March Filers?

[Oasis 0]

Hello to the March Filers,

Sounds like everyone is getting their interview letters.. I am happy for you guys

Seems like we are all interviewing in the same week.

What I still dont understand is that people that applied last year have not gotten their interview letters...The system is messed up if you asked me...

Why are we getting them ? Shouldn't they be first ? Well I am not complaining but I hate to have to wait that long

So how is everyones studying going ? mine so so

[tammiandtom 0]

Hello to the March Filers,

Sounds like everyone is getting their interview letters.. I am happy for you guys

Seems like we are all interviewing in the same week.

What I still dont understand is that people that applied last year have not gotten their interview letters...The system is messed up if you asked me...

Why are we getting them ? Shouldn't they be first ? Well I am not complaining but I hate to have to wait that long

So how is everyones studying going ? mine so so

My husband's studying seems to be going good. He made flash cards of all the questions and when I quizzed him the other night he got them all correct.

Tammi, your husband got his interview notice already? And you filed in March 2008? We also filed in March 2008, but March 31, 2008 if that still counts for March. But we did get our green cards, came in April 22, 2008 to be precise. But haven't touched the N-400 since 04/05/2008 and we had to send that to Nebraska, which service center are you with?

Nebraska, but it goes by your local office, and ours is Cleveland which is a speedy office.

[NickD 203]

Nebraska, but it goes by your local office, and ours is Cleveland which is a speedy office.

St. Paul ain't exactly overcrowded either, too cold for people to want to immigrate up here. Only reason why we stay here is that our feet are frozen to the ground and we can't move to warmer climate even if we wanted to.

Last visit counted nine armed guards standing around doing nothing, too bad the USCIS doesn't train them to process applications, maybe things would move along a bit quicker.

[Oasis 0]

My studying is going ok... but I forgot the answers easy

[tammiandtom 0]

[cal 0]

I received my interview letter yesterday. Scheduled for July 14 in Denver. Must get to some studying!

[NickD 203]

I received my interview letter yesterday. Scheduled for July 14 in Denver. Must get to some studying!

Could be like Jeopardy where the give you the answers and you make up the questions.

Red, white, and Blue.

What are the colors of the USA flag?

U.S. Constitution.

What is the supreme law of the USA?

Bush.

What does my dog like to take a leak on?.......

[ChrisR 0]

Had my interview on 06/06 in San Antonio and the interviewed recommended my application be APPROVED!!!

Though the details below look like it was a long interview, it took all of 20 minutes, including 5 minutes to go up to the interviewer's office and back down.

Here are the details I remember, if you're interested...

• I arrived at the office 30 minutes before my scheduled interview time (the letter said not to go there any earlier than that). The guard at the entrance took my interview letter (it was never returned to me, so be sure to make a copy if you want to keep as copy as memorabilia)
• My name was called by a female Latino interviewer 5 minutes before my scheduled time.
• We went up to her office. Judging by the title on her office door, she seems to be "the big boss" and I was wondering if I might be in trouble (I figured maybe she'd be more thorough that a "normal" officer).
• She asked to see my green card and drivers license.
• She seemed to have the complete file on me, including all the paperwork from when I got my green card 13 years ago. She asked me if it was correct that I received my green card through the visa lottery and how I originally came to the U.S. Once I verified the information and answered her questing, she told me I was lucky.
• At that point another women entered, it turned out that that woman was being trained to interview people (I found out later that she interviewed people before, but that it had been 9 years since she did) and as the officer went through the interview process with me, she pointed things out to the trainee.
• She officer started going down my application, verified the address and asked to see my passport.
• I told her that the "leaving the U.S." dates for travel on my application were approximate (Germany doesn't stamp their passport when you entry, so the only dates I knew for sure were the return dates to the U.S. when U.S. Immigration stamped my passport, she said that was fine.
• She asked about my last trip outside the U.S.
• She asked about me being married and how long, as well as my honeymoon (my application was based on five years of permanent residency, not marriage).
• She asked about my place of employment and what I did there. I answered a questionand told her I had a "Letter of Employment" from my employer if she wanted it. She told me she have to have one, but if I had one, she would take it.
• Then we got to the section about ever having been cited/detained/arrested. I told her I had actually forgotten to put a ticket for low tire thread on there. She told me that as long as the tickets weren't for DUI or reckless driving, it didn't really matter and she wrote something across the three tickets I had filled in on the form (probably to that affect). She explained to her trainee that some people put tickets because the question asks if they ever were cited and that since a ticket is a citation they put it. She said some people didn't put tickets down and that was find too (if it wasn't for DUI or reckless driving). I mentioned that that subject causes a lot of discussions on immigration boards and that people put the tickets for the reason she mentioned, but also because the question reads if you have ever been detained and technically when a police officer pulls you over, you are detained. The officer looked at me funny and then her trainee told her I was right since you can't just leave while the police officer has you pulled over. After this little chat, the conversation went from a serious interview to more of a chat.
• She asked me my father's name and checked a copy of the birth certificate they had on file from when I originally got my green card.
• She asked to see my selective service registration letter (apparently that's a big deal, because she told the trainee that if someone doesn't have that, they have to check on the computer to see if someone shows registered or not).
• She went through the all the "moral" questions in the end of the form and made me answer them as well as asking me each line of the Oath to see if I supported it.
• She made me sign the N-400 as well both of my pictures and another paper (looked like a Naturalization certificate) in ink
• She asked me to answer 10 civics questions (verbally), the "old" test, straight out of the "Learn About the United States" booklet you can pick up when you get fingerprinted (or get from USCIS' website as a booklet or flash cards):

  -Where is the White House Located? (Washington, D.C.)

  -Who wrote the "Star Spangled Banner?" (Francis Scott Key)

  -What are the names of the two Senators from my State? (for Texas, Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Coryn - I had to think for about 20 seconds to come up with last name of Senator Coryn)

  -What is the supreme law of the United States (The Constitution)

  -Who is the Chief justice of the Supreme Court? (John G. Roberts, Jr.)

  -In what month is the new President inaugurated? (January)

  -What is the legislative branch of our government? (Congress)

  -Name the amendments that guarantee or address voting rights. (15th, 19th, 24th, 26th)

  -What did the Emancipation Proclamation do? (It freed the Slaves)

  -How many Supreme Court Justices are there? (9)

• She asked me to read the first question of the civics test (which she had printed out)
• She asked me to write "They live in the United States."
• She congratulated me and told me she was going to approve my application.
• She handed me a form "N-562 Naturalization Interview Results) stating the above
• She congratulated me again and told me that if final approval is granted, I should get a letter with an Oath date within 90 days
• She reminded me that I was not a U.S. Citizen until after the Oath date
• When we went back downstairs in the elevator, both ladies were very happy that the interview didn't take long because now they were ahead of schedule and the trainee would be able to interview the next person and take her time

Just waiting for the Oath letter now...

Good luck to everyone else with your interviews!

Chris

Time line:

03/14/2008: Mailed N-400 to Texas Service Center

03/18/2008: Texas Service Center received my application (per the USPS return receipt)

03/18/2008: Priority Date

03/18/2008: Check Deposit Date

03/19/2008: Check Cleared by my Bank

03/26/2008: I-797C- Notice of Action mailed - "You should expect to be notified within 210 days of this notice"

03/26/2008: I-797C- Notice of Action mailed - Biometrics Appointment scheduled

04/15/2008: Biometrics Appointment @ 0900 CST in San Antonio

04/15/2008: FBI sent fingerprinting results back to USCIS

05/15/2008: I-797C- Notice of Action - Interview scheduled (mailed 05/19/2008, received it 05/21/2008, noticed that on

05/20/2008: my case status on USCIS website gave a "Case Status Retrieval Failed" error

06/06/2008: Interview - Interviewer recommends my application be APPROVED!!!

XX/XX/2008: I-797C- Notice of Action - Oath Ceremony scheduled

XX/XX/2008: Oath

[NickD 203]

Thank you for sharing your very well composed and detailed report. And your experiences with those ever so minor traffic offenses.

And you actually repeated the oath word for word? Just wonder why they can't issue your citizenship immediately after your interview. Some posted here that they requested to state the oath after their successful granting of the approval and were granted that request. To the best of my knowledge, nothing changes between the time you take your interview and the time you take the oath. So why delay it? Especially if your field office is a considerable distance away along with your closest US District court.

Least here, taking that oath is on a volunteering basis in contrast to taking the oath under a force circumstance when we had the draft. Either you took the oath or were severely punished if you refused. Wonder how that would stand up in a court of law today?

[tammiandtom 0]

Congrats Chris R!

My husband has three weeks left to study.

[NickD 203]

After reviewing all the study materials available, opted for the "Learn About the United States: Quick Civics Lesson's" booklet with the CD we received when my wife had her finger tips photographed. As that is the recommended book given in her interview letter. Did compare those questions with others downloaded from a number of sources on the web and those in the M-476, essentially, they are all the same, but the supplied booklet seems more up to date.

Converted the CD to an MP3 format and loaded that on her MP3 player, files are too large to post here. We all have different ways to use our five senses to learn, in my case, I have a very good visual memory and if asked a question, can see that question written on the page and see the answer below it. but my wife has a much better verbal memory so listening to the questions and answers are better for her.

We were told that "Learn About the United States: Quick Civics Lesson's" is not up to date with an additional 42 questions found someplace on the web, still never found those, but appreciate those that had the interview to post their questions.

I don't recall ChrisR's question, "-Name the amendments that guarantee or address voting rights. (15th, 19th, 24th, 26th)", but do recall a question where the 7th amendment deals with voting rights. Wife and I were talking about questions while driving, ha, I couldn't name the 13 original colonies, forgot Virginia, but thought of it a minute later. But see that no one was asked that question yet. But the way my brain works, if I saw a map of the 13 colonies, could spill them off.

Do not recall anyone posting here that they flunked the interview, but wonder what happens if a person does? Do they get a second chance, or do they have to start all over again with that 675 buck thingy?

[chitown 0]

Congrats ChrisR... that's a Major stepping stone!! Couple more weeks for Oath

and GoodLuck for Tammi, Oasis and cal on the upcoming Interviews

[chitown 0]

After reviewing all the study materials available, opted for the "Learn About the United States: Quick Civics Lesson's" booklet with the CD we received when my wife had her finger tips photographed. As that is the recommended book given in her interview letter. Did compare those questions with others downloaded from a number of sources on the web and those in the M-476, essentially, they are all the same, but the supplied booklet seems more up to date.

Converted the CD to an MP3 format and loaded that on her MP3 player, files are too large to post here. We all have different ways to use our five senses to learn, in my case, I have a very good visual memory and if asked a question, can see that question written on the page and see the answer below it. but my wife has a much better verbal memory so listening to the questions and answers are better for her.

We were told that "Learn About the United States: Quick Civics Lesson's" is not up to date with an additional 42 questions found someplace on the web, still never found those, but appreciate those that had the interview to post their questions.

I don't recall ChrisR's question, "-Name the amendments that guarantee or address voting rights. (15th, 19th, 24th, 26th)", but do recall a question where the 7th amendment deals with voting rights. Wife and I were talking about questions while driving, ha, I couldn't name the 13 original colonies, forgot Virginia, but thought of it a minute later. But see that no one was asked that question yet. But the way my brain works, if I saw a map of the 13 colonies, could spill them off.

Do not recall anyone posting here that they flunked the interview, but wonder what happens if a person does? Do they get a second chance, or do they have to start all over again with that 675 buck thingy?

Hi NickD,

To answer your question, yes USCIS will schedule another time to retake the test/exam if the applicant fails at the first time. Don't worry... from what I see so far very few people flunk the exam unless they are really new in learning English and cannot memorize the detail US history too much but eventually they will pass it .

[Balad 0]

I had interview on June 3rd. Office in Houston had the A\C broken, so it was terribly hot. As I wrote earlier I was 38+ weeks pregnant and was scheduled for induction the very same day due to diabetes. I had to go off insulin, so this added nausea to my misery. Sweet IO lady pulled me out the queue and interviewed me though there was a bunch of people in front of me. Interview was easy an I got my oath letter today for July 2nd

[Kiv 32]

I had interview on June 3rd. Office in Houston had the A\C broken, so it was terribly hot. As I wrote earlier I was 38+ weeks pregnant and was scheduled for induction the very same day due to diabetes. I had to go off insulin, so this added nausea to my misery. Sweet IO lady pulled me out the queue and interviewed me though there was a bunch of people in front of me. Interview was easy an I got my oath letter today for July 2nd

Balad I am sorry you had that difficult time I hope you feel better now.

Congratulations on your interview.