St. Paul Interview experience

[NickD 202]

As I said good luck come with the uncontrollable, road conditions and accidents, and whichever interviewing office you happen to get.

Regarding road conditions, two unexpected detours, missed that with ramps closed, and an extremely severe thunderstorm that brought interstate traffic to a near halt, something told me to leave 90 minutes early, we got there 30 minutes ahead of schedule by not counting on good luck.

But my wife's appointment was at 12:50PM, waiting room was about 20% of capacity, she was called in at 1:31 PM. A rather large African-American woman came out and called her name, she had a very strong accent, I was invisible.

Wife said she said the oath to tell nothing but the truth, then they went over the form from beginning to end, I did goof my not including my kids as my wife step kids and sent a copy of that to Nebraska, that new page 5 & 6 replaced the original one in our form, the came evidence time.

Did make the comment if we brought all of our evidence they would never look at, my wife said she saw a very familiar stack of paper, about 3-4 in tall that looked like all the evidence we sent in since day one. Her interviewer saw my wife was carrying my smaller brief case and said I don't want to go through this stack, let me see yours. My wife would not let her keep any of our original evidence, and insisted it was all in her pile, good girl, I told my wife, but she did take my spare copies of the last four years of our tax returns, now they have two copies, our original divorce papers, last marriage certificate, my birth certificate and a few other documents were still there along with my passport.

My wife finally asked her what she was looking for, she said some proof that we are still married in 2008, wife responded that her husband was in the waiting room, she didn't want to see me as living proof, but was looking for a piece of paper. I assumed this woman wasn't to bright, maybe she didn't realize our 2007 taxes were dated and filed in April 2008, and our property taxes for 2007 were paid at the end of January 2008, but she was looking for something with a 2008 date on it. One of our saving accounts had a deposit in April of 2008 with both our names on it, she took a copy of that and finally was satisified. She asked my wife if there were any problems in our marriage, wife said no, we are very happy together, are you sure, wife said, I am very sure.

Maybe her society background but she asked my wife three times if she has very been arrested for anything, wife said no, never, not here, not in Venezuela, and not in Colombia, three times. Maybe hard for her to believe that some people do not commit crimes.

Then the English test, but this time I feel after all that documentation, that my wife speaks very good English, better, actually way much better than many Americans. So she did not have her read anything. But did have her write, I am a very good cook. I laughed when I heard that one.

Then the civic test, two questions on our state, name the governor and the state capital, who takes over when the president dies, why are there 100 senators, what do we celebrate on the 4th of July, and who did we fight after the Declaration of Independence. Just six questions, the way my wife fired the answers back, interviewer said she was very smart, so stopped at six.

Wife read the oath at the bottom of the form and signed her full married name. Interviewer said congratulations, you passed.

For my wife's effort she received a piece of paper stamped July 17, 2008, Her A#, is correct, the name of the Officer, with 14 sentences with check boxes. You passed the English and US History, and government sentenced was checked. Congratulations! Your application has been recommended for approval. At this time is appears you have established your eligibility for naturalization. If final approval is granted, you will be notified when and where to report for the Oath Ceremony. Was also checked, good that the other choices were not checked, trouble. Except for the bottom six that covers notifying change of address, come for interviews, submit all requested documents, none were requested, send questions to the named officer, go to the Oath Ceremony, or notify the USCIS if you can't make it.

Wife asked if she good say the oath today if possible, interviewer replied no, her application has to be sent somewhere for final approval, she does not no where. Then my wife asked where will the Oath be held, she did not know that either. Then wife asked if she will be able to vote in November, interviewer said yes, she should get her oath appointment in four weeks. So I guess what we do now is wait. Interview took 31 minutes, most of it was trying to find a piece of paper with both of our names on it dated this year. But it was in the stack of stuff we sent she didn't want to look at, can you blame her? Also kind of says they are stacking all of our proof since day one in one big pile.

Wife wore a dark lilac two piece business suit with the skirt about 3" above the knees, no frills or lace, very professional looking with nylons, and high heel black shoes, wore her large diamond engagement ring, she's worth it, wedding ring, nice earrings, she looked pretty good.

It didn't make any difference what I wore, teased my wife about my black smoked helmet, leather jacket, chaps, and 2" heeled motorcycle boots, all black, ha makes me look 6' 6" tall around 260 pounds when I am only a 6'2" 210 pound wimp. But instead I wore a nerd short sleeve dress shirt complete with a pocket protector, dress gray slacks, and patent black leather shoes with horned rim glasses. That is my intelligent rather than scary look, but then again in didn't make any difference, I was invisible to the interviewing officer.

Now we wait, but thank God, not in a long line, hate that.

[NickD 202]

Oh, I forgot, interviewer asked why so many days in days out of the country, that number should be the same as the total number of days of trips out of the country for greater than 24 days since she became a permanent resident. Wife responded that we answered that question the way it was asked, said the last five years and not the time since she became a permanent resident. Interviewer check both my wife's and my passport to verify we were only out of the country for ten days since she receive her permanent resident card. Scratched the 400 and some days we put in and wrote ten. Wish I was there, but anyway no big deal, still stay they should change the form. No comments on the number of charitable fund raising organizations my wife is a member of. Another crazy question.

I have no advice as to what number of days you should put in that box, any number can be right or wrong depending on your officer and how that question is read. But she was not denied because of our number.

[jtee 0]

But did have her write, I am a very good cook. I laughed when I heard that one.

Congrats!

BTW I would refuse to write that under oath!

[Staashi 371]

Congrats Nick to you and most especially your wife!

Edited July 18, 2008 by Staashi

[tammiandtom 0]

Wow, sounds like she got a tough interviewer. She got grilled! That is funny that she didn't have to read anything, and my husband from Scotland, an English speaking country, did have to read something. Of course the interviewer was laughing the whole time at the ridiculousness of it.

And good thing you left so early!

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[kmineo 0]

Congrats NickD. must be nice to be over and done with. Funny about the days out of the country. well just as we suspected they don't really care either way. But man has that caused some discussions on here.

[FVA 0]

I'm sure the 2" heeled motorcycle boots would've made the interviewer see you...you missed your chance!

Congratulations!

[NickD 202]

Wow, sounds like she got a tough interviewer. She got grilled! That is funny that she didn't have to read anything, and my husband from Scotland, an English speaking country, did have to read something. Of course the interviewer was laughing the whole time at the ridiculousness of it.

And good thing you left so early!

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ha, ran across yet another issue with my wife, she surprises me at times, regarding the oath we practiced the night before our trip. She said I am not going to say the oath, in particular, "that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic;that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;", until she reads the US constitution. We did go over the seven articles of the constitution, and I have to admit while the key elements may have been the best compromise for the time, they sure have been manipulated lately by this recent groups of politicians. Really don't want to get into that, but at least as a US citizen, she will have a say in writing to any government official, and it's a shame that most US citizens do not do this that accounts for the mess we are in today. And that right has been taken away in her home country. It was on this basis she agreed to say the oath.

But at least she wanted to know what is implied by saying that oath rather than saying the oath blindly. Ha, and regards to bearing arms if called for, since she is a tiny woman, insist on an Abrams tank to compensate for her small size, leave the little pop guns for the big guys. We have many tiny women driving huge SUV's in our neighborhood for the same reason.

[Ashish 1]

Congrats!

[beejay 123]

Congratulations again NickD.

I just had one question, where did your wife have her examination? Was it at the place on University in St. Paul or someplace else?

[Mina76 0]

Congratulations and Best Wishes!!!

[NickD 202]

Congratulations again NickD.

I just had one question, where did your wife have her examination? Was it at the place on University in St. Paul or someplace else?

It's about two blocks north and four blocks east of the Mall of America on Metro Drive, lot's of parking, took the 34th St exit off of I-494 south to American Blvd, a couple of blocks west to Metro that is a loop and we were there. After the interview, it's her day, asked her what she wanted to do, shop at the Mall of course. We made a deal a long time ago, no matter how quiet I am, she gets nervous when I am near, so I got lost for three hours and waited for her cell phone car. Ha, went out to the car and took a nap. She only spent a hundred at Macy's getting some good deals. Ha, I feel that is the most boring place in the world, but did look at a pair of mens shoes for 300 bucks, but decided to put new tires on my car instead and drive, cheaper than walking, LOL.

[lucyrich 20]

Wow, sounds like she got a tough interviewer. She got grilled! That is funny that she didn't have to read anything, and my husband from Scotland, an English speaking country, did have to read something. Of course the interviewer was laughing the whole time at the ridiculousness of it.

More ridiculous is the experience of my co-worker (who happened to take his oath on the same day as my wife). My co-worker was born in South Africa, and English is his first language. The examiner who gave him the test was born in some asian country and spoke somewhat broken English with a fairly strong accent. So the tester didn't speak English nearly as well as the testee. Still, they went though the English test, and the tester didn't seem to notice the ridiculousness of it all.

But anyway, Congrats to NickD

[beejay 123]

Congratulations again NickD.

I just had one question, where did your wife have her examination? Was it at the place on University in St. Paul or someplace else?

It's about two blocks north and four blocks east of the Mall of America on Metro Drive, lot's of parking, took the 34th St exit off of I-494 south to American Blvd, a couple of blocks west to Metro that is a loop and we were there. After the interview, it's her day, asked her what she wanted to do, shop at the Mall of course. We made a deal a long time ago, no matter how quiet I am, she gets nervous when I am near, so I got lost for three hours and waited for her cell phone car. Ha, went out to the car and took a nap. She only spent a hundred at Macy's getting some good deals. Ha, I feel that is the most boring place in the world, but did look at a pair of mens shoes for 300 bucks, but decided to put new tires on my car instead and drive, cheaper than walking, LOL.

Thanks!

Ha! I like shoes but for $300 I would have gone for the tires as well. MOA isn't that exciting for me either but I would have found it hard to ignore the big blue building just across the parking lot. That place is addicting! Either way sounds like it was a successful and productive day for both of you.

Cheers!

[NickD 202]

Congratulations again NickD.

I just had one question, where did your wife have her examination? Was it at the place on University in St. Paul or someplace else?

It's about two blocks north and four blocks east of the Mall of America on Metro Drive, lot's of parking, took the 34th St exit off of I-494 south to American Blvd, a couple of blocks west to Metro that is a loop and we were there. After the interview, it's her day, asked her what she wanted to do, shop at the Mall of course. We made a deal a long time ago, no matter how quiet I am, she gets nervous when I am near, so I got lost for three hours and waited for her cell phone car. Ha, went out to the car and took a nap. She only spent a hundred at Macy's getting some good deals. Ha, I feel that is the most boring place in the world, but did look at a pair of mens shoes for 300 bucks, but decided to put new tires on my car instead and drive, cheaper than walking, LOL.

Thanks!

Ha! I like shoes but for $300 I would have gone for the tires as well. MOA isn't that exciting for me either but I would have found it hard to ignore the big blue building just across the parking lot. That place is addicting! Either way sounds like it was a successful and productive day for both of you.

Cheers!

Wife is on call this weekend, her girlfriend just called also from Venezuela, she had her interview May 14, 2008 in Chicago, but her officer wasn't satisfied with her evidence and requested the last 12 months of her utility bills that she sent in as soon as she got home. She said she passed the test and was told she should be getting her oath letter, that's like two months ago! She hasn't received her oath appointment yet! Just commented, what kind of evidence is a utility bill? I can call any of my utility companies and tell them Marilyn Monroe is my wife and they would put that down, what do they know? Somebody always has it worse than you, she was always nine months ahead of us and very helpful, but dead lost now. She called the USCIS many times in the past, and said it was a waste of time. Did point out she has the right to appear in a US District court if she doesn't hear anything within 120 days of her examination, she knew that, all she can do now is wait.

Must be that furniture store, wife said they sell the kind of furniture she likes, but was too tired to go there, that put us at 5:00PM and I-494 was pretty well packed by then, something called a rush hour? Sure didn't look like rushing to me.