N-400 Newark/Mt Laurel New Jersey

[PundaSmith 5]

Folks, thanks very much for all the support here.

 

I applied in December 2017, completed fingerpriting on January 3, 2018, and have been waiting for interview since then.

 

I had an INFO pass appointment at Mount Laurel last Friday - 3/31.  the lady told me that my case is "in line" waiting for an interview to be scheduled, and that I currently have about 250 people ahead of me whose interviews have to be scheduled first before mine.  I asked her how many they schedule per week, and she said between 20 to 30.  So, I have few more months to wait. 

 

Just some update ...

 

thanks - PS

[KandS27 6]

On 4/5/2018 at 6:07 PM, PundaSmith said:

Folks, thanks very much for all the support here.

 

I applied in December 2017, completed fingerpriting on January 3, 2018, and have been waiting for interview since then.

 

I had an INFO pass appointment at Mount Laurel last Friday - 3/31.  the lady told me that my case is "in line" waiting for an interview to be scheduled, and that I currently have about 250 people ahead of me whose interviews have to be scheduled first before mine.  I asked her how many they schedule per week, and she said between 20 to 30.  So, I have few more months to wait. 

 

Just some update ...

 

thanks - PS

 

Ah you seem to have had torrid luck with this. Hope your interview is scheduled soon; I see many people with the Mt Laurel field office being done in about 3-4 months after fingerprints. 

[KandS27 6]

Actually, never mind. Going by the limited number of data points on visajourney (for the Mt Laurel office) the average time from biometrics to citizenship in 2017 applications was 5.5 months +/- 1.5 months. In 2016, by contrast, the average time was 4 months +/- 1.5 months. Clearly the people at Mt Laurel have slowed down quite a bit, and it won't be a surprise if this year the wait time has grown yet longer (hopefully not). 

Edited April 12, 2018 by KandS27

[Lelita 74]

On April 5, 2018 at 6:07 PM, PundaSmith said:

Folks, thanks very much for all the support here.

 

I applied in December 2017, completed fingerpriting on January 3, 2018, and have been waiting for interview since then.

 

I had an INFO pass appointment at Mount Laurel last Friday - 3/31.  the lady told me that my case is "in line" waiting for an interview to be scheduled, and that I currently have about 250 people ahead of me whose interviews have to be scheduled first before mine.  I asked her how many they schedule per week, and she said between 20 to 30.  So, I have few more months to wait. 

 

Just some update ...

 

thanks - PS

If you had your fingerprints in  january you might get ur interview in July or maybe August. Had my finger in June 2017  and they schedule my interview for February 2018

[bcb 4]

I became a US citizen today at Mt Laurel. It was a very positive experience; both the interview and the oath ceremony were short and pleasant. Staff were friendly. Good luck to everyone who is still waiting!

[Moxa1989 21]

1 hour ago, bcb said:

I became a US citizen today at Mt Laurel. It was a very positive experience; both the interview and the oath ceremony were short and pleasant. Staff were friendly. Good luck to everyone who is still waiting!

congrats!!!!!!!!!!!  

[NewportNinja 3]

12 hours ago, bcb said:

I became a US citizen today at Mt Laurel. It was a very positive experience; both the interview and the oath ceremony were short and pleasant. Staff were friendly. Good luck to everyone who is still waiting!

Hearty congratulations!

[sbsd 1]

 

Got my citizenship approved. Applied based on 3yrs of marriage. I was in at 7:15 am – Out 1:15 pm – 6 hrs

Below is the summary of the day,

My interview was held at the USCIS Field Office in Newark. My original interview date was March 07 but due to the snow day, it was postponed to April 12th, 2018.

 

You go through the security scanner, walk across the hall and take the elevator to 15th floor, as you come out of the elevator you will see a guard that checks your appointment letter and id and ask you to go to Window 1, where you will be told to either stay on the same floor or go to 14th floor. I was asked to go to 14th floor, so I go down and as I come out of the elevator make a right, I see a hall in front of me, as you walk in you will see windows on the right and waiting area to the left, you go to the window with N-400 sign, show your appointment letter, they will take the letter and would ask you to wait until your name is called. I had an appointment for 8:00 and I was in the hall about 7:30 am and had at least 30-40 people waiting in the hall before me.

I waited for like 30mins and my name was called, and I walked through the doors with the immigration officer to her room. My interview was only 25 mins and the interviewer was very professional and nice. Next, she made me stand and swore me in first and we got seated, then she requested me to provide my  green card, passport, and drivers license and we started with civic test first

 

The test consisted of:

 

1. What is the national anthem?
2. Who can vote?
3 The number of amendments to the Constitution? 
4. Which ocean is on the west? 
5. What are the ages to apply for selective services?
6. What is the highest court?

Read: How many senators are there?
Write: We have 100 senators.

Asked yes/no questions from the N-400 form, was one small change which the immigration officer was happy to make and signed all forms on an iPad. Then I was asked to submit last 3 years tax returns, marriage cert, childbirth certificate, and there I was Approved ( she kept saying to her computer please show green now) J. Then I received couple of form that I had to write my name and address by hand and bring them with me to 15th floor.

 

All said and done, I was done by 8:30 am, being nervous and excited at the same time. Immigration office walked me out to the hall and she mentioned that before I head back to the 15th floor I should go to the second floor and get something to eat as the first oath ceremony won’t start until 11: am, so I took her advice and went to the cafeteria and had a nice coffee and snack. During my time in the cafeteria, I reviewed the documents she gave me to present to the immigration officer on 15 th floor at the window when my name will be called to verify the details on the certificate before the oath ceremony. About 9:30 took the elevators back to the 15th floor and went to window 1 and showed the documents again and I was asked to wait until my name was called.

 

I had to wait for about 2:00 hours before my name was called finally!!, when I asked the immigration officer across the glass window if I missed the 11o clock oath ceremony he mentioned that they had no ceremony at 11:00 as the head of USISC office who does the oath ceremony went into some emergency meeting at 11:00 am and any update they will keep us informed, so I went back with the white envelope and waited again, then after half an hour they made another announcement that people with white envelopes should proceed to the main hall for oath ceremony.

 

The ceremony was very nice, we were in a huge hall, we had over 100 oath takers, alongside family and friends that are made to sit at the back of the hall, introduction from the USCIS staff, stood for the national anthem, then we watched a video, called out each country and applicants from that country stood up (36 total in my ceremony), said the oath of allegiance (right hand in the air), welcome video from the President, said the pledge of allegiance (right hand over heart), concluded and took photos. Long, exhausting and bit nerve-racking day but so worth it. Best of luck to my fellow NJ filers..I'm so done!

 

PS: I parked behind the USCIS building, anytime over 2hrs is $19, did not notice what they charge for less than 2 hrs.

Edited April 14, 2018 by sbsd

[bcb 4]

Here's how my interview and oath ceremony went, in case this is helpful for other Mt Laurel filers.

 

We parked in front of the building (free of charge), went through the metal detector, and gave our interview notices to the lady at reception. We were there just a few minutes ahead of our interview time and we were called within 5 minutes of sitting down; it was very prompt. My interview took 30 minutes, my husband's took 15 minutes. Both officers were very friendly; mine was just a bit more thorough, I think. I swore to tell the truth etc and read + wrote a sentence about the population of California. My civics questions were, if I recall correctly (and not in this order): 

1: What is one right or freedom from the First Amendment?

2: Who is in charge of the Executive Branch?

3: If the Vice 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? 

The officer then went over the entire application form and added travel outside of the US since I filed. We chatted a bit and then he walked me out. 

 

The oath ceremony was scheduled two hours after we finished our interviews, so we didn't have to wait long. There were 37 new citizens from 20 countries. We watched three videos, one of which, Faces of America, was quite moving. The 'master of ceremonies' was extremely engaged and friendly; he really made it a nice, festive occasion. The head of the office did the oath and seemed genuinely happy to welcome us as new citizens. (She is a naturalized citizen herself.) We took photos with the flag and the fake statue of liberty in the waiting room, chatted a bit with the staff, and registered to vote. The entire experience -- from interview to walking out with our Certificates of Naturalization -- took 3.5 hours. Easily the most pleasant of our interactions with USCIS. 

Edited April 16, 2018 by bcb

[koss630 0]

1 hour ago, bcb said:

Here's how my interview and oath ceremony went, in case this is helpful for other Mt Laurel filers.

 

We parked in front of the building (free of charge), went through the metal detector, and gave our interview notices to the lady at reception. We were there just a few minutes ahead of our interview time and we were called within 5 minutes of sitting down; it was very prompt. My interview took 30 minutes, my husband's took 15 minutes. Both officers were very friendly; mine was just a bit more thorough, I think. I swore to tell the truth etc and read + wrote a sentence about the population of California. My civics questions were, if I recall correctly (and not in this order): 

1: What is one right or freedom from the First Amendment?

2: Who is in charge of the Executive Branch?

3: If the Vice 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? 

The officer then went over the entire application form and added travel outside of the US since I filed. We chatted a bit and then he walked me out. 

 

The oath ceremony was scheduled two hours after we finished our interviews, so we didn't have to wait long. There were 37 new citizens from 20 countries. We watched three videos, one of which, Faces of America, was quite moving. The 'master of ceremonies' was extremely engaged and friendly; he really made it a nice, festive occasion. The head of the office did the oath and seemed genuinely happy to welcome us as new citizens. (She is a naturalized citizen herself.) We took photos with the flag and the fake statue of liberty in the waiting room, chatted a bit with the staff, and registered to vote. The entire experience -- from interview to walking out with our Certificates of Naturalization -- took 3.5 hours. Easily the most pleasant of our interactions with USCIS. 

Thank you for your feedback. Did you have your interview in Newark office as well? I thought Mt. Laurel doesn't do oath and interview on the same day?

[bcb 4]

4 minutes ago, koss630 said:

Thank you for your feedback. Did you have your interview in Newark office as well? I thought Mt. Laurel doesn't do oath and interview on the same day?

It was in Mt. Laurel. I think their policy is to same-day oaths; the staff mentioned that they have oath ceremonies every afternoon. 

Edited April 16, 2018 by bcb

[PundaSmith 5]

Hello Folks, just received notice that my interview is scheduled, and a letter is on the way - I guess that must be the interview letter.  

There is no update online yet ... eager to know the date.

 

Thanks for all the support.

 

best ~ PS

[eeevva 0]

Hi all,

could some of you that have a better grip on the processing timelines, give me some kind of a guess when it is likely I might finally have my interview?

I filed by mail (hating myself for that), application received 9/20/2017 and in line for the interview since 10/24/2017. It is the Newark office. Any guesses? I was so hoping to schedule travel during the summer but this is such a big unknown. :-(

Thank you!

Eva

[Someday 5]

20 minutes ago, eeevva said:

Hi all,

could some of you that have a better grip on the processing timelines, give me some kind of a guess when it is likely I might finally have my interview?

I filed by mail (hating myself for that), application received 9/20/2017 and in line for the interview since 10/24/2017. It is the Newark office. Any guesses? I was so hoping to schedule travel during the summer but this is such a big unknown. :-(

Thank you!

Eva

Hang in there,just a matter of time

[juliava 80]

2 hours ago, eeevva said:

Hi all,

could some of you that have a better grip on the processing timelines, give me some kind of a guess when it is likely I might finally have my interview?

I filed by mail (hating myself for that), application received 9/20/2017 and in line for the interview since 10/24/2017. It is the Newark office. Any guesses? I was so hoping to schedule travel during the summer but this is such a big unknown. :-(

Thank you!

Eva

It took 7 months to see the interview letter, so overall 8 months total to become a citizen. Newark office. 

Edited April 16, 2018 by juliava