Naturalization interview

[da95826 387]

8 hours ago, Mike E said:

OP has a 10 yer green card. Ergo no combo interview. Not comparable.

Agree it is not the same as a combo interview but if n400 is being sought under the 3 year rule there is a small chance the IO may want to interview the spouse. It would be rare but not impossible as it is still a marriage based case. 

In any case, my main point was clear: in the Sacramento office in May they were allowing spouses to enter the building and enter the waiting room with just a n400 invitation. I don’t think that it is likely the spouse would be called into the stand alone n400 interview and never allowed into an n400 interview under the 5 year rule.

[Cathi 5,795]

16 hours ago, Mike E said:

i think the  security guard won’t let the U.S. citizen into the building. 

I went to my husband's interview. In fact, after he passed the IO came out to the waiting room and introduced himself to me.

[JeanneAdil 6,724]

5 hours ago, Mike E said:

Yes, in 2019

my friend from  south anerica had interview and husband had to attend  may 2022

 

the notice should say this if its required

 

and we applied with 10 year green card under 3 year rule (sometimes this is just a choice)

[Bob in Boston 767]

7 hours ago, Mike E said:

8 hours ago, JeanneAdil said:

i went in

Yes, in 2019

I went in in March of 22

[Scandi 4,192]

3 hours ago, Cathi said:

I went to my husband's interview. In fact, after he passed the IO came out to the waiting room and introduced himself to me.

Huge difference between "going to the interview" and "entering the building". As said before, the US spouse will not be going to the interview, s/he will be sitting in the waiting room or be asked to wait outside the building.

Edited November 2, 2022 by Scandi

[Cathi 5,795]

9 minutes ago, Scandi said:

Huge difference between "going to the interview" and "entering the building". As said before, the US spouse will not be going to the interview, s/he will be sitting in the waiting room or be asked to wait outside the building.

Um, no, there isn't a huge difference, at least not for us. And stop being condescending. I was not just "entering the building" in some random waiting room, I was literally sitting about 10 feet from the door where my husband was interviewed.  I was in the area where they do the actual interviews and guess what? The IO asked me a few questions about our marriage when he came out to introduce himself. I will NEVER understand why someone, who doesn't know me, my husband or our journey, would think to comment on something they know absolutely NOTHING about. I mean, were you there with us? I think not. 

[Scandi 4,192]

7 minutes ago, Cathi said:

Um, no, there isn't a huge difference, at least not for us. And stop being condescending. I was not just "entering the building" in some random waiting room, I was literally sitting about 10 feet from the door where my husband was interviewed.  I was in the area where they do the actual interviews and guess what? The IO asked me a few questions about our marriage when he came out to introduce himself. I will NEVER understand why someone, who doesn't know me, my husband or our journey, would think to comment on something they know absolutely NOTHING about. I mean, were you there with us? I think not. 

Still a huge difference, you were never at the interview. That's what we're discussing here. You were in the waiting room, you weren't allowed at the interview. It's really that simple, and that's the case for pretty much everyone - no US citizen spouse allowed at the interview. 💁‍♀️

[Naes 12,205]

Had interview 2 weeks ago under 3 year rule, pending i751. Came to us as a k1 and had my AOS interview in the same office. Completely regular and was not expecting an interview for I-751.

 

n400 did not mention my husband at all, nor had any interview set for combo. My husband came anyway, we thought maybe they’ll let them in the building so I won’t wait alone.

 

IO, first took in my husband for an interview. It was funny cause I was telling my husband they probably never even talk to you, and also explained how some people get stokes and what that is 😂 our interviews were always mellow before n400. N400 was nice interview too but I really was confused for a sec.

 

anyway 10 min later I went in and officer continued with 2 of us together. Continued to my civics etc.

 

so I don’t really think there’s a definite rule there

To sum up

- nothing regarding husband coming to interview on paper

- was not expecting interview for i751 nor had any change to my status regarding interview

- husband went in alone at the start

- they did my civic test etc all with my husband there sitting next to me
- Got approved there and oath in the next ceremony same day

 

 

 

Edited November 2, 2022 by Naes

[OldUser 8,084]

Thanks for sharing your experience @Naes

The OP doesn't have pending I-751 though, so it's slightly different situation.

[Naes 12,205]

8 minutes ago, OldUser said:

Thanks for sharing your experience @Naes

The OP doesn't have pending I-751 though, so it's slightly different situation.

You’re right.

 

in my mind cause I didn’t get anything for the pending i751, it was just a n400 interview. But in the end that was the combo 👍

[da95826 387]

2 hours ago, Scandi said:

no US citizen spouse allowed at the interview. 

Not always true, we had a combo i751/n400 interview (only a n400 invitation) . The US citizen spouse and LPR was called in to the interview together i751 first, then n400 second. I, the US spouse, remained throughout and was not asked to leave during the n400 interview. I know this is not common but it happened in our case.

 

USCIS does whatever it needs to do, they may be general rules but there are exceptions to the rules. So generally the US citizen spouse will not be allowed in the n400 interview, but sometimes they will. The officer may have questions for a spouse in a 3 year n400 case but usually not. It is good if the spouse is around for a 3 year n400 case and is a must be there for an i751n interview.

Edited November 3, 2022 by da95826

[da95826 387]

2 hours ago, Naes said:

To sum up

- nothing regarding husband coming to interview on paper

- was not expecting interview for i751 nor had any change to my status regarding interview

- husband went in alone at the start

- they did my civic test etc all with my husband there sitting next to me
- Got approved there and oath in the next ceremony same day

Almost exact same thing happened in our case except we were called in for i751 together and it took 3 weeks to approve both cases i751/n400, and 3 more weeks for the oath ceremony at the Sacramento field office.

Edited November 3, 2022 by da95826

[Scandi 4,192]

1 hour ago, da95826 said:

Not always true, we had a combo i751/n400 interview (only a n400 invitation) . The US citizen spouse and LPR was called in to the interview together i751 first, then n400 second. I, the US spouse, remained throughout and was not asked to leave during the n400 interview. I know this is not common but it happened in our case.

 

USCIS does whatever it needs to do, they may be general rules but there are exceptions to the rules. So generally the US citizen spouse will not be allowed in the n400 interview, but sometimes they will. The officer may have questions for a spouse in a 3 year n400 case but usually not. It is good if the spouse is around for a 3 year n400 case and is a must be there for an i751n interview.

Yeah we have already established that a combo interview is very different from an "only" N-400 interview. The spouse is needed for the i-751 and is not always asked to leave for the N-400. That is a whole different thing and does not apply to OPs situation.

Edited November 3, 2022 by Scandi