N-400 April 2020 Filers

[ShpatBeqa 32]

What a stressful journey....smh. 

 

Edited February 3, 2021 by ShpatBeqa

[keyuree1 27]

I also tried to threaten them. We'll see what happens. My friend's interview was today. She said their whole system crashed and at least a 100 people was sent home and rescheduled for March. I plan on bugging them with messages and phone calls until they get sick of me. My other friend filed at the end  of October and his interview is already scheduled. It doesn't seem fair. Next time I call I'm going to be more insistent to find out where exactly my file is or talk to somebody other than the rep. 

[Scandi 4,102]

On 2/2/2021 at 10:07 PM, Scandi said:

I read somewhere a post by someone who claimed to work at USCIS, he said that because of the closures in 2020, there's a total mess at USCIS right now and nothing is in order anymore. He urged people to nag USCIS for appointments as they're not doing things in the order the applications came in anymore (before the pandemic they at least did it somewhat in the correct order). I obviously don't know the validity of that post, but it was interesting to read.

 

And we do see some evidence of that, here in Los Angeles several July 2020 filers have gotten their interview appointments while people from late 2019 are still waiting.

Here's the post: 

 

 

[millefleur 5,043]

2 hours ago, Scandi said:

Here's the post: 

This more or less confirms what everyone suspected, that everything behind the scenes is chaos.

[kmg617 26]

Hi all! I haven’t really been keeping up with this thread very much but just wanted to jump on and share some good news. We received notice on 2/2/2021 for my husband’s interview scheduled for 4/7/2021. We are with the Atlanta field office if that helps any Atlanta folks too. I know Atlanta has been dragging. I’m sorry if this has already been answered but does he take the civics test that day too? Will he be notified of the decision the same day or does it come later on?

[millefleur 5,043]

16 minutes ago, kmg617 said:

Hi all! I haven’t really been keeping up with this thread very much but just wanted to jump on and share some good news. We received notice on 2/2/2021 for my husband’s interview scheduled for 4/7/2021. We are with the Atlanta field office if that helps any Atlanta folks too. I know Atlanta has been dragging. I’m sorry if this has already been answered but does he take the civics test that day too? Will he be notified of the decision the same day or does it come later on?

@MJS2020 is a fellow Atlanta filer, would probably be glad to hear that something is moving there.

[MJS2020 17]

22 minutes ago, kmg617 said:

Hi all! I haven’t really been keeping up with this thread very much but just wanted to jump on and share some good news. We received notice on 2/2/2021 for my husband’s interview scheduled for 4/7/2021. We are with the Atlanta field office if that helps any Atlanta folks too. I know Atlanta has been dragging. I’m sorry if this has already been answered but does he take the civics test that day too? Will he be notified of the decision the same day or does it come later on?

Congrats! Yeah, an applicant will have to pass Civics and English test during the interview.

 

5 minutes ago, millefleur said:

@MJS2020 is a fellow Atlanta filer, would probably be glad to hear that something is moving there.

It is nice, indeed, to see that Atlanta is moving!

[millefleur 5,043]

Generic response in the myuscis inbox:

 

Quote

 

Thank you for your inquiry dated February 02, 2021.

 

Requesting information about your N-400, Application for Naturalization:

 

Your case is awaiting the required biometrics submittal, and is currently in suspense until you complete this process. Your application information has been entered into the system which schedules applicants for biometrics at their local Application Support Center (ASC). Biometrics appointments are scheduled as slots become available at the ASC. Once you have been scheduled for an appointment, you will receive an ASC Appointment Notice to appear at a certain date and time at your local ASC. You must take the ASC Appointment Notice and photo ID to your appointment. 

 

Once you have been scheduled, you may view and print a copy of your USCIS ASC Appointment Notice within your USCIS online filing system account. After you log in to your USCIS online filing system account, access the Home Tab to find the "Documents" field to view or print your official appointment notice from USCIS.

 

Further information regarding ASC biometric appointments is available at: ASC information.

 

 

And they also mentioned that I'm currently within processing time, implying there's nothing else I can do right now. I'm going to work on drafting the letter to the field office about biometrics reuse as there's nothing else we can do right now.

 

[blessedbeyond 38]

2 hours ago, millefleur said:

Generic response in the myuscis inbox:

 

 

And they also mentioned that I'm currently within processing time, implying there's nothing else I can do right now. I'm going to work on drafting the letter to the field office about biometrics reuse as there's nothing else we can do right now.

 

@millefleur I empathize with your situation. My case was at a standstill until I had a breakthrough last week. I'm a March 2020 filer, and I had no updates about my case. I emailed USCIS last October and got the exact generic response you were given above. I resorted to calling them constantly between December 2020 and this past January. It was after my fourth call that a Tier 2 officer finally called me back and scheduled my biometrics appointment for February 22. The notice was uploaded almost immediately on my account, and I received it in the mail yesterday. I encourage you to persist and keep advocating for yourself. Best wishes.

[millefleur 5,043]

3 minutes ago, blessedbeyond said:

@millefleur I empathize with your situation. My case was at a standstill until I had a breakthrough last week. I'm a March 2020 filer, and I had no updates about my case. I emailed USCIS last October and got the exact generic response you were given above. I resorted to calling them constantly between December 2020 and this past January. It was after my fourth call that a Tier 2 officer finally called me back and scheduled my biometrics appointment for February 22. The notice was uploaded almost immediately on my account, and I received it in the mail yesterday. I encourage you to persist and keep advocating for yourself. Best wishes.

Thank you for this! I'm going to work on writing the letter this weekend, will mail it to the field office, and then once it's in the mail I will pester them nonstop on the phone. It really seems like me and few other people at the Chicago office have been left behind in the dust for whatever reason. How do I know if I'm talking to a Tier 1 vs Tier 2 officer?

[kmg617 26]

We received the official document indicating his interview date is March 11 and not April 7th as it said in the email! 
 

Question: I am looking at the documents required for him to bring for his interview and it says for naturalization as the spouse of a US citizen he will need my birth certificate or naturalization certificate or certificate of citizenship. 
We had submitted a copy of my passport (which is allowed) in our application to prove my citizenship. I do not have my birth certificate...just a photocopy of it because the original went to USCIS back in 2013 for the CR1 and it’s been misplaced somehow. Do you think they will accept my passport? Or do I need to rush order a certified copy of my birth certificate?

[Scandi 4,102]

3 hours ago, millefleur said:

Generic response in the myuscis inbox:

 

 

And they also mentioned that I'm currently within processing time, implying there's nothing else I can do right now. I'm going to work on drafting the letter to the field office about biometrics reuse as there's nothing else we can do right now.

 

Sorry to hear they did nothing. I got that exact same generic message back in October too, it's frustrating because it's not even an answer to anything, you still have no idea where in line you are, how much longer you'll have to wait etc. It's like when you end up "on hold" on the phone and the automatic voice doesn't tell you which number you are in line so you have zero idea if it's going to take minutes or hours. 🙄

 

Good idea to get on with another (different) attempt to get an appointment or reuse. My second attempt was a big win. It doesn't cost anything to keep trying.

 

1 hour ago, blessedbeyond said:

@millefleur I empathize with your situation. My case was at a standstill until I had a breakthrough last week. I'm a March 2020 filer, and I had no updates about my case. I emailed USCIS last October and got the exact generic response you were given above. I resorted to calling them constantly between December 2020 and this past January. It was after my fourth call that a Tier 2 officer finally called me back and scheduled my biometrics appointment for February 22. The notice was uploaded almost immediately on my account, and I received it in the mail yesterday. I encourage you to persist and keep advocating for yourself. Best wishes.

Exactly, just keep trying. It's often about who you get to talk to. Even if the majority of the customer support people aren't willing to help and just want you to hang up, eventually you'll get a hold of someone who actually want to (and will) help you. 

[blessedbeyond 38]

5 hours ago, millefleur said:

Thank you for this! I'm going to work on writing the letter this weekend, will mail it to the field office, and then once it's in the mail I will pester them nonstop on the phone. It really seems like me and few other people at the Chicago office have been left behind in the dust for whatever reason. How do I know if I'm talking to a Tier 1 vs Tier 2 officer?

Based on my understanding, the Tier 1 officers are the Customer Service Reps who answer incoming calls to the USCIS Contact Center. Tier 2 officers are those who are able to access the biometrics scheduling system and set up appointments; they have in-depth information about cases. Whenever I called USCIS, I always requested to be connected to a Tier 2 officer. The officer who finally called me back set up my appointment while we were speaking on the phone. That's why I guessed he was a Tier 2 officer. Hope this helps. 🙂

[ThaOne 101]

18 hours ago, blessedbeyond said:

@millefleur I empathize with your situation. My case was at a standstill until I had a breakthrough last week. I'm a March 2020 filer, and I had no updates about my case. I emailed USCIS last October and got the exact generic response you were given above. I resorted to calling them constantly between December 2020 and this past January. It was after my fourth call that a Tier 2 officer finally called me back and scheduled my biometrics appointment for February 22. The notice was uploaded almost immediately on my account, and I received it in the mail yesterday. I encourage you to persist and keep advocating for yourself. Best wishes.

Now this really doesn't make sense. You are getting your biometrics 1 year after you applied. I applied only a month before you and have my oath in a couple of day. Some of this isn't just a backlog due to office closure, it's a broken or inefficient system. It's not like your case was set aside because they were working on it. The FBI doesn't conduct the background checks before you do the biometrics. So your case was just collecting dust. I think their solution to fix some of the backlog was to determine to deal with new filers in a timely manner and squeeze the ones backlogged who were stuck prior to covid slowly in when there is a spot. So they can say that their backlog is going down, without creating more new disgruntled applicants. The heads of offices/departments have to report their progress. 

It doesn't make sense that hundreds of people who filed after you in that office got their biometrics before you. But if they delayed the new applicants then even if you were done, you would still be considered in their statistics as not within normal times overall, and the new applicant would start falling in there too. So 2 people. So I guess to fix that they have decided in some places to deal with the new applicant first and squeeze you in as soon as there is an opening. So there is only 1 person still in the "not within normal times" instead of 2. Not the right way to do things.

[exodus 7]

21 hours ago, kmg617 said:

We received the official document indicating his interview date is March 11 and not April 7th as it said in the email! 
 

Question: I am looking at the documents required for him to bring for his interview and it says for naturalization as the spouse of a US citizen he will need my birth certificate or naturalization certificate or certificate of citizenship. 
We had submitted a copy of my passport (which is allowed) in our application to prove my citizenship. I do not have my birth certificate...just a photocopy of it because the original went to USCIS back in 2013 for the CR1 and it’s been misplaced somehow. Do you think they will accept my passport? Or do I need to rush order a certified copy of my birth certificate?

I was not certain about this as well, so I ordered a new birth certificate. It arrived in about 3 weeks using VitalChek. You would think a passport would be proof enough but one never knows. I needed a replacement anyway.