N400 5-year Interview--just got my date, need tips

[Going through 5,671]

7 minutes ago, marcusa said:

i heard lots of folks said, if you file 3 months earlier before 3(5) years anniversary, the USCIS will not interview you until you reach your anniversary.

I've heard that too I don't believe that applies to people like me who filed 6 or more years later.  I passed my 3/5 year anniversary date a while back.

 

You'd have to check the July 2017 filers thread---I know a total of 3 online filers have all received their interview dates in September, not sure of their GC dates off hand.

Edited August 18, 2017 by Going through

[Going through 5,671]

Anyone who had their interview filing under the 5-year rule?

I still am curious what the focus of the interview would be about (since I'm presuming it won't be about my marriage)?

Just want to be prepared.

[Charro 17]

48 minutes ago, Going through said:

Anyone who had their interview filing under the 5-year rule?

I still am curious what the focus of the interview would be about (since I'm presuming it won't be about my marriage)?

Just want to be prepared.

Hi @Going through after reading through what you have , trust me you are going to be fine and you are going to walk out of there maybe 10 minutes later asking yourself " wait that's it?! We're done ?!"  I passed !" 😁 I filed under the 5 year and though I took tax transcripts, marriage certificate , my two sons' birth certificates mine and my husband's birth certificate the only thing she asked me for was my GC, passports ( I brought all of them as I had 3, old and new ) and state id. And I was actually not going to bring all that stuff but decided to bring just in case. Plus they were all already in a folder I created to organize my immigration life and just didn't feel like taking them out. 😁The two things she needed copies of were my birth certificate. (She needed that as my country recently issued new birth certificates and my immigration file that they had ,had the old one. ) And she took copies of my passport as that was also new. In my post on my interview experience I mentioned that though I filled out " no" to the citation question I did bring up during the interview that about 13 years ago I got a traffick ticket, under $500 and not DUI related. I only brought with me my driver's record that I printed from the DMV website. It's not a detailed record. It just shows I have a clean record. She didn't take or even look at that sheet. She only updated my application to say " yes" and briefly described the incident. 

The interview was quick and pleasant. And well the rest is history. 😁 

So i said all that to say I felt the focus of the interview was really about how well the applicant spoke and understood English , knew the civic questions and truthfully verified the answers on their application. And just update any new info since filing. 

Wishing you the best of luck. 👍🏽 Hope this helps. 

Edited August 18, 2017 by Charro
Addendum

[Going through 5,671]

2 hours ago, Charro said:

Hi @Going through after reading through what you have , trust me you are going to be fine and you are going to walk out of there maybe 10 minutes later asking yourself " wait that's it?! We're done ?!"  I passed !" 😁 I filed under the 5 year and though I took tax transcripts, marriage certificate , my two sons' birth certificates mine and my husband's birth certificate the only thing she asked me for was my GC, passports ( I brought all of them as I had 3, old and new ) and state id. And I was actually not going to bring all that stuff but decided to bring just in case. Plus they were all already in a folder I created to organize my immigration life and just didn't feel like taking them out. 😁The two things she needed copies of were my birth certificate. (She needed that as my country recently issued new birth certificates and my immigration file that they had ,had the old one. ) And she took copies of my passport as that was also new. In my post on my interview experience I mentioned that though I filled out " no" to the citation question I did bring up during the interview that about 13 years ago I got a traffick ticket, under $500 and not DUI related. I only brought with me my driver's record that I printed from the DMV website. It's not a detailed record. It just shows I have a clean record. She didn't take or even look at that sheet. She only updated my application to say " yes" and briefly described the incident. 

The interview was quick and pleasant. And well the rest is history. 😁 

So i said all that to say I felt the focus of the interview was really about how well the applicant spoke and understood English , knew the civic questions and truthfully verified the answers on their application. And just update any new info since filing. 

Wishing you the best of luck. 👍🏽 Hope this helps. 

That makes sense....kind of like a "ok, anything new in your life?" sort of interview...I get what you mean.

Congrats your your passing!!  Yes, I also have a big binder of my life as far back as I can document officially---which reminds me, I need to start organizing one for my daughter in case she needs to rely on anything "from way back" when she's my age, throughout her own life.

 

I'm surprised she wanted copies of your birth certificate though---I wonder if she would have RFE'd you for them if you hadn't had them on you, since it's not a req. document in the interview letter.

[joglen1210 10]

When I was interviewed, they focused mostly on what I answered on the application form (entirely the same as most of my friends and relatives), my travel history, asked me to sign a paper, then the yes or no answer, asked me to write something the IO said and then the civics questions - i got the 6 correct answers and then she stopped. From there, she was just looking at the monitor and then shook my hand and gave me a piece of paper that I passed the test and that a decision cannot be made at that time. After 2 weeks, I received the notice (both text, email and letter) to take an oath. My process took about 5 months from the time i mailed my form to oath. Unless you have a felony conviction that disqualifies you - you will be fine and its fairly easy.

[Going through 5,671]

11 hours ago, joglen1210 said:

When I was interviewed, they focused mostly on what I answered on the application form (entirely the same as most of my friends and relatives), my travel history, asked me to sign a paper, then the yes or no answer, asked me to write something the IO said and then the civics questions - i got the 6 correct answers and then she stopped. From there, she was just looking at the monitor and then shook my hand and gave me a piece of paper that I passed the test and that a decision cannot be made at that time. After 2 weeks, I received the notice (both text, email and letter) to take an oath. My process took about 5 months from the time i mailed my form to oath. Unless you have a felony conviction that disqualifies you - you will be fine and its fairly easy.

Thanks joglen!

[nightingale 59 0]

All four members of my family myself included did the citizenship interview with the 5 year rule. My elder son and I did ours 4 years ago and my husband and younger son did theirs last year.  All we took were id and passports and one son took a court document pertaining to an offense. They did not require taxes, name badges or employers letters. The IO went through the application and asked questions from that. Did the civics and reading and writing test we were each done in about 10 to 15 minutes.

[Going through 5,671]

7 minutes ago, nightingale 59 said:

All four members of my family myself included did the citizenship interview with the 5 year rule. My elder son and I did ours 4 years ago and my husband and younger son did theirs last year.  All we took were id and passports and one son took a court document pertaining to an offense. They did not require taxes, name badges or employers letters. The IO went through the application and asked questions from that. Did the civics and reading and writing test we were each done in about 10 to 15 minutes.

Thanks for sharing your experience!  Yeah, I figure I won't be asked for most of the stuff I'm bringing (and I know half the stuff I have isn't required documents), but I'm always over-prepared for stuff like this anyhow, just in case.  

 

The outcome of one's life depending upon meeting someone for 10 minutes...sighs.  I was way more relaxed about my AOS interview back then.  The lady there was extremely nice though.

[nightingale 59 0]

We each had different IOs but they were all very nice, though I do realize having English as a first language is also a tremendous advantage. I have a friend whose mother in law failed her interview as she did not understand the instruction to stand to swear that you are telling the truth. They had prepared her for the questions but she got tripped up right at the beginning.

 

 

[Going through 5,671]

45 minutes ago, nightingale 59 said:

We each had different IOs but they were all very nice, though I do realize having English as a first language is also a tremendous advantage. I have a friend whose mother in law failed her interview as she did not understand the instruction to stand to swear that you are telling the truth. They had prepared her for the questions but she got tripped up right at the beginning.

 

 

Did she get a 2nd interview after?

[nightingale 59 0]

I am not sure about the second interview but she did go to immigration court and was allowed to stay.

[Going through 5,671]

1 hour ago, nightingale 59 said:

I am not sure about the second interview but she did go to immigration court and was allowed to stay.

Glad it worked out for her in the end---that had to be an extremely stressful time for all, considering everyone else had passed the interview, I would imagine!

[Going through 5,671]

On 8/17/2017 at 10:28 PM, xyz12345 said:

And here I am thinking that, among the list, I only plan to bring irs income tax transcripts for proof of payment of taxes/residency, old passports for proof of overseas travel/residency and any traffic citation/ticket (I always carry my drivers license anyway).

 

May I ask why do we need employment verification or employee badge?

It's not required that I bring it.  However, my employment verification letter also works as a reference/GMC letter, the way it she wrote it, so I figure it'll kill two birds with one stone.  Plus it's always nice to have for other purposes as well (I plan on keeping the original and offering a copy for USCIS to add to my file)--especially for any other work opportunities in the future.

[Going through 5,671]

Got my interview letter in the mail today...I wasn't feeling at all nervous about the interview until right now. 

[Taki 8]

3 hours ago, Going through said:

Got my interview letter in the mail today...I wasn't feeling at all nervous about the interview until right now. 

Don't be nervous!  I applied under 5-year rule as I was a green card holder for 20 years. I agree with other posters that the IO focused on verifying what was on the application during my interview.  He didn't ask anything about my spouse and child beyond what was on the application.  I had a mistake on travel dates (filled in a wrong year), which I didn't realize until the IO asked about it, and I also had additional international travel dates after I applied.  The IO just made the correction and additions.  I took copies of tax returns, mortgage and bank statements, old expired passports, record of my traffic tickets and etc. with me but IO didn't ask for anything other than my green card.  I don't exactly remember how long my interview was, but I think it was no more than 20 minutes.  Just study the civics questions on the booklet, answer all the questions honestly, and you'll be fine