimination?
• What did Martin Luther King, Jr. do?
• Where is the Statue of Liberty?
• Name two national U.S. holidays
• Who was the first President?

in diferent order I guess but are the same as others.

I also applied for my passport this Tuesday on the City Hall because they do not require appointment. Today my check was cashed. I applied for an expedite passport.

Greetings to everyone and good luck

Wow, reading this I suddenly remembered these were the exact questions I was asked too. I wouldn't be surprised thoughy since we were interviewed on the same day and field office.

BTW, can I ask how did you applied for passport at the city hall? I am planning to go with a friend this wednesday for my passport but to the post office. Thannks.

[Luis Leon 4]

somebody ask me where I am. I live in Miami.

JoRu16 just bring the actual picture, your certificate, your driver license or picture id and the filled form out. Also they got extra forms there.

The personel was very friendly and the place was empty at all, just toke me 5 minutes there. Plenty of parking space. I asked for the express service. my check was cashed already. good luck

[jacobson00 5]

Are the interviews tougher in NYC?

[JimmyHou 611]

Are the interviews tougher in NYC?

No.

[JoRu16 7]

somebody ask me where I am. I live in Miami.

JoRu16 just bring the actual picture, your certificate, your driver license or picture id and the filled form out. Also they got extra forms there.

The personel was very friendly and the place was empty at all, just toke me 5 minutes there. Plenty of parking space. I asked for the express service. my check was cashed already. good luck

Thanks Luis Leon.

I will apply for my passport probably this week. Thanks.

[Welldone 1]

Are the interviews tougher in NYC?

It was easy and fast. I arrived 40 min earlier and was invited by officer in 5 min. Just bring every, every doc that you have and copies of them. She took all my IRS transcripts from 2007 untill now. She asked my SS card. She made a copy of my baby's birth certificate and her SS. She asked for divorce paper of my husband although I filed as 5 years resident and my husband is not related to my case at all ( I obtained the green card through the previous marriage). I had a paper lover interviewer)))))

Thus, decision was not made and she said that I will receive (maybe) request for husband's divorce papers.

Edited May 12, 2015 by Welldone

[shadlom 0]

So i had my interview at the Phoenix office 2 hours ago, and got recommended for approval yaaay. Got a nice officer. Questions where: age for selective service, ocean on the east coast, when constitution was written, state that borders canada, what is freedom of religion, how many us senators. Told him about my ticket i didnt mention on the form and had a receipt and certificate for the defensive driving class i took.

[jjjdddlll 4]

We did biometrics on 2/11 and haven't heard anything since. Should I contact USCIS or is this normal?

[KASH2011 382]

So i had my interview at the Phoenix office 2 hours ago, and got recommended for approval yaaay. Got a nice officer. Questions where: age for selective service, ocean on the east coast, when constitution was written, state that borders canada, what is freedom of religion, how many us senators. Told him about my ticket i didnt mention on the form and had a receipt and certificate for the defensive driving class i took.

Congrats!

[shadlom 0]

Congrats!

Thank you! Now hopefully i won't get stuck in oath limbo and I'll get the letter soon lol.

[PDNK 5]

So i had my interview at the Phoenix office 2 hours ago, and got recommended for approval yaaay. Got a nice officer. Questions where: age for selective service, ocean on the east coast, when constitution was written, state that borders canada, what is freedom of religion, how many us senators. Told him about my ticket i didnt mention on the form and had a receipt and certificate for the defensive driving class i took.

Congrats shadlom!!

[jayjayj 571]

Congratulations and I hope you get your passport soon!

Many people report getting the same questions as others across the country on the same day or sometimes even in the same week. It happens too often for this to be a coincidence. But not everyone interviewed on the same day gets the same questions.

So here's what I think happens (just my theory). USCIS has the questions in groups of ten that are pre-determined. At the beginning of each day or each week, USCIS determines that they will use Groups A, B, and C, each consisting of 10 questions, for that week, or probably even fewer if there's overlap between the three groups... and many people at different offices get the exact same 10 questions.

Another thing I noticed is that these groups of questions cannot be completely randomly generated; this is because some questions get asked very rarely or are perhaps even never asked.

Some questions, like the name of the president, the number of justices on the Supreme Court, the name of the vice president, the oceans to the east and west of the United States, and a few other questions are asked very regularly. However, some questions like naming a Native American tribe are almost never asked. There are two things that could explain this The first is that the questions are usually (but probably not always) selected from a smaller subset of the 100 questions... Or that some of these questions always appear at the end of the group (for example question number 9 or 10 on the test) If this is true then most people would never hear the question because the interviewer stops when they get six right. Either of these reasons might be why no one ever reports being asked some of these questions.

Having said all that, I think the test is pretty easy and that the 100 questions are important parts of this country's history and it's present and anyone who wants to become a citizen should honestly be interested in knowing the answers to these questions. However, I understand that some people who take the test are elderly or have learning problems or language problems.

If there is a higher likelihood (and this is a big if) that some questions will be asked, it might be easier for such applicants to focus on those first, before they move on to the other questions. But I would still encourage everyone to learn the answers to all 100 and to learn a lot more about the history of their new country.

I tend to question the validity of the testing requirements. I don't think there should a test to qualify for naturalization, especially one where they give you all the questions and answers in advance. People simply memorize the answers for the test and then most likely forget most of it. So, it is just a test to see if you can memorize test answers and that isn't the true spirit of intent of the requirement. I bet a majority of natural born U.S. citizens would not be able to answer 70 out of the 100 questions correctly, which makes the entire process very ironic. Jay Leno had a skit in his show, where hosts would go around U.S. cities and ask people similar questions. It was funny, but also sad to see how many people don't know basic U.S. history or how our government functions.

My belief is that if you qualify for naturalization, then you qualify for naturalization. Considering all the current problems with illegal immigration, we should make it as easy and painless as possible for people who wait in line and go through the process of legal immigration. Of course, as most of us on here know, the current process is anything but easy and painless.

[shadlom 0]

Congrats shadlom!!

Thank you!

[NYC2015 0]

Hi Rho!

It's okay to be nervous. I think it is just a mature and healthy reaction in this situation. I had the same set of questions as dooger.

The civic questions were:

1.Who is the Governor of your state now?

2.What is one promise you make when you become a United States citizen?

3.Who was the first President?

4. What did Martin Luther King, Jr do?

5.Where is the statue of Liberty?

6.Name two national US holidays.

As for documents, the officer asked for my passport and my driver's license. He did ask for a social security card (which isn't a document in the list to bring either on the interview letter or the yellow letter that I received.) I did not bring it but the officer was super chill about it and said that it was okay.

Did you get any update since your interview?

[Rho16 1]

Hey,my interview is next Thursday. I'm assuming they don't do oath ceremony in a timely manner in NY. Have you had any updates since your interview?

Anyone from NYC has had their oath ceremony?