Sharing - N-400 Citizenship Interview Experience & Interpreter (Los Angeles Office)

[theflyhigh 63]

My wife wrote this post, hope it will be helpful for others:

 

Quote

Hi everyone,

 

Thank you for all your help! My dad passed his citizenship interview on March 30th and his oath ceremony is scheduled on April 6th. This is in the Los Angeles office.

 

I did not see any posts on having an interpreter and about the 55/15 rule so I wanted to share my dad and mine experience. I submitted his application in June 2020, and on the USCIS website, I did see exceptions. My father met the exception of being over 55 years old and having a PR for 15 years or more. With that eligibility, he is exempt from the English reading/writing portion of the test and can take the test in the language of his choice (which is Hindi) and have an interpreter with him. Along with his application, I also filled out the interpreter form and submitted it.

 

When we got the interview appointment later, it said he is only allowed to come inside with a legal representative. The interpreter will have to be available via phone so I was a bit nervous for my dad since all these official protocols can be a bit overwhelming and complicated and then not being able to fully communicate.

 

We got to the LA field office (by the way, the public parking is right across and it's around 17-18 bucks). They just let me in through the security check, I said I am his interpreter and they let me in. YAY. Then we got to the waiting area where people were waiting to be called in. The lady at the check-in window took the interview letter, asked who I am, took our temperatures and told us to wait. We waited for about 35 minutes before his name was called. I got up with him, introduced myself as the interpreter, and went into the office (all smooth process!). I was able to be with him in the office the whole time. I gave my ID, my dad gave his ID and green card, she went over the interpreter form, had my dad and me sign the form on the iPad and took an oath to speak only the truth. Then, she asked the 6 questions - she would speak them in English, I would translate for my dad, my dad would answer, in Hindi and I translated them back in English. 

 

The questions were:

- We elect a U.S. Senator for how many years?

- What is the capital of the United States?

- Before he was President, Eisenhower was a general. What war was he in?

- Name one war fought by the United States in the 1900s.

- When is the last day you can send in federal income tax forms?

- What are the two major political parties in the United States?

 

He answered all 6 correctly. After that, the officer proceeded to basically go over the whole application. That was the longest part! Just verified all the info (updating address, job, etc) and asked all the questions in the application again. After that was completed, she did her paperwork, congratulated us, and gave us some paperwork to fill out to bring to the oath ceremony.

 

My mom also had her interview the same day, she did not have an interpreter but she passed as well. Per my mom, the officer was extremely nice and friendly. The sentence she had to read was "Who elects congress?" and the writing was "The people elect congress." I don't know her questions unfortunately and she does not remember now!

 

I hope this was helpful!

 

Edited April 2, 2021 by Geekosnap

[bsd058 296]

Were the questions open-ended or multiple-choice?

[BFTE 41]

The questions at the interview are always open-ended.

[Gingerspike 55]

Thank you for sharing! I will have my N400 interview too on Monday in LA and this is good to know. Congratulations to both of your parents! Can you share their oath taking experience in LA as well?

[lazy 19]

This was a very helpful post.

I'm serving as a "Preparer" non-attorney for an N-400 applicant.

And they also meet the 55/15 rule, and are exempt from reading/writing part.

 

They too dont speak English and asked if I would serve as interpreter for them.

I said I'll try but I think the local office in Raleigh adheres to distance/limit protocol so I may end up on a call from the car to translate.

But this does help ALOT.  

Thanks!