N-400 May-2018 Filers

[MillMiller 1]

Don't take the estimated time seriously. My interview is scheduled for August 30th and my estimated time still says 10 months which is weird. I will see if that will change after the interview. 

[kt1977 0]

18 hours ago, mmy said:

 

Hi kt1977,

 

Congrats, 

Before your interview , what was the estimated time for you on the USCIS case status ? Are you living in San Bernadino county ? or how to find the field office please ? thanks 

The estimated time in my opinion means absolutely nothing. When i filed the ET was 9-13 months, after biometric it changed to 8-11, and even after the interview still says 6 months. So i would definitely not go by the estimated time. As far as how i chose the field office, it was done when filling application. Its based on address and what field office is responsible for the residential address . I live in different county, but san bernardino was responsible for my county. I don't think we get to choose where to file. I live closer to san diego, but yet, san bernardino was the office to file based on my address. The interview was very simple and quick. 6 questions, read and wrote 1 sentence. asked me if i owe taxes. I asked if i should have included the traffic tickets i have from 1999, 2005, and 2012. She said do not need to be added because they are over 5 years. The IO was very professional and polite. She did say that their office is a small office and they are up to date on their cases. Unlike other offices where they have many cases and may take longer. So the best way to do an estimate is find other people who have completed their cases in your field office and based on that you can expect about the same for your case.

[ezsosa 5]

Hello Guys,

I had a very long journey, but finally, I became US Citizen yesterday!!!

 

I went to my Naturalization interview on 04/03/2018 at USCIS Mt. Laurel, NJ. After I passed the English and Civic tests the officer called another officer and mentioned to him about a discrepancy on my green card vs my passport, after that, he told me that there was a USCIS administrative error on my Green Card, and due to that, he was not able to make a decision on my application.

 

I explained to the officer that I entered the United States on 03/18/2015 and that I received a letter from USCIS on 09/27/2016 saying that their records indicate that I became Conditional Permanent Resident on 01/22/2015 and I had to initiate the Removal of Conditions process. After reading the letter, I checked my passport and noticed that the date on the letter matched with the date when my immigrant visa was issued, so I applied for the Removal of Conditions on 10/24/2016, then on 09/29/2017 I received the Approval Notice removing my conditional status and USCIS did not mention any mistake neither on their records nor my application and a new green card valid for 10 years was issued stating that I am resident since 01/22/2015.

 

Finally, I applied for the Naturalization based on 3 years’ marriage with a US Citizen. After heard my history the officer apologized for the error made by USCIS and told me that although the mistake was made on their end, I applied too early for the naturalization, even so, he was going to submit my case for a supervisor review because he could not make a decision. I asked him why the first letter from USCIS stated the wrong date and he said he did not know who put that date on that letter but based on the passport stamp I applied too early.

 

I asked him, if that date was wrong why USCIS approved the removal of conditions based on a wrong date and printed that wrong date on my new green card how am I supposed to know that USCIS made a mistake if they did not let me know, and why, when I submitted my N400 application it was not rejected because filed too early and I had to wait until my naturalization interview to receive that information. After that, he decided to take copies of my passport and asked me for my old green card to be destroyed. I explained to him that I just followed USCIS instructions on all letters received, even so, if the right date was 03/18/2015 instead of 01/22/2015 I even qualify for Naturalization because my 3rd anniversary had been on 03/18/2018.

 

The officer told me again that he was submitting my case for a supervisor review and I was going to receive a letter as soon as the decision was made, if approved I should receive an invitation for the naturalization ceremony, if denied, I had to reapply again and pay for all fees or appeal the decision.

I told him that if my case is denied USCIS had to pay for their mistake and give me a full refund, but he stated that this situation was neither under his control nor the local office because their job is to adjudicate cases not to make financial decisions, I asked him if I had to wait outside and he told me that I was free to go and wait for a letter via postal mail, I said thanks and left the office.

 

Since I have not heard from USCIS after my interview (as of May 1) I sent a message via the USCIS ELIS platform and they responded me three days later saying that I have the option to request an expedited case review due to a USCIS error even sending a letter or calling the national customer service.

I sent a request to my congressman to help me with the expedite of my case’s decision, and on May 14^th, a couple of weeks after my congressman talked to them, I received a Denial Notice on my case.

 

On May 14^th, I immediately filed a new N400 case, and an I-90 to request the replacement of my GC with the wrong date, and requested a refund of the previous case. I made an Info Pass appointment about a month later and meet with an officer who help me a lot and talked to her supervisor who immediately authorized the expedite request of my new N400 and told me how to proceed to request the refund of fees (sending a letter to the local USCIS office, what I did the next day) a week later I received my interview letter dated for August 20^th. Yesterday, I went to my interview, to my surprise, guess what? The same officer who denied my case on my first interview LOL but the funniest part was he never forget me, so he was a very young guy, and told me he would not like to interview me again, but it was what it was.

 

After passed the tests, he told me he was not able to make a decision at that time and I asked him, AGAIN??? And he said that I passed and everything was fine, but there was a system outage so, he took my cell phone number to call me back to come for the Oath if not, a letter was going to be sent. Fortunately, he called me about two hours after my interview and asked me to come for the Oath at 2:45 PM.

 

I had requested another InfoPass appointment for yesterday to ask for the status of my refund and guess what? The same ladies (officers) who assisted me on my first Info Pass were there and were laughing a lot with me and told me, they knew exactly why I was there (asking for my refund status) and called their supervisor, for my surprise the same person who performs the ceremonies wanted to talk to me in private, and called me to the Oath Ceremony room and chatted with me for about 10 minutes. He apologized in USCIS name, congratulate me on my case get approved and I thanked him for rush my case and help me with everything. He finally told me that my refund is going to be processed but it could take longer than any other regular request.

 

All the rest is history, I am proudly a US Citizen!

 

Thanks Guys!

 

 

PD: If you have a GC with the wrong date, make sure you are entitled to apply for a citizenship if not, don't do it without investigating first. 

[DRinCalifornia 2]

Thanks to you all...

 

I have to say this forum really helped me. In return for all the intel I have received from this forum there is my path from the Beginning:

San bernadido center,CA

I-130 & I-485

 *Sent: 04/24/15

 *Noticed: 05/01/15

 *Bio taken: 05/21/15

 *Interviewed:07/29/15

 *Green Card arrived: 09/04/15

I-751

 *sent: 05/13/2017

 *Noticed: 05/20/17

 *Bio taken: 05/13/17

 *I just checked they are working on the Dec 2016 Filers. 

 

N-400

 *Sent 05/05/2018

 *Bio taken 05/23/18

 *Schedule notice: 7/17/18

 *Interviewed: 8/22/18

They did both the I-751 and N-400 Combo. I brought my wife as you guys recommended it and it was very nice. In by 8:40 am out by 9:40 am. 

 

Got approved!!!

 

I will recommend download the apps to study. I downloaded all of then i chose the best only 2.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jimbo09 19]

Congrats to all that were approved!

[Txub 2]

Still stuck on reviewing fingerprints since June 11th. No updates beyond that

[Txub 2]

On 8/21/2018 at 1:17 PM, ezsosa said:

Hello Guys,

I had a very long journey, but finally, I became US Citizen yesterday!!!

 

I went to my Naturalization interview on 04/03/2018 at USCIS Mt. Laurel, NJ. After I passed the English and Civic tests the officer called another officer and mentioned to him about a discrepancy on my green card vs my passport, after that, he told me that there was a USCIS administrative error on my Green Card, and due to that, he was not able to make a decision on my application.

 

I explained to the officer that I entered the United States on 03/18/2015 and that I received a letter from USCIS on 09/27/2016 saying that their records indicate that I became Conditional Permanent Resident on 01/22/2015 and I had to initiate the Removal of Conditions process. After reading the letter, I checked my passport and noticed that the date on the letter matched with the date when my immigrant visa was issued, so I applied for the Removal of Conditions on 10/24/2016, then on 09/29/2017 I received the Approval Notice removing my conditional status and USCIS did not mention any mistake neither on their records nor my application and a new green card valid for 10 years was issued stating that I am resident since 01/22/2015.

 

Finally, I applied for the Naturalization based on 3 years’ marriage with a US Citizen. After heard my history the officer apologized for the error made by USCIS and told me that although the mistake was made on their end, I applied too early for the naturalization, even so, he was going to submit my case for a supervisor review because he could not make a decision. I asked him why the first letter from USCIS stated the wrong date and he said he did not know who put that date on that letter but based on the passport stamp I applied too early.

 

I asked him, if that date was wrong why USCIS approved the removal of conditions based on a wrong date and printed that wrong date on my new green card how am I supposed to know that USCIS made a mistake if they did not let me know, and why, when I submitted my N400 application it was not rejected because filed too early and I had to wait until my naturalization interview to receive that information. After that, he decided to take copies of my passport and asked me for my old green card to be destroyed. I explained to him that I just followed USCIS instructions on all letters received, even so, if the right date was 03/18/2015 instead of 01/22/2015 I even qualify for Naturalization because my 3rd anniversary had been on 03/18/2018.

 

The officer told me again that he was submitting my case for a supervisor review and I was going to receive a letter as soon as the decision was made, if approved I should receive an invitation for the naturalization ceremony, if denied, I had to reapply again and pay for all fees or appeal the decision.

I told him that if my case is denied USCIS had to pay for their mistake and give me a full refund, but he stated that this situation was neither under his control nor the local office because their job is to adjudicate cases not to make financial decisions, I asked him if I had to wait outside and he told me that I was free to go and wait for a letter via postal mail, I said thanks and left the office.

 

Since I have not heard from USCIS after my interview (as of May 1) I sent a message via the USCIS ELIS platform and they responded me three days later saying that I have the option to request an expedited case review due to a USCIS error even sending a letter or calling the national customer service.

I sent a request to my congressman to help me with the expedite of my case’s decision, and on May 14^th, a couple of weeks after my congressman talked to them, I received a Denial Notice on my case.

 

On May 14^th, I immediately filed a new N400 case, and an I-90 to request the replacement of my GC with the wrong date, and requested a refund of the previous case. I made an Info Pass appointment about a month later and meet with an officer who help me a lot and talked to her supervisor who immediately authorized the expedite request of my new N400 and told me how to proceed to request the refund of fees (sending a letter to the local USCIS office, what I did the next day) a week later I received my interview letter dated for August 20^th. Yesterday, I went to my interview, to my surprise, guess what? The same officer who denied my case on my first interview LOL but the funniest part was he never forget me, so he was a very young guy, and told me he would not like to interview me again, but it was what it was.

 

After passed the tests, he told me he was not able to make a decision at that time and I asked him, AGAIN??? And he said that I passed and everything was fine, but there was a system outage so, he took my cell phone number to call me back to come for the Oath if not, a letter was going to be sent. Fortunately, he called me about two hours after my interview and asked me to come for the Oath at 2:45 PM.

 

I had requested another InfoPass appointment for yesterday to ask for the status of my refund and guess what? The same ladies (officers) who assisted me on my first Info Pass were there and were laughing a lot with me and told me, they knew exactly why I was there (asking for my refund status) and called their supervisor, for my surprise the same person who performs the ceremonies wanted to talk to me in private, and called me to the Oath Ceremony room and chatted with me for about 10 minutes. He apologized in USCIS name, congratulate me on my case get approved and I thanked him for rush my case and help me with everything. He finally told me that my refund is going to be processed but it could take longer than any other regular request.

 

All the rest is history, I am proudly a US Citizen!

 

Thanks Guys!

 

 

PD: If you have a GC with the wrong date, make sure you are entitled to apply for a citizenship if not, don't do it without investigating first. 

 

I had a wrong date on my greend card - they put the valid from date as the priority date and not the date I was approved (7 month difference).

 

I’ve put in an i90 in December 2017 to get it corrected and it’s still pending!! I’ve also applied for n400 based on the corrected (green card approval) date. Hope the corrected green card is back to me before I have to take my oath!!

[kt1977 0]

On aug 24, friday I attended the Oath ceremony at LA convention center. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience. Now i am a us citizen. Good luck to everyone.

Here is my timeline:

1995 J1 exchange student

1996 F1 college

2001 OPT

2002 H1B, through OPT employer

2007 filed for 485 eb3 employer based

2013 july 31 -485 ( green card) approved

2018 May1st - filed for N400, San Bernardino,CA

2018 Aug 14- Interview, San bernardino,CA. Approved for oath ceremony.

2018 Aug24 - Oath ceremony. LA Convention center

2018 Sep 4- i have an appointment for us passport in a hurry at passport agency San Diego because i have travel booked for sep 15  well before i filed.  

[MillMiller 1]

Hello everyone. I did my interview yesterday. It was a very straightforward interview. After confirming my full name and DOB, the interviewer asked me 6 civic questions. Since answered all 6 questions he jumped straight to writing and reading test. I was asked to read "How many senators are there?" and then type "There are 100 Senators" lol. After that yes/no questions that are in N400 form. Then he congratulated me for passing the interview and that he would recommend me for approval. As soon as I got home about 2 hours after the interview I received a call from USCIS agent and she asked me if I can come in to do the Oath the next morning 9:30 AM. I was like hell yeah lol. A few minutes later she sent me a form of Oath N445 through email. I filled the form and took it with me this morning. I took the Oath along 62 other people from 34 different nationalities. I am now American 🇺🇸 Citizen   

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CRXPJXGNip4bFIDoUE3PyCtguHqwmN_ExuJhSmXoves/edit#gid=0

[CPO&ADS 5]

2 hours ago, MillMiller said:

Hello everyone. I did my interview yesterday. It was a very straightforward interview. After confirming my full name and DOB, the interviewer asked me 6 civic questions. Since answered all 6 questions he jumped straight to writing and reading test. I was asked to read "How many senators are there?" and then type "There are 100 Senators" lol. After that yes/no questions that are in N400 form. Then he congratulated me for passing the interview and that he would recommend me for approval. As soon as I got home about 2 hours after the interview I received a call from USCIS agent and she asked me if I can come in to do the Oath the next morning 9:30 AM. I was like hell yeah lol. A few minutes later she sent me a form of Oath N445 through email. I filled the form and took it with me this morning. I took the Oath along 62 other people from 34 different nationalities. I am now American 🇺🇸 Citizen   

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CRXPJXGNip4bFIDoUE3PyCtguHqwmN_ExuJhSmXoves/edit#gid=0

 

On 8/26/2018 at 9:17 AM, kt1977 said:

On aug 24, friday I attended the Oath ceremony at LA convention center. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience. Now i am a us citizen. Good luck to everyone.

Here is my timeline:

1995 J1 exchange student

1996 F1 college

2001 OPT

2002 H1B, through OPT employer

2007 filed for 485 eb3 employer based

2013 july 31 -485 ( green card) approved

2018 May1st - filed for N400, San Bernardino,CA

2018 Aug 14- Interview, San bernardino,CA. Approved for oath ceremony.

2018 Aug24 - Oath ceremony. LA Convention center

2018 Sep 4- i have an appointment for us passport in a hurry at passport agency San Diego because i have travel booked for sep 15  well before i filed.  

 Wowww, many congratulations!!!

i still waiting my ceremony letter.

[gypsysoul 3]

On 9/1/2018 at 12:50 AM, MillMiller said:

Hello everyone. I did my interview yesterday. It was a very straightforward interview. After confirming my full name and DOB, the interviewer asked me 6 civic questions. Since answered all 6 questions he jumped straight to writing and reading test. I was asked to read "How many senators are there?" and then type "There are 100 Senators" lol. After that yes/no questions that are in N400 form. Then he congratulated me for passing the interview and that he would recommend me for approval. As soon as I got home about 2 hours after the interview I received a call from USCIS agent and she asked me if I can come in to do the Oath the next morning 9:30 AM. I was like hell yeah lol. A few minutes later she sent me a form of Oath N445 through email. I filled the form and took it with me this morning. I took the Oath along 62 other people from 34 different nationalities. I am now American 🇺🇸 Citizen   

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CRXPJXGNip4bFIDoUE3PyCtguHqwmN_ExuJhSmXoves/edit#gid=0

Congratulations @MillMiller 

[james82 0]

Based on the google sheet for May filers, no one received an interview notice to day since July 26, which is more than a month now ... very disappointing. Backlog is worsening and no good signs yet ...

[hysamir 0]

Interview notice came on end of August. and interview is scheduled for OCT 11th.

[james82 0]

Received my interview notice this morning

Good luck to everyone and hope you receive updates very soon

 

Info updated here 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CRXPJXGNip4bFIDoUE3PyCtguHqwmN_ExuJhSmXoves/edit#gid=0

 

Edited September 11, 2018 by james82

[spinkycow 34]

One website says they've only done biometrics but the other one says that the appointment has been scheduled today but I need to wait for a letter, anyone else have this?

 

 

Edited September 11, 2018 by spinkycow