Detroit N400 filers

[Alexabbas334 17]

5 year rule and yes I am posting it here because I am in Detroit. 

[JlovesA 109]

I had my interview this morning!

 

After sitting down and confirming my full name and date of birth, the officer immediately started asking me civics questions. I've noticed that it's hard for a lot of people to remember the sixth question and that ended up being true for me, too.

 

I know for certain he asked:

1. Name a war fought by the USA in the 1800s (I said the War of 1812 because Canada won, haha).

2. Name a responsibility that is only for US citizens (I said jury duty).

3. The idea of self-government is in the first three words of the Constitution. What are these words? (We the people)

4. What happened on September 11, 2001? (Terrorists attacked the USA)

5. How many justices are on the Supreme Court? (9)

 

I think the sixth was how many senators there are, but as soon as I was done, he immediately moved onto the reading and writing, so I could barely digest anything.

 

I had to read aloud, "Who was George Washington?" and then using my finger on a touchpad, write, "Washington was the first president."

 

I still work in Canada so the officer had a ton of questions about that. It was a little stressful, and I was wondering if I was even going to be approved. It seemed like they were trying to suss out whether I still maintained a residence in Canada and if I was lying about how much time I spend there. I should have expected they would want to know about my somewhat unusual situation but it caught me off-guard. I have nothing to hide and as far as I know, am not breaking any laws. I figured if working there is going to get me rejected, so be it, because I'm not quitting. The officer kept saying, "Okay, that's no problem," so I knew I was giving the answers they wanted to hear. Finally, the officer moved onto the morality questions and I figured I was in good shape.

 

He didn't ask to see any of the documents I had brought; only my Canadian passport, my driver's licence, my green card, and my Nexus card.

 

When we were all done, he told me he was recommending me for approval and congratulated me. The whole thing was maybe 15-20 minutes.

 

Within about 2 hours, I got the notice on my account that I was approved and in line to be scheduled for the oath.

[Alexabbas334 17]

Congratulations! So happy that you got approved and that there is some movement from the Detroit office. 

[JlovesA 109]

1 hour ago, Alexabbas334 said:

Congratulations! So happy that you got approved and that there is some movement from the Detroit office. 

Thank you! There were quite a few people in the interview waiting room; it seemed like everyone who was coming in the door was there for an interview (who knows what type of interview, though).

 

FYI for you and everyone else going to the field office soon. They have a covid-19 screening but it's kind of confusing the way they're doing it, especially for people whose first language isn't English. The security officer said really fast, "Read the 4 questions on that wall and I just need a yes or no to them." The people in front of me were struggling to understand as she didn't point out anything. There's a big poster on the wall, right before the metal detector. There's a lot of text on it, but at the top there are 4 screening questions (just stuff like "have you had a fever?"). I said "No" aloud 4 times and the security guard actually yelled, "Someone finally followed directions!!!" I can totally understand how the other people in line found it confusing. I wasn't even sure if I was doing what they asked.

[CandB 3]

On 7/7/2020 at 12:07 PM, CandB said:

We filed on Jan 9 2020.  Had Biometrics 2 weeks later.  Since then, We've heard nothing.  Completion date states July 2020.  No interview scheduled.  We sent a message to USCIS through the portal but only received a generic response with processing times and procedures.  Trying to be patient but it's frustrating.

Update:  My husband had his N400 (Naturalization) interview on Nov. 5 and he was approved!  His oath ceremony is on Nov. 25 and it's an in-person (group) ceremony.  However, I am not allowed in the USCIS building to witness which is very disappointing.  I'll write details about the interview and oath experience on our timeline.  If you have specific questions, you can send me a private message or post on this thread.  Wishing you all the best wishes in your journey. 

[JlovesA 109]

1 hour ago, CandB said:

Update:  My husband had his N400 (Naturalization) interview on Nov. 5 and he was approved!  His oath ceremony is on Nov. 25 and it's an in-person (group) ceremony.  However, I am not allowed in the USCIS building to witness which is very disappointing.  I'll write details about the interview and oath experience on our timeline.  If you have specific questions, you can send me a private message or post on this thread.  Wishing you all the best wishes in your journey. 

Congrats to your husband! Too bad our oath ceremonies aren't the same day. I was really hoping they were still doing the drive-thrus so that my husband could come with me. We're also pretty disappointed that it's going to be an underwhelming conclusion to a long journey. Still glad to be done, but it's not at all how we imagined it would come to be (we also wanted to throw a big party).

[CandB 3]

It sure would be nice to have the oath ceremony on the same day and meet some people who have shared this journey with us.  I wanted to throw a surprise party for my husband, but, as of now we'll just be having a nice celebratory dinner out.  Hopefully restaurants don't shut down before then.  

Best wishes to you!

[Cheese_lover33 13]

On 11/8/2020 at 5:20 PM, Alexabbas334 said:

5 year rule and yes I am posting it here because I am in Detroit. 

Hi Alexabbas334, I am new to this website and saw your note of the biometrics reuse. As I received the reuse notice the same day (Oct 28), I thought it might be a good idea to get in touch with you and inform each other about any progress re the interview notice.. really don't know how long we need to wait, but I think for sure it won't happen this year:-( 

[JlovesA 109]

17 hours ago, Cheese_lover33 said:

Hi Alexabbas334, I am new to this website and saw your note of the biometrics reuse. As I received the reuse notice the same day (Oct 28), I thought it might be a good idea to get in touch with you and inform each other about any progress re the interview notice.. really don't know how long we need to wait, but I think for sure it won't happen this year:-( 

 

Hello and welcome fellow Ann Arborite!

[Cheese_lover33 13]

1 hour ago, JlovesA said:

 

Hello and welcome fellow Ann Arborite!

Thanks and congratulations! I read your post re the interview - what types of evidences you need to provide to the officer (apart from the information in the N-400 form) to show that you did not break the continuous residency requirement? Asking because I also spent quite some time (each time not more than 180 days) abroad (not for working myself but to company my family)..Thanks for any information! 

 

 

[JlovesA 109]

5 minutes ago, Cheese_lover33 said:

Thanks and congratulations! I read your post re the interview - what types of evidences you need to provide to the officer (apart from the information in the N-400 form) to show that you did not break the continuous residency requirement? Asking because I also spent quite some time (each time not more than 180 days) abroad (not for working myself but to company my family)..Thanks for any information! 

 

 

I wasn’t asked to provide any evidence. I wouldn’t have had anything to show, as 99% of the time I left the USA, it was to go to work for the day, returning that same day. My other visits to Canada were generally 1-2 nights at the most and done via driving, so I wouldn’t have had anything for that, either. Perhaps you have copies of airline flights or other details? I haven’t seen anyone mention needing this kind of evidence for the interview, though. In my case, the IO and I just had maybe a 5-10 minute long conversation about how I still work in Canada. None of my other documents were requested either, just the ones I mentioned in my post.

 

The IO mentioned looking up my recent travel history and knew that I had been going to work once a week since August. So they can corroborate what you put on your form. 

[Cheese_lover33 13]

5 minutes ago, JlovesA said:

I wasn’t asked to provide any evidence. I wouldn’t have had anything to show, as 99% of the time I left the USA, it was to go to work for the day, returning that same day. My other visits to Canada were generally 1-2 nights at the most and done via driving, so I wouldn’t have had anything for that, either. Perhaps you have copies of airline flights or other details? I haven’t seen anyone mention needing this kind of evidence for the interview, though. In my case, the IO and I just had maybe a 5-10 minute long conversation about how I still work in Canada. None of my other documents were requested either, just the ones I mentioned in my post.

 

The IO mentioned looking up my recent travel history and knew that I had been going to work once a week since August. So they can corroborate what you put on your form. 

Understood. Thanks!!

[Alexabbas334 17]

On 11/13/2020 at 9:18 PM, Cheese_lover33 said:

Hi Alexabbas334, I am new to this website and saw your note of the biometrics reuse. As I received the reuse notice the same day (Oct 28), I thought it might be a good idea to get in touch with you and inform each other about any progress re the interview notice.. really don't know how long we need to wait, but I think for sure it won't happen this year:-( 

Hello! Nice to see someone who is local and on the same online. yes, lets keep in touch! When did you apply? It would be nice to know your timeline. Thanks! 

[Alexabbas334 17]

I just got an email from USCIS that an interview date has been schedule however it does not the state the date. I guess I will have to wait for the notice in the mail. 

[JlovesA 109]

2 minutes ago, Alexabbas334 said:

I just got an email from USCIS that an interview date has been schedule however it does not the state the date. I guess I will have to wait for the notice in the mail. 

Congrats!! I called USCIS to find out when mine was, I was too impatient to wait. Did you file online? The letter should show up on my.USCIS.gov in a day or two.