What Happens at 2nd Naturalization Interview?

[Harmonia 211]

He passed today! He had the first interview of the day. Unfortunately I couldn't go with him (to sit in the waiting room). I couldn't get off work. His interview was at 8:15, and it finished at 9. He had the SAME INTERVIEWER from the first time!!

 

The interviewer asked him every single question from the N-400 paperwork, all 50-some questions. Luckily, we'd printed them out and went over them. There was one question that he didn't understand the interviewer's accent, but he recognized the question, so he said "Are you asking me if I'd blah blah" to confirm that was the question.

 

As a previous poster said, he did not have to re-do the civics questions or read/write a sentence in English. 

 

The interviewer told him, "oh you've worked hard on your English since the last time". Ummm...ok...whatever. The first interview was late Nov. Highly unlikely someone can master a new language in a couple months, but we'll take it! 

Edited February 6, 2017 by Harmonia

[Ngozi43 3]

Congrats.. 

[Private One 44]

Congratulations @Harmonia

[charmander 692]

2 hours ago, Harmonia said:

He passed today! He had the first interview of the day. Unfortunately I couldn't go with him (to sit in the waiting room). I couldn't get off work. His interview was at 8:15, and it finished at 9. He had the SAME INTERVIEWER from the first time!!

 

The interviewer asked him every single question from the N-400 paperwork, all 50-some questions. Luckily, we'd printed them out and went over them. There was one question that he didn't understand the interviewer's accent, but he recognized the question, so he said "Are you asking me if I'd blah blah" to confirm that was the question.

 

As a previous poster said, he did not have to re-do the civics questions or read/write a sentence in English. 

 

The interviewer told him, "oh you've worked hard on your English since the last time". Ummm...ok...whatever. The first interview was late Nov. Highly unlikely someone can master a new language in a couple months, but we'll take it! 

Congrats!!! I hope the oath ceremony letter would be in your hands soon.

[Sonia_Sonia 16]

On 1/22/2017 at 9:51 AM, ptm897 said:

It's actually very easy to pass someone on the history/civics yet flunk them on the speaking and understanding.  Usually in these situations people have memorized the history/civics questions yet they really cannot speak and understand basic conversational English and we have no choice but to flunk them on that portion.  In my 10 years of interviewing N-400 applications I can give you example after example of people that came into my office and could not even understand "Please raise your right hand"  when I tried to place them under oath to start the interview.  They have no idea what those words mean, sometimes they are coached to immediately put their right hand up and say Yes when they walk into my office, so when I see them do this I know right off the bat they are being coached by someone telling them what to do and say, these people really do not understand basic English.  They are then motioned to sit down,  we proceed with the history/civics test and they amazingly pass that, but then when I tell them that in order to continue with the interview I need to place them under oath so at this time can you please stand up and raise your right hand they again have no idea what I am saying and sit there with a blank look on their face.  

 

Many of these people, practice very hard to memorize those questions, so when they hear the question or hear a few key words in the question they know which question and then give the answer.  But the problem comes when they do not understand the simple words,  "Please raise your right hand"  and then when I try to put them under oath  "Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"  they have no idea what I am asking.  They further cannot explain what it means to tell the truth.  

 

Also, sometimes they are able to get through the first part of the application,  going over the N-400 is the way that we determine their speaking and understanding English, if they cannot be placed under oath, they immediately flunk that portion, then if they get through the first few sections like, name, and do you want to change your name, their address, and marital information, if they have children etc.. we get to the questions that they must completely understand and answer in a manner that we know they understand,  this is where many of them that really do not speak and understand basic English are not able to pass and move forward.  The most difficult questions for people that truly cannot understand and speak English are the questions about whether or not they have ever been involved in a terrorist organization, if they have discriminated against anyone, if they have been arrested, if they have ever claimed to be a citizen, which many people don't understand what that question actually means, many of them think it means have you filed for citizenship before.  If people do not understand those questions and it's pretty evident that they have a totally blank look on their face and if we ask them to tell us what a terrorist means to them and they cannot, they will flunk speaking and understanding.

 

I think you might not understand just how prevalent the issue is that people pass the history and civics because they are extensively coached and are taught key words and phrases to pick out of the sentences in order to answer those history civics questions correctly, but in reality they cannot speak a word of English with any understanding of what they are saying, they have just memorized certain words in English in order to pass the test.  

 

Now the situation as explained here in this original post by the OP, I do NOT believe that this is the situation with this posters husband, it is very evident from what she has said here that her husband does speak and understand English but he had a Horrible Horrible Immigration Officer that was either very rude and nasty to him for no reason at all or the actual Officer's way of speaking and heavy accent was the problem, which I have seen before in our own office by one of our officers,  so what I was doing in this response here was giving you the examples of other people that can easily pass the history/civics but really do not speak and understand conversational English at that is how we are able to flunk them on that yet they pass the history/civics portion.

 

I had an older Chinese lady one day in my office that I could not place under oath, she was coached to keep her right hand raised the minute she walked in my office and she tried to do that as soon as we got in my office, and she just kept repeating "Yes" "Yes" and finally when I got her to understand that I wanted her to sit down first, we did the history test and she passed it, got the first 6 questions correct, it was pretty easy to see that she had memorized those questions pretty much word for word. She then wrote one sentence correctly and read one sentence out loud.   Then when I told her in these exact words  "In order to move on to the next part of the interview, I need to place you under oath, so can you please stand up and raise your right hand?"  I repeated that to her 4 times, very slowly and enunciated my words to her very carefully, as a good officer you learn to do that, to slow down your speech when needed and enunciate your words very carefully.  That short set of instructions to her and very basic general English and it was very clear she had absolutely no idea what I was saying to her.  Even though I couldn't place her under oath, I still tried to talk to her with some basic questions like  "How did you get to this office today?"  "Are you here with family members?"   "Do you have a family member waiting here for you?"  "Is there someone I can talk to that can explain why I cannot pass you today?"  

 

So, if we are not able to place someone under oath, we are not allowed to continue on with the interview and we cannot attempt to go over the application with them and we must flunk them that day on speaking and understanding.  One sentence or one word that is not understood is not a basis to flunk someone, but if they are not able to understand the most basic of instructions, like "Please raise your right hand?"  It is pretty evident at that point the person does not speak and understand conversational English at all.  And sadly they must flunk that portion of the exam.  

 

And again I do not feel that the OP of this thread is in this kind of scenario with her husband, I really think her husband had a horrible Officer that should have never ever flunked him.  I'm keeping fingers crossed he gets a much better Officer on his second interview.

 

 

You are a really good person, and I am impressed with you. Thanks for sharing with us your years of experience interviewing people at USCIS. You were for sure an excellent USCIS agent. The best for you my dear.

[Harmonia 211]

To update folks, his Oath Ceremony was in late March. He ordered his US passport, which came in 3 weeks (they said to wait 5-8 weeks), so that was very quick!

[Jiji1981 0]

On 11/27/2016 at 11:05 AM, ptm897 said:

Hello, I interviewed N-400 applications for 10 years in our USCIS office, the 2nd interview will only to be going over what part was not passed on the first interview.

So if that officer indicated that the "speaking/understanding" English part was the reason, then the day of the 2nd interview, which will NOT be with that same officer, we are not allowed to do the 2nd interview if we did the first interview, so let me assure you that Mr. Singh will not be allowed to interview your husband again, there will not be a re-exam of the history/civics questions and he will not be required to read or write the sentence in English, chances are the officer will just go over the application itself, that is how we determine someone's ability to speak and understand English, and if Officer Singh noted the questions in which he felt your husband didn't understand those questions will be circled in red and the 2nd interviewing officer will go over those with your husband.

We have an Officer in our office that also has a very very heavy thick accent, he is from Pakistan and we have had several complaints in the past about applicant's not being able to understand him and I totally understand why, so please tell your husband that for this second interview if the next officer is also hard to understand and he is then told he didn't pass then please tell him that he has a right to ask to speak to a supervisor after the interview is over.

I'm sorry he had this experience with that officer.

When I was interviewing N-400's if I got a case that day for re-exam where the previous officer said the person did not pass the "speaking and understanding" English portion I would simply go over the N-400 with them and focus on the areas that were marked in red. Sometimes it's just the questions and not any of the biographic data, and believe me I have interviewed several people the second time that were said to have not passed the "speaking and understanding" English part and when those people came in front of me, their English was just fine and I had no problems speaking with them, and passed them immediately. There are officers out there that are not very nice and if they are crabby that day they will flunk someone when they get frustrated with them, and there is a reason why the policy is set that the same officer cannot interview that person a second time if they don't pass a portion of the interview the first time.

Before our interviews start on re-exam day we have to go through our bundle and look for any cases that we previously interviewed the first time around and if we have any of them in our bundle we have to exchange them with other officers.

I hope this info has been helpful for you!!! Please tell your husband to try and not worry too much,

I have a question plz

My friend got arrested in 2015 in florida,for a felony fraud charge, shr didnt plea guily nor convicted and the case was dropped after she finished her terms of the plea she took in her PTI, she just passed her n400 interview and the officer said he cant make decision in her case, what you think is the next step, you think the supervidor will deny her base on fact the the arrest happend during her firdt 3 years in the usa? Or it because the IO told her that he didnt see a big deal in her case that mybe she will be approved?

Thank you

[Mike213 0]

If your your test how long it's takes to be re interviewed?

Edited November 29, 2017 by Mike213

[Kand87 0]

On 11/27/2016 at 11:05 AM, ptm897 said:

Hello, I interviewed N-400 applications for 10 years in our USCIS office, the 2nd interview will only to be going over what part was not passed on the first interview.

So if that officer indicated that the "speaking/understanding" English part was the reason, then the day of the 2nd interview, which will NOT be with that same officer, we are not allowed to do the 2nd interview if we did the first interview, so let me assure you that Mr. Singh will not be allowed to interview your husband again, there will not be a re-exam of the history/civics questions and he will not be required to read or write the sentence in English, chances are the officer will just go over the application itself, that is how we determine someone's ability to speak and understand English, and if Officer Singh noted the questions in which he felt your husband didn't understand those questions will be circled in red and the 2nd interviewing officer will go over those with your husband.

We have an Officer in our office that also has a very very heavy thick accent, he is from Pakistan and we have had several complaints in the past about applicant's not being able to understand him and I totally understand why, so please tell your husband that for this second interview if the next officer is also hard to understand and he is then told he didn't pass then please tell him that he has a right to ask to speak to a supervisor after the interview is over.

I'm sorry he had this experience with that officer.

When I was interviewing N-400's if I got a case that day for re-exam where the previous officer said the person did not pass the "speaking and understanding" English portion I would simply go over the N-400 with them and focus on the areas that were marked in red. Sometimes it's just the questions and not any of the biographic data, and believe me I have interviewed several people the second time that were said to have not passed the "speaking and understanding" English part and when those people came in front of me, their English was just fine and I had no problems speaking with them, and passed them immediately. There are officers out there that are not very nice and if they are crabby that day they will flunk someone when they get frustrated with them, and there is a reason why the policy is set that the same officer cannot interview that person a second time if they don't pass a portion of the interview the first time.

Before our interviews start on re-exam day we have to go through our bundle and look for any cases that we previously interviewed the first time around and if we have any of them in our bundle we have to exchange them with other officers.

I hope this info has been helpful for you!!! Please tell your husband to try and not worry too much,

Hi

 

I have the same situation I had my first interview at USCIS Office in July 2020, I passed my civic,Writing,reading tests. The IO have gave me the letter it says can’t make a decision right now, then he told me that he will check some of security checks if it’s up to date he will let me know with in 2 weeks. I have received another letter now that I have second interview In this month September 2020  and it says that more information needed to continue my N-400 application.if you can please help me out what should I expect and what documents do I need to bring it with me. I have no Criminal records and paid all my taxes and cleared my taxes since I been to the US. I want to tell that I came here as SIV Statues. Special Immigrant Visa program. I was a combat interpreter for US Military. Over sea. 
 

Than you   
 

stay safe.