Almost US Citizen

[Cupidoll 1]

Hello All,

My wife had her interview today at 1:20pm and she ROCKED and PASSED the interview!!!! They did not even ask for any of the evidence we had with us. I'll break down everything I remember from time of arrival until departure below. Also, I'd like to give a shout out to my wife's IO, Mr. S. (I won't provide his last name as I'm not sure what the ramifications could/would be). He is absolutely the best, most professional USCIS employee ever. He had helped us about two years ago and was very gracious then and turned out to be my wife's IO today......My wife saw him after we arrived and said "There's Mr. S., oh, I hope I get him." and sure enough, God heard our prayers and Mr. S. called her...You should have seen the relief on my wife's face. It's not that he's easy but, he's truly compassionate and obviously takes pride in what he does, helping people achieve their dreams...Great man!!!! Anyway, enough of that as everyone will want some detail. Hopefully it helps.

Interview at USCIS office in Fairfax, VA

- Arrived at 12:45 for 1:20pm appointment time

- Took about 5 - 10 minutes to get through security (lots of people)

- Went up stairs and handed our letter to the receptionist and were told to sit down

- Overheard a gentlemen being told that his Oath Ceremony would be in Chantilly, VA because he lives in that district (not sure about the who, what, when, where, how of it)...Thought it strange though and hope it helps someone else...

- Overheard a few people being denied because they did not understand the questions on the application but, had passed the test. One person was told that they can come back in 90 days because they didn't understand the questions (language issues as the IO was explaining to the relatives) but, had passed the test. So, know your application

- My wife was called around 1:50pm (she was so nervous but, knew everything...Also, at the last minute I had asked her to remember two questions: a) Can I take the oath today? b) If not, how long can I expect to wait for the oath letter?...Thanks NickD, I got the idea from you and your postings....

- I started pacing back and forth around 2:15pm getting worried that it was taking so darn long

- Around 2:25 my wife and Mr. S. came into the waiting room both smiling and Mr. S. said "give me one minute"...I knew it was good news...

- My wife explained to me that at the end of the interview she asked him about taking the oath and Mr. S. explained the next ceremony was at 3:15pm and wasn't sure if he could get her in but would try...

- After a few minutes he came back out with some papers and said he wasn't able to get her in because they need at least an hour but, she can come back on 10 March (tomorrow) for the 11am oath ceremony.........

I nearly passed out with relief...........

Also, one very important thing to remember: If you are changing your name, other than using your marriage license for the last name (in my wife's case it is the misspelling of her first name due to a translation error in Ukraine and we had checked the box to change her name on the application), expect the oath letter to come in about two to three months....Mr. S. explained that it takes them a while to change it... However, they can change the last name very quickly....Not sure why or how??? Mr. S. is the best. For some reason I had a feeling that was going to be a sticky point (thinking last name not first) and I asked my wife if she would mind changing it after she's sworn in down at the court house...that really came in handy at the last minute as she was being called in for the interview when I mentioned it.

Oh, some of the questions asked (sorry, my wife couldn't remember half of them):

What's the capital of your state?

What's an amendment? Or something like that...

What's the supreme law of the US? (My wife actually said "Chief Justice Roberts"... then caught herself and said the constitution...

Anyway, I've written enough...please feel free to ask me questions as I might remember more...I tried really hard to memorize everything that was going on to share with you guys...

Hopefully, I'll have some pictures tomorrow of a new United States Citizen and a hotty she is too ......

[v333k 59]

Hello All,

My wife had her interview today at 1:20pm and she ROCKED and PASSED the interview!!!! They did not even ask for any of the evidence we had with us. I'll break down everything I remember from time of arrival until departure below. Also, I'd like to give a shout out to my wife's IO, Mr. S. (I won't provide his last name as I'm not sure what the ramifications could/would be). He is absolutely the best, most professional USCIS employee ever. He had helped us about two years ago and was very gracious then and turned out to be my wife's IO today......My wife saw him after we arrived and said "There's Mr. S., oh, I hope I get him." and sure enough, God heard our prayers and Mr. S. called her...You should have seen the relief on my wife's face. It's not that he's easy but, he's truly compassionate and obviously takes pride in what he does, helping people achieve their dreams...Great man!!!! Anyway, enough of that as everyone will want some detail. Hopefully it helps.

Interview at USCIS office in Fairfax, VA

- Arrived at 12:45 for 1:20pm appointment time

- Took about 5 - 10 minutes to get through security (lots of people)

- Went up stairs and handed our letter to the receptionist and were told to sit down

- Overheard a gentlemen being told that his Oath Ceremony would be in Chantilly, VA because he lives in that district (not sure about the who, what, when, where, how of it)...Thought it strange though and hope it helps someone else...

- Overheard a few people being denied because they did not understand the questions on the application but, had passed the test. One person was told that they can come back in 90 days because they didn't understand the questions (language issues as the IO was explaining to the relatives) but, had passed the test. So, know your application

- My wife was called around 1:50pm (she was so nervous but, knew everything...Also, at the last minute I had asked her to remember two questions: a) Can I take the oath today? b) If not, how long can I expect to wait for the oath letter?...Thanks NickD, I got the idea from you and your postings....

- I started pacing back and forth around 2:15pm getting worried that it was taking so darn long

- Around 2:25 my wife and Mr. S. came into the waiting room both smiling and Mr. S. said "give me one minute"...I knew it was good news...

- My wife explained to me that at the end of the interview she asked him about taking the oath and Mr. S. explained the next ceremony was at 3:15pm and wasn't sure if he could get her in but would try...

- After a few minutes he came back out with some papers and said he wasn't able to get her in because they need at least an hour but, she can come back on 10 March (tomorrow) for the 11am oath ceremony.........

I nearly passed out with relief...........

Also, one very important thing to remember: If you are changing your name, other than using your marriage license for the last name (in my wife's case it is the misspelling of her first name due to a translation error in Ukraine and we had checked the box to change her name on the application), expect the oath letter to come in about two to three months....Mr. S. explained that it takes them a while to change it... However, they can change the last name very quickly....Not sure why or how??? Mr. S. is the best. For some reason I had a feeling that was going to be a sticky point (thinking last name not first) and I asked my wife if she would mind changing it after she's sworn in down at the court house...that really came in handy at the last minute as she was being called in for the interview when I mentioned it.

Oh, some of the questions asked (sorry, my wife couldn't remember half of them):

What's the capital of your state?

What's an amendment? Or something like that...

What's the supreme law of the US? (My wife actually said "Chief Justice Roberts"... then caught herself and said the constitution...

Anyway, I've written enough...please feel free to ask me questions as I might remember more...I tried really hard to memorize everything that was going on to share with you guys...

Hopefully, I'll have some pictures tomorrow of a new United States Citizen and a hotty she is too ......

Congratulations Cupidoll!!!

Thanks for sharing your experience with us. Also, thanks for pointing out the questions to ask the IO - I guess it doesn't hurt and it may not be a bad thing to ask.

By the way, your status is still pending for your AOS.... I thought of giving you a little hard time since the worse is behind you now

[Brad and Vika 129]

Congrats Good information too!

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Congratulations - good review for people going through Fairfax, VA as well . Enjoy the ceremony tomorrow!

[NickD 202]

Let us know if she receives her certificate of USC tomorrow, glad to be of help.

[MoroccanInTexas 24]

Congrats

[Muuuuah 0]

Congratulations

[Kanyiri 0]

Congratulations!

Were there any children there at all?

[a&o 4]

Congrats! Great advice on knowing the application questions/answers!

[victorious 0]

Congrats! I had fun reading your post. ehehe

[vsmtghdy 2]

Congrats and thanks for sharing your wife's interview experience.

[Cupidoll 1]

Hello again,

Great news! My wife is a US Citizen...and Mr. S. was able to change my wife's first name after all (I'll try to get more details from her and post them as to why and how). The bad thing is that instead of being sworn in at 10am (which I was headed out the door from work and my now "American" bride was leaving the house to attend), her oath ceremony was pushed to 2pm today. Mr. S. had been trying to reach me since around 7:30am to tell me to wait until 12pm to be at the USCIS office. I didn't get his message until 9:15am when I was getting in my truck to meet my wife at the USCIS office. So, I called my wife to tell her and noticed a text message from her saying "My cell phone is almost out of power"... and she has no charger in her car...Well, Mr. S. needed an extra hour to officially change her name and get a sworn (written) statment from her. Because it was pushed to 2pm, my wife had to wait for four hours at a cafe next to the USCIS building...poor thing! And because I had a briefing to conduct at 3pm for work, I was not able to attend I will say that as much as I dislike my job, the leadership made great exceptions for me this morning but, unfortunately couldn't get me out of my responsibility this afternoon as I was the only one who knew the material.

My wife said that the important thing was being with her yesterday for the interview. Which I see her point: Without supporting her yesterday, today might not have happened. However, the patriot in me sooooooooo wanted to see the exact moment she became an American. The important thing is that she is officially a US Citizen....She said she even teared up toward the end...

My wife is now at work, paying taxes like a good American and I won't be able to upload the photo(s) of her after the ceremony until tomorrow afternoon. I've only been able to speak to her for about 2 minutes since the ceremony which lasted about 30 minutes...

To everyone on Visa Journey: You are a God send. I will certainly keep up with the goings on...Please feel free to ask more questions.

Kanyiri: I did see some children at the interview waiting in the waiting room. Of course they had adult supervision. The children appeared to be ages 5 - 10 and there were about 4 of them. Also, the waiting room was about 1/3 full when we arrived and never seemed to be more than that....

[MoroccanInTexas 24]

Again congrats Look at the bright side, you guys are done with the USCIS

[paliboy 0]

Congrats and good luck to her in her new journey as USC

[antda 13]

Cupidoll..

Congrats on your wife becoming a US Citizen recently!

Thanks for sharing her interview and oath ceremony experience here on VJ!

Good luck with the rest of her journey as a USC, and good luck with her passport application too.

Ant