N-400 and I-751 Combo Pending -- Part 2

[sldrgn 8]

On 12/2/2019 at 8:02 PM, USAjune2016 said:

Wow that's a tough interview, it reminds me of my AOS interview here in Massachusetts as well , they asked all these question and also called some people and investigated before they approved my I-485. Do you still remember what evidence did you include in your N400? Congrats I hope your get your oath ceremony scheduled soon! Thank you so much for sharing !

Sorry to respond so late! My N400 evidence was: copies of marriage certificate, most recent lease, joint bank account info, spouse's US birth certificate, both our passports, my green card, a picture of our shared credit card, the tax transcripts from the IRS website, and some scans of mail addressed to both of us at our joint address. Much less stuff than I submitted in the previous stages. I brought pictures, flight tickets and insurance info to the interview, but that's cause it was a joint interview that also covered our marriage. This form is also easier to fill out, and you can upload additional files online after the initial submission (though they say they might not look at them). 

 

I had my oath ceremony yesterday at Faneuil Hall. It took almost three hours from start to finish, and we mostly sat around waiting for things to happen, but it was quite nice and festive. The Boston field office moves fast, if you submit your N400 now, you'll probably be a citizen by next summer.

[smj59 9]

I already posted this in another discussion, but it also fits here: 

 

 I just had my naturalization interview in Washington D.C... which turned out to be a combo interview for i-751 and N-400. I was approved for both/passed both, but the i-751 needs to be adjudicated first. Also, I won't receive the physical 10 year green card as I will at the same time receive citizenship. I-751 was filed in June 2018 in Vermont. 

The officer told me to expect a status change by end of tomorrow and oath ceremony in either January or February. 

 

The overall experience was very good; the officer was nice and the entire appointment took 20 minutes. My husband and two week old daughter were there as well. First, he told me that he needs to adjudicate my i-751 case. He asked me and my husband about our names, DOBs, my daughter's name and her birth certificate, both husband and I had to show documents. He also asked when was our wedding  (didn't ask for marriage certificate). He added my baby's info in the system. Then we moved to naturalization interview. First was the civics test, then I read a short sentence and wrote a simple sentence (officer told me what to write). Then he asked me YES/NO questions from the application (have you ever been.. part of xyz, have you ever been arrested etc). Then the interview was completed. 

He approved my naturalization and i-751, but said that the approval would be done by end of tomorrow. 

 

So happy to be done with this!

[smj59 9]

On 12/2/2019 at 7:04 PM, sldrgn said:

I had my N400 (filed May 2019) + I751 (filed May 2018) interview this morning in Boston. We arrived 30 mins early and ended up spending a little over two hours there -- things were moving quite slow. First I was called to a counter where they took my picture and fingerprints, and then they asked me to wait for an officer to call me into one of the interview rooms. I could hear lots of N400 interviews going on around me, probably all for people who already had their 10 yr green cards. The officer who took my picture confirmed that it would be a combo interview; I wasn't sure before then, and the Tier 2 rep I had talked to said she had no way of finding out.

Finally an officer called my name, asked if my husband was with me, and then went back to his office for fifteen minutes -- I think he was prepping for the I751 interview. Then he interviewed us separately -- first me, then my husband, asking us both the same questions. He asked about our bedroom - what size is the bed, what color are the sheets, is it wood floor or carpet, do we have a TV, how many windows are there. He asked about our shower door/bathroom curtain and about where/how we take out the trash. He also asked if we had nicknames for each other, if either of us has any tattoos or allergies. He asked what we did for our last wedding anniversary. My husband couldn't remember some of the details for all of these questions, but that wasn't a problem. I submitted a bunch of additional evidence: airplane and train tickets, insurance documents, copies of our lease, pictures, etc. 

Then he asked my husband to leave the room, and proceeded with the civics test (easy and straightforward), and then asked me all of the questions from the application. At the end, he told me that he would recommend both applications for approval, but someone else has to sign off on that first, and then I'll get an invitation to an oath ceremony in the mail. So now I'll wait for the very last part of this adventure.

 

This message board has really really helped me navigate all the paperwork and deal with the stress. The few times I've talked to uscis reps, they've given me really misleading information. I've always been able to find much better answers on visajourney. Good luck to everyone! 

 

 

Hi! I just read this post now but wanted to say that this sounds pretty intense. Here in DC both interviews combined took 20mins and I'm so grateful they did because I slept for maybe 1.5 hours that night due to a newborn baby. 

Anyway, conratulations 😁

[smj59 9]

On 12/26/2019 at 6:55 PM, smj59 said:

I already posted this in another discussion, but it also fits here: 

 

 I just had my naturalization interview in Washington D.C... which turned out to be a combo interview for i-751 and N-400. I was approved for both/passed both, but the i-751 needs to be adjudicated first. Also, I won't receive the physical 10 year green card as I will at the same time receive citizenship. I-751 was filed in June 2018 in Vermont. 

The officer told me to expect a status change by end of tomorrow and oath ceremony in either January or February. 

 

The overall experience was very good; the officer was nice and the entire appointment took 20 minutes. My husband and two week old daughter were there as well. First, he told me that he needs to adjudicate my i-751 case. He asked me and my husband about our names, DOBs, my daughter's name and her birth certificate, both husband and I had to show documents. He also asked when was our wedding  (didn't ask for marriage certificate). He added my baby's info in the system. Then we moved to naturalization interview. First was the civics test, then I read a short sentence and wrote a simple sentence (officer told me what to write). Then he asked me YES/NO questions from the application (have you ever been.. part of xyz, have you ever been arrested etc). Then the interview was completed. 

He approved my naturalization and i-751, but said that the approval would be done by end of tomorrow. 

 

So happy to be done with this!

Quick update: both my cases were approved on January 2nd now waiting for the date for oath ceremony. 

[Venus201320 143]

6 hours ago, smj59 said:

Quick update: both my cases were approved on January 2nd now waiting for the date for oath ceremony. 

Yay congratz!!!! 

[frakina 22]

Interview scheduled for February 18th in San Diego. Hopefully it's a combined interview and the case gets completed soon.

[Emma Huang 9]

On 12/2/2019 at 10:43 AM, malico89 said:

Hi all, I wanted to share my experience as a combo filer since so many of these posts have been helpful to me during the wait!

 

I filed for I-751 June of 2018, N400 June 2019. Biometrics for N400 happened around mid-June, and a little after that I got a notification that my I-751 was transferred to NBC (likely to combine cases). I never got a notice that my I-751 was transferred to my field office, but then again my I-751 notifications have been very wrong/inconsistent in both USCIS tracker systems.

 

Late October I got a combo interview notice letter (local office is Portland, OR), and just had my combo interview on November 27th. The letter itself never showed up on the USCIS system. Check-in was fairly smooth and we got in a little bit earlier than our appointment time to see the IO. She was very polite and friendly. My husband (USC) was in with me for a bit of the I-751, but not very long. She just asked a few routine questions (where we live, any new documents to add). She had both my I-751 and N400 in front of her, looked like 2 reams of paper. She scanned my husband's US passport and state ID and then told him to wait in the waiting area. After that she checked a couple more things on the I-751 but also told me "I think I already have everything I need to approve this."

 

She then proceeded to the N400 portion. Asked the civics questions (I honestly can't remember them all anymore) and the reading/writing test, passed all. Then she asked additional questions about where I live (again), where I work, and stepped through all the yes/no questions from the application. At the end she handed me a checklist looking sheet that said I was recommended for approval (yay!). She mentioned she would not mail me my 10-year GC since N400 was approved. Only thing pending is oath ceremony (still waiting on that notice, seems like Oregon/Washington are getting somewhat combined and there's a long line?). My USCIS went from saying estimated completion of December 2019 to February 2020. I really hope it doesn't take 3-4 months to get my oath ceremony... Does anyone have insight into Portland oath ceremony wait times? Although the hard part is done, I can't wait for all this to be official

 

During my interview the IO asked about my travel plans, and because I was cutting it close with I-751 expiration (January 2020) and she didn't know about oath ceremony timing, she got me a I-551 stamp on the spot (good for 6 months), which was super nice, saved me another trip/infopass appointment.

Hi I'm having my combo interview tmrw (Portland, OR), did you finally get the notice for your oath ceremony notice (paper or in system) and when is it? Thank you  

[malico89 19]

@Emma Huang Still no notice for the oath ceremony  MyUSCIS still claims February 2020 completion date/2 months wait time. I'm curious if there are other Portland, OR people on here to get an idea of oath ceremony timing.

 

However, I have heard/read that if your interview is early enough in the day they can get you into a ceremony in the same afternoon, so maybe you'll get lucky. Not in my case, though. Good luck with the interview!

[Emma Huang 9]

Just had my combo interview in Portland OR 1/16/2020. See timeline and interview report below.

I-751

8/27/2018 Sent out application

9/24/2018 Cashed in Chicago

10/30/2018 Received NOA (18 mo extension) case number WAC, California Service Center

3/26/2019 Biometrics

6/11/2019 Case transferred to Potomac (only transfer I had)

N-400

9/22/2019 File N-400 online

10/17/2019 Biometrics

12/12/2019 Received Interview notice in mail (It never shows up in USCIS system btw)

The notice indicates it will be a combo interview & I MUST bring my spouse

1/16/2020 Interview@ 8:30am Approved both I751 and N-400 on site

Interview Report

I went in 15 mins early with husband, my interview is 8:30am and was called into the office @9:15am, the officer was super nice and professional. First he asked my name/DOB/Wedding Date/Address, the i-751 part he only asked if me and my husband have been in marital relationship for 3 years, then he approved my i-751 (he didn’t ask for any evidences tho I had them with me).

Additional evidence: (Ended up didn’t use any of them)

Most recent joint bank statement

Most recent Auto insurance and home insurance

Most recent Tax Transcript

Most recent Photos

He then moved on to N-400 question.

Questions asked:

1-      What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress? the Senate and House (of Representatives)

2-      What is one responsibility that is only for United States citizens? serve on a jury

3-      Name one right only for United States citizens. vote in a federal election

4-      How many U.S. Senators are there? 100

5-      What did Susan B. Anthony do? fought for women’s rights

6-      What is the highest court in the United States? the Supreme Court

Reading: When in Columbus Day?

Writing: Columbus Day is in October.

After that he announced I passed the test and then asked a series of yes/no question, asked me to check if my information shown on the screen is correct as it will be on my Certificate of Naturalization.

At the end of the interview he passed me a paper indicated that my passed the test and am recommended to approve, he also explained that the oath ceremony is only Mon-Wed so unfortunately I can’t have oath ceremony on the same day.

He then shook my hand and walked us out, the whole thing took 15mins.

I will update when I receive any information about oath ceremony.

[RainbowMonkey 24]

Hello. New in this group. I still have a pending I751 but i filed for my N400 Nov 2019. Had my biometrics done 12272019. 

[RainbowMonkey 24]

On 1/16/2020 at 10:04 PM, RainbowMonkey said:

Hello. New in this group. I still have a pending I751 but i filed for my N400 Nov 2019. Had my biometrics done 12272019. 

I just received a notification for my I751 that it got transferred to a different office. My N400 still has 13mo projected processing time. 

[malico89 19]

Update: on Friday 1/17 I got an online notification that my oath ceremony had been scheduled. It will be on February 6 at 8:30am (Portland, OR). So a little over 2 months from interview to ceremony. So close to the finish line!

[kc2177 6]

Hey everyone,

 

I have my N400 interview next week. My i751 has been pending for 23 months now and is officially outside the normal processing time frame for my area (Los Angeles). So I submitted a case inquiry hoping that it would tell me that my i751 would be adjudicated at the same time as the n400 interview. Not surprisingly, the email response I got was literally, "We are still reviewing your case. We will mail you a notice when we make a decision." Probably the most useless response I've gotten for the past two years of waiting and waiting. My i751 was filed in Feb 2018. Since then, I've not even gotten a biometrics notice or a letter stating that I didn't need biometrics at all, which prompted me to apply for my n400 in May 2019 to try and get some kind of movement in my case. Shortly after filing the n400, my i751 got transferred to NBC (in June 2019). Since then, nothing.... Anyone have a similar experience to mine? I'm just so done waiting for things to happen.

[BDD 8]

On 1/22/2020 at 6:08 PM, kc2177 said:

 I'm just so done waiting for things to happen.

We sent in the I-751 in November, 2017 and applied for N-400 in November 2018. Still waiting. Never had any RFEs and promptly completed all steps along the way.

[h2o15 12]

On 12/5/2019 at 3:42 PM, Rubyroo said:

filed N400 in march with pending I-751

had interview in nyc 3 weeks ago. 

took my hubby and additional evidence, we were interviewed together.

all went well. didn't say if case was approved or not. said need to do background check on 751

status online hasn't changed since we scheduled your interview for n-400 and for i-751 we transferred to new office.

 

anyone similar experience? i see most cases get online update the same day 

Did you know before the interview that your interview is going to be a combo interview? My N-400 interview just got scheduled (Manhattan) and I have a pending I-751, but wasn't sure whether it will be a combo interview.

 

Also, did your status get updated/did you have your oath ceremony?