N400 filers at Minneapolis,MN

[RamonGomez 271]

How long is the N400 realistically taking nowadays in the Twin Cities area?

 

My wife already has her 10 year green card.   The online case status processing times estimates 15.5 months or less for 80% of cases. However, I've been skimming reports on here and it looks like 4-8 months seems to be pretty common.

 

Also, how bad is it applying under the 3 year rule? My wife will be eligible for the 5 year rule in Feb 2024 (about 8 months from now) and is not in a huge rush, would it make sense to just wait? Or is the 3 vs 5 year rule not a huge deal.

 

Thanks everyone.

[Diriangén 12]

8 hours ago, RamonGomez said:

How long is the N400 realistically taking nowadays in the Twin Cities area?

 

My wife already has her 10 year green card.   The online case status processing times estimates 15.5 months or less for 80% of cases. However, I've been skimming reports on here and it looks like 4-8 months seems to be pretty common.

Processing is much faster than 15.5 months if you have a straightforward case. I applied under the 3 year rule and my oath ceremony was about 4 months from the N-400 application date. I think my case was straightforward (solid evidence of marriage & co-mingling of finances, no arrests or criminal history, etc.) but I may have just gotten lucky with the timing. Hopefully four months (or less) becomes the norm!

 

8 hours ago, RamonGomez said:

Also, how bad is it applying under the 3 year rule? My wife will be eligible for the 5 year rule in Feb 2024 (about 8 months from now) and is not in a huge rush, would it make sense to just wait? Or is the 3 vs 5 year rule not a huge deal.

3 vs 5 years doesn't matter as long as you're eligible. If your wife wants to be a citizen, I don't think there's any reason to wait. We thought the online N-400 application was the easiest application in the process. There's a screening section to check if you're eligible to apply and under which criteria (the 3-year rule or 5-year), the application automatically skips any sections that don't apply, you don't need to worry about putting extra info in the addendum pages, you can save your work and come back to it, and the submission notice generates shortly after submitting the application.

[Vpanda85 45]

18 hours ago, RamonGomez said:

Also, how bad is it applying under the 3 year rule? My wife will be eligible for the 5 year rule in Feb 2024 (about 8 months from now) and is not in a huge rush, would it make sense to just wait? Or is the 3 vs 5 year rule not a huge deal.

I applied under the 3 year, while also having my I-751 / ROC pending. I applied in Aug 2022 and was naturalized in April 2023 (8 months). My case was straightforward as well - no divorce waivers, commingling of finances, no arrests / criminal charges. The only hiccup was my N-400 interview was held in February but a decision could not be made because they didn't have my file. It took about 3-4 weeks to get the oath ceremony notice. 

 

The Minneapolis office is processing N-400 applications faster than the posted processing times. My recommendation is that you apply and not wait. 

[Asiula 15]

Today I had my interview in Duluth. I was approved and I was told to wait for the oath ceremony notice. 
 

I applied online on Feb 24th 2023.

 

Good luck to everybody! 

[nad2000 0]

Hi Visajourney community,

 

I'm writing this to give back to the community and share my experience with USCIS, I applied in November 21, 2021 for N400, I was married to american citizen for 11 years, she divorce me in November 2022', ''she is a successful doctor, on the divorce petition she said I'm incompatible with her", I was arrested three times: in February 2015, June 2015 and November 2015, but my record since then was clean which means my statuary period of 5 years was clean, because all my arrest were misdemeanors, I was denied citizenship once in 2020 because of my arrests they told me you don't have good moral character.

my interview for N400 was in November 2022, the officer was kinda mean, after the interview they mailed me a notice saying bring all the divorce papers court certified, and proof you paid all your taxes.

thanks to allah my citizenship was approved in march 2023 and I attended my citizenship ceremony in March 9 2023 after 11 years of permanent residency, my first green card was issued in december 2012.

it was a long journey, but hamdollah I attended my citizenship ceremony in march 2023.

from my experience the general rule is that uscis and usa consulates and embassies are mean to muslim men, " be careful if you are a muslim man and married to usa citizen", because muslims are male dominated societies, which create a dilemma in american culture.

on the ceremonies in Minneapolis there were couple of women with a tag saying women voting leagues, they were greeting every woman but not greeting males.

now I'm proud to be a citizen of the great nation on the galaxy, so I can enjoy the rights and freedom of the great American people.

 

wish good luck to every one.

 

[AffableAndy 107]

I had my naturalization ceremony on Wednesday. It was a really nice ceremony, great judge speaking and I liked that they registered you to vote and let you update your SS card there. Contrary to the other poster, the league of women voters was speaking to everybody (including myself, a male) and they were very helpful to anyone having trouble.

 

Just some tips:

- Bring a pen to fill out the citizenship and SS forms. Keep your phone on you as the SS form has to be filled both in paper and online.

- There are parking lots nearby that are much cheaper than the river center one if you walk 3-5 minutes!

- After the ceremony, take some cheesy photos and celebrate with your family. If you wait about 20 minutes, the mad rush for social security dies down and it becomes reasonably easy to navigate.

 

Anyway, it is nice to be a citizen - I also applied under the three year rule. Gathering the required evidence was fairly easy. I think some people at the ceremony applied as late as December of 2023 so they are moving quite quickly.

 

All the best to everyone still going through the process!

[Diriangén 12]

10 minutes ago, AffableAndy said:

- There are parking lots nearby that are much cheaper than the river center one if you walk 3-5 minutes!

Agreed! RiverCentre ramp event parking rate was $15, other ramps nearby charge less, street parking meters charge $2.25/hr, or there's even free street parking within a 1/2 mile on Exchange Street or just off West 7th Street where I parked (SW of the RiverCentre).

 

Other logistically notes from 5/10 ceremony: the notice said to arrive at 1:45pm for the check-in process. I arrived a little earlier but arriving at 1:45 gave you enough time to check in and be seated before the ceremony started at 2pm. Arrive earlier if your family wants a better seat or just want a little more time to settle in. The ceremony was about 45 minutes long (2-2:45pm) with the opportunity to register to vote & take care of social security paperwork afterwards. 1,000 people were naturalized. They read out the birth countries represented (I think there were 95 different countries) and how many from each country.

 

After the oath and as the ceremony ends, staff is ready to hand out naturalization certificates and new citizen info packets to you directly. Even though seating is not assigned, they know who is sitting in which row. They must use some kind of facial recognition technology to identify where everyone is sitting during the ceremony. It's a little unnerving to know they know exactly where you're sitting! But it definitely makes handing out naturalization certificates more efficient.

[AffableAndy 107]

Hey! We were at the same ceremony!
 

So each row was numbered, and they told us not to swap seats. They took our appointment forms and arranged the certificates in the same order. Pretty low tech but it was very impressive!

 

Congratulations! Now to go apply for a passport…

[Abdulali_6 1]

On 5/9/2023 at 9:43 PM, Diriangén said:

Processing is much faster than 15.5 months if you have a straightforward case. I applied under the 3 year rule and my oath ceremony was about 4 months from the N-400 application date. I think my case was straightforward (solid evidence of marriage & co-mingling of finances, no arrests or criminal history, etc.) but I may have just gotten lucky with the timing. Hopefully four months (or less) becomes the norm!

 

3 vs 5 years doesn't matter as long as you're eligible. If your wife wants to be a citizen, I don't think there's any reason to wait. We thought the online N-400 application was the easiest application in the process. There's a screening section to check if you're eligible to apply and under which criteria (the 3-year rule or 5-year), the application automatically skips any sections that don't apply, you don't need to worry about putting extra info in the addendum pages, you can save your work and come back to it, and the submission notice generates shortly after submitting the application.

Would not say it is much faster. If you have a name like mine... You will be given the run around and end up playing the waiting game. Up to 17 months since applying. Hopefully you receive better luck. Really all the luck of the draw, and whose desk your application ends up on. 

[Gyyomme 273]

Had my N-400 interview yesterday and was approved, I-751 still pending but IO said case is straight forward and will recommend it for approval. So close but yet so far.

[Gyyomme 273]

On 8/8/2023 at 7:08 PM, Gyyomme said:

Had my N-400 interview yesterday and was approved, I-751 still pending but IO said case is straight forward and will recommend it for approval. So close but yet so far.

Update: I-1751 sent to Local Office.

[Gyyomme 273]

On 8/11/2023 at 9:29 AM, Gyyomme said:

Update: I-1751 sent to Local Office.

Status changed today to "Oath ceremony will be scheduled".

 

[Gyyomme 273]

Guys, how long does it take for the notice to be mail and how many visitors are allowed be at the event?

 

Thank you.

[g9g9g9 12]

Depends .. but in general 2 weeks or 2 or 3 days it is mailed out.

 

[Gyyomme 273]

On 8/14/2023 at 11:54 AM, Gyyomme said:

Status changed today to "Oath ceremony will be scheduled".

 

• Oath notice mailed. WooHoo! almost there.