N-400 Seattle (Part 2)

[melodsal 3]

  On 9/9/2022 at 3:15 AM, forthecookies said:

Oh wow. I applied 7/29 and booked an international trip over Thanksgiving, now I hope I can take the trip since it sounds like I may hear about an interview around then!

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I’m in the same boat. Will probably need to reschedule the interview if they keep on at the same pace!

[ChillinSea 5]

Had my interview yesterday. Showed up 30 mins early and they waved me right in. Went through security, then a checkin with fingerprint and photo, sent upstairs to a waiting room and waited for 10 minutes before I was called in. I had an in person interview. Took about 20 minutes. In sequence we covered 6 civics questions, reading, writing, recent travels in reverse chronological order (since filing the N-400), what I am doing now, what I was working on for the last 5 years, and then went over many of the questions in the N-400 (like organizations I am a part of, whether I have been arrested etc, been to a police station). The in person interview was great to have since I was concerned about audio quality. The officer was professional, courteous and pleasant to chat with.

 

After that I went downstairs and lined up to enter the naturalization room. There were about 6 of us. The officer provided information about what would happen in the ceremony, what we should expect to do next (social security update, voter registration) and to not laminate our certificates. There was a quick oath and then they handed out the certificates. Please check your certificate for errors since its a $550 charge to get a new certificate. 

 

Wish all of you best of luck and hopefully a pleasant experience like the one I had. Thank you for the support and camaraderie on my journey. 

 

[MexPhil 5]

  On 8/18/2022 at 2:48 AM, PedroDaGr8 said:

To clarify, she called at around 5:30-6:00pm in the evening (Pacific Time).

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wow..i saw your timeline and it says your BIOMETRICS is waived? Why is that? Are you a senior citizen? I had asked you because I'm processing my dad's N400 very soon and he is 76 y/o already. It says that biometrics is waived, but I am not sure if they meant the fee only or is the whole in-person biometric itself waived? Please enlighten us.

 

Thanks a lot and congratulations !!!!

[PedroDaGr8 247]

  On 9/9/2022 at 8:21 PM, MexPhil said:

wow..i saw your timeline and it says your BIOMETRICS is waived? Why is that? Are you a senior citizen? I had asked you because I'm processing my dad's N400 very soon and he is 76 y/o already. It says that biometrics is waived, but I am not sure if they meant the fee only or is the whole in-person biometric itself waived? Please enlighten us.

 

Thanks a lot and congratulations !!!!

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To be clear it was my wife's biometrics and yes hers were waived. Also, neither of us are close to senior citizen in age. At the time she applied, they were waiving the vast majority of biometrics.

 

Waiving biometrics means your dad doesn't have to go in to get his fingerprints taken again, they will reuse the prints taken in a previous case to perform the background checks. They do not waive the fee because most of that goes for the aforementioned background checks. That being said, when you dad goes for his interview, they will take his biometrics again and confirm they match the ones previously on file. 

Edited September 9, 2022 by PedroDaGr8

[Hamilton 511]

Hi folks, the journey is finally over - I'm officially a US citizen!! I loved when people shared detailed experiences on VJ, so here's mine: 

 

My interview was early in the morning. Parking was straightforward in the USCIS lot. I entered the building 15 minutes before my appointment time. There was no one ahead of me in security so it all went really smoothly - it functions like an airport security checkpoint, you have to take off your belt, shoes, jacket, etc. and put your bag through a scanner. Then at the next window, I got my photograph and fingerprints taken again, and then I was directed to go upstairs to the waiting room for my interview. 

 

My interview was virtual. A really friendly assistant came and took me to a large room with about 8ish office-style cubicles. I had to take out my passport, ID, and green card and put the rest of my stuff in a drawer. The interviewing officer turned on their video on the iPad the moment I sat down, and the interview began. She was very professional and very serious. We started with the reading and writing test, followed by the civics questions (and stopped after I got the first six correct). Then we went through a lot of the N400 questions (current employment, current and old addresses, many of the yes/no questions). I let her know about a correction I needed to make to the form, and it was no big deal -- she made it for me. She also asked me how I met my wife and if we rented/owned our house - but this didn't feel like an interrogation, just like a chat. She asked about our marriage evidence, and I told her about a few of the documents I had brought in. She wanted our latest tax transcript, so she sent a message to the assistant to come fetch it from me. The assistant took the papers and scanned them and then brought them back. While we waited (about 5-10 mins), the officer turned her video off and I just hung out 😄 Then she asked me to confirm all my details were correct on the iPad for my naturalization certificate, said I was approved, and sent an approval notice to the printer that was on the desk next to me. The only issue with the interview was that people in the room were really loud, and occasionally I had to ask the officer to repeat herself -- but it really wasn't a big deal. While the interview started out really serious, I chatted with the officer a little while she was entering things into her computer and we ended up having a nice conversation and joking a little too.

 

Then the assistant came back to fetch me and congratulated me a few times 😊, and I went back downstairs to the auditorium. The officer there took my green card and threw it in a bag 😂 it felt weird seeing it dumped into a bag like that after I've guarded it with my life for so long. I asked if my wife could come in for the ceremony and she said yes! So I texted my wife and met her outside, and then we both came back inside together (had to go through security again). There were about 15 other people at the ceremony and it was only about 10 minutes long, but it was still nice -- the officer smiled a lot and said how momentous the occasion was and how long our journey has been, and congratulated us. Then we said the oath and received our naturalization certificates and little US flags. Some folks posed for photographs in the auditorium afterwards. 

 

The whole thing took about 1.5 hours (30 min interview, 10 min ceremony, plus waiting around). Overall, it was a great experience. Everyone was SO nice and friendly and chatted with me and put me at ease -- the security guards, biometrics person, the assistant, the interviewing officer, and the ceremony officer. I'm so glad to be done! Good luck to the rest of you with interviews coming up, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

 

 

[LoveAndLight2045 18]

  On 9/9/2022 at 6:58 PM, ChillinSea said:

Had my interview yesterday. Showed up 30 mins early and they waved me right in. Went through security, then a checkin with fingerprint and photo, sent upstairs to a waiting room and waited for 10 minutes before I was called in. I had an in person interview. Took about 20 minutes. In sequence we covered 6 civics questions, reading, writing, recent travels in reverse chronological order (since filing the N-400), what I am doing now, what I was working on for the last 5 years, and then went over many of the questions in the N-400 (like organizations I am a part of, whether I have been arrested etc, been to a police station). The in person interview was great to have since I was concerned about audio quality. The officer was professional, courteous and pleasant to chat with.

 

After that I went downstairs and lined up to enter the naturalization room. There were about 6 of us. The officer provided information about what would happen in the ceremony, what we should expect to do next (social security update, voter registration) and to not laminate our certificates. There was a quick oath and then they handed out the certificates. Please check your certificate for errors since its a $550 charge to get a new certificate. 

 

Wish all of you best of luck and hopefully a pleasant experience like the one I had. Thank you for the support and camaraderie on my journey. 

 

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Congrats! Do you remember which questions were asked?

[LoveAndLight2045 18]

  On 9/10/2022 at 8:19 PM, Hamilton said:

Hi folks, the journey is finally over - I'm officially a US citizen!! I loved when people shared detailed experiences on VJ, so here's mine: 

 

My interview was early in the morning. Parking was straightforward in the USCIS lot. I entered the building 15 minutes before my appointment time. There was no one ahead of me in security so it all went really smoothly - it functions like an airport security checkpoint, you have to take off your belt, shoes, jacket, etc. and put your bag through a scanner. Then at the next window, I got my photograph and fingerprints taken again, and then I was directed to go upstairs to the waiting room for my interview. 

 

My interview was virtual. A really friendly assistant came and took me to a large room with about 8ish office-style cubicles. I had to take out my passport, ID, and green card and put the rest of my stuff in a drawer. The interviewing officer turned on their video on the iPad the moment I sat down, and the interview began. She was very professional and very serious. We started with the reading and writing test, followed by the civics questions (and stopped after I got the first six correct). Then we went through a lot of the N400 questions (current employment, current and old addresses, many of the yes/no questions). I let her know about a correction I needed to make to the form, and it was no big deal -- she made it for me. She also asked me how I met my wife and if we rented/owned our house - but this didn't feel like an interrogation, just like a chat. She asked about our marriage evidence, and I told her about a few of the documents I had brought in. She wanted our latest tax transcript, so she sent a message to the assistant to come fetch it from me. The assistant took the papers and scanned them and then brought them back. While we waited (about 5-10 mins), the officer turned her video off and I just hung out 😄 Then she asked me to confirm all my details were correct on the iPad for my naturalization certificate, said I was approved, and sent an approval notice to the printer that was on the desk next to me. The only issue with the interview was that people in the room were really loud, and occasionally I had to ask the officer to repeat herself -- but it really wasn't a big deal. While the interview started out really serious, I chatted with the officer a little while she was entering things into her computer and we ended up having a nice conversation and joking a little too.

 

Then the assistant came back to fetch me and congratulated me a few times 😊, and I went back downstairs to the auditorium. The officer there took my green card and threw it in a bag 😂 it felt weird seeing it dumped into a bag like that after I've guarded it with my life for so long. I asked if my wife could come in for the ceremony and she said yes! So I texted my wife and met her outside, and then we both came back inside together (had to go through security again). There were about 15 other people at the ceremony and it was only about 10 minutes long, but it was still nice -- the officer smiled a lot and said how momentous the occasion was and how long our journey has been, and congratulated us. Then we said the oath and received our naturalization certificates and little US flags. Some folks posed for photographs in the auditorium afterwards. 

 

The whole thing took about 1.5 hours (30 min interview, 10 min ceremony, plus waiting around). Overall, it was a great experience. Everyone was SO nice and friendly and chatted with me and put me at ease -- the security guards, biometrics person, the assistant, the interviewing officer, and the ceremony officer. I'm so glad to be done! Good luck to the rest of you with interviews coming up, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

 

 

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So glad to hear this, it seems we’ve been on the same schedule for a while now. Congrats my friend!!!

 

do you remember the civics questions you were asked? I’m not sure why but it’s the only part that makes me worry slightly

[arnab221 29]

  On 9/10/2022 at 8:19 PM, Hamilton said:

Hi folks, the journey is finally over - I'm officially a US citizen!! I loved when people shared detailed experiences on VJ, so here's mine: 

 

My interview was early in the morning. Parking was straightforward in the USCIS lot. I entered the building 15 minutes before my appointment time. There was no one ahead of me in security so it all went really smoothly - it functions like an airport security checkpoint, you have to take off your belt, shoes, jacket, etc. and put your bag through a scanner. Then at the next window, I got my photograph and fingerprints taken again, and then I was directed to go upstairs to the waiting room for my interview. 

 

My interview was virtual. A really friendly assistant came and took me to a large room with about 8ish office-style cubicles. I had to take out my passport, ID, and green card and put the rest of my stuff in a drawer. The interviewing officer turned on their video on the iPad the moment I sat down, and the interview began. She was very professional and very serious. We started with the reading and writing test, followed by the civics questions (and stopped after I got the first six correct). Then we went through a lot of the N400 questions (current employment, current and old addresses, many of the yes/no questions). I let her know about a correction I needed to make to the form, and it was no big deal -- she made it for me. She also asked me how I met my wife and if we rented/owned our house - but this didn't feel like an interrogation, just like a chat. She asked about our marriage evidence, and I told her about a few of the documents I had brought in. She wanted our latest tax transcript, so she sent a message to the assistant to come fetch it from me. The assistant took the papers and scanned them and then brought them back. While we waited (about 5-10 mins), the officer turned her video off and I just hung out 😄 Then she asked me to confirm all my details were correct on the iPad for my naturalization certificate, said I was approved, and sent an approval notice to the printer that was on the desk next to me. The only issue with the interview was that people in the room were really loud, and occasionally I had to ask the officer to repeat herself -- but it really wasn't a big deal. While the interview started out really serious, I chatted with the officer a little while she was entering things into her computer and we ended up having a nice conversation and joking a little too.

 

Then the assistant came back to fetch me and congratulated me a few times 😊, and I went back downstairs to the auditorium. The officer there took my green card and threw it in a bag 😂 it felt weird seeing it dumped into a bag like that after I've guarded it with my life for so long. I asked if my wife could come in for the ceremony and she said yes! So I texted my wife and met her outside, and then we both came back inside together (had to go through security again). There were about 15 other people at the ceremony and it was only about 10 minutes long, but it was still nice -- the officer smiled a lot and said how momentous the occasion was and how long our journey has been, and congratulated us. Then we said the oath and received our naturalization certificates and little US flags. Some folks posed for photographs in the auditorium afterwards. 

 

The whole thing took about 1.5 hours (30 min interview, 10 min ceremony, plus waiting around). Overall, it was a great experience. Everyone was SO nice and friendly and chatted with me and put me at ease -- the security guards, biometrics person, the assistant, the interviewing officer, and the ceremony officer. I'm so glad to be done! Good luck to the rest of you with interviews coming up, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

 

 

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Congratulations , super glad that its finally over for you . Take some time off and enjoy now . 

Then we went through a lot of the N400 questions (current employment, current and old addresses, many of the yes/no questions).

On the above ask , do they expect you to remember exactly the addresses that you lived in , or would the name of the city  suffice ? 

 

Edited September 11, 2022 by arnab221

[OldUser 8,809]

@arnab221 you never know who's going to run your interview. Just go through all addresses and make sure you remember them. As well as other facts.

[Hamilton 511]

  On 9/10/2022 at 9:56 PM, LoveAndLight2045 said:

So glad to hear this, it seems we’ve been on the same schedule for a while now. Congrats my friend!!!

 

do you remember the civics questions you were asked? I’m not sure why but it’s the only part that makes me worry slightly

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Thank you!! Yeah, I'll send you a message. But remember you only need to get 6 right from 10. You would have to fail half of the questions to not pass. 

[Hamilton 511]

  On 9/11/2022 at 2:18 AM, arnab221 said:

Congratulations , super glad that its finally over for you . Take some time off and enjoy now . 

Then we went through a lot of the N400 questions (current employment, current and old addresses, many of the yes/no questions).

On the above ask , do they expect you to remember exactly the addresses that you lived in , or would the name of the city  suffice ? 

 

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Thanks man! 

 

She actually only wanted my current and last address, and I gave the full address for both (including zip code etc). I made sure I remembered my older addresses too though, best to be prepared.

[Hamilton 511]

  On 9/9/2022 at 6:58 PM, ChillinSea said:

Had my interview yesterday. Showed up 30 mins early and they waved me right in. Went through security, then a checkin with fingerprint and photo, sent upstairs to a waiting room and waited for 10 minutes before I was called in. I had an in person interview. Took about 20 minutes. In sequence we covered 6 civics questions, reading, writing, recent travels in reverse chronological order (since filing the N-400), what I am doing now, what I was working on for the last 5 years, and then went over many of the questions in the N-400 (like organizations I am a part of, whether I have been arrested etc, been to a police station). The in person interview was great to have since I was concerned about audio quality. The officer was professional, courteous and pleasant to chat with.

 

After that I went downstairs and lined up to enter the naturalization room. There were about 6 of us. The officer provided information about what would happen in the ceremony, what we should expect to do next (social security update, voter registration) and to not laminate our certificates. There was a quick oath and then they handed out the certificates. Please check your certificate for errors since its a $550 charge to get a new certificate. 

 

Wish all of you best of luck and hopefully a pleasant experience like the one I had. Thank you for the support and camaraderie on my journey. 

 

Expand  

Congrats!! I wonder how they decide who gets a virtual or in person interview, or if it’s entirely random. Mine was virtual. 

[PedroDaGr8 247]

  On 9/10/2022 at 8:19 PM, Hamilton said:

Hi folks, the journey is finally over - I'm officially a US citizen!! I loved when people shared detailed experiences on VJ, so here's mine: 

 

My interview was early in the morning. Parking was straightforward in the USCIS lot. I entered the building 15 minutes before my appointment time. There was no one ahead of me in security so it all went really smoothly - it functions like an airport security checkpoint, you have to take off your belt, shoes, jacket, etc. and put your bag through a scanner. Then at the next window, I got my photograph and fingerprints taken again, and then I was directed to go upstairs to the waiting room for my interview. 

 

My interview was virtual. A really friendly assistant came and took me to a large room with about 8ish office-style cubicles. I had to take out my passport, ID, and green card and put the rest of my stuff in a drawer. The interviewing officer turned on their video on the iPad the moment I sat down, and the interview began. She was very professional and very serious. We started with the reading and writing test, followed by the civics questions (and stopped after I got the first six correct). Then we went through a lot of the N400 questions (current employment, current and old addresses, many of the yes/no questions). I let her know about a correction I needed to make to the form, and it was no big deal -- she made it for me. She also asked me how I met my wife and if we rented/owned our house - but this didn't feel like an interrogation, just like a chat. She asked about our marriage evidence, and I told her about a few of the documents I had brought in. She wanted our latest tax transcript, so she sent a message to the assistant to come fetch it from me. The assistant took the papers and scanned them and then brought them back. While we waited (about 5-10 mins), the officer turned her video off and I just hung out 😄 Then she asked me to confirm all my details were correct on the iPad for my naturalization certificate, said I was approved, and sent an approval notice to the printer that was on the desk next to me. The only issue with the interview was that people in the room were really loud, and occasionally I had to ask the officer to repeat herself -- but it really wasn't a big deal. While the interview started out really serious, I chatted with the officer a little while she was entering things into her computer and we ended up having a nice conversation and joking a little too.

 

Then the assistant came back to fetch me and congratulated me a few times 😊, and I went back downstairs to the auditorium. The officer there took my green card and threw it in a bag 😂 it felt weird seeing it dumped into a bag like that after I've guarded it with my life for so long. I asked if my wife could come in for the ceremony and she said yes! So I texted my wife and met her outside, and then we both came back inside together (had to go through security again). There were about 15 other people at the ceremony and it was only about 10 minutes long, but it was still nice -- the officer smiled a lot and said how momentous the occasion was and how long our journey has been, and congratulated us. Then we said the oath and received our naturalization certificates and little US flags. Some folks posed for photographs in the auditorium afterwards. 

 

The whole thing took about 1.5 hours (30 min interview, 10 min ceremony, plus waiting around). Overall, it was a great experience. Everyone was SO nice and friendly and chatted with me and put me at ease -- the security guards, biometrics person, the assistant, the interviewing officer, and the ceremony officer. I'm so glad to be done! Good luck to the rest of you with interviews coming up, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

 

 

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Congratulations! Also, that is amazing news that your spouse could attend. I was not allowed to attend when my wife had her ceremony, so that changed recently!

[LoveAndLight2045 18]

Hey folks. 
 

quick question about documents to bring: “Your spouse's birth or naturalization certificate or certificate of citizenship.”

My partner can’t enter in possession of her birth certificate prior to the interview. Will her passport be okay instead? Not sure how we missed it in the interview invite letter

[Truth_Seeker 14]

  On 9/12/2022 at 4:04 PM, LoveAndLight2045 said:

Hey folks. 
 

quick question about documents to bring: “Your spouse's birth or naturalization certificate or certificate of citizenship.”

My partner can’t enter in possession of her birth certificate prior to the interview. Will her passport be okay instead? Not sure how we missed it in the interview invite letter

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Passport should suffice.  The thing that is that if you are coming in under the 3 year rule or the 319b rule is that your spouse is a USC.  There passport is sufficient to prove this.