Citizenship Interview Waiting Times Portland, Or.

[Crazely 19]

1 hour ago, Vikingoutwest said:

Thank you! Hopefully you can get an expedited passport for your trip! I am so nervous...I am organizing documents now and printing any extra stuff - double and triple checking haha. I will let you all know how it went:-)

 

Good luck to you as well @Crazely maybe I will see you there tomorrow:-) 

Yep. Hope to see u there. I am also organizing my stuff. Did u apply under 5 year rule or 3 year? 

[mixxin 26]

On 11/23/2019 at 2:05 PM, Display_Name said:

I got my oath scheduled for Dec 31st! This is almost 2 months after my interview.

That's a long wait for Portland.

 

@Vikingoutwest and @Crazely good luck tomorrow. Keep us informed.

[Vikingoutwest 193]

2 hours ago, Crazely said:

Yep. Hope to see u there. I am also organizing my stuff. Did u apply under 5 year rule or 3 year? 

I applied under 5 year rule, you?

[Crazely 19]

32 minutes ago, Vikingoutwest said:

I applied under 5 year rule, you?

Im on a 3 year rule. 

[Ka.bu 1]

Hello guys

 

Glad to hear that some you guys got your interviews

I am still waiting for my interview! 

Had a question?

Did anyone submitted a inquiry regarding expired *wait time* or just waited until they notified??

 

Do you guys suggest me to submit a *out normal processing* inquiry or just wait until they notify?

 

The estimated  *wait time* expired on 21st Oct 

 

Thank you guys 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Crazely 19]

On 11/24/2019 at 1:23 PM, Vikingoutwest said:

Thank you! Hopefully you can get an expedited passport for your trip! I am so nervous...I am organizing documents now and printing any extra stuff - double and triple checking haha. I will let you all know how it went:-)

 

Good luck to you as well @Crazely maybe I will see you there tomorrow:-) 

I passed the test and the Interview. It took about 20 minutes. 
 

questions asked: 

what is the law of the land?

who is the father of our country?

who is the first president of the united states?

how many amendments does the constitution have?

who is the chief justice of the united states? 
 

reading: 

Wen do we vote for a president.

writing:

We vote for a president in November. 
 

They didn't asked any documents. 

My status changed to:

We schedule your Oath Ceremony. 

Edited November 26, 2019 by Crazely

[mixxin 26]

Congrats @Crazely!

[Vikingoutwest 193]

Congrats Crazely! Here is my experience (I posted this just now in the April filers thread also:

 

I will outline my experience at the interview yesterday below - it will be a long one - you can skip to the end:-)

 

My husband and I arrived at the Portland field office at 12.10 yesterday (a half hour before my appointment at 12.40), and get checked through security. I had to give the guard my appointment letter and ID and then put all my stuff (bags, overcoat, random things from my pockets, and my shoes) in bins and go through a metal detector. Pick up all the stuff again, then go check in at the front desk. The front desk took my appointment letter and my green card, checked it against a list on their computer, and then they took my picture, and scan my left and right index fingers. Then they gave me the letter back, with a numbered ticket attached to it, and we were told to go upstairs to the second floor and wait to be called. 

The waiting room is apparently shared for both people waiting to be interviewed, and people waiting for infopass...the only sign posted anywhere there said "for infopass, wait here for your name to be called" - so I was worried I went to the wrong place somehow, but figured out after a bit that officers were coming out from a different hallway and calling people by name to go with them for interviews.

I waited until about 1.10, and was finally called by a friendly female officer. She showed me back to her office, asked me to remain standing and had me swear to tell the truth. After I sat down, she goes "before we even start this, I have to ask you to outline how you obtained this green card". See, I have had a total of two cards. My first one was conditional, and from 2006. In 2007, my husband and I moved back to Denmark for a while. We thought (as it says in the rules) that if you do not apply to remove conditions, and retain your card while living overseas, you automatically lose your residency and will have to reapply if you want to return to the US. In 2009, we returned to the US and reapplied. At first, it got denied - on the grounds that I had residency already! We had to appeal and tell them their own rules about us having abandoned residency in 2007, the appeal was granted and I got my permanent green card in 2010. Now, the officer was telling me this might be a problem, and that they had to make sure my status was adjusted correctly in 2010. I have her the whole timeline and showed proof, and she said we will get back to this, let's do the test. The questions were:

1. What is one promise you make when you become a US citizen?

I said: to defend the Constitution and follow the laws of the US. She looked puzzled, so I added: and to serve in the military if needed. Then she was happy.

2. How many amendments does the Constitution have?

3. If both the President and the Vice President can no longer serve, who becomes President?

4. What movement tried to end racial discrimination?

5. What is the name of the Vice President of the US now?

6. There were 13 original states, name three?

I then had to read: Where is the White House located?

And write: The White House is in Washington, D.C. 

Then she asked some questions from the N400. I can't remember them all, but some were full legal name, prior marriages for both my husband and I (none), if my parents were citizens, current address, any kids, any travels in the last 5 years, if I had been a prostitute, involved with torture, in the military, or if I was in the communist party. Then if I was willing to take the oath and support the Constitution (of course). Then my name and original country and birth date etc popped up on the tablet and I had to sign it was correct. Then I had to sign that I was willing to take the oath. After that she hands me the N652 (interview results), and two boxes are checked.

1. You passed the English test and the U.S. history and government test

2. A decision cannot be made yet about your application.

In my head I was freaking out, but I tried to not show that and calmly just asked her what this meant? She told me that she had to confirm with a senior officer that my status was adjusted correctly in the past, but that she would fight for me (her words 0.o) and push for my approval. She took some copies of my IDs and said that they would contact me by mail.

So, I left the interview pretty deflated and kinda sad. 

5 hours later I got a notification from the case tracker app that I had been put in line to be scheduled for the Oath Ceremony. I was not sure at that point if that meant I was approved for sure now, so I kept checking the uscis account - and finally this morning that account read:

"We approved your application. 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."

 

APPROVED!!!!!! 😄 

[Crazely 19]

3 minutes ago, Vikingoutwest said:

Congrats Crazely! Here is my experience (I posted this just now in the April filers thread also:

 

I will outline my experience at the interview yesterday below - it will be a long one - you can skip to the end:-)

 

My husband and I arrived at the Portland field office at 12.10 yesterday (a half hour before my appointment at 12.40), and get checked through security. I had to give the guard my appointment letter and ID and then put all my stuff (bags, overcoat, random things from my pockets, and my shoes) in bins and go through a metal detector. Pick up all the stuff again, then go check in at the front desk. The front desk took my appointment letter and my green card, checked it against a list on their computer, and then they took my picture, and scan my left and right index fingers. Then they gave me the letter back, with a numbered ticket attached to it, and we were told to go upstairs to the second floor and wait to be called. 

The waiting room is apparently shared for both people waiting to be interviewed, and people waiting for infopass...the only sign posted anywhere there said "for infopass, wait here for your name to be called" - so I was worried I went to the wrong place somehow, but figured out after a bit that officers were coming out from a different hallway and calling people by name to go with them for interviews.

I waited until about 1.10, and was finally called by a friendly female officer. She showed me back to her office, asked me to remain standing and had me swear to tell the truth. After I sat down, she goes "before we even start this, I have to ask you to outline how you obtained this green card". See, I have had a total of two cards. My first one was conditional, and from 2006. In 2007, my husband and I moved back to Denmark for a while. We thought (as it says in the rules) that if you do not apply to remove conditions, and retain your card while living overseas, you automatically lose your residency and will have to reapply if you want to return to the US. In 2009, we returned to the US and reapplied. At first, it got denied - on the grounds that I had residency already! We had to appeal and tell them their own rules about us having abandoned residency in 2007, the appeal was granted and I got my permanent green card in 2010. Now, the officer was telling me this might be a problem, and that they had to make sure my status was adjusted correctly in 2010. I have her the whole timeline and showed proof, and she said we will get back to this, let's do the test. The questions were:

1. What is one promise you make when you become a US citizen?

I said: to defend the Constitution and follow the laws of the US. She looked puzzled, so I added: and to serve in the military if needed. Then she was happy.

2. How many amendments does the Constitution have?

3. If both the President and the Vice President can no longer serve, who becomes President?

4. What movement tried to end racial discrimination?

5. What is the name of the Vice President of the US now?

6. There were 13 original states, name three?

I then had to read: Where is the White House located?

And write: The White House is in Washington, D.C. 

Then she asked some questions from the N400. I can't remember them all, but some were full legal name, prior marriages for both my husband and I (none), if my parents were citizens, current address, any kids, any travels in the last 5 years, if I had been a prostitute, involved with torture, in the military, or if I was in the communist party. Then if I was willing to take the oath and support the Constitution (of course). Then my name and original country and birth date etc popped up on the tablet and I had to sign it was correct. Then I had to sign that I was willing to take the oath. After that she hands me the N652 (interview results), and two boxes are checked.

1. You passed the English test and the U.S. history and government test

2. A decision cannot be made yet about your application.

In my head I was freaking out, but I tried to not show that and calmly just asked her what this meant? She told me that she had to confirm with a senior officer that my status was adjusted correctly in the past, but that she would fight for me (her words 0.o) and push for my approval. She took some copies of my IDs and said that they would contact me by mail.

So, I left the interview pretty deflated and kinda sad. 

5 hours later I got a notification from the case tracker app that I had been put in line to be scheduled for the Oath Ceremony. I was not sure at that point if that meant I was approved for sure now, so I kept checking the uscis account - and finally this morning that account read:

"We approved your application. 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."

 

APPROVED!!!!!! 😄 

Congrats! I was there at the waiting area at exactly 12:50. I was called at 1:20. Im glad everything went well with you. Now its the wait time for our Oathe taking ceremony. Congrats! 🎉🍾 

[mixxin 26]

2 hours ago, Vikingoutwest said:

Congrats Crazely! Here is my experience (I posted this just now in the April filers thread also:

 

I will outline my experience at the interview yesterday below - it will be a long one - you can skip to the end:-)

 

My husband and I arrived at the Portland field office at 12.10 yesterday (a half hour before my appointment at 12.40), and get checked through security. I had to give the guard my appointment letter and ID and then put all my stuff (bags, overcoat, random things from my pockets, and my shoes) in bins and go through a metal detector. Pick up all the stuff again, then go check in at the front desk. The front desk took my appointment letter and my green card, checked it against a list on their computer, and then they took my picture, and scan my left and right index fingers. Then they gave me the letter back, with a numbered ticket attached to it, and we were told to go upstairs to the second floor and wait to be called. 

The waiting room is apparently shared for both people waiting to be interviewed, and people waiting for infopass...the only sign posted anywhere there said "for infopass, wait here for your name to be called" - so I was worried I went to the wrong place somehow, but figured out after a bit that officers were coming out from a different hallway and calling people by name to go with them for interviews.

I waited until about 1.10, and was finally called by a friendly female officer. She showed me back to her office, asked me to remain standing and had me swear to tell the truth. After I sat down, she goes "before we even start this, I have to ask you to outline how you obtained this green card". See, I have had a total of two cards. My first one was conditional, and from 2006. In 2007, my husband and I moved back to Denmark for a while. We thought (as it says in the rules) that if you do not apply to remove conditions, and retain your card while living overseas, you automatically lose your residency and will have to reapply if you want to return to the US. In 2009, we returned to the US and reapplied. At first, it got denied - on the grounds that I had residency already! We had to appeal and tell them their own rules about us having abandoned residency in 2007, the appeal was granted and I got my permanent green card in 2010. Now, the officer was telling me this might be a problem, and that they had to make sure my status was adjusted correctly in 2010. I have her the whole timeline and showed proof, and she said we will get back to this, let's do the test. The questions were:

1. What is one promise you make when you become a US citizen?

I said: to defend the Constitution and follow the laws of the US. She looked puzzled, so I added: and to serve in the military if needed. Then she was happy.

2. How many amendments does the Constitution have?

3. If both the President and the Vice President can no longer serve, who becomes President?

4. What movement tried to end racial discrimination?

5. What is the name of the Vice President of the US now?

6. There were 13 original states, name three?

I then had to read: Where is the White House located?

And write: The White House is in Washington, D.C. 

Then she asked some questions from the N400. I can't remember them all, but some were full legal name, prior marriages for both my husband and I (none), if my parents were citizens, current address, any kids, any travels in the last 5 years, if I had been a prostitute, involved with torture, in the military, or if I was in the communist party. Then if I was willing to take the oath and support the Constitution (of course). Then my name and original country and birth date etc popped up on the tablet and I had to sign it was correct. Then I had to sign that I was willing to take the oath. After that she hands me the N652 (interview results), and two boxes are checked.

1. You passed the English test and the U.S. history and government test

2. A decision cannot be made yet about your application.

In my head I was freaking out, but I tried to not show that and calmly just asked her what this meant? She told me that she had to confirm with a senior officer that my status was adjusted correctly in the past, but that she would fight for me (her words 0.o) and push for my approval. She took some copies of my IDs and said that they would contact me by mail.

So, I left the interview pretty deflated and kinda sad. 

5 hours later I got a notification from the case tracker app that I had been put in line to be scheduled for the Oath Ceremony. I was not sure at that point if that meant I was approved for sure now, so I kept checking the uscis account - and finally this morning that account read:

"We approved your application. 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."

 

APPROVED!!!!!! 😄 

Congrats! Thanks for sharing your experience @Vikingoutwest. Looks like the officer didn't request any paperwork besides your green cards?

[Vikingoutwest 193]

16 hours ago, mixxin said:

Congrats! Thanks for sharing your experience @Vikingoutwest. Looks like the officer didn't request any paperwork besides your green cards?

Thank you:-) The officer didn't request anything other than the green cards, that's right! I offered more papers regarding my previous case, but she said "no thank you, I have them all here", and she didn't ask for passports or anything else. I guess all she was concerned about was that issue with my adjustment of status, weird, but I'll take it:-D 

[Vikingoutwest 193]

19 hours ago, Crazely said:

Congrats! I was there at the waiting area at exactly 12:50. I was called at 1:20. Im glad everything went well with you. Now its the wait time for our Oathe taking ceremony. Congrats! 🎉🍾 

Thank you, big congrats to you!!! Aw man, we were there during the same time then haha, I bet we even saw each other without realizing:-) Yep, now we wait again...I hope it will be soon for both of us! My online account has an estimated time now of 3 months, but I hope it will be quicker than that *crosses fingers* 🙂

[Vikingoutwest 193]

On 11/25/2019 at 2:31 PM, Ka.bu said:

Hello guys

 

Glad to hear that some you guys got your interviews

I am still waiting for my interview! 

Had a question?

Did anyone submitted a inquiry regarding expired *wait time* or just waited until they notified??

 

Do you guys suggest me to submit a *out normal processing* inquiry or just wait until they notify?

 

The estimated  *wait time* expired on 21st Oct 

 

Thank you guys 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you. You can't inquire about your case until after it is "outside normal processing time", which is different than the estimated time your account shows. Portland has a processing time of 8.5-15 months right now, and you can inquire about your case if you applied prior to September 15, 2018. https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/

So, you probably just have to try and be patient. My wait time expired on 8/30 and I got the notification about interview being scheduled on 10/17 if that helps at all.

[Crazely 19]

27 minutes ago, Vikingoutwest said:

Thank you, big congrats to you!!! Aw man, we were there during the same time then haha, I bet we even saw each other without realizing:-) Yep, now we wait again...I hope it will be soon for both of us! My online account has an estimated time now of 3 months, but I hope it will be quicker than that *crosses fingers* 🙂

I am actually looking around as if I will recognize you 😁... I also have 3 months estimated completion time. If we have the same date of ceremony. We might finally meet. 😊

[Vikingoutwest 193]

30 minutes ago, Crazely said:

I am actually looking around as if I will recognize you 😁... I also have 3 months estimated completion time. If we have the same date of ceremony. We might finally meet. 😊

Hahaha same! 😄 It would be way cool if we end up with the same date. I will just yell out CRAZELY and see who reacts haha (just kidding). In any case, it is just cool to know that someone else from this forum is going through the same thing as you, at the same time:-)