N400 Interview Experience in Los Angeles

[kc2177 6]

Hi everyone,

 

Just wanted to share my N400 interview experience with you all. I Was hoping that it would be a combined I751 and N400 interview since my I751 has been virtually untouched for two years (filed in Feb 2018, haven't even received biometrics for this) and I requested that they be adjudicated together in my N400 app; but if you read on, you'll see that that's not what happened ! I filed my N400 in early May 2019. I got the interview notice right before Christmas and got scheduled for the end of Jan 2020. So not a short wait, but still not as long as some other parts of the country. 

 

I had my interview in downtown Los Angeles. Got there 10 mins before the scheduled interview time because traffic and parking was a nightmare. Waited about 20 mins to be called to the window for photo/fingerprints. Was told to go to another room on the same floor. In total, my husband and I waited for a little over an hour. I didn't think I would be nervous, but the wait and the cold fluorescent lighting/bleak nature of government facilities, plus the fact that they were playing the impeachment hearings so loudly just made everything feel insufferable and I just wanted to get out of there as fast as I could. Anyways, I finally get called and my husband walked up with me only to be told to wait in the lobby. I'm starting to think that this isn't a good sign, but remembered reading other applicants' experiences where the spouse doesn't necessarily have to be in the room for the I751 to be approved, so I though maybe that was the case with me. We go into the IO's room and I see my file with the I751, so I'm relieved since online it says its in NBC in Missouri since June 2019. We immediately hit it off and had a great, casual conversation; a lot of it had nothing to do with the interview or immigration. The amount of evidence and stuff I brought with me was bigger than my actual USCIS case file, but the IO didn't look at a single document other than my passport and DL 😮

 

So about 40 minutes in, the N400 interview was completed, easy breezy-- just your standard asking the yes/no questions on the app, doing the civics/english test, etc. And towards the end, we were talking about the oath ceremony coming up in a month and how I should be able to make that one. The IO was about to print out the form that says I passed and am recommended for approval; I then asked him if this means that the I751 was good to go. He then looked surprised (even though the I751 application I submitted was sitting right in front as the first page of my case folder) and said that he didn't know that it was a combo case . Anyways he said that he would give the I751 file to another officer right away to look at, but that everything looks good with him. I offered to provide updated and new evidence of my marriage to him, but he said that he didn't need it since everything looked good and my husband was here, etc... basically through our conversations, he was able to tell that our marriage was real. I asked if he knew the timeline, but unfortunately, he's not sure. So the form says "a decision can't be made" and I'm slightly bummed, but also relieved that half of the battle is over and that it was a nice and pleasant experience with the IO. I guess there are different levels of IOs so some can only approve one type of application and there are others that can do both?? Maybe he was more junior and I751s are more of a senior thing? No clue. I'm wondering if I should've led with asking if the I751 would be adjudicated during the interview, then maybe he would've been able to take care of that first for me? Many post mortem thoughts in my head!

 

So it's been a few days now and nothing has updated online and am stuck waiting for the I751. I was praying and hoping that this wouldn't happen to me, but it is what it is and I'm resigned to the fact that there's nothing I can really do now but to just wait; just hoping for the best and that I don't get called back for yet another interview. I was hoping that I could be a citizen before March so I could vote in the primaries in CA, but probably not. Anyways, I hope this was informative to someone out there!

[chsiaod 1]

Will you update us for any changes in your status? I'm in the same boat. 

[kc2177 6]

57 minutes ago, chsiaod said:

Will you update us for any changes in your status? I'm in the same boat. 

I definitely will! Please update your status as well when you hear back.

[chsiaod 1]

My apology. I wrote my previous comment in a hurry when my husband and I were trying to put the kids to bed. So please allow me to clarify - my I751 was filed June 2018, never received any notice besides biometrics in June 2019.  My N400 interview is scheduled for March 2nd...so we'll see what happens..sigh.

 

But what I would also want to know is if they could stamp my passport at the interview because my extension letter expires on March 1st. Will that be too much to ask?  ha 

[N400NYC 380]

This seems like a frequently occurring scenario - you'd think they'd have a mechanism in place to prevent it. But that might be expecting too much....

[kc2177 6]

20 hours ago, chsiaod said:

My apology. I wrote my previous comment in a hurry when my husband and I were trying to put the kids to bed. So please allow me to clarify - my I751 was filed June 2018, never received any notice besides biometrics in June 2019.  My N400 interview is scheduled for March 2nd...so we'll see what happens..sigh.

 

But what I would also want to know is if they could stamp my passport at the interview because my extension letter expires on March 1st. Will that be too much to ask?  ha 

Oh Ok. Please let us know if you get a combo interview or not. I'm starting to think more and more that they're not doing these as much anymore, at least not at the downtown LA office.  Also, I think you should be able to get a stamp from the officer if you show them your current stamp that's expiring and ask them to renew it. I've read somewhere on here where someone was able to get a new stamp from the interviewing officer. Good luck and keep us updated!

 

 

[kc2177 6]

5 hours ago, N400NYC said:

This seems like a frequently occurring scenario - you'd think they'd have a mechanism in place to prevent it. But that might be expecting too much....

Seriously.. like maybe different color folders or a sticker or something for combo cases? The IO being surprised by the pending I751 tells me that the case was not really reviewed or sorted properly beforehand. I feel like they just assigned it to a random officer that morning -_____-  Then why the 10-month wait for the N400 and the 24-month wait for the I751??!! I mean I've been in the US for 15 years now and Lord knows I love this country, but it's surprising how it's the richest country and overall regarded as number one in the world when you look at how the government operates.

[chsiaod 1]

51 minutes ago, kc2177 said:

Seriously.. like maybe different color folders or a sticker or something for combo cases? The IO being surprised by the pending I751 tells me that the case was not really reviewed or sorted properly beforehand. I feel like they just assigned it to a random officer that morning -_____-  Then why the 10-month wait for the N400 and the 24-month wait for the I751??!! I mean I've been in the US for 15 years now and Lord knows I love this country, but it's surprising how it's the richest country and overall regarded as number one in the world when you look at how the government operates.

 

I've been here since 1999 so I've been dealing with them even before they changed the name from INS to USCIS. This is actually my second time removing condition. Prior to this time, I've lived in this country for almost 20 years with only a stamp, which I had to renew every year in my passport. My first I551 stamp was actually hand-written! I get sent to secondary screening going through customs almost every time I return from traveling aboard - I often joke I'm prob the only person who's every spent so many hours of their lives in the secondary screening room. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kc2177 6]

15 hours ago, chsiaod said:

 

I've been here since 1999 so I've been dealing with them even before they changed the name from INS to USCIS. This is actually my second time removing condition. Prior to this time, I've lived in this country for almost 20 years with only a stamp, which I had to renew every year in my passport. My first I551 stamp was actually hand-written! I get sent to secondary screening going through customs almost every time I return from traveling aboard - I often joke I'm prob the only person who's every spent so many hours of their lives in the secondary screening room. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just curious (and you don't have to answer if you don't want to), but why did you have to remove conditions twice? I've also experienced traveling internationally with just the stamp. Had to go to the secondary screening where I sat around for more than 30 minutes. Not fun!

[chsiaod 1]

The first time was through the EB5 program with my parents. They could never adjudicate our I829 applications due to the law change so it just remains pending for 20+ years. When I got married, I withdrew myself from my parents' application and re-applied through marriage so that was the second time around and unfortunately got stuck by the backlog with the new administration. What can I say? I'm truly the lucky one. 

 

  

[N400NYC 380]

1 hour ago, chsiaod said:

The first time was through the EB5 program with my parents. They could never adjudicate our I829 applications due to the law change so it just remains pending for 20+ years. When I got married, I withdrew myself from my parents' application and re-applied through marriage so that was the second time around and unfortunately got stuck by the backlog with the new administration. What can I say? I'm truly the lucky one. 

 

  

You may win the GOLD MEDAL for the most commplicated case!! 

[kc2177 6]

On 2/12/2020 at 12:53 PM, chsiaod said:

The first time was through the EB5 program with my parents. They could never adjudicate our I829 applications due to the law change so it just remains pending for 20+ years. When I got married, I withdrew myself from my parents' application and re-applied through marriage so that was the second time around and unfortunately got stuck by the backlog with the new administration. What can I say? I'm truly the lucky one. 

 

  

Oh wow! So you were truly stuck in limbo. You were just a temporary permanent resident for all those years...

 

So actually I got an email this morning that they took an action on my case. I was thinking that if might be an RFE, but when I checked online, it said that my naturalization ceremony was scheduled and the notice will be mailed. But my online status for the I751 has not changed at all, so I'm a little confused/cautiously optimistic. Once I get the oath ceremony letter in a few days, I'll give USCIS a call to confirm that the I751 is done.

[kc2177 6]

On 1/31/2020 at 10:07 AM, kc2177 said:

Hi everyone,

 

Just wanted to share my N400 interview experience with you all. I Was hoping that it would be a combined I751 and N400 interview since my I751 has been virtually untouched for two years (filed in Feb 2018, haven't even received biometrics for this) and I requested that they be adjudicated together in my N400 app; but if you read on, you'll see that that's not what happened ! I filed my N400 in early May 2019. I got the interview notice right before Christmas and got scheduled for the end of Jan 2020. So not a short wait, but still not as long as some other parts of the country. 

 

I had my interview in downtown Los Angeles. Got there 10 mins before the scheduled interview time because traffic and parking was a nightmare. Waited about 20 mins to be called to the window for photo/fingerprints. Was told to go to another room on the same floor. In total, my husband and I waited for a little over an hour. I didn't think I would be nervous, but the wait and the cold fluorescent lighting/bleak nature of government facilities, plus the fact that they were playing the impeachment hearings so loudly just made everything feel insufferable and I just wanted to get out of there as fast as I could. Anyways, I finally get called and my husband walked up with me only to be told to wait in the lobby. I'm starting to think that this isn't a good sign, but remembered reading other applicants' experiences where the spouse doesn't necessarily have to be in the room for the I751 to be approved, so I though maybe that was the case with me. We go into the IO's room and I see my file with the I751, so I'm relieved since online it says its in NBC in Missouri since June 2019. We immediately hit it off and had a great, casual conversation; a lot of it had nothing to do with the interview or immigration. The amount of evidence and stuff I brought with me was bigger than my actual USCIS case file, but the IO didn't look at a single document other than my passport and DL 😮

 

So about 40 minutes in, the N400 interview was completed, easy breezy-- just your standard asking the yes/no questions on the app, doing the civics/english test, etc. And towards the end, we were talking about the oath ceremony coming up in a month and how I should be able to make that one. The IO was about to print out the form that says I passed and am recommended for approval; I then asked him if this means that the I751 was good to go. He then looked surprised (even though the I751 application I submitted was sitting right in front as the first page of my case folder) and said that he didn't know that it was a combo case . Anyways he said that he would give the I751 file to another officer right away to look at, but that everything looks good with him. I offered to provide updated and new evidence of my marriage to him, but he said that he didn't need it since everything looked good and my husband was here, etc... basically through our conversations, he was able to tell that our marriage was real. I asked if he knew the timeline, but unfortunately, he's not sure. So the form says "a decision can't be made" and I'm slightly bummed, but also relieved that half of the battle is over and that it was a nice and pleasant experience with the IO. I guess there are different levels of IOs so some can only approve one type of application and there are others that can do both?? Maybe he was more junior and I751s are more of a senior thing? No clue. I'm wondering if I should've led with asking if the I751 would be adjudicated during the interview, then maybe he would've been able to take care of that first for me? Many post mortem thoughts in my head!

 

So it's been a few days now and nothing has updated online and am stuck waiting for the I751. I was praying and hoping that this wouldn't happen to me, but it is what it is and I'm resigned to the fact that there's nothing I can really do now but to just wait; just hoping for the best and that I don't get called back for yet another interview. I was hoping that I could be a citizen before March so I could vote in the primaries in CA, but probably not. Anyways, I hope this was informative to someone out there!

 

Update: Both my I751 and N400 got approved yesterday, a little over two weeks since my N400 interview. The oath ceremony notice already posted online for 2/25, which is less than 2 weeks away! That was a lot shorter than I thought I'd have to wait for everything to get resolved. I was mentally prepared to wait it out until the summer.

 

Looking back at everything, I'd say that my case was pretty straight forward. Just a few traffic citations and lost my green card, but no crimes, no divorces or anything like that. The only weird thing was that my biometrics for the I751 never came even after a year after filing. Once I filed the N400, everything else moved fairly quickly; biometrics was scheduled right away within the same month. Interview got scheduled 7 months later. The online personalized estimated case completion time was pretty accurate. Mine says completion March 2020.

 

I relied a lot on VisaJourney's immigration timeline to compare other applicants in my same area. Based on a few applicants who had filed their N400 a few months before me, I was able to estimate when I would get an interview, which I estimated to be either Dec 2019 or Jan 2020, so it was pretty spot on. It helped me a lot with my bouts of impatience regarding my case. The last few months of this process felt painfully slow and agonizing and I'm just so happy to put this all aside and never have to deal with USCIS again! Also very excited to finally be able to vote

 

[chsiaod 1]

1 hour ago, kc2177 said:

 

Update: Both my I751 and N400 got approved yesterday, a little over two weeks since my N400 interview. The oath ceremony notice already posted online for 2/25, which is less than 2 weeks away! That was a lot shorter than I thought I'd have to wait for everything to get resolved. I was mentally prepared to wait it out until the summer.

 

Looking back at everything, I'd say that my case was pretty straight forward. Just a few traffic citations and lost my green card, but no crimes, no divorces or anything like that. The only weird thing was that my biometrics for the I751 never came even after a year after filing. Once I filed the N400, everything else moved fairly quickly; biometrics was scheduled right away within the same month. Interview got scheduled 7 months later. The online personalized estimated case completion time was pretty accurate. Mine says completion March 2020.

 

I relied a lot on VisaJourney's immigration timeline to compare other applicants in my same area. Based on a few applicants who had filed their N400 a few months before me, I was able to estimate when I would get an interview, which I estimated to be either Dec 2019 or Jan 2020, so it was pretty spot on. It helped me a lot with my bouts of impatience regarding my case. The last few months of this process felt painfully slow and agonizing and I'm just so happy to put this all aside and never have to deal with USCIS again! Also very excited to finally be able to vote

 

Big congrats!!!! 🎉

[kc2177 6]

1 hour ago, chsiaod said:

Big congrats!!!! 🎉

Thanks! good luck on your interview