n400 N-400: Bearmirus's Interview experience in Buffalo

[bearmirus 45]

40 minutes ago, Dita said:

What did u write at the question requesting for online account number.....do I leave it blank or write N/A

If you are referring to the N400 Part 2 - Information About You question #6, I left that blank because I didn't have an USCIS Online Account Number.

 

In case you didn't know, you can fill out Form G-1145 - E-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance (which I did) and this allow me to receive an email and SMS text message of all the updates happening with my N400 application. 

[Cathi 5,755]

14 hours ago, bearmirus said:

Summary:  At first, the officer was very happy with how organized I was with my documents and evidence I brought to the interview. A decision cannot yet be made about my application because I did not bring one important "item" to the interview, received an N-14 form - Request for Additional Documents. However I was able to rectify "the missing item" within a couple of hours (with the awesome help of the IO), and revisited the USCIS field office on the same day and met with the same IO, I was recommended for approval. As a bonus, I got my N-445 Notice of Naturalization Oath Ceremony letter!

 

Wow, what a long day......

 

To all VJers,  I cannot emphasize how important it is to be overly prepared than necessary for the interview. Even my wife thought I was bonkers, ha! Since the interview is one of the most important milestones in life (at least in my opinion) and I did not want to repeat the experience of given a CR1 visa refusal 221(g) due to TN overstay (more than 180 days but less than a year) [it WAS my fault] during my interview in Montreal back in 2008. So it is better to be prepared for something that may never happen, than not be prepared for if it does.

 

I had my interview at the Buffalo field office on Thursday morning at 10:45 am (a day after Winter Storm Stella dumped 29 inches in Buffalo), but they all took it like a champ. Similar to what I did during my biometric appointment couple months back, I arrived an hour early after an hour and a half drive, parked my car in the parking garage, ate breakfast at Jake's Cafe, waited a bit in The Westin Buffalo hotel lobby until 10:30 am then walked to the Buffalo field office.

 

Handed in my Interview appointment letter and green card to the security guard, asked me the standard security questions (weapon, liquid, food, knife, or guns) which I didn't have any, and walked through the metal detector portal. Once I was cleared, both letter and GC was given back to me and was told to go to Window 4 (information window) to check myself in. Then sat in the main lobby area. There were about nine families in the room, and I can tell that most of them were going for their citizenship interview since they were reviewing the civics questions from the “Learn about the United States: Quick Civics Lessons for the New Naturalization Test” booklet that we get after the biometric appointment.

 

One by one, an officer would open the door and call out a name, and either the person or a couple would follow the officer through the door near window 1 (opposite side of the lobby of where I had my biometric taken). Then few people came into the main lobby AFTER I came in was starting to meet with the officers and I'm still waiting for my turn. It was 11:20 am by now - 35 minutes past my scheduled appointment. Truth to be told, I was half-expecting this to happen, so I'm just taking all of this in stride.

 

Before I go on, many of you don't know that I am deaf  I can read lip and speak pretty well) and I already mentioned in N-400 Part 3 - Accommodations for Individuals With Disabilities and/or Impairments and marked the checkbox of 1A. "I am deaf or hard of hearing and request the following accommodation:" and entered "American Sign Language interpreter". I had very little expectation of getting one for the interview since I did not call ahead as I was supposed to after receiving my Interview I-797C NOA letter (it says so on the back of the letter of how to request service even if I already indicated in the N400).

 

Back to the story, what comes next was rather interesting.... a tall, elegant blonde lady in a business two-piece yellow dress walked out of the same door the officer was calling names from, carrying a couple of brown manila file folders, found me, promptly sat right next to me and asked me for my name. At that moment, I was thinking "What...am I being interview out here in the main lobby?". I told her my name via signing and verbal at the same time. She wanted to apologize for the delay as she just found out that I was deaf from my application and is in the process of looking for an ASL interpreter for me. I explained that I was pleasantly surprised and appreciated that you were making the effort of retaining an ASL interpreter. If the process is taking too long, I don't want to hold up everybody's schedule today and I'm more than comfortable with going ahead with the citizenship interview without having an interpreter (honestly - in the back of my mind, I just want the whole process to be over done with then and now, ha!). She said great, let's give it a few more minutes, and we'll have one of the officers come out and get you for the interview, with or without an interpreter. And she went back into the interview door. It wasn't until then I realized that everybody in the main lobby was looking at me, wondering what just happened. Oy vey.

 

Few more people came and went. Then by around 12:00 pm, a very friendly IO, looking like Cecily Strong from SNL but with lighter brown hair, came out from an entirely different door, next to the security area walked out to the main lobby,  and gave me an index finger "come here" gesture in a nice way. I followed her through the door, into a hallway and then into her office. Her office is like any other regular office, four drawers file cabinet on one side of the room with U shaped desk, a couple of family pictures on the wall with a cute baby, a printer and scanner on one corner of her desk with a computer on the other corner. She asked me to remain standing, raise my right hand and swear to tell the truth.

 

The IO introduced herself as V.S. (I don't want to divulge her full name on this form for the sake of her privacy) and apologized for the wait and was unable to get an interpreter. Side note - VS maintained a high level of politeness and professionalism throughout, while still being very clear and firm about what she expected me to do during the interview. She asked me if I want to continue with the interview without the interpreter which I responded wholeheartedly yes.

 

Once we got the introduction out of the way, I can see that VS has my N400 in front of her along with all the paperwork related to my green card in one big fat brown manila file. I gave her a copy of my table of content of all the paperwork and evidence I brought so that she knows what I have for the sake of keeping the whole interview simple as possible. She was very happy and noticed that I have an updated travel information (N400 page 7) since I traveled out of USA for more than 24 hours after I submitted the N400 back in December. I already prepared and printed out the revised p7, but she used her red pen and made the changes on the original N400 application and gave my revised p7 back to me. VS reviewed my N400 application page-by-page. Starting at page 1, I noticed she changed my Part 1-1b (LPR with spouse/3 years) to Part 1-1a (LPR 5 years) since I suspected my green card was dated back in 2009 and it would be less work on her part and less paperwork.

 

She asked me questions along the way just to verify everything is in order. She asked me facts like where I worked, the names of my children.  We then moved to Part 12 of the N-400 (i.e., with all the questions about crime, terrorism, and communism). I don't remember every single question she asked, but among other things, she 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. Just basically saying repetitive no except for one question.

 

I answered "yes" on the N400 form for:

23. Have you EVER been arrested, cited, or detained by any law enforcement officer (including any immigration official or any official of the U.S. armed forces) for any reason? Yes, I tried to re-enter USA on an expired TN visa which I overstayed for more than 180 days but less than a year.  VS wanted to know why I answered yes, I was able to show her the original I-275 Withdrawal of Application for Admission and gave a bit of a backstory. She was satisfied with the answer and moved on. The the last step was to sign my signature in Part 16 - Signature at Interview and Part 18 - Oath of Allegiance.

 

Then we moved onto the civics test. VS took her time with all the questions, making sure that I understood what she was asking. There were only a couple of times I asked VS to repeat a word.

 

The English test was:

   READ: Which state has the most people?

   WRITE: California has the most people ( I opted to print the answer, not cursive)

 

Then answered the following questions for the Civic test:

1. What is one right or freedom from the First Amendment?
2. Who is in charge of the executive branch?
3. If the President can no longer serve, who becomes President?
4. There are four amendments to the Constitution about who can vote. Describe one of them.
5. What is one reason colonists came to America?
6. During the Cold War, what was the main concern of the United States?

   

I answered all of them correctly. And just when I thought we were done, VS asked me for the missing item: Two. Identical. Passport-Style. Color. Photographs. Arrrghhh….I was in utter disbelief for a second and said that I did not realized that it was necessary to bring the photograph to the interview. Luckily, she said that I was not the only one and is aware the current checklist made no mention of it (other than residing out of USA). Then she pointed out that “There is a Walgreen just up the road that can do passport photos.  If you were to go up now and get the photos, I would be happy to see me again as soon I come back. I will let the security guard know. So for now, I have to mark your application a decision cannot be made, further evidence is needed only until I get the photos.” She gave me Form N-652 - Noticed of Examination Result stated that I passed both English and Civic test however, a decision cannot be made” along with Form N-14- Request for Additional Evidence with the details of passport photo requirements.

 

VS also said “the good news is that once I get the photos, I will be able to give you your oath letter. Is there a specific location you would like to have your oath ceremony?” I already did my research beforehand and picked a local University in Rochester, NY since I know the University would be happy to provide an ASL interpreter for the Oath Ceremony and gave my choice to VS. “No problem! And there’s one coming up in May”.

 

And that was the end of the interview. She escorted me out to the main lobby and I quickly walked to Walgreen (on the same street as the field office but to the north). Took my photos, waited for 20 minutes, paid for it, and quickly walked back to the field office. Went through the whole nine yards with the security for the second time. Then I went up to the Information desk (Window 4), received a Take-a-Number ticket,  sat down in the main lobby, waited for 5 minutes before my number was called up to go up to Window 3 (Window 2 was also manned but Window 1 was unmanned). I gave the Window officer the N-652, N-14, and my passport photos. He told me to sit tight in the main lobby and went out to drop off the paperwork to VS.

 

I waited for 10 minutes but man, that was 10 minutes of FEEL. Seconds felt like minutes, and minutes felt like hours. Talk about up and downs, gee whiz…

 

Suddenly, VS appears in Window 1, giving me the same index finger "come here" gesture as she did the first time. I went over and all I had to do was to sign my name along the FRONT edge of the passport photo with a felt black pen. I did not have to write down my Alien number on the back of the photo. She handed me back the Form N-652, marking “recommended for approval” with her infamous red pen, gave back the N-14 as well. Then all of sudden, I got the Form N-445 Notice of Naturalization Oath Ceremony letter, scheduled for May 8, 2017 at the local University I requested.

 

I thanked her profusely for taking the extra time out of her schedule to meet me for the second time and wished her all the best.  

 

And that was it.

 

All together from the time I drove to the field office and arrived back home, it was an 9 hours journey.  And the main point of the story is bring two passport photos no matter what to your interview!! Thank you all for sharing your experience with me and for reading about my detailed interview experience for the N-400. Hopefully this detailed information will help you.

 

Good luck with your immigration journey!

 

My husband had his interview last month, and he too did not have photos. No where in the instructions did it say to bring them, it was frustrating to say the least!

[elisar 17]

38 minutes ago, mimolicious said:

My husband had his interview last month, and he too did not have photos. No where in the instructions did it say to bring them, it was frustrating to say the least!

Did they ask your husband about the photos? 

[Sonia_Sonia 16]

I am so happy for you that everything went well at your interview. It was a long day for you, but you can now rest and wait until the OATH. Thanks for sharing with us. You were the first one from the VJ (December filer) that got the interview, and I am really happy for you. I hope we all from the December filers group can get our case processed fast too. Congratulations to you!

[Farquharson 2]

21 hours ago, bearmirus said:

Summary:  At first, the officer was very happy with how organized I was with my documents and evidence I brought to the interview. A decision cannot yet be made about my application because I did not bring one important "item" to the interview, received an N-14 form - Request for Additional Documents. However I was able to rectify "the missing item" within a couple of hours (with the awesome help of the IO), and revisited the USCIS field office on the same day and met with the same IO, I was recommended for approval. As a bonus, I got my N-445 Notice of Naturalization Oath Ceremony letter!

 

Wow, what a long day......

 

To all VJers,  I cannot emphasize how important it is to be overly prepared than necessary for the interview. Even my wife thought I was bonkers, ha! Since the interview is one of the most important milestones in life (at least in my opinion) and I did not want to repeat the experience of given a CR1 visa refusal 221(g) due to TN overstay (more than 180 days but less than a year) [it WAS my fault] during my interview in Montreal back in 2008. So it is better to be prepared for something that may never happen, than not be prepared for if it does.

 

I had my interview at the Buffalo field office on Thursday morning at 10:45 am (a day after Winter Storm Stella dumped 29 inches in Buffalo), but they all took it like a champ. Similar to what I did during my biometric appointment couple months back, I arrived an hour early after an hour and a half drive, parked my car in the parking garage, ate breakfast at Jake's Cafe, waited a bit in The Westin Buffalo hotel lobby until 10:30 am then walked to the Buffalo field office.

 

Handed in my Interview appointment letter and green card to the security guard, asked me the standard security questions (weapon, liquid, food, knife, or guns) which I didn't have any, and walked through the metal detector portal. Once I was cleared, both letter and GC was given back to me and was told to go to Window 4 (information window) to check myself in. Then sat in the main lobby area. There were about nine families in the room, and I can tell that most of them were going for their citizenship interview since they were reviewing the civics questions from the “Learn about the United States: Quick Civics Lessons for the New Naturalization Test” booklet that we get after the biometric appointment.

 

One by one, an officer would open the door and call out a name, and either the person or a couple would follow the officer through the door near window 1 (opposite side of the lobby of where I had my biometric taken). Then few people came into the main lobby AFTER I came in was starting to meet with the officers and I'm still waiting for my turn. It was 11:20 am by now - 35 minutes past my scheduled appointment. Truth to be told, I was half-expecting this to happen, so I'm just taking all of this in stride.

 

Before I go on, many of you don't know that I am deaf  I can read lip and speak pretty well) and I already mentioned in N-400 Part 3 - Accommodations for Individuals With Disabilities and/or Impairments and marked the checkbox of 1A. "I am deaf or hard of hearing and request the following accommodation:" and entered "American Sign Language interpreter". I had very little expectation of getting one for the interview since I did not call ahead as I was supposed to after receiving my Interview I-797C NOA letter (it says so on the back of the letter of how to request service even if I already indicated in the N400).

 

Back to the story, what comes next was rather interesting.... a tall, elegant blonde lady in a business two-piece yellow dress walked out of the same door the officer was calling names from, carrying a couple of brown manila file folders, found me, promptly sat right next to me and asked me for my name. At that moment, I was thinking "What...am I being interview out here in the main lobby?". I told her my name via signing and verbal at the same time. She wanted to apologize for the delay as she just found out that I was deaf from my application and is in the process of looking for an ASL interpreter for me. I explained that I was pleasantly surprised and appreciated that you were making the effort of retaining an ASL interpreter. If the process is taking too long, I don't want to hold up everybody's schedule today and I'm more than comfortable with going ahead with the citizenship interview without having an interpreter (honestly - in the back of my mind, I just want the whole process to be over done with then and now, ha!). She said great, let's give it a few more minutes, and we'll have one of the officers come out and get you for the interview, with or without an interpreter. And she went back into the interview door. It wasn't until then I realized that everybody in the main lobby was looking at me, wondering what just happened. Oy vey.

 

Few more people came and went. Then by around 12:00 pm, a very friendly IO, looking like Cecily Strong from SNL but with lighter brown hair, came out from an entirely different door, next to the security area walked out to the main lobby,  and gave me an index finger "come here" gesture in a nice way. I followed her through the door, into a hallway and then into her office. Her office is like any other regular office, four drawers file cabinet on one side of the room with U shaped desk, a couple of family pictures on the wall with a cute baby, a printer and scanner on one corner of her desk with a computer on the other corner. She asked me to remain standing, raise my right hand and swear to tell the truth.

 

The IO introduced herself as V.S. (I don't want to divulge her full name on this form for the sake of her privacy) and apologized for the wait and was unable to get an interpreter. Side note - VS maintained a high level of politeness and professionalism throughout, while still being very clear and firm about what she expected me to do during the interview. She asked me if I want to continue with the interview without the interpreter which I responded wholeheartedly yes.

 

Once we got the introduction out of the way, I can see that VS has my N400 in front of her along with all the paperwork related to my green card in one big fat brown manila file. I gave her a copy of my table of content of all the paperwork and evidence I brought so that she knows what I have for the sake of keeping the whole interview simple as possible. She was very happy and noticed that I have an updated travel information (N400 page 7) since I traveled out of USA for more than 24 hours after I submitted the N400 back in December. I already prepared and printed out the revised p7, but she used her red pen and made the changes on the original N400 application and gave my revised p7 back to me. VS reviewed my N400 application page-by-page. Starting at page 1, I noticed she changed my Part 1-1b (LPR with spouse/3 years) to Part 1-1a (LPR 5 years) since I suspected my green card was dated back in 2009 and it would be less work on her part and less paperwork.

 

She asked me questions along the way just to verify everything is in order. She asked me facts like where I worked, the names of my children.  We then moved to Part 12 of the N-400 (i.e., with all the questions about crime, terrorism, and communism). I don't remember every single question she asked, but among other things, she 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. Just basically saying repetitive no except for one question.

 

I answered "yes" on the N400 form for:

23. Have you EVER been arrested, cited, or detained by any law enforcement officer (including any immigration official or any official of the U.S. armed forces) for any reason? Yes, I tried to re-enter USA on an expired TN visa which I overstayed for more than 180 days but less than a year.  VS wanted to know why I answered yes, I was able to show her the original I-275 Withdrawal of Application for Admission and gave a bit of a backstory. She was satisfied with the answer and moved on. The the last step was to sign my signature in Part 16 - Signature at Interview and Part 18 - Oath of Allegiance.

 

Then we moved onto the civics test. VS took her time with all the questions, making sure that I understood what she was asking. There were only a couple of times I asked VS to repeat a word.

 

The English test was:

   READ: Which state has the most people?

   WRITE: California has the most people ( I opted to print the answer, not cursive)

 

Then answered the following questions for the Civic test:

1. What is one right or freedom from the First Amendment?
2. Who is in charge of the executive branch?
3. If the President can no longer serve, who becomes President?
4. There are four amendments to the Constitution about who can vote. Describe one of them.
5. What is one reason colonists came to America?
6. During the Cold War, what was the main concern of the United States?

   

I answered all of them correctly. And just when I thought we were done, VS asked me for the missing item: Two. Identical. Passport-Style. Color. Photographs. Arrrghhh….I was in utter disbelief for a second and said that I did not realized that it was necessary to bring the photograph to the interview. Luckily, she said that I was not the only one and is aware the current checklist made no mention of it (other than residing out of USA). Then she pointed out that “There is a Walgreen just up the road that can do passport photos.  If you were to go up now and get the photos, I would be happy to see me again as soon I come back. I will let the security guard know. So for now, I have to mark your application a decision cannot be made, further evidence is needed only until I get the photos.” She gave me Form N-652 - Noticed of Examination Result stated that I passed both English and Civic test however, a decision cannot be made” along with Form N-14- Request for Additional Evidence with the details of passport photo requirements.

 

VS also said “the good news is that once I get the photos, I will be able to give you your oath letter. Is there a specific location you would like to have your oath ceremony?” I already did my research beforehand and picked a local University in Rochester, NY since I know the University would be happy to provide an ASL interpreter for the Oath Ceremony and gave my choice to VS. “No problem! And there’s one coming up in May”.

 

And that was the end of the interview. She escorted me out to the main lobby and I quickly walked to Walgreen (on the same street as the field office but to the north). Took my photos, waited for 20 minutes, paid for it, and quickly walked back to the field office. Went through the whole nine yards with the security for the second time. Then I went up to the Information desk (Window 4), received a Take-a-Number ticket,  sat down in the main lobby, waited for 5 minutes before my number was called up to go up to Window 3 (Window 2 was also manned but Window 1 was unmanned). I gave the Window officer the N-652, N-14, and my passport photos. He told me to sit tight in the main lobby and went out to drop off the paperwork to VS.

 

I waited for 10 minutes but man, that was 10 minutes of FEEL. Seconds felt like minutes, and minutes felt like hours. Talk about up and downs, gee whiz…

 

Suddenly, VS appears in Window 1, giving me the same index finger "come here" gesture as she did the first time. I went over and all I had to do was to sign my name along the FRONT edge of the passport photo with a felt black pen. I did not have to write down my Alien number on the back of the photo. She handed me back the Form N-652, marking “recommended for approval” with her infamous red pen, gave back the N-14 as well. Then all of sudden, I got the Form N-445 Notice of Naturalization Oath Ceremony letter, scheduled for May 8, 2017 at the local University I requested.

 

I thanked her profusely for taking the extra time out of her schedule to meet me for the second time and wished her all the best.  

 

And that was it.

 

All together from the time I drove to the field office and arrived back home, it was an 9 hours journey.  And the main point of the story is bring two passport photos no matter what to your interview!! Thank you all for sharing your experience with me and for reading about my detailed interview experience for the N-400. Hopefully this detailed information will help you.

 

Good luck with your immigration journey!

 

Hi Bearmirus,

 

Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us. I have a question regarding documentation to be brought to the interview. I have to bring my birth certificate and marriage certificate on behalf of my wife, for whom the interview is scheduled. Would copies of these documents suffice, or do I need to bring the original documents? They won't keep these documents, will they?

 

Thank you for your help!

[L0bster00 41]

So Strange! I have never in my life been a second out of status or illegal in this country. Paid more than 40K in University fees as an International student during my student days. I have paid more than 30K  in Federal taxes every year since 2010. Since November 2016, i am stuck  in BG check. This is such a shame. I have filed in NOV 16, and still waiting for my interview!

[bearmirus 45]

1 hour ago, Farquharson said:

Hi Bearmirus,

 

Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us. I have a question regarding documentation to be brought to the interview. I have to bring my birth certificate and marriage certificate on behalf of my wife, for whom the interview is scheduled. Would copies of these documents suffice, or do I need to bring the original documents? They won't keep these documents, will they?

 

Thank you for your help!

1

Happy to help.

 

I bought all of the original documents along with copies of them to my interview. My IO did not ask me to provide the original document during the interview. There are two reasons I can think of on why my IO didn't ask. First - I was under the five years rule therefore I didn't have to provide any ongoing marriage evidence. Secondly -  I suspected since I provided a table of content paper to the IO at the beginning of the interview, showing what I have in my 21-Pocket Poly Expanding File I bought with me. As to whether they will keep the documents or not, I cannot say. I'm sure other can chime in about that.

 

[Cathi 5,755]

13 hours ago, elisar said:

Did they ask your husband about the photos? 

Yes they did, he went back with them the next morning. He is being sworn in next week

[bearmirus 45]

5 hours ago, L0bster00 said:

So Strange! I have never in my life been a second out of status or illegal in this country. Paid more than 40K in University fees as an International student during my student days. I have paid more than 30K  in Federal taxes every year since 2010. Since November 2016, i am stuck  in BG check. This is such a shame. I have filed in NOV 16, and still waiting for my interview!

 

I think it is all about location. Dallas field office is the one will schedule your interview.  Looking at July 2016 filer topic, @SBB , @CareBear , @enoughwait (all with Dallas field office)  received their interview letters in the last couple of days so you're looking at a 8-month wait between the fingerprint appointment and the interview appointment. 

 

Hang in there!

[bearmirus 45]

41 minutes ago, mimolicious said:

Yes they did, he went back with them the next morning. He is being sworn in next week

 woohoo!

[austindude 37]

my wife is in the same boat. We both had out Biometrics on 01/25/2017 and I got an "in line for interview on 02/06/2017" and she is yet to get it. No idea whats delaying her background check