Detroit N400 filers

[r7holybo 1]

I rescheduled my oath ceremony (originally set for mid-July 2018) and I have seen no sign of a new ceremony yet. Figured I'd post as a heads up if anyone is debating rescheduling - Detroit isn't speedy when it comes to this.

[stormnut42 13]

Welcome spielerin.  Whereabouts are you from in Canada?  I was born and raised in Windsor, Ontario and lived in London, ON for a year and Ingersoll, ON for 6 1/2 years. 

[spielerin 24]

2 hours ago, stormnut42 said:

Welcome spielerin.  Whereabouts are you from in Canada?  I was born and raised in Windsor, Ontario and lived in London, ON for a year and Ingersoll, ON for 6 1/2 years. 

Windsor!!! And now I live on the other side of the river

[stormnut42 13]

Cool.  I was just in Windsor on Dec. 22nd to celebrate Christmas with my family. I have a Niece in Waterford, MI and a sister in Monroe, MI.  I grew up on the east side of Windsor, on Rivard Ave. kinda near the Tecumseh Mall.  Now I'm in Battle Creek, Michigan (where cereal was invented), which is about 2 hours drive west of Detroit.  It took me 8 months to get my Greencard in 2015.  I applied for citizenship online on July 8th, last year.  A couple people that applied in June, already had their interviews in November. But, then I guess things slowed down. January 8th will mark 6 months that I've been waiting.  I just want it to be over with.  I haven't been too happy here since Trump got elected. But, the Democrats have control of the House of Representatives and they are going to investigate the heck out of Trump.  I hope he gets impeached or resigns. I'm even considering moving back to Canada after I get my citizenship. I miss the free health care and friends back there. I lived in the London area for 7 1/2 years and really liked it up there. There's a lot more jobs up that way, compared to Windsor.  

Edited January 3, 2019 by stormnut42

[spielerin 24]

38 minutes ago, stormnut42 said:

Cool.  I was just in Windsor on Dec. 22nd to celebrate Christmas with my family. I have a Niece in Waterford, MI and a sister in Monroe, MI.  I grew up on the east side of Windsor, on Rivard Ave. kinda near the Tecumseh Mall.  Now I'm in Battle Creek, Michigan (where cereal was invented), which is about 2 hours drive west of Detroit.  It took me 8 months to get my Greencard in 2015.  I applied for citizenship online on July 8th, last year.  A couple people that applied in June, already had their interviews in November. But, then I guess things slowed down. January 8th will mark 6 months that I've been waiting.  I just want it to be over with.  I haven't been too happy here since Trump got elected. But, the Democrats have control of the House of Representatives and they are going to investigate the heck out of Trump.  I hope he gets impeached or resigns. I'm even considering moving back to Canada after I get my citizenship. I miss the free health care and friends back there. I lived in the London area for 7 1/2 years and really liked it up there. There's a lot more jobs up that way, compared to Windsor.  

I feel your pain, my ROC is still pending but I can't wait to get the N-400 application out ASAP. My husband and I had the discussion about moving back to Canada once (not Windsor though, for there's nothing much going on) but we decided to wait out and see. We are already this far, it's almost done. 

 

 

[pran34 5]

Hi guys. I am back after a little hiatus. Happy new year to all. Today, I took the oath to  become a US citizen.

 

My case was a little different than most others. I filed my N400 online on May 27, biometrics on june 18, was scheduled for interview on Oct 24. Everything went smoothly till then. However one day prior to my interview, I receive a voicemail on my work phone that my interview next day has been cancelled because they dont have my file. I was a little skeptical at first because I thought that USCIS won't call but will send a written notice if they wanted to cancel. But after I read a few posts online, I found that USCIS do call in some cases. Next day, I just played dumb and went to USCIS and indeed my interview was cancelled. The  receptionist told me that they will reschedule in 120 days. Needless to say, I was quite disappointed. A few days later I received a written notice regarding the cancelled interview. After a month of waiting, I lost my patience and decided to get an infopass appointment but transparently Detroit has now stopped issuing infopass appointments, except if you need passport stamps. So I called the 1800 number and spoke to an L2 officer. She said that my file is requested from NBC and is now in transit. An hour after talking to the L2 officer, I received text that my interview was scheduled!!

 

On December 18th, I had my interview and everything went smoothly. First fingerprinted, followed by English/civics test and then another officer reviewed the N400 form. While reviewing the form, had a small chat with the officer. Turns out that I have two different A-files. One was created when I got my OPT-EAD after graduating from university (I originally came on F1 visa) and the other was created during the AOS process. The IO had received my A-file from AOS application but not the one from OPT application and therefore my original interview was cancelled. When I came back home, I looked up my OPT-EAD card and it had a different A#. I also looked up my I-485 form and indeed the A-number section was left blank. The attorney who was hired by my employer didn't fill in my A# from my OPt-EAD on the I-485 form. Consequently, a separate file was created. When I filed my N400, the NBC sent my AOS A-file to Detroit but the OPT A-file was sitting in a retirement facility. Normally, the two files are combined together and sent to the FO but sometimes, like in my case, they fail to do this. So lesson from this is to make sure you use the same A# (if you have one) while filing your I-485.

 

After my interview, I received a text that I was in line for oath. The next day, I was scheduled for oath on Jan 3. Oath ceremony was short and sweet. It was an amazing feeling to take the oath along with 80 new citizens. Some of new citizens were from war-ravaged countries who have probably suffered a lot in their lives. So I am not complaining about the few days of delay I had in my process. Anyway, I wish the best to all the people who are waiting. Good luck!

[pran34 5]

On 1/3/2019 at 9:57 PM, pran34 said:

Hi guys. I am back after a little hiatus. Happy new year to all. Today, I took the oath to  become a US citizen.

 

My case was a little different than most others. I filed my N400 online on May 27, biometrics on june 18, was scheduled for interview on Oct 24. Everything went smoothly till then. However one day prior to my interview, I receive a voicemail on my work phone that my interview next day has been cancelled because they dont have my file. I was a little skeptical at first because I thought that USCIS won't call but will send a written notice if they wanted to cancel. But after I read a few posts online, I found that USCIS do call in some cases. Next day, I just played dumb and went to USCIS and indeed my interview was cancelled. The  receptionist told me that they will reschedule in 120 days. Needless to say, I was quite disappointed. A few days later I received a written notice regarding the cancelled interview. After a month of waiting, I lost my patience and decided to get an infopass appointment but transparently Detroit has now stopped issuing infopass appointments, except if you need passport stamps. So I called the 1800 number and spoke to an L2 officer. She said that my file is requested from NBC and is now in transit. An hour after talking to the L2 officer, I received text that my interview was scheduled!!

 

On December 18th, I had my interview and everything went smoothly. First fingerprinted, followed by English/civics test and then another officer reviewed the N400 form. While reviewing the form, had a small chat with the officer. Turns out that I have two different A-files. One was created when I got my OPT-EAD after graduating from university (I originally came on F1 visa) and the other was created during the AOS process. The IO had received my A-file from AOS application but not the one from OPT application and therefore my original interview was cancelled. When I came back home, I looked up my OPT-EAD card and it had a different A#. I also looked up my I-485 form and indeed the A-number section was left blank. The attorney who was hired by my employer didn't fill in my A# from my OPt-EAD on the I-485 form. Consequently, a separate file was created. When I filed my N400, the NBC sent my AOS A-file to Detroit but the OPT A-file was sitting in a retirement facility. Normally, the two files are combined together and sent to the FO but sometimes, like in my case, they fail to do this. So lesson from this is to make sure you use the same A# (if you have one) while filing your I-485.

 

After my interview, I received a text that I was in line for oath. The next day, I was scheduled for oath on Jan 3. Oath ceremony was short and sweet. It was an amazing feeling to take the oath along with 80 new citizens. Some of new citizens were from war-ravaged countries who have probably suffered a lot in their lives. So I am not complaining about the few days of delay I had in my process. Anyway, I wish the best to all the people who are waiting. Good luck!

Update: Applied passport on Jan 4 morning and picked it up in the afternoon. Excellent service at the Detroit passport agency.

[dannyphan91 30]

2 hours ago, pran34 said:

Update: Applied passport on Jan 4 morning and picked it up in the afternoon. Excellent service at the Detroit passport agency.

May i ask. Did they ask you any question why you need your passport that quick? Thank you

[pran34 5]

23 minutes ago, dannyphan91 said:

May i ask. Did they ask you any question why you need your passport that quick? Thank you

No. They will send the passport by priority mail or you can pick up in the afternoon. There is an expedited fee of $60 if you want to apply at the passport agency.

[spielerin 24]

Update:

I applied January 2, 2019 online for N-400 and now it says "we scheduled your biometrics appointment" yet the official notice isn't up on the "doc tab" .

[Nee & Kam 0]

10 minutes ago, spielerin said:

Update:

I applied January 2, 2019 online for N-400 and now it says "we scheduled your biometrics appointment" yet the official notice isn't up on the "doc tab" .

Takes a 4-10hr or sometimes a day to show online. Try checking in the evening.

 

Congrats @Pran34, i did check my I485 and i see my Student EAD A# listed on the I485 - i completely forgot that EAD had a A#. 

Couple of questions, does the Oath Letter also show up in online Docs ,as Bio metrics or it comes only as snail-mail.

I am hoping name change and govt shutdown doesn't prolong, after interview process.

[lordm 0]

1 hour ago, Nee & Kam said:

Takes a 4-10hr or sometimes a day to show online. Try checking in the evening.

 

Congrats @Pran34, i did check my I485 and i see my Student EAD A# listed on the I485 - i completely forgot that EAD had a A#. 

Couple of questions, does the Oath Letter also show up in online Docs ,as Bio metrics or it comes only as snail-mail.

I am hoping name change and govt shutdown doesn't prolong, after interview process.

The oath letter showed up online a day after I received the text. Snail mail came about a week later. 

My understanding is that shutdown does not affect USCIS appointments and oath ceremonies as they are fully funded by the application fees. 

[pran34 5]

I want to share the data on the median wait times that I calculated for Detroit FO from Jan 2017 to Dec 2018. This is based on data shared by members on VJ and other N400 forums - around 65 data-points. Could be useful for those who are waiting as I found the average processing time on the uscis website to be rather useless.

 

Applied to biometrics - 25 days
Biometrics to interview - 128 days (Interview text will come typically 5 weeks before your appt. So roughly 3 months after biometrics)
Interview to oath - 22 days

 

Applied to oath - 174 days

 

Good luck!

[spielerin 24]

1 hour ago, pran34 said:

I want to share the data on the median wait times that I calculated for Detroit FO from Jan 2017 to Dec 2018. This is based on data shared by members on VJ and other N400 forums - around 65 data-points. Could be useful for those who are waiting as I found the average processing time on the uscis website to be rather useless.

 

Applied to biometrics - 25 days
Biometrics to interview - 128 days (Interview text will come typically 5 weeks before your appt. So roughly 3 months after biometrics)
Interview to oath - 22 days

 

Applied to oath - 174 days

 

Good luck!

Thank you! I just got my biometrics appt date today

[Nee & Kam 0]

On 1/7/2019 at 12:49 PM, lordm said:

The oath letter showed up online a day after I received the text. Snail mail came about a week later. 

My understanding is that shutdown does not affect USCIS appointments and oath ceremonies as they are fully funded by the application fees. 

Just cleared my interview, and you are correct - federal shutdown doesn't affect them - I asked the IO and she said the same ( funded by application fees).

 

I asked the IO to have mine and my wife's oath on the same day, IO said she will try to schedule us together- she looked up my wife'S A#.

Wife cleared her interview last week and already got oath notice this morning( online doc is not available yet).

Hoping , they dont delay the Oath scheduling because of me asking them to be together.