N-400 April 2020 Filers

[QueenofSwords 29]

20 minutes ago, OSAC said:

Hi @QueenofSwords. That sucks. If you get any updates please post here. I will do the same. Good luck with your application. Hopefully you will hear something soon!

Thank you. Please do so as well on your end. I ended up messaging them just yesterday. People are saying it takes about 5 business days for them to respond. I am fully expecting no response, in which case I will continue messaging them every week and calling them. Oh and I did indeed call them in early August. At that point, they informed me that the KCMO office had indeed opened on June 4th but they hadn't begun processing biometrics until the end of July. Since then, it's already been 2.5 months and still no word. In contrast my good friend who applied in mid Feb got the oath in August. But bio seems to be the big bottleneck, as s/o wrote on another forum. We all got stuck because we hadn't done bios. I'm EB, so I don't have valid bios in the system. If you are marriage based you may get re-use notice, at some point (even that is taking forever). .BUt if you are EB based, then I"m afraid you are stuck along with me waiting for bio. 

So I wrote that I understand their trials and tribulations but regardless, it is still worrisome (aka: unacceptable) to be 7 months from NOA and not have done bio.  I hope this message doesn't backfire. My experience dealing with bureaucracy is that the petty bureaucrats try to lord it over you and exploit the situation to exert some modicum of power, especially if they think you write a bit too well, or have a higher ed degree and whatnot. Human capriciousness shouldn't be a factor but it has been in all my dealings with bureaucracy. I hope USCIS is the lone exception. 

[OSAC 8]

5 minutes ago, QueenofSwords said:

Thank you. Please do so as well on your end. I ended up messaging them just yesterday. People are saying it takes about 5 business days for them to respond. I am fully expecting no response, in which case I will continue messaging them every week and calling them. Oh and I did indeed call them in early August. At that point, they informed me that the KCMO office had indeed opened on June 4th but they hadn't begun processing biometrics until the end of July. Since then, it's already been 2.5 months and still no word. In contrast my good friend who applied in mid Feb got the oath in August. But bio seems to be the big bottleneck, as s/o wrote on another forum. We all got stuck because we hadn't done bios. I'm EB, so I don't have valid bios in the system. If you are marriage based you may get re-use notice, at some point (even that is taking forever). .BUt if you are EB based, then I"m afraid you are stuck along with me waiting for bio. 

So I wrote that I understand their trials and tribulations but regardless, it is still worrisome (aka: unacceptable) to be 7 months from NOA and not have done bio.  I hope this message doesn't backfire. My experience dealing with bureaucracy is that the petty bureaucrats try to lord it over you and exploit the situation to exert some modicum of power, especially if they think you write a bit too well, or have a higher ed degree and whatnot. Human capriciousness shouldn't be a factor but it has been in all my dealings with bureaucracy. I hope USCIS is the lone exception. 

I am also EB. Quite frankly, I am worried too but a part of me keeps telling me that this is due to the elections and might get better once the elections are over. Was your friend EB or marriage based?

 

When I called them in early September, the agent told me to wait 90 days from the ASC opening date which would be the end of October. He also said that the 90 day wait used to be for 30 days before Covid but Covid has caused it to go up to 90. Considering you applied a month before I did and are still waiting, I am starting to think that I won’t hear anything this month either. I really hope I am wrong. 
 

When does your GC expire? And if you don’t mind telling me, what’s your country of origin?

[QueenofSwords 29]

1 hour ago, OSAC said:

I am also EB. Quite frankly, I am worried too but a part of me keeps telling me that this is due to the elections and might get better once the elections are over. Was your friend EB or marriage based?

 

When I called them in early September, the agent told me to wait 90 days from the ASC opening date which would be the end of October. He also said that the 90 day wait used to be for 30 days before Covid but Covid has caused it to go up to 90. Considering you applied a month before I did and are still waiting, I am starting to think that I won’t hear anything this month either. I really hope I am wrong. 
 

When does your GC expire? And if you don’t mind telling me, what’s your country of origin?

I'm sorry to hear you are also EB. It is quite unfair that after having to wait another 2 years compared to marriage based ones, the fingerprint BS is held against us as a roadblock. It's bureaucratic stupidity of course, and rigidity, and then when it comes to being mean and rude, people can do what they like-we'll see with USCIS but this has been my experience time and again with bureaucrats, admins, administrative assistants, and the like. 

My friend is also EB. It's just that she had the fortune of getting bio done right before closure. 

 

Wait a minute, ,I am puzzled. I thought KC opened on June 4th, which would make tomorrow the 120th day/ Thus end of Oct will be 150 days ish. 06/04-09/04 , September 4th WAS the 90th day. If they didn't open till early July, then this week still rounds it to those precious 90 days. Am I missing something? Were they closed till July and I don't know about it?

I could have sworn that my friend was rescheduled for mid June for her interview. 

 

I am with you. I think the election is adding to the hold up. It's supposed to be a  non partisan agency and in fact it is a mistake to assume that all new citizens vote Dem. A NYT article stated for example that approximately 30% of first gen and new citizen Latino voters are devoutly Rep,  *regardless of the candidate*. I think beyond that, USCIS is out of funding. The fee hike has been temporarily suspended-injunction due to a Cali fed judge. They've been seeking funding from the gov't for some time now and are deliberately slowing things down to derail the process. If anything, they cost the incumbent new voters with this approach as payback for the admin not giving them money. And they are using us as pawns in the process.. Actually, a KCMO native House of Rep member chaired the bill to fund USCIS, which averted furloughs in the first place. Of course, it'll get stuck in the Senate till at least after Nov. But USCIS issued a statement that this has been at the cost of major logjams and slowdowns to processing-I am not sure why or how since they've suspended furloughs. 

 

I have 4 more years on the GC. I am from Bosnia Herzegovina. Hbu?

 

In terms of timeline, if you check this site and look at metrics,, you will see that in late August people who had applied in mid March got bios. One person whose original bio was for March 18th got theirs for Sept 22 and they had to call in late August to get the new appointment. By this metric, I should be a month behind. But I think that it's easier for them to reschedule an existing bio than to issue a new one so there's more holdup, for whatever the hell reason. 

 

Somehow,, they expect perfection from us but make excuse after excuse for their own ineptitude. 

Edited October 3, 2020 by QueenofSwords

[OSAC 8]

2 minutes ago, QueenofSwords said:

I'm sorry to hear you are also EB. It is quite unfair that after having to wait another 2 years compared to marriage based ones, the fingerprint BS is held against us as a roadblock. It's bureaucratic stupidity of course, and rigidity, and then when it comes to being mean and rude, people can do what they like-we'll see with USCIS but this has been my experience time and again with bureaucrats, admins, administrative assistants, and the like. 

My friend is also EB. It's just that she had the fortune of getting bio done right before closure. 

 

Wait a minute, ,I am puzzled. I thought KC opened on June 4th, which would make tomorrow the 90th day. Am I missing something? Were they closed till July and I don't know about it?

I could have sworn that my friend was rescheduled for mid June for her interview. 

 

I am with you. I think the election is adding to the hold up. It's supposed to be a  non partisan agency and in fact it is a mistake to assume that all new citizens vote Dem. A NYT article stated for example that approximately 30% of first gen and new citizen Latino voters are devoutly Rep,  *regardless of the candidate*. I think beyond that, USCIS is out of funding. The fee hike has been temporarily suspended-injunction due to a Cali fed judge. They've been seeking funding from the gov't for some time now and are deliberately slowing things down to derail the process. If anything, they cost the incumbent new voters with this approach as payback for the admin not giving them money. And they are using us as pawns in the process.. Actually, a KCMO native House of Rep member chaired the bill to fund USCIS, which averted furloughs in the first place. Of course, it'll get stuck in the Senate till at least after Nov. But USCIS issued a statement that this has been at the cost of major logjams and slowdowns to processing-I am not sure why or how since they've suspended furloughs. 

 

I have 4 more years on the GC. I am from Bosnia Herzegovina. Hbu?

 

In terms of timeline, if you check this site and look at metrics,, you will see that in late August people who had applied in mid March got bios. One person whose original bio was for March 18th got theirs for Sept 22 and they had to call in late August to get the new appointment. By this metric, I should be a month behind. But I think that it's easier for them to reschedule an existing bio than to issue a new one so there's more holdup, for whatever the hell reason. 

 

Somehow,, they expect perfection from us but make excuse after excuse for their own ineptitude. 

Ntmu. I am from Pakistan. 4 more years until GC expiration as well.

 

USCIS opened on June 4th but the ASC in KCMO opened on July 27th. The agent on the phone asked me if I was calling for a reschedule and I said no. He specifically said that he can reschedule an appointment but for a new one I have to wait 90 days from ASC opening. I also got in touch with someone who was waiting for a new GC biometrics appointment in the KC area and he got his appointment in August. What I can see from various posts here and other platforms is that GC biometrics are moving the fastest, N400 bio reschedules after that, re-use is being given to those who are mostly marriage based, and new applications after covid closures (March) are at the end of the queue. Have you seen anyone who applied after USCIS closures in March get a new bio appointment?

 

[QueenofSwords 29]

Ok, now this makes more sense. This is consistent with what the agent told me. He said that they had just started processing bios end of July, so that coincides with the July 27th date you mention here. What is puzzling is my friend. I am pretty confident that she got her reschedule in June. She got the oath in late August. I know this for a fact because she had to drive from Manhattan to KCMO in late June for her rescheduled appointment. Yes the agent asked me the same. Ok  this makes me feel much better in that it's not a miss on my part or I haven't been unlucky. And to answer your question, no I have yet to see one person at our ASC who got a new bio but on this forum and other forums I saw some from fasting moving centers in Omaha, Reno, and places in the Carolinas, who had applied in April and one even in June who got new bios just this past month. Possibly, they opened in June. 

I read elsewhere that people in this boat typically start hearing right after the 90 day. So October 27th and on. That is cutting it close to December for a bio and yours may take until Jan. 

[QueenofSwords 29]

OSAC, a question occurred to me just not. Is the interview not held at the same place as biometrics? If so that would explain why my friend was able to get rescheduled in mid June. 

[OSAC 8]

Just now, QueenofSwords said:

OSAC, a question occurred to me just not. Is the interview not held at the same place as biometrics? If so that would explain why my friend was able to get rescheduled in mid June. 

I don’t think it is. ASCs are application support centers that do all the dirty paperwork, doc collection, biometrics, application completion checks, etc - most of the time they are contractors. Interviews are at the USCIS offices with USCIS agents. Someone who has been through the process can correct me if I am wrong but that is my understanding.

[QueenofSwords 29]

15 minutes ago, OSAC said:

I don’t think it is. ASCs are application support centers that do all the dirty paperwork, doc collection, biometrics, application completion checks, etc - most of the time they are contractors. Interviews are at the USCIS offices with USCIS agents. Someone who has been through the process can correct me if I am wrong but that is my understanding.

I just messaged my friend to ask her about this. I think you are right and it's funny this dawned on me now. I looked up  the website of our ASC and it says they *only* handle biometrics, period. So this explains a lot. I wonder if the interview is in Topeka. I know my friend drove to KC to stay the night but she may have done that for fun and then just headed back to Topeka for the interview and then driven back to Manhattan the same day. I will update you once she responds. 

I looked it up; they are both in KCMO but at different locations. I think the ASC is the one close to MCI. I mean you'd drive as if going to the airport but then make left instead of a right. that should be the same one I went to for the GC bio.

Edited October 3, 2020 by QueenofSwords

[OSAC 8]

4 minutes ago, QueenofSwords said:

I just messaged my friend to ask her about this. I think you are right and it's funny this dawned on me now. I looked up  the website of our ASC and it says they *only* handle biometrics, period. So this explains a lot. I wonder if the interview is in Topeka. I know my friend drove to KC to stay the night but she may have done that for fun and then just headed back to Topeka for the interview and then driven back to Manhattan the same day. I will update you once she responds. 

Thanks. There is a USCIS field office in KCMO as well. I think that’s where the interviews are done.

[DavidX 40]

If you both are April filers (ETA, I see one of you is a March filer), you're in the same state as most of us here. In our case, no update since the case was accepted.

 

-David

 

Edited October 4, 2020 by DavidX

[Thelord 42]

I just saw my interview letter online it is scheduled for November 3, 2020!

I am very glad one step closer  I think this month is going to be a good month for April-filers

 

[OSAC 8]

10 minutes ago, Thelord said:

I just saw my interview letter online it is scheduled for November 3, 2020!

I am very glad one step closer  I think this month is going to be a good month for April-filers

 

Congrats!

 

I certainly hope so. 🙂

[MLK2016 201]

Congratulations and good luck with the interview.

[Thelord 42]

Thanks! I just noticed the interview date is right on the election date lol

[millefleur 5,046]

42 minutes ago, Thelord said:

Thanks! I just noticed the interview date is right on the election date lol

That's crazy! Are they giving oaths that day as well?