How long for your citizenship?

[FrankD18 3]

I'm just curious about folks' timeframe between application for naturalization to being a citizen.

My case was very straightforward (degree in demand, permanent residence granted because of my work record)

Applied for naturalization in January 2016, fingerprints soon after, then NOTHING for a year. I had to start calling over and over 

again, talk to Tier 2 etc. and finally got my interview in June of this year.

Now, as we are getting close to 2 months post interview, I still don't have a date for the oath ceremony.

I also know people who applied at the same location, from the same city way after I did, who are already citizens.

 

So somewhat curious if it's just one of those 'fell through the cracks thing' or something else.

[Going through 5,671]

2 minutes ago, FrankD18 said:

I'm just curious about folks' timeframe between application for naturalization to being a citizen.

My case was very straightforward (degree in demand, permanent residence granted because of my work record)

Applied for naturalization in January 2016, fingerprints soon after, then NOTHING for a year. I had to start calling over and over 

again, talk to Tier 2 etc. and finally got my interview in June of this year.

Now, as we are getting close to 2 months post interview, I still don't have a date for the oath ceremony.

I also know people who applied at the same location, from the same city way after I did, who are already citizens.

 

So somewhat curious if it's just one of those 'fell through the cracks thing' or something else.

It can depend on certain things...did you get an actual approval after your interview, or did you get the "decision cannot be made now" or "under supervisor review" after your interview?

 

If you got the wholehearted approval---congrats!  It can still take anywhere up to a few months or so before they can schedule you into an oath ceremony.

If you got the "decision cannot  be made" or "under supervisor review"---Sometimes it can be a couple of weeks, sometimes it can take several months before you will be in line for an oath scheduling.

 

Since you are already close to 2 months, I would take your copy of the letter the IO gave you after your interview and schedule an Infopass to talk to someone in person.

[FrankD18 3]

I know it can still take a couple of months after so I'm not worried at this stage. I'm just curious about the whole thing, because even the IO was surprised that my interview was a full 15 months after I had applied.

[Going through 5,671]

Yeah it can take longer depending on country of origin, background check, etc.  Lots of variables.  Some do unfortunately just slip through the cracks too. Plus with this new administration in the White House, they are getting slammed with N400 applications these days which adds to the increased waiting time for everyone.

[charmander 692]

Your case most likely got stuck at background checks. I was a March 2016 filer and as far as I remember there was not a single field office in the whole country that was processing beyond 7-8 months in beginning of 2016, as of today the slowest field office in the whole country is Miami, FL and they report 11.5 months processing time for N400, still there is not a single field office whose normal processing time is beyond 1 year. That's why I'm almost certain you got stuck at background checks.

 

Field offices started to slow down with switching to the new ELIS (IOE) filing and also more people applying for citizenship in 2nd half of 2016. My case took 120 days from mailing package to oath and it was consistent with other Boston filers by then. Another friend of mine from Boston applied in June 2016 and took his oath end of March 2017, which was also consistent with the Boston IOE filers by then. Things changed very rapidly in a very short amount of time last year but things are getting better nowadays and we are seeing some of the field offices are back to processing N400s in 5-6 months again. USCIS's goal for N400 is 5 months by the way.

[FrankD18 3]

I'm not really sure why it would get stuck there. From Western Europe, high degree, no record of any sort, definitely not a 'risky candidate' in any way.

[SpelaD 4]

It took me 8 months.

[lovelyalex 99]

 

1 hour ago, FrankD18 said:

I'm not really sure why it would get stuck there. From Western Europe, high degree, no record of any sort, definitely not a 'risky candidate' in any way.

 

You're thinking about this the wrong way...  They have so many applications to sort through right now, for a variety of reasons (new president with strong opinions on immigrants, not to mention there is an increase in applications around an election year which adds to a backlog) on top of delays and processing issues with background checks last year.  Scores and scores of people were delayed because their background checks had to be run again, even after they'd been interviewed and approved.

 

It's not personal.  You, as an individual, are literally just a drop in the ocean right now, in a sea of drops waiting at various stages.  Sure some people do go through a bit quicker and the waiting is tough... but hang in there!

 

But at this stage I would recommend what others have said and get an infopass at your FO and see what the scheduling hold up is.

 

Edited July 21, 2017 by lovelyalex

[Going through 5,671]

1 hour ago, charmander said:

Things changed very rapidly in a very short amount of time last year but things are getting better nowadays and we are seeing some of the field offices are back to processing N400s in 5-6 months again. USCIS's goal for N400 is 5 months by the way.

Sighs...I wish this were the case for everyone.  NY is the busiest application-wise, and their average so far is 9-12 months for straightforward cases, I've been reading.

 

Lord knows what the wait time is in NY for the not-so-straightforward ones.  

[TBoneTX 46,276]

Thread is moved from the US Citizenship main forum to the Case Progress subforum.

[FrankD18 3]

1 hour ago, lovelyalex said:

 

 

You're thinking about this the wrong way...  They have so many applications to sort through right now, for a variety of reasons (new president with strong opinions on immigrants, not to mention there is an increase in applications around an election year which adds to a backlog) on top of delays and processing issues with background checks last year.  Scores and scores of people were delayed because their background checks had to be run again, even after they'd been interviewed and approved.

 

It's not personal.  You, as an individual, are literally just a drop in the ocean right now, in a sea of drops waiting at various stages.  Sure some people do go through a bit quicker and the waiting is tough... but hang in there!

 

But at this stage I would recommend what others have said and get an infopass at your FO and see what the scheduling hold up is.

 

 

I guess you miss the first post. I already had my interview. It just came a long time after I applied (15 months). I applied in January of 2016. Way before the elections. 

I was just curious about what others typically had seen in their applications. Not so much in conjectures about why mine was so slow.

[Going through 5,671]

You applied before the elections, yes, but you applied during an election year----I believe that's what @lovelyalex was getting at when saying it could play into the delay around your oath scheduling.  EVERYTHING got pushed back by USCIS starting last year because of the increased number of applications since then, including oath ceremonies.

 

Some offices only hold oath ceremonies once or twice a month, some will only hold them after they reach a set number of approved applicants.  You can check oath ceremony schedules for your specific field office---that may give you an idea as to when they usually fall, maybe give you a rough idea of when you may get scheduled.

 

 

[Lelita 74]

1 hour ago, Going through said:

Sighs...I wish this were the case for everyone.  NY is the busiest application-wise, and their average so far is 9-12 months for straightforward cases, I've been reading.

 

Lord knows what the wait time is in NY for the not-so-straightforward ones.  

I think NY is the slowest, I had my bio over 3 weeks ago and still at fingerprints scheduled stage, and God only knows for how long.

i have read people been at that stage for months 

[Going through 5,671]

Just now, Lela37 said:

I think NY is the slowest, I had my bio over 3 weeks ago and still at fingerprints scheduled stage, and God only knows for how long.

i have read people been at that stage for months 

I've read people at that stage for over a year only to have their fingerprints expire and then have to do biometrics again  

[Lelita 74]

Just now, Going through said:

I've read people at that stage for over a year only to have their fingerprints expire and then have to do biometrics again  

That is what im afraid of, is very strange how they handle applications.

some are done really fast while other have to wait in limbo