N-400 San Antonio Interview Experience (from an Austin-based filer)

[Fifth Echelon 6]

Had my interview on 12/29 at the San Antonio field office, and wanted to share the experience. I hope this helps anyone with an interview coming up, and also those considering filing the N-400. My case was fairly straightforward, with the exception of the fact that I have a ton of speeding tickets (5-6 over the past decade), so the questions concerning criminal offenses were tricky for me. We covered those in the interview as well, which might be helpful to some. Details are below. I also filed under the 3 year married rule, having been an LPR for about 3 years 7 months at the time of filing the N-400.

I was scheduled for 8:00 am, so the wife and I walked in at about 7:50. Went through security, walked to the information desk and were given a token. Side note, this was a little different from the AoS interview 4 years ago when our interviewer was actually waiting for us right after security, 'intercepted' us and took us upstairs; on that occasion we didn't even have to go to the front desk.

Anyhow, waited about 15 minutes and heard my name called by the interviewer from the front of the room. The two of us walked up, but he immediately said my wife was not needed, and asked her to wait in the lobby area. His demeanor was very polite, which I very much appreciated. Another side note - he maintained a high level of politeness and professionalism throughout, while still being very clear and firm about what he expected me to do during the interview. CBP/border officers, please take note.

We went into his office, and he asked me to remain standing to administer the oath, after which we sat down. We began with the testing. For the reading part of it, he presented me a sheet with 3 sentences. The first one said "When is Columbus day?" which I read out (don't remember the other two sentences). For writing, he dictated "Columbus day is in October", which I correctly wrote in my absolutely terrible trademark handwriting. For the civics test, I don't unfortunately remember all the questions (he read them off a computer screen), but here are a few:

- What did the Declaration of Independence do?

- For how long do we elect Senators?

- Name a branch of government.

- What does the cabinet do?

I got the first 6 correct, so we stopped there, he printed the sheet and marked the first 6 responses correct. Then we moved on to the 'interview' portion of the meeting. He spent about 10 minutes reviewing most of the questions on the N-400, with a bit of focus on what kind of work I do. He also asked if I had travelled abroad since filing the N-400, which I have, so I provided him those details (verbally, no documentation needed). He also asked to see my Selective Service confirmation/printout, which I had with me (simply putting in the number on the N-400 form was apparently not sufficient for him). He also asked what kind of work my wife did, and who her employer was.

We then moved on Part 11 of the N-400 (i.e., with all the questions about crime, terrorism and communism). I don't remember every single question he asked, but among other things, he covered communism, failing to file taxes, the Nazi party, hurting/killing others, using a weapon against someone, being a member of a militia, working at a prison or similar place, and crime.

For the section covering crime, I had responded "Yes" on the form to the following questions:

- 23: Ever been detained/arrested/cited by a LEO? Yes, cited for speeding

- 24: Ever charged with a crime/offense? Yes, for speeding

- 26: Ever been in probation etc.? Yes, used deferred adjudication as a means of dismissing speeding ticket

I told him that I thought that these questions, particularly 24, were fairly strongly worded and seemed to be directed to those who had committed actual crimes, but the wording could also be interpreted to apply to simple traffic offenses (since the word 'offense' is used in the question). So out of an abundance of caution, I answered "Yes" and listed every single speeding ticket in question 29. He said he appreciated this, since not everyone was as diligent as me in responding, and asked if I had paid off or otherwise taken care of all the tickets. A verbal response was fine, he didn't need any paper evidence. So, word of advice if you have some tickets, not a bad idea to disclose everything cleanly.

Finally, he made me sign the last sections of the form in front of him, and advised me to expect an oath letter in a couple of weeks. Oh, and this was when he handed me the N-652 indicating a recommendation for approval. I did ask if there was any way to get the oath date right then (since some offices print it out on the spot), but he said I would have to wait. I also expressed my preference for an Austin oath ceremony, instead of in San Antonio, and he said that this was already recorded for me (showed me the section in the file where he did so).

Other things: Since we filed based on marriage, I had sent in my marriage certificate as well as some evidence at the time of filing including a few bank statements and housing leases covering 3 years. Nothing as comprehensive as AoS or RoC. I was armed with much more comprehensive joint paperwork during the interview, including tax transcripts, but he didn't ask for any of it. The only thing he wanted was the Selective Service confirmation.

So all in all, very easy process. In and out in about 45 minutes from the time we walked in. Now I just need to watch the mailbox and hope my ski trip plans don't conflict with the oath ceremony date. Would hate to have to reschedule.

Edited January 4, 2016 by Fifth Echelon

[TBoneTX 45,291]

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[IsaMorg 1]

Hi, thanks for sharing this! I'm in a similar time frame and would like to know if you've already completed your oath taking, or have at least received the notice for it? 

[Olibecca1 11]

This is really helpful, thanks so much for sharing!