Vacation and Possible N400 Interview

[vkrishn 97]

14 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

You only need to start again if you request 2 reschedulings and do not make the second one.

 

it really depends on your FO, some people seem to get rescheduled quickly and others seem to wait for months. The busier the FO/ longer the initial wait, the longer you are likely to wait for a new date as schedules will be full.

Thats fine. Wifey is in no hurry to be a citizen. Just want to get in to the process. She is fine even if the new date comes after months.  

 

[monica7777 40]

9 hours ago, vkrishn said:

Thats fine. Wifey is in no hurry to be a citizen. Just want to get in to the process. She is fine even if the new date comes after months.  

 

I had something similar happen to me when I received notification of my biometrics appointment. It was scheduled on a date that I already had a work trip scheduled that would have been difficult to move. I called the number on the letter and requested to have a Tier 2 officer call me back. They eventually called back after 4 hours (so don't be discouraged if it takes a while to hear back). And with her help I was able to reschedule the appointment the following week.

 

Bottom line is you are able to reschedule.

 

Hope you enjoy your vacation.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

34 minutes ago, monica7777 said:

I had something similar happen to me when I received notification of my biometrics appointment. It was scheduled on a date that I already had a work trip scheduled that would have been difficult to move. I called the number on the letter and requested to have a Tier 2 officer call me back. They eventually called back after 4 hours (so don't be discouraged if it takes a while to hear back). And with her help I was able to reschedule the appointment the following week.

 

Bottom line is you are able to reschedule.

 

Hope you enjoy your vacation.

A biometrics appointment is 5 minutes at an ASC, you could have just done a walk-in actually without even calling at most ASCs. A n400 interview is a different animal entirely, case offficer at a uscis office, requires the person having to have reviewed your file before the interview, 30 minutes or more per interview. Yes of course you can reschedule, but it’s not as simple as an ASC.

[monica7777 40]

18 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

A biometrics appointment is 5 minutes at an ASC, you could have just done a walk-in actually without even calling at most ASCs.

Actually no, you are incorrect. When I talked to the first person, I asked if they accepted walk-ins at that office and he said no. He said I had to talk to a Tier 2 officer to reschedule and reason why I went that route. I would have been more than happy to walk-in the following day. Also at that office they were very strict about the people who were allowed to walk in or stand in front of the office. If your appointment was at 9:00 am, you were not allowed to stand in line in front their office until 8:45 am. The people who arrived early were asked to go wait in their cars, or elsewhere.

 

From this web page I think we have learned that every case, office and timeline is different ... Just FYI.

[vkrishn 97]

26 minutes ago, monica7777 said:

Actually no, you are incorrect. When I talked to the first person, I asked if they accepted walk-ins at that office and he said no. He said I had to talk to a Tier 2 officer to reschedule and reason why I went that route. I would have been more than happy to walk-in the following day. Also at that office they were very strict about the people who were allowed to walk in or stand in front of the office. If your appointment was at 9:00 am, you were not allowed to stand in line in front their office until 8:45 am. The people who arrived early were asked to go wait in their cars, or elsewhere.

 

From this web page I think we have learned that every case, office and timeline is different ... Just FYI.

I agree with your comment on walk in. They don't allow that at the biometrics location in Oakland, CA and are strict about times like you said. But there are other locations who allow walk in. But that doesn't mean every Biometric would allow walk in. 

 

Thanks all for the information. We will just wait and reschedule if it clashes with the mid June vacation. Perfectly OK if we get rescheduled 5-6 months down the line as well.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

2 hours ago, monica7777 said:

Actually no, you are incorrect. When I talked to the first person, I asked if they accepted walk-ins at that office and he said no. He said I had to talk to a Tier 2 officer to reschedule and reason why I went that route. I would have been more than happy to walk-in the following day. Also at that office they were very strict about the people who were allowed to walk in or stand in front of the office. If your appointment was at 9:00 am, you were not allowed to stand in line in front their office until 8:45 am. The people who arrived early were asked to go wait in their cars, or elsewhere.

 

From this web page I think we have learned that every case, office and timeline is different ... Just FYI.

Ok, great, so you got an ASC strict on walk in, that’s not the point - the point was that it’s still very different from rescheduling an actual n400 interview. Again, bio is 5 minutes and requires no special case specific prep on the part of the ASC. And it’s not the bio appointment that’s going to be an issue for the OP’s June vacation anyway, bio will be done months before then. You don’t reschedule a n400 interview by phoning a tier 2 officer, btw. Anyway, if OP doesn’t mind waiting some months for the reschedule of the n400, that’s fine. That’s what he needed to be aware of.

Edited December 27, 2019 by SusieQQQ

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

1 hour ago, vkrishn said:

I agree with your comment on walk in. They don't allow that at the biometrics location in Oakland, CA and are strict about times like you said. But there are other locations who allow walk in. But that doesn't mean every Biometric would allow walk in. 

 

 

My daughters did bios at Oakland about a week ago, they were nearly an hour early, they certainly were not strict on time with them... they let them right in.

[vkrishn 97]

4 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

My daughters did bios at Oakland about a week ago, they were nearly an hour early, they certainly were not strict on time with them... they let them right in.

They did not let me do walk in in 2018 and even during my scheduled day they did not let me in early. 

 

Wife had her bio metric in Aug 2019 and we were there 30 mins early and they did not let us in. Looks like it might depend on the day or guard at the entrance. 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

1 hour ago, vkrishn said:

They did not let me do walk in in 2018 and even during my scheduled day they did not let me in early. 

 

Wife had her bio metric in Aug 2019 and we were there 30 mins early and they did not let us in. Looks like it might depend on the day or guard at the entrance. 

Maybe it’s the guards, we had an incredibly friendly one. Joked nicely with my younger kid.

i’ve been before a couple of times (my own n400 bio, one of my daughter’s replacement GC) I do not remember time details, however I usually get to places like this plenty early and never had a problem there.

 

Yelp users regularly report both being allowed in early and being allowed to walk in. A successful walk-in in Nov 2019. Sept 2019 reports being allowed in 45 mins early. August 2019 hour early allowed in. Another walk-in allowed July 2019. March 2019 hour early. Etc etc. . so presumably guard dependent.  https://m.yelp.com/biz/uscis-application-support-center-oakland

 

Again, however, this is a completely different animal to a n400 interview - different office, different service, different officials etc.

[vkrishn 97]

12 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Maybe it’s the guards, we had an incredibly friendly one. Joked nicely with my younger kid.

i’ve been before a couple of times (my own n400 bio, one of my daughter’s replacement GC) I do not remember time details, however I usually get to places like this plenty early and never had a problem there.

 

Yelp users regularly report both being allowed in early and being allowed to walk in. A successful walk-in in Nov 2019. Sept 2019 reports being allowed in 45 mins early. August 2019 hour early allowed in. Another walk-in allowed July 2019. March 2019 hour early. Etc etc. . so presumably guard dependent.  https://m.yelp.com/biz/uscis-application-support-center-oakland

 

Again, however, this is a completely different animal to a n400 interview - different office, different service, different officials etc.

Lucky them! We weren't that lucky.

 

 

[chrisete 55]

On 12/22/2019 at 1:54 PM, SusieQQQ said:

This seems to be the one Expedia uses. Pages 3-5 list covered reasons for cancellation/interruption. Nothing looks like it would apply to OP’s case.

 

https://webservices.travelguard.com/Product/FileRetrieval.aspx?CountryCode=US&StateCode=NW&ProductCode=009165&PlanCode=P4&FileType=PROD_PLAN_DOC

 

 

If you book directly with the airline, you won't have a cancellation fee when you rebook.   I use American airlines and they were great to me 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

6 hours ago, chrisete said:

If you book directly with the airline, you won't have a cancellation fee when you rebook.   I use American airlines and they were great to me 

Very airline dependent. There are definitely airlines that charge cancellation and change fees even if you book direct with them.

[chrisete 55]

11 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

Very airline dependent. There are definitely airlines that charge cancellation and change fees even if you book direct with them.

I guess they are all different and you should ask, all I know is that American airlines did that for me.