N-400 July 2018 Filers

[Goddaughter 10]

59 minutes ago, Stefaan_Leslie said:

Questions: who becomes president if the president can no longer serve, who is my house representative, what is one of the longest rivers, what is the capital of Colorado, name of the anthem, who lived in America before the Europeans arrived. 

 

Documents: nothing

 

She asked me when I traveled outside the USA for the last time but I couldn't recall it immediately. Wanted to check my papers but she said that if it wasn't written on a post-it I shouldn't bother... 

Thank you and congrats. 🍾🎉🎊🎈 

[tackle 3]

On 2/8/2019 at 9:32 AM, tackle said:

I live in Rockland County, NY and just found out that they have naturalization ceremonies once every two months. The next ceremony is in Apr. If we don't get our ceremonies scheduled for Apr,  it'll be in June. And if that is the case, we'll have to reschedule it for the one in August as we'll be out of town in June.  

We've still haven't got any updates on when our Oath Ceremonies will be scheduled.

The status still reads "Your final step to becoming a citizen is to attend your naturalization ceremony. We will mail you a letter when we schedule your naturalization ceremony."

But then, right below the status, it says: "Estimated wait time: We are taking longer than expected to process your case. You do not need to do anything at this time."

I'm glad I wasn't the only one thinking it is taking longer than expected 😐.

 

[garrulo 3]

Hello July Filers.  I received an alert today that my interview has been scheduled, although I still dont know when since the document hasn't posted to my account.  I'm in San Antonio

[spaniardrocket 6]

My status finally changed to "Interview was Schedule" today.

Filed: July 26, 2018.

Local office: Sacramento,CA

[Goddaughter 10]

My status finally changed to Oath ceremony notice was mailed today. I had my interview yesterday. 

[mrkrabbs 30]

Yo ppl,

I just got my citizenship on Feb 28 finally!

I applied for my I-751 in July 2017, waited all through 2018 no response so I kinda gave up and applied for N400 in July 2018. finally when my case went outside normal processing time they mentioned they will process it along with my N400 at the same time. I was like what even is the point of applying for I-751 then? waste of my time and $

Finally in January I received an interview letter for my N400 with no mention of I-751. I hd my interview scheduled for Feb 28 at Newark,NJ office.

It was for 10:30 am and said I shouldn't go more than 30 mins in advance since theres limited seating space, but i live kinda far so I went in at 8am anyways and surprisingly they let me in. The security check was quite easy, remove shoes, belt and underwear. JK no underwear. But yeah, they do let you take food and water inside if it's in a separate bag. (atleast in the newark office). We carried 4 protein bars and 2 bottles of water just to be safe, in case it took a whole day. 

After the check, we went up to the 15th floor and the guard asked us to stand in line and checkin to the next available window out of the 8 available windows. 

There were like 2 people in line and so it was fairly quick checkin. They took my interview letter and asked to be seated and wait till my name was called out on the microphone. We sat for about 1 hour after which i heard my name and ran up to the window. It was a pleasant middle aged man who saw my husband waiting behind me and asked if he wanted to come in too. I said "sure, if that's okay". i thought he was gonna grill us on my pending I-751. As soon as we went in he asked us to sit and asked me to confirm my name, address, date of birth and all basic details. He was surprised I have an american accent and not an australian one. I said I have been here for almost 10 years now and decided to drop my aussie accent lol 

He then asked me to get ready for the civic questions. He asked me :

1) What's the name of the Vice President?

2) How old do you need to be to register for selective service?

3) How many senators are there?

4) What did Martin Luther King Jr do?

5) There are 4 amendments to the constitution about who can vote, describe one of them ?

6) During the cold war what was the main concern of the United States?

 

After this he did the reading test and asked me to read "When is Columbus day?" 

and for writing test he asked me to write" Columbus day is in October" 

Then he asked me some basic questions if I have a criminal history/prostitution/affiliation to nazi party etc. (Hope the answer to all of these is no, else you're in trouble) 

All of these took less than 5 mins to finish and as soon as we were done, he said" Congrats, you are a citizen now". We do the oath ceremony on the same day in NJ, so we don't usually say we will send you for approval. He made me sign a document that said I have committed no crimes and everything I have said is 100% true etc and also another letter for the oath ceremony stating I haven't committed any crime since my citizenship interview ( he said thats silly coz w have same day oath ceremony in NJ, but for other states where the wait period is 3 months etc for oath ceremony, that makes more sense , but its a formality and needs to be done).

After this he congratulated me, took a few copies of my documents and handed back the documents and asked to wait for my name to be called out again at one of the windows. We waited for 30 mins then my name was called out at a window, they made me sing a copy of my naturalization certificate and its original and gave me a white envelope with basics on how to apply for a passport, vote etc and a small flag and asked to wait for the oath ceremony and said they will give me my naturalization certificate at the oath ceremony.

At newark they do around 3-4 oath ceremonies a day. So they had me in for the 12pm batch and they called us all together to a room next door and asked us to sit down and watch a video called "faces of america" and then they recited 2 oaths and played the star spangled banner after(place your right hand on your heart while you say it and don't be stupid like me and raise your hand like for oath)  and we had to repeat the oath and they were checking who was saying the oath. No pictures or videos allowed until the end. After the oath they called out our names in batches of 12 and handed us our certificates and congratulated us. Also, a nice old woman gave a speech welcoming us as citizens and explaining what it means etc and said if there are any corrections in the naturalization certificate to let her know there and then, because they can correct it instantly the same day. if we came back the other day with any corrections they will charge us $555 and a 7-9 month wait to correct us (its another application process to replace the naturalization certificate, trust me you dont wanna deal with that again). After all that, she said she wanted to show us a video but due to "technological" issues they couldnt play it and also she wanted to go have lunch ( I found out that was a 1 min video about trump wecloming ppl) and I can understand why they didnt want to show immigrants that video lol She asked us to register to vote and not to complain about who gets elected later and its extremely important to vote for the right guy and I agree 100%. After this whole process we took pictures and videos etc and left with a sigh of relief that finally this whole process is done. The very next day I applied for passport and got my state ID and am planning to update my SSN in 10 business days. Also, one strange thing that still bugs me is that the immigration officer who took our interview never asked me about the I-751 and I never bothered asking either. My lawyer told me if you have got citizenship, that does not matter. My status on I-751 still says "case is received etc... " so I am not sure? either way its pointless now that I am already a citizen, they can't take away your citizenship unless you lied on your application or you fail to appear before congress in case of a scandal. So I am pretty sure I am all set! 

That was my essay about my experience with the whole interview experience for n400! and I sincerely hope all of you get approved real fast and get on with your naturalized lives. It has been a 2.5 year period of pain and suffering. Glad the wait and anxiety has finally ended. No matter where your office is and how difficult your case is, stay positive and confident and all will be fine! good luck ya'll ! Peace out!

Edited March 3, 2019 by mrkrabbs

[Rasheed1011 3]

2 hours ago, mrkrabbs said:

Yo ppl,

I just got my citizenship on Feb 28 finally!

I applied for my I-751 in July 2017, waited all through 2018 no response so I kinda gave up and applied for N400 in July 2018. finally when my case went outside normal processing time they mentioned they will process it along with my N400 at the same time. I was like what even is the point of applying for I-751 then? waste of my time and $

Finally in January I received an interview letter for my N400 with no mention of I-751. I hd my interview scheduled for Feb 28 at Newark,NJ office.

It was for 10:30 am and said I shouldn't go more than 30 mins in advance since theres limited seating space, but i live kinda far so I went in at 8am anyways and surprisingly they let me in. The security check was quite easy, remove shoes, belt and underwear. JK no underwear. But yeah, they do let you take food and water inside if it's in a separate bag. (atleast in the newark office). We carried 4 protein bars and 2 bottles of water just to be safe, in case it took a whole day. 

After the check, we went up to the 15th floor and the guard asked us to stand in line and checkin to the next available window out of the 8 available windows. 

There were like 2 people in line and so it was fairly quick checkin. They took my interview letter and asked to be seated and wait till my name was called out on the microphone. We sat for about 1 hour after which i heard my name and ran up to the window. It was a pleasant middle aged man who saw my husband waiting behind me and asked if he wanted to come in too. I said "sure, if that's okay". i thought he was gonna grill us on my pending I-751. As soon as we went in he asked us to sit and asked me to confirm my name, address, date of birth and all basic details. He was surprised I have an american accent and not an australian one. I said I have been here for almost 10 years now and decided to drop my aussie accent lol 

He then asked me to get ready for the civic questions. He asked me :

1) What's the name of the Vice President?

2) How old do you need to be to register for selective service?

3) How many senators are there?

4) What did Martin Luther King Jr do?

5) There are 4 amendments to the constitution about who can vote, describe one of them ?

6) During the cold war what was the main concern of the United States?

 

After this he did the reading test and asked me to read "When is Columbus day?" 

and for writing test he asked me to write" Columbus day is in October" 

Then he asked me some basic questions if I have a criminal history/prostitution/affiliation to nazi party etc. (Hope the answer to all of these is no, else you're in trouble) 

All of these took less than 5 mins to finish and as soon as we were done, he said" Congrats, you are a citizen now". We do the oath ceremony on the same day in NJ, so we don't usually say we will send you for approval. He made me sign a document that said I have committed no crimes and everything I have said is 100% true etc and also another letter for the oath ceremony stating I haven't committed any crime since my citizenship interview ( he said thats silly coz w have same day oath ceremony in NJ, but for other states where the wait period is 3 months etc for oath ceremony, that makes more sense , but its a formality and needs to be done).

After this he congratulated me, took a few copies of my documents and handed back the documents and asked to wait for my name to be called out again at one of the windows. We waited for 30 mins then my name was called out at a window, they made me sing a copy of my naturalization certificate and its original and gave me a white envelope with basics on how to apply for a passport, vote etc and a small flag and asked to wait for the oath ceremony and said they will give me my naturalization certificate at the oath ceremony.

At newark they do around 3-4 oath ceremonies a day. So they had me in for the 12pm batch and they called us all together to a room next door and asked us to sit down and watch a video called "faces of america" and then they recited 2 oaths and played the star spangled banner after(place your right hand on your heart while you say it and don't be stupid like me and raise your hand like for oath)  and we had to repeat the oath and they were checking who was saying the oath. No pictures or videos allowed until the end. After the oath they called out our names in batches of 12 and handed us our certificates and congratulated us. Also, a nice old woman gave a speech welcoming us as citizens and explaining what it means etc and said if there are any corrections in the naturalization certificate to let her know there and then, because they can correct it instantly the same day. if we came back the other day with any corrections they will charge us $555 and a 7-9 month wait to correct us (its another application process to replace the naturalization certificate, trust me you dont wanna deal with that again). After all that, she said she wanted to show us a video but due to "technological" issues they couldnt play it and also she wanted to go have lunch ( I found out that was a 1 min video about trump wecloming ppl) and I can understand why they didnt want to show immigrants that video lol She asked us to register to vote and not to complain about who gets elected later and its extremely important to vote for the right guy and I agree 100%. After this whole process we took pictures and videos etc and left with a sigh of relief that finally this whole process is done. The very next day I applied for passport and got my state ID and am planning to update my SSN in 10 business days. Also, one strange thing that still bugs me is that the immigration officer who took our interview never asked me about the I-751 and I never bothered asking either. My lawyer told me if you have got citizenship, that does not matter. My status on I-751 still says "case is received etc... " so I am not sure? either way its pointless now that I am already a citizen, they can't take away your citizenship unless you lied on your application or you fail to appear before congress in case of a scandal. So I am pretty sure I am all set! 

That was my essay about my experience with the whole interview experience for n400! and I sincerely hope all of you get approved real fast and get on with your naturalized lives. It has been a 2.5 year period of pain and suffering. Glad the wait and anxiety has finally ended. No matter where your office is and how difficult your case is, stay positive and confident and all will be fine! good luck ya'll ! Peace out!

MrKrabbs,

 

congrats.

[AdnanS 82]

Wife had her Oath Ceremony yesterday in Chicago total process was about 3 Hours to Check in and Oath.

Can't believe its' finally over and now we are looking to apply for passport within 1-2 days.

[Stefaan_Leslie 10]

23 hours ago, AdnanS said:

Wife had her Oath Ceremony yesterday in Chicago total process was about 3 Hours to Check in and Oath.

Can't believe its' finally over and now we are looking to apply for passport within 1-2 days.

Do you have the option to apply for a passport at the ceremony ?

[AdnanS 82]

1 hour ago, Stefaan_Leslie said:

Do you have the option to apply for a passport at the ceremony ?

 

We tried and they said the Chicago Passport Agency you have to make an appointment and show proof within 1-2 weeks your traveling like a ticket or something.

Hence, they said just go to US Post Office and apply in person their.  

[TheAff 5]

Hi July filers, fellow July '18 filer. If I remember correctly, we filed about two weeks after I was eligible for naturalization. Just wanted to give an update on my naturalization interview which I just had at the Field Office in Philadelphia. In all honesty, it was a bit of an anticlimax, probably took 10 minutes in total. The officer was quite terse throughout, although I understand that some officers can be that way and was ready for it. He only asked for GC and state ID/DL. No passport, no proof of wife's citizenship etc. I'd brought so many files with me just in case. 

 

He asked a few details for me to verify, such as phone number etc before diving into the questions. 

 

Questions were:

 

What are the two branches of Congress?

Who is the President?

Who vetoes bills?

Who was the first president? 

Name a war in the 1900s? 

What was the main concern during the Cold War? 

 

After answering the questions correctly I had to read out, "When is Columbus Day?" and then write "Columbus Day is in October." I found it hard to use the stylus on the tablet so my handwriting was not the best...it looked my 4-year old nephew's! I was then asked to submit tax transcripts from '15/16/17.

 

The last section was answering the no/yes questions from Part 12 of the N-400 application. I then signed a few things on the tablet but he didn't verbally tell me I was approved. He printed off the sheet that has the approval check mark on it and handed it to me. He said I'd hear from them in 2-3 weeks but I only knew for sure once I read the paper that I'd actually been approved. 

 

So, all in all, a bit of a funny experience (not what I'd imagined in my head!). There was no real conversation, however, I can only imagine how repetitive the process can be for some officers. And first thing on a Monday morning isn't' the best time slot either. I'm so grateful to all the support from friends, family - my wife particularly - and of course this forum. Happy to answer any questions people might have  - I know how useful it can be to read other people's experiences of the interview. 

 

Cheers! 

[batmu 5]

Received Interview letter today . Scheduled for April 26th in Nashville, TN.

 

Time line for my application:

Applied : July 7th ,2018

Finger printing: July 20th, 2018

Interview Letter received: March 12th,2019

Interview date: April 26th, 2019

Location : Nashville

[LTTN 10]

On 3/12/2019 at 3:47 PM, batmu said:

Received Interview letter today . Scheduled for April 26th in Nashville, TN.

 

Time line for my application:

Applied : July 7th ,2018

Finger printing: July 20th, 2018

Interview Letter received: March 12th,2019

Interview date: April 26th, 2019

Location : Nashville

Congratulations,  I filed a week after you and got my notification that my interview has been scheduled in Nashville today so I'm going to guess I've probably got about 6 or 7 weeks to prepare.

[tackle 3]

On 2/8/2019 at 8:04 AM, tackle said:

My wife and I had our Citizenship interviews yesterday at Javits Federal Building NYC. Everything went smooth. We were both approved.

 

We both had our interviews with different Immigration Officers.

 

My appointment was at 11:50. Was called in around 12:10 and I came out by 12:30. The process was straight forward. First the civics test then the english reading and writing test. And then went over N400. She mentioned that some of the yes/No questions were not answered on the form and took the answers for them. She asked about the 2 weeks of  unemployment I had mentioned in the N400 form. I told her that was when I moved to NY from my old Job and I took a couple of weeks off. She said that I didn't need to mention this as unemployment on the form and she removed it from my application as she said it isn't needed. She asked me if I had my tax forms with me. I told her yes and gave her the copies. She asked if she could keep the copies and I said yes. She they said I passed the test and she is recommending me for approval.
 

My wifes interview was at 1. She was called in around 12:45 and she came out by 1. She had a straight forward interview too. First the civics test then the english reading and writing test. And then went over N400 form. And then in the end the officer told my wife that she passed the test and that he is recommending her for approval.

I checked our application status online yesterday night and the status had changed to "Approved" with some text about the last step is the Naturalization Ceremony and we'll be notified when they have scheduled our ceremonies.

I wish everyone waiting for the interviews all the best!
  

 

On 2/8/2019 at 9:32 AM, tackle said:

I live in Rockland County, NY and just found out that they have naturalization ceremonies once every two months. The next ceremony is in Apr. If we don't get our ceremonies scheduled for Apr,  it'll be in June. And if that is the case, we'll have to reschedule it for the one in August as we'll be out of town in June.  

The case statuses for both our applications changed on the uscis case status page to "We scheduled your oath ceremony " today. The notice letter hasn't appeared on my.uscis portal yet. I'm hoping they were able to schedule us in the ceremony in April. Lets see. 
 

[LTTN 10]

2 hours ago, LTTN said:

Congratulations,  I filed a week after you and got my notification that my interview has been scheduled in Nashville today so I'm going to guess I've probably got about 6 or 7 weeks to prepare.

Well scratch that, they've just uploaded my letter, my interview is April 18th so I better get swotting.