N400s Filed at Manhattan (NYC) Field Office

[N400NYC 380]

And the news just gets worse...processing time for the NYC field office has been updated and it's now the worst it's ever been:

 

 

[Lemon23 400]

2 hours ago, N400NYC said:

Maybe so, but that doesn't mean it makes any sense or is fair. My consistent view around all of this is that it should be equal for everyone, regardless of where people live. It's just a basic principle of fairness and equity. 

 

And I think also about those folks in St Paul (MN) who wait 1.5 years for an interview - it's atrocious they have to endure that. 

I feel your frustration but it is what it is, we can't do anything about it that's how they work and what we can do is to wait.

Edited May 25, 2019 by Lemon23

[Lemon23 400]

4 hours ago, GrowingPlants said:

 

Then it would be fair if they have triple the amount of officers working of Manhattan’s cases than they have people working on cases from different boroughs/counties. 

But we don’t know for sure. Maybe they have 10 times more officers, and it’s still not enough. Maybe not, and nobody cares. 

There's nothing we can't do about it, that's how they work. As what I told to @N400NYC you need more patience when dealiing with USCIS.

[N400NYC 380]

Just now, Lemon23 said:

There's nothing we can't do about it, that's how they work. As what I told to @N400NYC you need more patience when dealiing with USCIS.

Yes, that's one way of looking it at. And I wish I could be so accepting of the unfairness but I am not. 

 

Nothing in society changes if we just accept the unacceptable. I agree that getting anything to happen differently with a massive government agency is near impossible but that doesn't mean people shouldn't try. There are many different community organizations attempting to bring about change to pressure USCIS to act more efficiently in regards to the processing of N400 cases. That's also one of the roles of federal senators - to help constituents in dealings with federal agencies. 

 

My point is that no organization changes or improves if there is no pressure to do so.

[binashi 9]

Also, take into consideration how the applicants acquired the green card. Is it based on employment, petition from spouse or parent? I'm an F2a, petitioned by a parent and applied via 5 year rule. When i did the interview, I saw my file and it's very thin compared to others that was stacking high. So maybe, the amount of time allocated to mine before they scheduled me for interview was lesser because they don't have to verify 100 pages of information compared to 10. That's how i see it as well. 

[N400NYC 380]

 

45 minutes ago, binashi said:

Also, take into consideration how the applicants acquired the green card. Is it based on employment, petition from spouse or parent? I'm an F2a, petitioned by a parent and applied via 5 year rule. When i did the interview, I saw my file and it's very thin compared to others that was stacking high. So maybe, the amount of time allocated to mine before they scheduled me for interview was lesser because they don't have to verify 100 pages of information compared to 10. That's how i see it as well. 

Yes, it's a good point. I do wonder how that plays into it. I am applying on the basis of 5 years of residence after winning the lottery (diversity visa). Prior to that I was on H1b but my employer wasn't going to sponsor me for a green card. From my point of view my case is pretty basic - I have no dependents and have lived and worked in the same place the entire 5 years. But who knows how these things work - that's the difficult part, the fact that so much of this is unknown and somewhat "secretive" (the process I mean in regards to how/when people are allocated interviews).

 

Sometimes I wonder whether any of our cases are actually reviewed by a human being prior to interview time and whether up until that point the entire process is limited to computerized reviews etc. It seems like things just going into the never never until interview time. 

Edited May 26, 2019 by N400NYC

[N400NYC 380]

4 hours ago, Lemon23 said:

There's nothing we can't do about it, that's how they work. As what I told to @N400NYC you need more patience when dealiing with USCIS.

By the way, I really appreciate your posts and input. I have learned a few things from your experience! I know I whine but it's because this wait for citizenship has really impacted my life in a major way and having to endure another year of this pain is a difficult prospect to deal with. 

[N400NYC 380]

On 5/23/2019 at 7:21 PM, N400NYC said:

I am hoping it's okay with the admins but I wanted to start a thread that specifically relates to the Manhattan field office. The situation with this office is different from that in the Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island field offices which are part of the other "New York" thread.

 

The Manhattan field office services residents of Manhattan, the Bronx, and various counties to the north of the city: Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Sullivan, Orange, Ulster. 

(See here: https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/field-offices/new-york-new-york-field-office)

 

This field office has >30,000 pending cases. The published "processing time" is 13 months (50% of cases decided by this point) to 22.5 months (93% of cases decided by this point).

 

I am hoping more people with pending cases with this field office can start participating in the discussion!

 

By the way, I filed in April 2019. As of today, my estimated case completion time is April 2020. 

CORRECTION:

 

The "New York City" field office oversees applications from residents in: Manhattan, the Bronx, Westchester & Rockland ONLY!

 

(I don't now where I was looking that mentioned those other 4 counties). 

[N400NYC 380]

38 minutes ago, N400NYC said:

CORRECTION:

 

The "New York City" field office oversees applications from residents in: Manhattan, the Bronx, Westchester & Rockland ONLY!

 

(I don't now where I was looking that mentioned those other 4 counties). 

Actually, I don't think it was an error - I think the listing was recently updated. The other 4 counties are now being managed by the Albany office...maybe freeing up the NYC office just a little? 

[GrowingPlants 10]

11 hours ago, N400NYC said:

Actually, I don't think it was an error - I think the listing was recently updated. The other 4 counties are now being managed by the Albany office...maybe freeing up the NYC office just a little? 

Oh wow!

i really hope so!

[N400NYC 380]

3 hours ago, GrowingPlants said:

Oh wow!

i really hope so!

We can hope.

[N400NYC 380]

1 hour ago, Polis said:

Hey guys, I think I will be attached to the Brooklyn office. But the main interview should be held in Manhattan no? I work in Manhattan but live in Brooklyn, so I guess It's still Brooklyn attachment, right?

If you reside in Brooklyn your field office is Brooklyn. It's just confusing in that the Brooklyn field office is located in Manhattan. All three field offices for residents of NYC (New York City, Queens, Brooklyn) are located in the same building in Manhattan but they are function separately in terms of applications. And all three are overloaded. Brooklyn's updated processing time range is 14-21 which is about as appalling as the NYC office (13.5 to 25 months). 

Edited May 26, 2019 by N400NYC

[N400NYC 380]

I am consistently surprised at how few members of this forum are from NYC! What is that about?! There are 80,000 pending cases in NYC alone and yet there are about 0.00001% of them posting here. 

Edited May 28, 2019 by N400NYC

[h2o15 12]

I received my receipt letter yesterday (with priority date April 29th!) and was able to set up an online account because I got a IOE receipt number. Quick question--can people see copy of their submitted application online, especially if you've submitted it on paper? In my documents tab, there is a section called "Your Uploads" and I only see a scan of all the evidence that was sent in, not my actual N-400. I'm sure they have it, since they wouldn't have given me the receipt number without my actual application, but was curious. 

[DanAl 11]

On 5/28/2019 at 7:10 PM, N400NYC said:

I am consistently surprised at how few members of this forum are from NYC! What is that about?! There are 80,000 pending cases in NYC alone and yet there are about 0.00001% of them posting here. 

I realize you just want this process to end, and you might have no patience. I have been there, so I know how it feels - have faith, it will eventually happen. 

 

I applied for my Green Card (marriage based, in Manhattan) a few months before 9/11 - then not only was the Federal Plaza building closed for several weeks, for obvious reasons, the whole process slowed down to a crawl. Took me 3 years until I got the GC, and that was before they had online accounts, status emails, etc. - just wait and wait, and hope your application is still active somewhere. 

 

When I applied for the N400, I managed to do it just before the current serious slowdown - applied in Nov 2017, and had my oath in Sept 2018.

 

 Stay hopeful!