N-400 May 2020 filers

[meadowzephyr 26]

1 hour ago, Boston19 said:

Hi All,

My journey ended last week.

Timelines:

Application based on 3 year rule.

 

5/28/2020 - application received notice.

12/11/2020 - biometrics reuse notice.

12/21/2020 - interview notice

02/04/2021 - physical interview

03/11/2021 - oath ceremony 

 

Interview was straightforward. IO did mention, I was lucky as the day before all systems were down and all the interviews for that day had to be rescheduled.

 

6 questions boom.

1 reading

1 writing.

 

Went over the application. Asked me if anything had changed. I said my physical address ( bought a new house)  new work company and weight gain due to Corona. He chuckled.

Any crimes ? He asked this sternly with an audible change in his voice. I said yes, moving violation tickets promptly paid off. He asked me for documentation.

I said it is still in the mail from the DMV and haven’t received my drivers record yet due to slow postal services holiday season, Corona et al. I mentioned, if I hadn’t paid off the tickets, then, there would’ve been warrants issued for me which would have been caught in the background check. IO was satisfied with my answer.

 

IO collected recent documents which proved marriage in good faith.

1) Mortgage + title in our names.

2) Insurances (health + auto )

3) rental accommodation leases showing our names

 

Printed out the naturalization interview result with tick marks on both English + US  history AND congrats you have been recommended for approval check boxes.

 

I was in and out in 40 minutes right from security check to approval. Actual interview was 25 minutes tops.

 

I was extra careful about the time between post interview and oath ceremony so as not to gather any tickets. Bit of a lead foot. Not into drugs/alcohol/weapons/major/minor crimes so that was easy.

 

Reached the oath ceremony 1/2 hour before. They collected just the 10 year card and the questionnaire of if anything changed post interview. There were around 40 people. Strictly no hugging, kissing, pictures within the building. You can celebrate outside the building.

Again 40 minutes from security check to receiving naturalization certificate. Actual ceremony 17 minutes.

 

Best of luck to all who are waiting.

I might not respond to questions if any rightaway, but, eventually whenever I get to it, I will. This is a great community with tonnes of resources and guidance.

 

Sincere thank you to all contributors!

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for this detailed review! Did they go over section 12 question by question or did they just summarize and skip around?

[sweetadams 138]

1 hour ago, Boston19 said:

Hi All,

My journey ended last week.

Timelines:

Application based on 3 year rule.

 

5/28/2020 - application received notice.

12/11/2020 - biometrics reuse notice.

12/21/2020 - interview notice

02/04/2021 - physical interview

03/11/2021 - oath ceremony 

 

Interview was straightforward. IO did mention, I was lucky as the day before all systems were down and all the interviews for that day had to be rescheduled.

 

6 questions boom.

1 reading

1 writing.

 

Went over the application. Asked me if anything had changed. I said my physical address ( bought a new house)  new work company and weight gain due to Corona. He chuckled.

Any crimes ? He asked this sternly with an audible change in his voice. I said yes, moving violation tickets promptly paid off. He asked me for documentation.

I said it is still in the mail from the DMV and haven’t received my drivers record yet due to slow postal services holiday season, Corona et al. I mentioned, if I hadn’t paid off the tickets, then, there would’ve been warrants issued for me which would have been caught in the background check. IO was satisfied with my answer.

 

IO collected recent documents which proved marriage in good faith.

1) Mortgage + title in our names.

2) Insurances (health + auto )

3) rental accommodation leases showing our names

 

Printed out the naturalization interview result with tick marks on both English + US  history AND congrats you have been recommended for approval check boxes.

 

I was in and out in 40 minutes right from security check to approval. Actual interview was 25 minutes tops.

 

I was extra careful about the time between post interview and oath ceremony so as not to gather any tickets. Bit of a lead foot. Not into drugs/alcohol/weapons/major/minor crimes so that was easy.

 

Reached the oath ceremony 1/2 hour before. They collected just the 10 year card and the questionnaire of if anything changed post interview. There were around 40 people. Strictly no hugging, kissing, pictures within the building. You can celebrate outside the building.

Again 40 minutes from security check to receiving naturalization certificate. Actual ceremony 17 minutes.

 

Best of luck to all who are waiting.

I might not respond to questions if any rightaway, but, eventually whenever I get to it, I will. This is a great community with tonnes of resources and guidance.

 

Sincere thank you to all contributors!

 

 

 

 

 

Congratulation on the completion of your journey

[Boston19 10]

2 hours ago, meadowzephyr said:

Thanks for this detailed review! Did they go over section 12 question by question or did they just summarize and skip around?

I skimmed through my application and the first 12 pointer was a question to the effect:

Do you have a mental impairment that avoids you to understand English language ?

 

I was like that’s mean. I am typing on my phone and some words might not have come out right but, damn that’s a rough comment. LOL!

Then I looked at part 12 and it made sense

Yes if I remember correctly all those questions were asked one by one and at question 23, ( have you been arrested , citied ....) his tone became stern. I calmly replied yes, I have had some traffic moving violations which are all paid off.

 

 

2 hours ago, sweetadams said:

Congratulation on the completion of your journey

Thank you thank you! Best of luck at your’s!

[Scandi 4,105]

2 hours ago, meadowzephyr said:

Thanks for this detailed review! Did they go over section 12 question by question or did they just summarize and skip around?

They go through the whole form to make sure none of the answers have changed. For me they changed my USC husband's marriage info, I filed online and there was a glitch saying he's been married once when in fact he's been married twice (this was not in part 12). And then they also had to check the boxes regarding any involvement with the nazis back in the 30s and 40s, as the online form skips those questions if you're not the right age. 

 

So make sure you look closely at your snapshot before going to the interview so you can tell them about any potential corrections. There was another glitch for people who filed under the 5 year rule and who weren't married, yet the snapshot had the married box checked. Important to have stuff like that corrected at the interview.

[meadowzephyr 26]

My husband and I are preparing all that he needs for his interview. He is applying on the basis of 5 years as a US Citizen. He came on a K1 visa and I was the petitioner. We just realized that we can't find the original copy of my birth certificate, although we have a color copy. 😭 Will this suffice?  I am also going to give him my passport as well. Thanks everyone for your help!

[Boston19 10]

57 minutes ago, meadowzephyr said:

My husband and I are preparing all that he needs for his interview. He is applying on the basis of 5 years as a US Citizen. He came on a K1 visa and I was the petitioner. We just realized that we can't find the original copy of my birth certificate, although we have a color copy. 😭 Will this suffice?  I am also going to give him my passport as well. Thanks everyone for your help!

I carried my wife’s original BC but wasn’t asked to display at the interview. How long do you have? You can request the county for the BC. It took 2 weeks for it to come in the mail. 
 

I am not sure about carrying your passport. If the IO is satisfied with the country of birth on the passport, then it should suffice. If he is adamant on the BC then it could be a sticky matter. Did you submit a copy with the application?

[meadowzephyr 26]

1 hour ago, Boston19 said:

I carried my wife’s original BC but wasn’t asked to display at the interview. How long do you have? You can request the county for the BC. It took 2 weeks for it to come in the mail. 
 

I am not sure about carrying your passport. If the IO is satisfied with the country of birth on the passport, then it should suffice. If he is adamant on the BC then it could be a sticky matter. Did you submit a copy with the application?

Unfortunately, the interview is on Tuesday. 😟 I didn't submit it with the packet.

[Boston19 10]

38 minutes ago, meadowzephyr said:

Unfortunately, the interview is on Tuesday. 😟 I didn't submit it with the packet.

Then your passport is the best option right now ( unless someone else has a better idea ). Wouldn’t hurt to start the process to get the BC  and you can maybe supplement your passport with the BC retrieval details e.g fees paid, order received email.

 

 

[Scandi 4,105]

7 hours ago, meadowzephyr said:

My husband and I are preparing all that he needs for his interview. He is applying on the basis of 5 years as a US Citizen. He came on a K1 visa and I was the petitioner. We just realized that we can't find the original copy of my birth certificate, although we have a color copy. 😭 Will this suffice?  I am also going to give him my passport as well. Thanks everyone for your help!

Since he's filing under the 5 year rule he's filing based on 5 years as an LPR, he's not filing based on his marriage to you. So chances are they won't care one bit to see anything that has to do with you other than possibly the marriage certificate, but even that is probably low chance. 

 

I filed under the 3 year rule and brought my USC husband's birth certificate AND passport, I was never asked for any of it. I wasn't asked for the marriage certificate either. All she wanted to see were things only specific to me other than the latest tax return that me and hubby filed jointly. She asked for my greencard, driver's license and passports. That's it.

[meadowzephyr 26]

6 hours ago, Boston19 said:

Then your passport is the best option right now ( unless someone else has a better idea ). Wouldn’t hurt to start the process to get the BC  and you can maybe supplement your passport with the BC retrieval details e.g fees paid, order received email.

 

 

I appreciate you taking the time to answer. Thank you so much!

1 hour ago, Scandi said:

Since he's filing under the 5 year rule he's filing based on 5 years as an LPR, he's not filing based on his marriage to you. So chances are they won't care one bit to see anything that has to do with you other than possibly the marriage certificate, but even that is probably low chance. 

 

I filed under the 3 year rule and brought my USC husband's birth certificate AND passport, I was never asked for any of it. I wasn't asked for the marriage certificate either. All she wanted to see were things only specific to me other than the latest tax return that me and hubby filed jointly. She asked for my greencard, driver's license and passports. That's it.

I thought this might be the case. Thanks so much for this detailed response!

[Lettyana 70]

On 3/12/2021 at 7:18 PM, Scandi said:

Thank you! Yes I feel like we've sort of been in this process together for years now, you're one of the names that I have seen on here through the years, going through the same process as me, at more or less the same time. It's cool to see the progress, happy for you that you finally got your interview date too. That part was the important part for me, the oath is more like "yeah okay, it's impossible to fail, so whatever", but having the interview done gave me such relief! 😆

 

On 3/13/2021 at 11:39 AM, Eternati said:

I used the flashcards - just type "uscis civics test flashcards" in google, and click the first link. I flipped through these twice - 2 days before and the night before my interview, and was good to go. But I am also in med school so tests like these don't faze me - mnemonics, mental roadmaps, and other memory tricks is the best way to approach this test in my opinion.

Thank you both! I think I overreacted on Friday and was way too worried for no reason. I looked at the questions on Saturday night and was able to answer almost 70% of them right away without any preparation. It definitely made me feel much better. Testing my American citizen boyfriend's knowledge also helped me to memorize answers lol I watched a YouTube video yesterday and just completed a round of flashcards, so now I feel like I am ready. Fingers crossed. Hopefully, by this time tomorrow I will be a proud American citizen

[Vickyxd 18]

On 3/11/2021 at 11:30 AM, BerakDicelana said:

Atlanta field office for me.

 

My interview for March 16 just got cancelled this morning and estimated time jumped to 9 months.

 

Hopefully nothing wrong and will get rescheduled soon.

 

 😭

How did you know your interview was cancelled? Mine is set for March 17 in Atlanta and I'm scared they'll cancel me too...

[BerakDicelana 4]

Just now, Vickyxd said:

How did you know your interview was cancelled? Mine is set for March 17 in Atlanta and I'm scared they'll cancel me too...

I got official email from USCIS.

 

Later that day, they sent an email again from Atlanta Field Office that my appointment rescheduled to April 16. Then, the next day the formal USCIS email confirmed it.

[Vickyxd 18]

14 minutes ago, BerakDicelana said:

I got official email from USCIS.

 

Later that day, they sent an email again from Atlanta Field Office that my appointment rescheduled to April 16. Then, the next day the formal USCIS email confirmed it.

So did you show up to your interview and they turned you down? My interview is on Wednesday morning and I haven't heard anything...

[BerakDicelana 4]

Just now, Vickyxd said:

So did you show up to your interview and they turned you down? My interview is on Wednesday morning and I haven't heard anything...

No, thankfully they sent the email about 5 days early.

 

I'd said dont worry much about it. It just probably they pushed my slot for more priority/urgent matter. 🙂