N-400 Seattle (Part 2)

[RaajThilak 0]

1 minute ago, A1982 said:

 

Thank you. Could I please ask how you know this? Do you have first-hand experience of afternoon interviews in Seattle being offered a same-day oath in the last 3 months or so? Not trying to be cheeky, just probing so I can raise my confidence level about a same-day oath (and plan for travel + passport appointments accordingly). 

Also, allow me to add a related question. When same day oath happens, is it always with the same interview Officer in the same office, immediately following the interview? Or is there two separate Oath ceremony once in the morning and another one in the afternoon? Thanks in advance.

[AndyGT 14]

Hi, a question for anyone that also has or had a pending I-751 along with their N400:

 

My wife received an interview notice last week for her N400 (applied April 2021), it doesn't mention the I-751 (applied January 2020) and the case status for the I-751 has not changed (still says case ready to be scheduled for interview since Oct. 2020). We called USCIS to ask and they said it is up to the discretion of the interviewing officer on whether they want a separate interview for the I-751 and/or if they will combine them into a single interview. The USCIS representative also said I wouldn't be able to enter the building since my name is not on the N400 interview notice, obviously this would make it hard to participate in an interview if the officer wants to do one. 

 

What have the experiences been from other members with pending I-751 and N400 applications? Did you receive separate notice for the I-751 interview and did that case status change? Were you able to accompany your spouse with only their N400 interview notice? 

[da95826 387]

10 hours ago, AndyGT said:

What have the experiences been from other members with pending I-751 and N400 applications? Did you receive separate notice for the I-751 interview and did that case status change? Were you able to accompany your spouse with only their N400 interview notice? 

We have 751 case since May 2020 (2 years) and n400 case filed in May 2021 (one year). We had a combo interview on Monday 5/16/2022 in Sacramento, only got the invite for the n400 no update at all for the i751. We had no issue entering the building together, despite the invitation for only n400. 

 

I would strongly advise to go together to your interview, we had no issues going together and entering the USCIS office. We were interviewed for the i751 first and the file was there; and then the n400 interview and test which my husband passed. The US citizen spouse, me, was allowed to stay during the n400 interview.

 

We have a joint i751 pending and n400 filed under the three year rule also still pending. Still awaiting approval for both, no update on the online status yet for either: the i751 is showing transfer to NBC notice and the n400 is showing scheduled for interview for n400.

[SnjvSea 9]

Interview Update : My wife and I did our interviews today. Some information that might be useful for the forum here

 We both applied on same date and did our biometrics on same date/time as well. The interviews were scheduled on same date but different times. Hers was in the morning & mine in the afternoon. The process for interview is defined by many here and is accurate. 1 hr tops in & out

 

1. If you are approved in the morning, you will get the oath ceremony scheduled in the afternoon same day

2. Two ceremonies, one at 2.30 pm & another at 4.00 pm, batch size of 30 

3. If your interview/approval extends beyond 2 pm, you will not get oath on the day. Oath ceremony notice will be mailed to you

4. If your biometrics were taken 15 months prior, they "expire". (As was the case with us)  So the interviewer has to re-submit the same for re-approval. typically takes 30 to 40 minutes. You can wait and get the interview scheduled the same day. as my wife did and got her oath scheduled for afternoon

5. My interview ended at around 1.45 but the biometrics re-approval did not happen till the cut off time of 2 pm. So, I did not get oath scheduled for same day.

6. If you are interviewed in the morning and were approved, you will be asked to come back at 2.30 or 4 pm ceremony

7. Family and kids are ALLOWED for the oath ceremony (Not for the interview)

 

Fairly smooth & professional experience.

 

Good Luck to all

 

[Ahava 23]

On 5/18/2022 at 11:37 AM, A1982 said:

 

Thank you. Could I please ask how you know this? Do you have first-hand experience of afternoon interviews in Seattle being offered a same-day oath in the last 3 months or so? Not trying to be cheeky, just probing so I can raise my confidence level about a same-day oath (and plan for travel + passport appointments accordingly). 

From what I have seen, the last oath ceremony for the day is at 4 pm. I have also seen people interviewed at 3pm till about 3:30 getting approved for the 4pm ceremony. 

[arnab221 29]

20 hours ago, SnjvSea said:

Interview Update : My wife and I did our interviews today. Some information that might be useful for the forum here

 We both applied on same date and did our biometrics on same date/time as well. The interviews were scheduled on same date but different times. Hers was in the morning & mine in the afternoon. The process for interview is defined by many here and is accurate. 1 hr tops in & out

 

1. If you are approved in the morning, you will get the oath ceremony scheduled in the afternoon same day

2. Two ceremonies, one at 2.30 pm & another at 4.00 pm, batch size of 30 

3. If your interview/approval extends beyond 2 pm, you will not get oath on the day. Oath ceremony notice will be mailed to you

4. If your biometrics were taken 15 months prior, they "expire". (As was the case with us)  So the interviewer has to re-submit the same for re-approval. typically takes 30 to 40 minutes. You can wait and get the interview scheduled the same day. as my wife did and got her oath scheduled for afternoon

5. My interview ended at around 1.45 but the biometrics re-approval did not happen till the cut off time of 2 pm. So, I did not get oath scheduled for same day.

6. If you are interviewed in the morning and were approved, you will be asked to come back at 2.30 or 4 pm ceremony

7. Family and kids are ALLOWED for the oath ceremony (Not for the interview)

 

Fairly smooth & professional experience.

 

Good Luck to all

 

Do they capture the biometrics again before resubmitting or do they resubmit the ones captured 15 months prior ?

 

Looks they are now striving to keep interview timelines to < 15 months ( hence the April 21 acceleration ~ 14 months) to avoid the 40 minute delay in each N400 interview. Also if they are filling two batches a day of 30 each , barring a few offsite naturalization events, they are tracking at 1200 naturalizations a month. I am not sure how they intend to eliminate the backlog at this rate . 

Unlike 485 , we also do not have a way to determine intake by month else we could have understood if there are any dips in N400 intake during mid or latter part of 2021 . 

[Seattle2021 10]

21 hours ago, SnjvSea said:

Interview Update : My wife and I did our interviews today. Some information that might be useful for the forum here

 We both applied on same date and did our biometrics on same date/time as well. The interviews were scheduled on same date but different times. Hers was in the morning & mine in the afternoon. The process for interview is defined by many here and is accurate. 1 hr tops in & out

 

1. If you are approved in the morning, you will get the oath ceremony scheduled in the afternoon same day

2. Two ceremonies, one at 2.30 pm & another at 4.00 pm, batch size of 30 

3. If your interview/approval extends beyond 2 pm, you will not get oath on the day. Oath ceremony notice will be mailed to you

4. If your biometrics were taken 15 months prior, they "expire". (As was the case with us)  So the interviewer has to re-submit the same for re-approval. typically takes 30 to 40 minutes. You can wait and get the interview scheduled the same day. as my wife did and got her oath scheduled for afternoon

5. My interview ended at around 1.45 but the biometrics re-approval did not happen till the cut off time of 2 pm. So, I did not get oath scheduled for same day.

6. If you are interviewed in the morning and were approved, you will be asked to come back at 2.30 or 4 pm ceremony

7. Family and kids are ALLOWED for the oath ceremony (Not for the interview)

 

Fairly smooth & professional experience.

 

Good Luck to all

 

Congrats first of all.

 

When did group oath ceremony started? My aged parents appointment is at 6.30 am i was hoping they do their oath 30-40 mins after their interview (as it was done during covid restrictions) and they will avoid group settings. Also if they have to come back for oath 2pm+ then i need to figure the travel as need to figure how to move my meetings. Will see. hope they still willing to do individual oath right after interview for older people.

 

Also do you remember which docs they asked for other than passport and green card? birth certificate? tax returns?

Any one recently applied for first time passport from USPS office as urgent processing? how long it took before you received the passports?

[Seattle2021 10]

Has someone recently applied for first time passport from USPS - expedited or not. if so then how long is it taking these days for processing?

[Nkrish83 65]

5 hours ago, arnab221 said:

Do they capture the biometrics again before resubmitting or do they resubmit the ones captured 15 months prior ?

 

Looks they are now striving to keep interview timelines to < 15 months ( hence the April 21 acceleration ~ 14 months) to avoid the 40 minute delay in each N400 interview. Also if they are filling two batches a day of 30 each , barring a few offsite naturalization events, they are tracking at 1200 naturalizations a month. I am not sure how they intend to eliminate the backlog at this rate . 

Unlike 485 , we also do not have a way to determine intake by month else we could have understood if there are any dips in N400 intake during mid or latter part of 2021 . 

Well, USCIS does publish citizenship backlog by field office and they do it by Qtr, so technically you could derive the average monthly intake by field office and look at their burnrate from the prior 2-3 quarters to get a sense if they are speeding up or not. Here's the location (unless you already know this) - https://www.uscis.gov/tools/reports-and-studies/immigration-and-citizenship-data?topic_id[]=33692&ddt_mon=&ddt_yr=&query=&items_per_page=100

[arnab221 29]

19 hours ago, Nkrish83 said:

Well, USCIS does publish citizenship backlog by field office and they do it by Qtr, so technically you could derive the average monthly intake by field office and look at their burnrate from the prior 2-3 quarters to get a sense if they are speeding up or not. Here's the location (unless you already know this) - https://www.uscis.gov/tools/reports-and-studies/immigration-and-citizenship-data?topic_id[]=33692&ddt_mon=&ddt_yr=&query=&items_per_page=100

 

Thanks , I did see these numbers in the past . If backlog reduction were to be graded,  Seattle would receive an F.  Just look at the ferocious rate at which other large volume field offices are attacking their N400 backlogs and then look at Seattle which is in fact adding to the backlog. 

[dondoncat 5]

Did anyone experience filling at Seattle office and had his/her  interview in Portland Or , please will appreciate if u share it , fd 4/28/21

Interview 6/15/22 at Portland OR and did they do sameday ceremony it will be hard to go back another day As I live and work in Seattle 

[SnjvSea 9]

No, they do not recapture the biometrics ( They have the left & right index finger scanned at checkin, but not the full biometrics). They just resubmit the biometrics previously captured, to be reapproved again.

 

The actual ceremony started at 3.00 pm for those who have 2.30 pm listed in their schedule. They collect a form and distribute oath of allegiance papers, process for updating SSN & registering to vote etc. Also collect the GC at that time. They are all then moved to a auditorium downstairs where the oath is administered.

 

No other document except GC, Drivers license and photo page of passport was asked of me ( Had to point those at the camera as the interview was being conducted virtually, She clicked the  pictures for her record)

[Hamilton 511]

On 5/16/2022 at 12:31 PM, arnab221 said:

I am Jan 10th 2022. Shows 10 months for me now ( 5 year filer) . 😪😪

Weird, my submission date is only 2 weeks behind you but it's still showing 14 months for me (3 year filer). GRRRRR. 

 

I don't think this prediction is very meaningful though. It seems like it's consistently 14-15 months from submission to the interview based on the Seattle spreadsheet.

[ABCW 0]

So, I have my interview this Wednesday at 2:30 and I have an urgent passport appointment on June 2nd. Will I get my Naturalization certificate at that time even if I don’t get the same day oath ceremony? Or is that something you receive after the oath ceremony? Also, if I don’t get a same day oath ceremony, how far out do they book you to come back and do it? 

[Nkrish83 65]

46 minutes ago, ABCW said:

So, I have my interview this Wednesday at 2:30 and I have an urgent passport appointment on June 2nd. Will I get my Naturalization certificate at that time even if I don’t get the same day oath ceremony? Or is that something you receive after the oath ceremony? Also, if I don’t get a same day oath ceremony, how far out do they book you to come back and do it? 

Depends on when your oath gets scheduled. From what is generally seen Seattle does same day oath until a certain time of the day. If you get a same day oath, you would have your Nat cert right after the ceremony. If you get scheduled for another day, it's really a hit or miss - some offices are good at handing applicants a copy of the notice before they leave and most of the others will just mail you something "later" - the later may be days, weeks or months. Unless you complete your oath ceremony, you wont have the naturalization certificate in hand, which would be required for your passport agency appointment.