Interview August 4th - is this even going to happen with pending furlough?

[JaEnglishGirl 34]

I would take the chance and NOT reschedule.

[retheem 564]

You have a chance to finish this journey once and for all. I say take your chance

[R&OC 371]

On 7/16/2020 at 5:49 AM, HRQX said:

Is it a Notice of Action? Does it base the 14 day timeframe on a law and/or regulation?

No it doesn’t and technically I am free to go shopping or get food but I am very reluctant of course and keeping my distance in a hotel. I should get my groceries delivered later today and I am planning to stay quarantined until the interview.

[Davide66 5]

Today I went to the Oakland Park (Florida) field office for my citizenship interview. A security guard at the entrance told me that the office was closed due to sanitation. Then another 6-7 people arrived for their interview, and at that point an immigration officer showed up at the door saying that the office was closed and that, verbating, "we should read between the lines", whatever that means.

I haven't received any notification from USCIS nor there was any sign posted on the door about this "sanitation" which entailed sudden closing of the whole building and who knows how many people left stranded with their citizenship interviews. 

As we all walked away somebody was speculating that the "read between the lines" that the officer was talking about is a diabolic conspiracy theory which entails president Trump stalling the immigration process of thousands of people in fear that these people will vote democrat at the upcoming presidential elections to spite the current president because of his known anti-immigrant stance. 

[retheem 564]

36 minutes ago, Davide66 said:

Today I went to the Oakland Park (Florida) field office for my citizenship interview. A security guard at the entrance told me that the office was closed due to sanitation. Then another 6-7 people arrived for their interview, and at that point an immigration officer showed up at the door saying that the office was closed and that, verbating, "we should read between the lines", whatever that means.

I haven't received any notification from USCIS nor there was any sign posted on the door about this "sanitation" which entailed sudden closing of the whole building and who knows how many people left stranded with their citizenship interviews. 

As we all walked away somebody was speculating that the "read between the lines" that the officer was talking about is a diabolic conspiracy theory which entails president Trump stalling the immigration process of thousands of people in fear that these people will vote democrat at the upcoming presidential elections to spite the current president because of his known anti-immigrant stance. 

The speculation is partly right.

[R&OC 371]

47 minutes ago, Davide66 said:

Today I went to the Oakland Park (Florida) field office for my citizenship interview. A security guard at the entrance told me that the office was closed due to sanitation. Then another 6-7 people arrived for their interview, and at that point an immigration officer showed up at the door saying that the office was closed and that, verbating, "we should read between the lines", whatever that means.

I haven't received any notification from USCIS nor there was any sign posted on the door about this "sanitation" which entailed sudden closing of the whole building and who knows how many people left stranded with their citizenship interviews. 

As we all walked away somebody was speculating that the "read between the lines" that the officer was talking about is a diabolic conspiracy theory which entails president Trump stalling the immigration process of thousands of people in fear that these people will vote democrat at the upcoming presidential elections to spite the current president because of his known anti-immigrant stance. 

That’s very scary!

[R&OC 371]

I am in the US now and waiting for my interview date in 14 days. I am praying that it won’t get rescheduled. Not sure what happened in Oakland. Is it Covid? We can only speculate at this point...

[Davide66 5]

15 minutes ago, R&OC said:

That’s very scary!

It is really scary because later on today I called the main USCIS office, and I was told that they are not aware of any field office being closed at this point in time. I checked the main USCIS website and it shows that all field offices are open. I also checked the Oakland Park office website, and even that one shows that the office is open.

The officer on the phone told me to get hard evidence of the Oakland Park office being closed just in case something freaky, like I didn't show up for the interview, or something like that, will be reported by the field office. I have already rescheduled my interview twice because of pregnancy, and I am not allowed to reschedule it for the third time. They will make an exception only if I prove that this time it wasn't my fault.

[Davide66 5]

57 minutes ago, R&OC said:

I am in the US now and waiting for my interview date in 14 days. I am praying that it won’t get rescheduled. Not sure what happened in Oakland. Is it Covid? We can only speculate at this point...

I just checked the USCIS website, and now it shows the the Oakland Park office, along with the Miami office and the Hialeah office are closed until July, 22. I guess it must be the Covid-19 then as South Florida has become the new epicenter of the pandemic.

[lucardo3 220]

2 hours ago, Davide66 said:

Today I went to the Oakland Park (Florida) field office for my citizenship interview. A security guard at the entrance told me that the office was closed due to sanitation. Then another 6-7 people arrived for their interview, and at that point an immigration officer showed up at the door saying that the office was closed and that, verbating, "we should read between the lines", whatever that means.

I haven't received any notification from USCIS nor there was any sign posted on the door about this "sanitation" which entailed sudden closing of the whole building and who knows how many people left stranded with their citizenship interviews. 

As we all walked away somebody was speculating that the "read between the lines" that the officer was talking about is a diabolic conspiracy theory which entails president Trump stalling the immigration process of thousands of people in fear that these people will vote democrat at the upcoming presidential elections to spite the current president because of his known anti-immigrant stance. 

That is true. Immigrants tend to vote blue, which i can`t blame them given the current situation. Btw you can also check USCIS office closings on website daily. https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/uscis-office-closings

[Alonso Ramirez 32]

On 7/20/2020 at 6:23 AM, Davide66 said:

Today I went to the Oakland Park (Florida) field office for my citizenship interview. A security guard at the entrance told me that the office was closed due to sanitation. Then another 6-7 people arrived for their interview, and at that point an immigration officer showed up at the door saying that the office was closed and that, verbating, "we should read between the lines", whatever that means.

I haven't received any notification from USCIS nor there was any sign posted on the door about this "sanitation" which entailed sudden closing of the whole building and who knows how many people left stranded with their citizenship interviews. 

As we all walked away somebody was speculating that the "read between the lines" that the officer was talking about is a diabolic conspiracy theory which entails president Trump stalling the immigration process of thousands of people in fear that these people will vote democrat at the upcoming presidential elections to spite the current president because of his known anti-immigrant stance. 

I think by "reading between the lines" she meant that an employee tested positive for COVID and therefore they have to sanitize the office. They can't flat out tell you that someone tested positive because it might be a HIPAA violation, or the employee may not have permission to tell you just yet. 

Regarding the original post - good for you to come, rescheduling is a huge gamble right now between COVID and furloughs. Just get it over with before the system collapses and we have to wait two years for a simple citizenship application. 

[JaEnglishGirl 34]

5 hours ago, Alonso Ramirez said:

I think by "reading between the lines" she meant that an employee tested positive for COVID and therefore they have to sanitize the office. They can't flat out tell you that someone tested positive because it might be a HIPAA violation, or the employee may not have permission to tell you just yet. 

 

That's EXACTLY what I thought too!

[Born2run4you 18]

5 hours ago, Alonso Ramirez said:

I think by "reading between the lines" she meant that an employee tested positive for COVID and therefore they have to sanitize the office. They can't flat out tell you that someone tested positive because it might be a HIPAA violation, or the employee may not have permission to tell you just yet. 

Regarding the original post - good for you to come, rescheduling is a huge gamble right now between COVID and furloughs. Just get it over with before the system collapses and we have to wait two years for a simple citizenship application. 

Agreed on both accounts.

As mentioned, Florida, as the epicenter of the pandemic with no light in the horizon, is quite tricky these days. It's not unlikely at all that their employees tested positive. The keyword of "sanitation" tells something there (rather than assuming they want to stop the naturalization process due to the administration political preferences, which can't happen in total silence). However, right now USCIS page says all offices are open (!?). 

Regarding the furlough, the last thing I read about a week ago was that the congress has approved the funds (the essence of the news was that the furlough wouldn't happen; unless a new obstacle arises). Today, apparently there is actually no budget deficit, but they still want to go ahead with the furlough anyhow(?!). I don't get it, but it might be an "internal" game to receive the funds anyhow... or a concrete desire to just slow things down at USCIS.  

https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2020/07/homeland-security-moves-forward-13000-furloughs-despite-its-improving-financial-situation/167081/     

[R&OC 371]

2 hours ago, Born2run4you said:

Agreed on both accounts.

As mentioned, Florida, as the epicenter of the pandemic with no light in the horizon, is quite tricky these days. It's not unlikely at all that their employees tested positive. The keyword of "sanitation" tells something there (rather than assuming they want to stop the naturalization process due to the administration political preferences, which can't happen in total silence). However, right now USCIS page says all offices are open (!?). 

Regarding the furlough, the last thing I read about a week ago was that the congress has approved the funds (the essence of the news was that the furlough wouldn't happen; unless a new obstacle arises). Today, apparently there is actually no budget deficit, but they still want to go ahead with the furlough anyhow(?!). I don't get it, but it might be an "internal" game to receive the funds anyhow... or a concrete desire to just slow things down at USCIS.  

https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2020/07/homeland-security-moves-forward-13000-furloughs-despite-its-improving-financial-situation/167081/     

Oh wow! What a roller coaster for all USCIS employees and us!

[TBoneTX 45,266]

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