N-400 Filers @ New York City, Queens and Long Island Field Offices

[M.Z 2]

7 hours ago, mol4yn said:

Same. I applied in Oct 19, Manhattan office.  "Estimated date completion time" is Oct 20.  But not sure it would happen due to COVID

Hi mol4yn, do you have I-751 application pending? My conditional green card is about to expire on October so it might be a good reason to prioritize my N-400 application. I am not sure how it will end but I will update the forum. 

Edited August 30, 2020 by M.Z

[mol4yn 5]

4 hours ago, M.Z said:

Hi mol4yn, do you have I-751 application pending? My conditional green card is about to expire on October so it might be a good reason to prioritize my N-400 application. I am not sure how it will end but I will update the forum. 

Nope, only N-400

[christophec 16]

I have my interview scheduled for Sept 30th, 2020 at federal plaza

The questions asked for the civic test are questions with multiples answers to choose, or questions that we have to answer ourselves ?

[cacolac323 11]

3 hours ago, christophec said:

I have my interview scheduled for Sept 30th, 2020 at federal plaza

The questions asked for the civic test are questions with multiples answers to choose, or questions that we have to answer ourselves ?

Bonjour! 

It's not multiple-choice answers, you have to answer freeform. But the questions are all known ahead of time: There is one hundred possible questions, so you can learn them all

[Gijo12 14]

On 8/18/2020 at 4:25 PM, lesly87 said:

I just saw a July 12, 2019 Manhattan applicant in the facebook group got an interview letter today for September 22nd interview. So yours must be few days away. 🙏

You know what !!!!! I just received the notification. My interview will on be 10/6/2020 in Manhattan. Should I get there 15 min early? Business casual? Do I still have to bring tax return/bank statement, which I have already uploaded online? I am so excited.Finally. I wonder if Oath will be on the same day too. Thanks!

[simsim2 50]

Hi everyone,  just to add a datapoint, especially for the people that are still waiting on their rescheduled interview. 

 

Field Office: New York (7th Fl), Manhattan Office (I am a resident of Manhattan) 

Receipt Date: 06/09/2019

Based on: 3-YR Rule

Biometrics: 06/24/2019

Original Interview: 03/31/2020 - Cancelled due to COVID 

Rescheduled Interview: 08/31/2020 - Was scheduled on 08/12/2020

Result: Approved 

In Line for Oath: 09/01/2020 

 

Let me give you all a bit of details about my interview and situation, as I am sure someone will find it helpful. 

 

My receipt notice had an issue with the date. It stated that the receipt date was 06/08/2020 and not 06/09/2020, which would get me out of the allowed filing window. This was due to the fact that in my excitement to file for my N-400, I did not consider that their website would not be on Eastern Time (yes, I saw after the fact that there is already a post by @Hypnos about it). A word of advise: if you are in a hurry to file, file at 12:01AM Hawaiian Time!!! (this is the timezone the website goes by). Anyway, when I saw the issue, I called USCIS right away and they responded 5 months later that I would need to address it at my interview. With that being said, the rep on the phone was very helpful and she confirmed that she saw both dates depending on which system she was looking at. 

 

Let's be real, we're dealing with USCIS here - so I was not going to wait for my interview to address this. I reached out to the Ombudsman, my Senator (Gillibrand), and my representative (Nadler) - as a side note, don't bother reaching out to Schumer, they never got back to me. All 3 reached out to the NY Field Office to ensure this was not going to be an issue during my interview and as a matter of fact it was not an issue at all. All that was done in Feb 2020 ahead of my originally scheduled interview.

 

Now, fast forward to 08/31/2020. I arrived at the NY Field Office at 8:50AM for an interview at 9:20AM. The security downstairs was fast and let me through 30 minutes ahead of my appointment time, despite the notice stating that we should not arrive more than 15 minutes early. Another word of advise here - the 15 minute ahead may work for all offices in the United States but it does not work for the NY Office because they cover 3 different regions in the same building. I arrived on the 7th floor at 8:55AM and got in line to check in. That took 40 minutes. After that, I waited for my interview for 2 hours and was called in at 11AM. The NY office does allow you to have your computer and your phone - I did not know that and wish I had brought my laptop to get some work done during the 2 hours. Also, bring a snack and water as there is nothing in the building. 

 

The office is organized to allow for social distancing, everyone has to wear a mask on at all times, and officers are protected by a plexiglass window. Makes it hard to heard the officers and I really do feel for people that are not very fluent in English. Everyone respected all rules but that may be because NY'ers are probably traumatized by how hard the city was hit with COVID. 

 

I got into the Officer's office and as soon as I put my bag down he made me take the oath that I will only tell the truth and we dove right in. I was **stressed** to say the least. He pulled my A-file and it was fun to see everything I had ever sent to USCIS. Right away he asked me for the following: 

• Green Card 
• Passport 
• Drivers' License (not mentioned on my interview letter) 
• Social Security Card, if I had it on me (not mentioned on my interview letter) - thankfully, I had it 
• Proof of Selective Service - weirdly, he took the original card and gave me a copy 

At first, the officer wasn't very very warm but he warmed up throughout the interview and I had a good time overall - it will be a nice memory. We then went over my biometrics info (full name, address, DOB, employment, marriage info, history of travel, etc). I had changed jobs and had travelled quite a bit between filing and the interview so I had prepared two simple documents on Word: 

• One table showing all my employment history with dates, address, employer, and job title 
• One table showing all my travels, with dates and counties visited, as well as total number of days outside the US broken by year, and percentage of time spent abroad 

He liked that I had put this together so I didnt have to dictate everything to him (remember my point about not hearing anything because of the mask and plexiglass) and he just added them to my A File. 

 

He then asked me if I was ever arrested or convicted - I told him that between filing and the interview I had a traffic violation. He asked me for the ticket and proof of payment, which I gave to him. Without any warning, we got into the US History questions, I got asked 6 questions: 

• How long is the President elected for? 
• How many senators are there? 
• How many years do senators serve for? 
• Before being President, Eisenhower served in which war? 
• What is one promise you make when you become a US Citizen?
• I honestly cannot remember the last one

Then we did the reading test on an iPad - I had to read "Who was George Washington?" and I had to write "Washington was the first President" . We then went over the 50 or so Y/N questions very quickly. Then I finally brought up the date issue and he told me "that has been resolved a very long time ago, it was good you reached out" so at that point I finally relaxed. I also asked him if he needed more evidence or my 2019 taxes (given that I filed in June 2019, I did not submit them) and he told me "trust me I know you're married" and laughed. At that point, I understood that the 260 pages of evidence that I had brought to my interview would not be needed. 

 

Then I was asked to review the changes he made to my application and sign these changes, I was asked to give a new signature for my naturalization certificate, I had to sign that I was willing to take the oath of naturalization, and that was it! I was given a form recommending me for approval. I asked if I could have my oath scheduling notice during the interview and he told me NY was still too backlogged from COVID but I should get it online shortly after, and I was on my way. Finally, today my status updated to "In Line for Oath". 

 

In regard to attire, I was dressed business casual, as was everyone else there. 

 

I hope this helps calm someone's nerves ahead of the interview and that you guys will have a good time

 

Edited September 1, 2020 by simsim2

[Amazinggrace123 20]

Any  updates ?

Edited September 5, 2020 by Amazinggrace123

[Neickers 46]

Anyone in the Long Island area got any updates? Biometrics etc.

[MrT 17]

On 9/1/2020 at 3:43 PM, simsim2 said:

Hi everyone,  just to add a datapoint, especially for the people that are still waiting on their rescheduled interview. 

 

Field Office: New York (7th Fl), Manhattan Office (I am a resident of Manhattan) 

Receipt Date: 06/09/2019

Based on: 3-YR Rule

Biometrics: 06/24/2019

Original Interview: 03/31/2020 - Cancelled due to COVID 

Rescheduled Interview: 08/31/2020 - Was scheduled on 08/12/2020

Result: Approved 

In Line for Oath: 09/01/2020 

 

Let me give you all a bit of details about my interview and situation, as I am sure someone will find it helpful. 

 

My receipt notice had an issue with the date. It stated that the receipt date was 06/08/2020 and not 06/09/2020, which would get me out of the allowed filing window. This was due to the fact that in my excitement to file for my N-400, I did not consider that their website would not be on Eastern Time (yes, I saw after the fact that there is already a post by @Hypnos about it). A word of advise: if you are in a hurry to file, file at 12:01AM Hawaiian Time!!! (this is the timezone the website goes by). Anyway, when I saw the issue, I called USCIS right away and they responded 5 months later that I would need to address it at my interview. With that being said, the rep on the phone was very helpful and she confirmed that she saw both dates depending on which system she was looking at. 

 

Let's be real, we're dealing with USCIS here - so I was not going to wait for my interview to address this. I reached out to the Ombudsman, my Senator (Gillibrand), and my representative (Nadler) - as a side note, don't bother reaching out to Schumer, they never got back to me. All 3 reached out to the NY Field Office to ensure this was not going to be an issue during my interview and as a matter of fact it was not an issue at all. All that was done in Feb 2020 ahead of my originally scheduled interview.

 

Now, fast forward to 08/31/2020. I arrived at the NY Field Office at 8:50AM for an interview at 9:20AM. The security downstairs was fast and let me through 30 minutes ahead of my appointment time, despite the notice stating that we should not arrive more than 15 minutes early. Another word of advise here - the 15 minute ahead may work for all offices in the United States but it does not work for the NY Office because they cover 3 different regions in the same building. I arrived on the 7th floor at 8:55AM and got in line to check in. That took 40 minutes. After that, I waited for my interview for 2 hours and was called in at 11AM. The NY office does allow you to have your computer and your phone - I did not know that and wish I had brought my laptop to get some work done during the 2 hours. Also, bring a snack and water as there is nothing in the building. 

 

The office is organized to allow for social distancing, everyone has to wear a mask on at all times, and officers are protected by a plexiglass window. Makes it hard to heard the officers and I really do feel for people that are not very fluent in English. Everyone respected all rules but that may be because NY'ers are probably traumatized by how hard the city was hit with COVID. 

 

I got into the Officer's office and as soon as I put my bag down he made me take the oath that I will only tell the truth and we dove right in. I was **stressed** to say the least. He pulled my A-file and it was fun to see everything I had ever sent to USCIS. Right away he asked me for the following: 

• Green Card 
• Passport 
• Drivers' License (not mentioned on my interview letter) 
• Social Security Card, if I had it on me (not mentioned on my interview letter) - thankfully, I had it 
• Proof of Selective Service - weirdly, he took the original card and gave me a copy 

At first, the officer wasn't very very warm but he warmed up throughout the interview and I had a good time overall - it will be a nice memory. We then went over my biometrics info (full name, address, DOB, employment, marriage info, history of travel, etc). I had changed jobs and had travelled quite a bit between filing and the interview so I had prepared two simple documents on Word: 

• One table showing all my employment history with dates, address, employer, and job title 
• One table showing all my travels, with dates and counties visited, as well as total number of days outside the US broken by year, and percentage of time spent abroad 

He liked that I had put this together so I didnt have to dictate everything to him (remember my point about not hearing anything because of the mask and plexiglass) and he just added them to my A File. 

 

He then asked me if I was ever arrested or convicted - I told him that between filing and the interview I had a traffic violation. He asked me for the ticket and proof of payment, which I gave to him. Without any warning, we got into the US History questions, I got asked 6 questions: 

• How long is the President elected for? 
• How many senators are there? 
• How many years do senators serve for? 
• Before being President, Eisenhower served in which war? 
• What is one promise you make when you become a US Citizen?
• I honestly cannot remember the last one

Then we did the reading test on an iPad - I had to read "Who was George Washington?" and I had to write "Washington was the first President" . We then went over the 50 or so Y/N questions very quickly. Then I finally brought up the date issue and he told me "that has been resolved a very long time ago, it was good you reached out" so at that point I finally relaxed. I also asked him if he needed more evidence or my 2019 taxes (given that I filed in June 2019, I did not submit them) and he told me "trust me I know you're married" and laughed. At that point, I understood that the 260 pages of evidence that I had brought to my interview would not be needed. 

 

Then I was asked to review the changes he made to my application and sign these changes, I was asked to give a new signature for my naturalization certificate, I had to sign that I was willing to take the oath of naturalization, and that was it! I was given a form recommending me for approval. I asked if I could have my oath scheduling notice during the interview and he told me NY was still too backlogged from COVID but I should get it online shortly after, and I was on my way. Finally, today my status updated to "In Line for Oath". 

 

In regard to attire, I was dressed business casual, as was everyone else there. 

 

I hope this helps calm someone's nerves ahead of the interview and that you guys will have a good time

 

Thank you for this, it's definitely helpful for my upcoming interview. I got caught on a speed camera twice and wouldn't have considered to bring that with me without reading your post. Would you mind letting us know when your oath ceremony gets scheduled and for what date? Curious to find out the time between interview and ceremony right now!

Edited September 5, 2020 by MrT

[simsim2 50]

6 hours ago, MrT said:

Thank you for this, it's definitely helpful for my upcoming interview. I got caught on a speed camera twice and wouldn't have considered to bring that with me without reading your post. Would you mind letting us know when your oath ceremony gets scheduled and for what date? Curious to find out the time between interview and ceremony right now!

Will do  nothing so far. 

[Gijo12 14]

On 9/5/2020 at 11:07 PM, simsim2 said:

Will do  nothing so far. 

Hi @simsim2 Thanks for sharing. I will have my interview on the 6th. I wonder if your Oath has been scheduled yet. wanna to get an idea how long it would take. Thanks!

[simsim2 50]

6 minutes ago, Gijo12 said:

Hi @simsim2 Thanks for sharing. I will have my interview on the 6th. I wonder if your Oath has been scheduled yet. wanna to get an idea how long it would take. Thanks!

Noooo! And the wait is driving me crazy!! Haha.

[vic2016 11]

6 hours ago, simsim2 said:

Noooo! And the wait is driving me crazy!! Haha.

I just got done with my interview today ( Manhattan office). The officer mentioned that they are trying to speed up the things in general, and hopefully get my oath before October 9th ( last day to register to vote in NY ). I'm surprised that you are still waiting for a notification, it's been 10 days already

[inthebigapple 0]

7 hours ago, Gijo12 said:

Hi @simsim2 Thanks for sharing. I will have my interview on the 6th. I wonder if your Oath has been scheduled yet. wanna to get an idea how long it would take. Thanks!

When did you originally apply? Did you have an interview scheduled pre-covid or is this the first date? Thanks!

[simsim2 50]

3 hours ago, vic2016 said:

I just got done with my interview today ( Manhattan office). The officer mentioned that they are trying to speed up the things in general, and hopefully get my oath before October 9th ( last day to register to vote in NY ). I'm surprised that you are still waiting for a notification, it's been 10 days already

I'm kind of surprised as well to be honest... I would've thought that it was going to take a week at most. Let's hope that I hear something tomorrow or next week. I am hoping to be able to vote this year as well.