N400 November 2022 filers

[Wadewilsones 3]

I did apply online on November 18th. Biometrics was reused and since then silence. Also, I have an I-751, which is pending for 15 months. Kind of tired of waiting.

Edited February 20, 2023 by Wadewilsones

[Mike E 11,741]

On 2/2/2023 at 2:21 PM, Mike E said:

Today her oath was scheduled for Friday February 24, at a federal court house in Tucson in a “special proceedings” court room.   Note that there is no name change being requested. I plan to attend. 

Iris took oath of citizenship as scheduled. The appointment listed on the letter was 12:30 pm. I looked up the court house, and interestingly it said 1:30 pm.  We still aimed to get there before 12:30 pm.

 

https://www.azd.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Naturalization Ceremony-Tucson.pdf

 

The presiding judge listed was Jennifer G. Zipps ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Zipps ) who was appointed to the bench by President Obama after her predecessor was killed in a mass shooting in 2011.

 

Judge Zipps did in fact preside over the proceedings.

 

We parked at a nearby garage in downtown Tucson, around NOON. We walked from there and  arrived at the door of the court house with a line of about 20 people ahead of us. As expected  there is security check point  at this court house. By the time we got to the actual court room it was 12:24 pm, and there was a line of 40 or so people ahead of us to enter the court room. While in line, a USCIS officer checked for Iris's oath letter, and quizzed her on travels (yes, one week in Mexico). The officer then kicked me out of the line and told me I could enter the court room, provided I stayed behind the gate area. In front of the gate is where normally jurors, prosecutors, defendants, and the judge sit. There were few seats left for guests to sit in, but I managed to find one.

 

Iris was one of the last applicants to enter the gate area. The lucky few who came after her got to sit in the jury box, which must have been cool. 

 

Another USCIS officer acted as emcee before Judge Zipps arrived, and ran through stuff like registering to vote, getting a passport, and reminded those applicants who had kids with green cards in their physical and legal custody that those kids would become citizens. He then said they had two paths to evidence of citizenship: passport or certificate of citizenship. The officer said he was not allowed to state which was better. Which was weird to me. The latter is obviously better, and there isn't actually a choice between the two: get both. Plus this close to the border, get the kid a passport card too.

 

The officer announced the countries being represented in today's field of applicants, and asked applicants to rise when their country of citizenship was called. He was hard to understand and Iris missed out when Burma was mentioned. As expected  Mexico dominated this field of applicants. Canada was a distant number 2, as in exactly 2 people out of 50 stood up. Just one European (Finland). 

 

Finally Judge Zipps arrived. She first invited guests who were standing in the back to sit in one of the chairs (i.e. the jury box!) in front of the gate, but no takers.

 

USCIS (or the Daughters of the Revolution who were the organizers) had arranged for a one of applicants to leads us in the pledge of allegiance. She was seized by stage fright (which alarmed her husband who was sitting next to me) and quickly another applicant was asked to issue the pledge. Understandably he was a caught off guard and had a slow start. After the first couple lines, the audience helped him out and we finished it with him in roaring fashion.

 

We then stood for the national anthem.

 

The judge read in alphabetical order the names of each country being represented and this time Burma was heard by Iris and she stood.

 

Rwanda came and went, with no mention of Mexico. So for 5 seconds,  the Mexicans must have thought they were skipped. Then she announced Mexico, over half of the applicants stood, and the crowd roared its approval!  Perhaps she is this playful when sentencing convicts.

 

Next the judge asked any of the applicants or guests to approach the podium to say whatever they wanted. It was quite moving to listen to the words of applicants and guests, as they talked about what being a U.S. citizen meant to them or their congratulations to the field of applicants and in particular their loved whom they came to support.

 

I lost it when a Cambodian in a dress uniform (afact, a U.S. Coast Guard chief petty officer or higher) spoke about how he would do anything to protect this country, moments before he was about to take oath. I was prepared with tissues.

 

This went on for 45 minutes as dozens had their say, ranging from toddlers to folks well past 60. I had the impression Judge Zipps would have waited until everyone had their say well into the evening if necessary.

 

Finally the judge directed her clerk to lead the field of applicants in reciting  the Oath Of Citizenship.

 

We rose as the judge left the court room and viewed a recorded video message from President Biden. 

 

After some photos,

we were out of there, and headed to dinner to celebrate. We did not wake this morning hung over, but did sleep more soundly than usual.

 

I was surprised the certificate didn't come with a paper folder with gold USCIS logo as mine did. Maybe they ran out.

 

Also surprised that the photo they used didn't come from the biometrics taken at her interview and instead was that of her green card.

 

Overall the entire experience is consistent with that I've seen portrayed by Hollywood, as opposed to mine in 2018 which was nice, but the Campbell, CA community center lacks the grandeur of a federal court room.

 

On to the passport application on Monday.

 

Some takeaways if you are having a court room oath:

• Your guests should arrive early to get a front row seat. This court room had just 3 rows of seating.
• You however should enter the court room as late as possible you want a seat in the jurors box. 
• Bring a rigid folder to secure your certificate

 

 

 

 

[Lornaevo 48]

Silence since 11/21/22. 

[Wadewilsones 3]

52 minutes ago, Lornaevo said:

Silence since 11/21/22. 

Same, no movement since 11/18/2023. In my office, citizenship takes about 9 months now according Visa Journey.

[Saman1103 41]

Same. Waiting since 11/10

[Lornaevo 48]

23 hours ago, Wadewilsones said:

Same, no movement since 11/18/2023. In my office, citizenship takes about 9 months now according Visa Journey.

 

11 hours ago, Saman1103 said:

Same. Waiting since 11/10

Did you guys file online?

[Saman1103 41]

2 minutes ago, Lornaevo said:

 

Did you guys file online?

Yes, online. Is that faster or slower? 

[Lornaevo 48]

Just now, Saman1103 said:

Yes, online. Is that faster or slower? 

From what I read, it didn’t matter either way. But my mom filed online also and is still waiting for an interview date. So that might be a factor. 

[Mike E 11,741]

44 minutes ago, Saman1103 said:

Yes, online. Is that faster or slower? 

Faster 

[Wadewilsones 3]

8 hours ago, Lornaevo said:

 

Did you guys file online?

Yes, I did. 

[LilyDim 20]

I submitted N400 application on 11/27 (based on 5 years less 90 days) in Houston, Texas. 

 

On 2/27 I had my interview and I was approved for citizenship. Currently just waiting for the oath ceremony to be scheduled. 

 

I will say that the interview process was very organized and my officer super nice and made the whole process seem like a formality and a quick chat. I've had an I90 case open for 2 years and 2 months now, and the N400 got completed in 3 months. 

 

Good luck to everyone still waiting!

Edited March 3, 2023 by LilyDim

[Lornaevo 48]

9 hours ago, LilyDim said:

I submitted N400 application on 11/27 (based on 5 years less 90 days) in Houston, Texas. 

 

On 2/27 I had my interview and I was approved for citizenship. Currently just waiting for the oath ceremony to be scheduled. 

 

I will say that the interview process was very organized and my officer super nice and made the whole process seem like a formality and a quick chat. I've had an I90 case open for 2 years and 2 months now, and the N400 got completed in 3 months. 

 

Good luck to everyone still waiting!

Did you file online or mail?

[Knome 245]

Got my N400 interview done today (pending I751 application) . Me, my spouse, my daughter and my step daughter we all went for the interview. The interviewer was a super duper nice lady.
She called all of us inside. She took a combo interview at first,looked at our file asked us basically if we are living together and did we file the taxes. We gave her the tax transcripts for last 4 year. She asked us if anything else we want to submit besides what is already there in file. We told her we already submitted everything.
She asked me the whole address. Asked my spouse her name and date of birth. After that she told my spouse that she is going to take my N400 interview and she escorted all of them out.
After thy left she asked me few more questions like how do we met, was I married before. How much taxes we paid. I told her we paid more than 6K in taxes this year. She was surprised n asked me how as we have two kids. I told her my n my spouses salary and that we wern't expecting either that we will have to pay that much.
Then she started N400 interview: 
Question:
Who is the speaker of house?
Which territory did US buy from france.?
What is the capital of your state?
What is the supreme law of the land?
Who makes the federal laws?
What does the constitution do?

Reading and Writing question was:
Where is the White House?
White House in the Washington D.C.

She said she is still checking if thy have tranfer the I751 file in the system. She tried twice n told me that she has messaged them about it but thy havent responded yet. She said she will approve it once she will get the file in system and that she is sorry she cant tick the congratulations box in the paper. She said wait for the oath ceremony letter to arrive in mail. I told her its ok no problem. She escorted me outside. Overall experience was really nice.

[Knome 245]

5 hours ago, Knome said:

Got my N400 interview done today (pending I751 application) . Me, my spouse, my daughter and my step daughter we all went for the interview. The interviewer was a super duper nice lady.
She called all of us inside. She took a combo interview at first,looked at our file asked us basically if we are living together and did we file the taxes. We gave her the tax transcripts for last 4 year. She asked us if anything else we want to submit besides what is already there in file. We told her we already submitted everything.
She asked me the whole address. Asked my spouse her name and date of birth. After that she told my spouse that she is going to take my N400 interview and she escorted all of them out.
After thy left she asked me few more questions like how do we met, was I married before. How much taxes we paid. I told her we paid more than 6K in taxes this year. She was surprised n asked me how as we have two kids. I told her my n my spouses salary and that we wern't expecting either that we will have to pay that much.
Then she started N400 interview: 
Question:
Who is the speaker of house?
Which territory did US buy from france.?
What is the capital of your state?
What is the supreme law of the land?
Who makes the federal laws?
What does the constitution do?

Reading and Writing question was:
Where is the White House?
White House in the Washington D.C.

She said she is still checking if thy have tranfer the I751 file in the system. She tried twice n told me that she has messaged them about it but thy havent responded yet. She said she will approve it once she will get the file in system and that she is sorry she cant tick the congratulations box in the paper. She said wait for the oath ceremony letter to arrive in mail. I told her its ok no problem. She escorted me outside. Overall experience was really nice.

Just now I checked my case tracker and I got an alert saying I 751 was tranferred to another office. 😁

 

Note : BTW I forgot to mention while talking to interviewer about my I751 application I told her my 751 application is pending for 1 year 3 months now, then the interviewer told me since I filed N400, my I 751 application will jump the line and will be approved sooner. 

[1022Lap0G 10]

On 1/26/2023 at 3:54 AM, 1022Lap0G said:

Glad news, interview scheduled for 07/March/2023 at 12:10 PM for me & 12:50 PM for my wife. This forum and this thread has been a great guide for many of us. Thank you so much.

 

Question: Given the time, is same day oath possible for both of us? 

Applied on 5/Nov/2022

Got notice on 17/Jan/2023

Interview and oath ceremony on 7/March/2023

City: Seattle

 

My wife, my minor kid & I became citizens on 7/March/2023. Here are some of my experience worth sharing,

 

1. I read in the forums we assemble outside the building 15 minutes before our scheduled time. But my experience was different. We showed our interview letters 15 minutes before my scheduled time and we all were let in. My wife 30 minutes after my appointment was also allowed to go in.

2. I was given a numbered appointment chit immediately. But my wife had to wait for a few minutes to get one. But Biometrics for both of us were done together right after we checked in.

3. My advice: Even if your interview (& your family members interview) are scheduled apart, go together. There is high likeliness that you all get in together. Also from my experience, getting in even 30 minutes earlier was a possibility. In fact the guy who checked-in us into the interview line suggested the same view.

4. We all would go to the first floor for interview. If you take the stairs, it ends in first floor. The waiting area there  is for citizenship interviewees. Interviewers come from one of the many locked doors either escorting interviewees with whom they just had a chat with or calling out the number from chit. They will escort you inside to their room.

5. There was a tablet to read and write. Stylus pen was provided to write a sentence.

6. Once done, a printout paper mentioning I passed, was provided. Then you come out into the waiting area. I preferred to wait for my wife to complete her interview so that we all could go for oath together. That took another 45 minutes or so. We went down to the auditorium for taking oath. It was 1:30ish by then. 

7. Green card for adults were no longer required and taken away. My kid's green card was left alone for us to submit during passport application as a proof of legal residence. Both of us got a package each. There was a passport application, instruction on how to register to vote, message from the US President, a flag and few other brochures. We were told the oath ceremony will start at the top of the hour.

8. Roughly less than 100 people were in the auditorium. Relatives & friends were also allowed. Only Oath takers stood up and repeated the oath loud as the officer articulated it. 

9. Then a message from the President was played. Then citizenship certificate was handed over by the officer. 

10. People took pictures at the dais. 

 

We wish all applicants all the best. Thanks.