N-400 Seattle (Part 2)

[PedroDaGr8 245]

6 minutes ago, Some_one said:

Then she mentioned that I’m completed all the evaluations necessary for citizenship and have passed them all. However she cannot approve my application because she doesn’t have my file. It is in transit and might take up to 90 days.  So she asked me to go home and wait for a decision. She mentioned I should open an info pass appointment if I have not heard back in 90 days. 

 

I had got my green card 9 years ago so they had a much older picture of me and hence she asked me to retake the picture before I left. 

 

I hope others were able to get their oath today however whilst I was waiting I didn’t see anyone hanging around the waiting area for the oath ceremony. The auditorium area downstairs also was empty. 

 

That so unfortunate about your file!😟 

 

My wife is in her interview right now. I'll update in a bit when I know more. It has been over an hour, so I'm hopeful. 

Edited August 10, 2022 by PedroDaGr8

[Some_one 5]

5 minutes ago, PedroDaGr8 said:

That so unfortunate about your file!😟 

 

My wife is in her interview right now. I'll update in a bit when I know more. It has been over an hour, so I'm hopeful. 

I hope your wife gets to take her oath today. 
 

i forgot to mention they have a cut off time after which they do not do same day oaths. When they were talking my picture at the end there was a whiteboard with the names of the officers conducting the interviews and it stated the cutoff time is 2:45 pm. 
 

Since your wife is in her interview now she can make it before the cutoff. 

[Hamilton 511]

27 minutes ago, Some_one said:

Hi,

 

i had my interview today (8/10). My appointment was at 8:45 am and I got there 25 mins before. They did let me in and after security took a picture and index finger prints from both hands. 

 

After that they asked me to go to the second floor. I first sat on the right side of the waiting area but then moved to the other side as they were calling out numbers from this side. 

 

My interview was virtual and they ask us to take out our passports, green card and drivers license. The headset is not the best but one can make do for the 20 min conversation. 

 

The officer was pleasant and accommodating. She mentioned to ask her to repeat things if I couldn’t understand her before answering. 

 

she asked me to show the drivers license and green card and please it close to the camera for her to take a screen shot. to confirm my identity she asked for my name and birthdate. 

 

Then she started the interview and asked me to confirm my identity which I found repetitive. Any way she asked me the civics questions first

 

A. Who is the Chief Justice?

B. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?

C. Name two holidays

D. Who is in charge of the executive?

E. Who did USA fight against in Ww2?

F. When is Independence Day?

 

For the English test she asked me to read

Who is George Washington?

 

She asked me to write

George Washington was the first president. 

 

After which she asked details from the  application.  One question that was interesting to me was why did I leave the employer that had sponsored my green card?

 

After the personal questions there were the national security ones which are a series of yes /no questions. 

 

Then she mentioned that I’m completed all the evaluations necessary for citizenship and have passed them all. However she cannot approve my application because she doesn’t have my file. It is in transit and might take up to 90 days.  So she asked me to go home and wait for a decision. She mentioned I should open an info pass appointment if I have not heard back in 90 days. 

 

I had got my green card 9 years ago so they had a much older picture of me and hence she asked me to retake the picture before I left. 

 

I hope others were able to get their oath today however whilst I was waiting I didn’t see anyone hanging around the waiting area for the oath ceremony. The auditorium area downstairs also was empty. 

 

Thanks for such a detailed breakdown! Congrats on passing the interview, and I'm sorry about your file. I hope the 90 days thing is just a cautious estimate and that you hear back soon. 

 

[PedroDaGr8 245]

She's now a US Citizen! The interview was gruelling for her.

 

The Interview appointment was for 12:45. We arrived at 12:10 and she went in at 12:20 without issue.

 

She was immediately directed to have her biometrics done (they were waived previously). From there she went to the waiting room and was seen right around her interview time. The interviewing officer was remote, she communicated with him via a tablet and headphones. She said the guy was quite gruff and never smiled once (or even said she got an answer correct) but never was out of line.

 

They started with the Civics Questions:

1. We elect a President for how many years?

2. Name one state that borders Canada.

3. Who was the first President?

4. What are two ways that Americans can participate in their democracy?

5. Who is the governor of your state?

6. What movement tried to end racial discrimination?

 

This was followed by the Reading:

She forgets but it was something to do with George Washington.

 

And Writing:

George Washington was the first president. 

 

Then he started confirming the N400 information. He didn't ask every single item in the N400 but asked a good chunk both initially and while waiting for submitted documents to be scanned in (which took a bunch of time because they were so busy).

 

After that, he asked for a joint bank account statement (we didn't bring it), so she suggested our most recent tax return which he accepted. He also asked for a copy of our lease, which we provided. From there he asked her a bunch of questions about our marriage (where did we get married, what's her job, what's my job, etc.) Interestingly, he never asked her for my (the US Citizen spouse) birth certificate or divorce papers or for our marriage certificate. 

 

At the end of the interview, while they were waiting for some documents to be scanned in by the staff, he asked "Do you see the printer?" To which she responded yes, thinking he wanted her to scan something in because it was taking SO long. He said that he is going to send something to her. It was her approval. When she picked it up, he said "Congratulations, you passed." He then stated that in Washington, you will have a same day ceremony and the assistant will be in shortly to provide you with further instructions,  before immediately hanging up. All in all the interview took around 45min-1 hour.

 

The assistant came in immediately after he hung up and directed her to the auditorium. They waited until a certain number of people were present and performed the ceremony at around 1:55. As she left, she saw they were already queueing up the next batch of approvals. 

Edited August 10, 2022 by PedroDaGr8

[PedroDaGr8 245]

1 hour ago, Some_one said:

I hope your wife gets to take her oath today. 
 

i forgot to mention they have a cut off time after which they do not do same day oaths. When they were talking my picture at the end there was a whiteboard with the names of the officers conducting the interviews and it stated the cutoff time is 2:45 pm. 
 

Since your wife is in her interview now she can make it before the cutoff. 

Yep she did! 

[Mv125 14]

40 minutes ago, PedroDaGr8 said:

She's now a US Citizen! The interview was gruelling for her.

 

The Interview appointment was for 12:45. We arrived at 12:10 and she went in at 12:20 without issue.

 

She was immediately directed to have her biometrics done (they were waived previously). From there she went to the waiting room and was seen right around her interview time. The interviewing officer was remote, she communicated with him via a tablet and headphones. She said the guy was quite gruff and never smiled once (or even said she got an answer correct) but never was out of line.

 

They started with the Civics Questions:

1. We elect a President for how many years?

2. Name one state that borders Canada.

3. Who was the first President?

4. What are two ways that Americans can participate in their democracy?

5. Who is the governor of your state?

6. What movement tried to end racial discrimination?

 

This was followed by the Reading:

She forgets but it was something to do with George Washington.

 

And Writing:

George Washington was the first president. 

 

Then he started confirming the N400 information. He didn't ask every single item in the N400 but asked a good chunk both initially and while waiting for submitted documents to be scanned in (which took a bunch of time because they were so busy).

 

After that, he asked for a joint bank account statement (we didn't bring it), so she suggested our most recent tax return which he accepted. He also asked for a copy of our lease, which we provided. From there he asked her a bunch of questions about our marriage (where did we get married, what's her job, what's my job, etc.) Interestingly, he never asked her for my (the US Citizen spouse) birth certificate or divorce papers or for our marriage certificate. 

 

At the end of the interview, while they were waiting for some documents to be scanned in by the staff, he asked "Do you see the printer?" To which she responded yes, thinking he wanted her to scan something in because it was taking SO long. He said that he is going to send something to her. It was her approval. When she picked it up, he said "Congratulations, you passed." He then stated that in Washington, you will have a same day ceremony and the assistant will be in shortly to provide you with further instructions,  before immediately hanging up. All in all the interview took around 45min-1 hour.

 

The assistant came in immediately after he hung up and directed her to the auditorium. They waited until a certain number of people were present and performed the ceremony at around 1:55. As she left, she saw they were already queueing up the next batch of approvals. 

Thanks for sharing and congrats to your family. Did your wife have a pending I-751?

[PedroDaGr8 245]

6 minutes ago, Mv125 said:

Thanks for sharing and congrats to your family. Did your wife have a pending I-751?

She did not, her I-751 was approved (without interview) right before she applied for the N400

[Hamilton 511]

3 hours ago, PedroDaGr8 said:

The interview was gruelling for her.

 

Thanks for providing so many details, and congrats to your wife for making it through the grueling process! 
 

It seems like maybe the virtual interviews are less pleasant than the in person ones. 

 

One thing I was wondering from your description -- when you said the officer requested materials during the interview and took them (like the tax transcript), how did your wife give them to him if he was remote? Was she supposed to operate a scanner or something? 

 

Also I'm guessing you didn't get to go in for her oath? 

 

[PedroDaGr8 245]

1 hour ago, Hamilton said:

One thing I was wondering from your description -- when you said the officer requested materials during the interview and took them (like the tax transcript), how did your wife give them to him if he was remote? Was she supposed to operate a scanner or something? 

 

Also I'm guessing you didn't get to go in for her oath? 

 

They had an assistant who was assigned to handle documents for all of the non-local interviews. The assistant took the document, scanned it, and sent it to the interviewing officer. As there was only one assistant, it took time to do this task. Time which the interviewing officer would fill by asking more questions! I think this was a big reason for how grueling it was. 

 

When she was done it was this same assistant who directed her to the oath ceremony. 

 

I was not allowed to enter the building, so I couldn't attend her oath ceremony. 

 

 

Edited August 11, 2022 by PedroDaGr8

[arnab221 29]

It looks like a huge expansion in virtual interview capability is the reason behind speeding up of the scheduling process for Seattle . Virtual interviews  do not need any offices , they can be done in small cubicles which means a lot of interviews can happen at the same time . Also this will eventually balance wait times across the country as officers from remote locations can interview applicants. 

I have a feeling that the majority of us will face a virtual interviewer. 

Edited August 11, 2022 by arnab221

[PedroDaGr8 245]

1 hour ago, arnab221 said:

It looks like a huge expansion in virtual interview capability is the reason behind speeding up of the scheduling process for Seattle . Virtual interviews  do not need any offices , they can be done in small cubicles which means a lot of interviews can happen at the same time . Also this will eventually balance wait times across the country as officers from remote locations can interview applicants. 

I have a feeling that the majority of us will face a virtual interviewer. 

I think this is very much correct. Seattle was one of the pilot sites for testing out this technology and it seems is one of the pilot sites for rolling it out as well. I think this technology will be USCIS achieves their 6 mo goals across all sites. It has definitely allowed Seattle to see a dramatically higher number of interviews than in the past (it wouldn't surprise me if they are naturalizing over 100 people per day right now). 

[Hamilton 511]

1 hour ago, PedroDaGr8 said:

I think this is very much correct. Seattle was one of the pilot sites for testing out this technology and it seems is one of the pilot sites for rolling it out as well. I think this technology will be USCIS achieves their 6 mo goals across all sites. It has definitely allowed Seattle to see a dramatically higher number of interviews than in the past (it wouldn't surprise me if they are naturalizing over 100 people per day right now). 

Wait, so your wife wasn't even in an office? Was she in a cubicle like those windows where people line up and have visa interviews side by side, and you can hear other people's responses? Because that sounds even more stressful that having a separate room/space where the interview is being conducted... 😕 

 

[PedroDaGr8 245]

2 hours ago, Hamilton said:

Wait, so your wife wasn't even in an office? Was she in a cubicle like those windows where people line up and have visa interviews side by side, and you can hear other people's responses? Because that sounds even more stressful that having a separate room/space where the interview is being conducted... 😕 

 

Correct, she wasn't in an office. She said: "In a cubicle, so I can hear others talking too, very distracting" She said there were no windows in the cubicle but there were about 10 cubes in the room and the headphones did not block the noise very well. She said she could easily hear everyone else if she wanted to. 

Edited August 11, 2022 by PedroDaGr8

[Hamilton 511]

18 minutes ago, PedroDaGr8 said:

Correct, she wasn't in an office. She said: "In a cubicle, so I can hear others talking too, very distracting" She said there were no windows in the cubicle but there were about 10 cubes in the room and the headphones did not block the noise very well. She said she could easily hear everyone else if she wanted to. 

Oh I see! Proper cubicles doesn't sound as bad -- at least you can't see everybody else. I was picturing something like this pic 😬 🙈

 

Thanks again for giving us so much info on what to expect! 

 

[arnab221 29]

The days of the individual interviews like we see the older videos has passed, will become the minority going forward. 

While the USCIS has not released a lot of photos on the new virtual interview process , but I assume its more like a barebones office cubicle with high separators ,  a drawer , a fixed tablet and a headset . I also visualize many adjacent cubicles and a rather noisy call center like atmosphere where lots of people anxiously facing their interviewer and answering questions rather loudly and crisply. 

The people are all sitting and given the high walls cannot see each other , but they can hear each other and it can be distracting. The bottleneck here is the admin who has to run around these folks sending and receiving documents.