November 2022 I-751 Filers

[A110 96]

I was dealing with some work stuff and applied for N400 in March Instead of November. Having applied in March I am still pending on my cases (been 93 days or so). Wish I had applied sooner  

[kissp 8]

Hello Everyone, I have some information to share, hoping it will be useful for others.

Here is a bit of background:

• I submitted my N-400 (naturalization) in November.
• In April, I received a notice that I had been scheduled for the N-400 interview in May.
• My I-751 (removal of condition) case was still outstanding when I got scheduled for my N-400 interview.
• My N-400 and I-751 were at different processing centers.

In April, after I was scheduled for my N-400 interview, I uploaded a request for a combo interview. I also sent this request as a physical mail to the USCIS field office where my interview was scheduled (you can find the address of the field office on the interview letter).

On the day of the interview, the following happened:

• I arrived about 25 minutes before my interview time and passed through security without any issues.
• I waited approximately 75 minutes before being called in for the interview.

The interview itself:

• The officer informed me that since my I-751 was at a different processing center, they would first need to request a transfer in order to adjudicate my case. They told me that they could not make a final decision that day and that I would have to return at a later time. They also informed me that they had requested the transfer, but it would take at least 1-2 days.
• Consequently, my spouse was there but was not needed for the interview.
• Interestingly, I saw the physical letter I had sent to request the combo interview in my file, even the envelope was there. So they definitely received the letter. I will expand later on what I think happened.
• We then proceeded with the N-400 interview.
• I was asked the following questions:
  • Reading: "Who lives in the White House?"
  • Writing: "The President lives in the White House."
  • Civics: 1. "Who does a U.S. Senator represent?" 2. "How many justices are on the Supreme Court?" 3. "Who is the Chief Justice of the United States now?" 4. "What major event happened on September 11, 2001, in the United States?" 5. "Name one state that borders Mexico." 6. "Why does the flag have 50 stars?"
• Then the Yes/No questions.
• They also asked me if I still worked at the job indicated in my application. I told them that I didn't and wanted to present my offer letter for my new job, which I hadn't started yet. The officer said they didn't need the letter and just made a note in my file. It didn't seem to make a difference, which was very relieving because I was worried about this. But as @OldUser mentioned in a prior post, having a job isn't a requirement for citizenship.
• After the interview concluded, I received a form called N-652, which stated, "You passed the test of English and U.S. history and government. A decision cannot yet be made about your application."
• Make sure to hold on to the N-652, as this paper will have the name of the interviewing officer and will be required for any follow-ups.

After the interview:

• We went home, and the longest two weeks of my life began. I checked the status daily but saw no movement other than a notification that my I-751 case was transferred to a different office for faster processing.
• Then my new job asked me to fill out the I-9 paperwork. Since I knew that physical mail would eventually reach the right person, I wrote a letter addressed to my case officer explaining that I needed to fill out the I-9 paperwork and inquired about the timeline of my case. It's important to note that I was careful not to exert pressure or anything like that. I simply said that I'd like to know the timeline if possible because if it would take longer for my case to move forward, I would fill out the I-9 paperwork as an LPR; if not, I'd wait until my oath ceremony and fill it out accordingly.
• I sent the letter on a Wednesday morning with overnight post.
• On Friday, I got the notification that I was recommended for naturalization and was in line to be scheduled for the Oath Ceremony. But this isn't the crazy part.
• On Saturday, I received a phone call from the officer asking if I was free that afternoon to come in for the Oath Ceremony. Wow!
• Of course, I said yes and drove down there. After a quick interview asking if I had gotten into any trouble since my last interview, I waited in the room for the oath ceremony. After about two hours, I finally attended the oath ceremony and became a U.S. citizen.

It was surreal, as I didn't really have time to mentally process this. As a matter of fact, I still can't. This has been a very long journey for me. I started as an F1 student over a decade ago and have gone through OPT, H1B, and the whole nine yards before applying for my green card.

Here are the important takeaways from my story:

1. Have courage. Everyone's story is different, and it doesn't mean anything if your case takes longer or not. I feel I got lucky with this job thing, and the officer had compassion for me. Obviously, don't make up a lie just to get things moving, but if you find yourself in a particular situation that needs help, I think it's okay to contact the officer politely in writing who interviewed you. But also try to gauge the vibe of your officer. My officer gave off an "I want to be helpful" vibe ;-)
2. Once you are scheduled for an interview, probably no one will look at your file again until the day of the interview. So if your I-751 is at a different processing center than your N-400 and you don't see a "Case was Transferred Notice," you are guaranteed to have to go back again for the Oath Ceremony.
3. Because of the above, I suggest you upload your request for the combo interview as soon as possible, preferably before you get scheduled for the interview.

I hope this helps, and I pray for everyone's case to go smoothly. Let me know if you have any questions.

[OldUser 6,920]

8 minutes ago, kissp said:

Hello Everyone, I have some information to share, hoping it will be useful for others.

Here is a bit of background:

• I submitted my N-400 (naturalization) in November.
• In April, I received a notice that I had been scheduled for the N-400 interview in May.
• My I-751 (removal of condition) case was still outstanding when I got scheduled for my N-400 interview.
• My N-400 and I-751 were at different processing centers.

In April, after I was scheduled for my N-400 interview, I uploaded a request for a combo interview. I also sent this request as a physical mail to the USCIS field office where my interview was scheduled (you can find the address of the field office on the interview letter).

On the day of the interview, the following happened:

• I arrived about 25 minutes before my interview time and passed through security without any issues.
• I waited approximately 75 minutes before being called in for the interview.

The interview itself:

• The officer informed me that since my I-751 was at a different processing center, they would first need to request a transfer in order to adjudicate my case. They told me that they could not make a final decision that day and that I would have to return at a later time. They also informed me that they had requested the transfer, but it would take at least 1-2 days.
• Consequently, my spouse was there but was not needed for the interview.
• Interestingly, I saw the physical letter I had sent to request the combo interview in my file, even the envelope was there. So they definitely received the letter. I will expand later on what I think happened.
• We then proceeded with the N-400 interview.
• I was asked the following questions:
  • Reading: "Who lives in the White House?"
  • Writing: "The President lives in the White House."
  • Civics: 1. "Who does a U.S. Senator represent?" 2. "How many justices are on the Supreme Court?" 3. "Who is the Chief Justice of the United States now?" 4. "What major event happened on September 11, 2001, in the United States?" 5. "Name one state that borders Mexico." 6. "Why does the flag have 50 stars?"
• Then the Yes/No questions.
• They also asked me if I still worked at the job indicated in my application. I told them that I didn't and wanted to present my offer letter for my new job, which I hadn't started yet. The officer said they didn't need the letter and just made a note in my file. It didn't seem to make a difference, which was very relieving because I was worried about this. But as @OldUser mentioned in a prior post, having a job isn't a requirement for citizenship.
• After the interview concluded, I received a form called N-652, which stated, "You passed the test of English and U.S. history and government. A decision cannot yet be made about your application."
• Make sure to hold on to the N-652, as this paper will have the name of the interviewing officer and will be required for any follow-ups.

After the interview:

• We went home, and the longest two weeks of my life began. I checked the status daily but saw no movement other than a notification that my I-751 case was transferred to a different office for faster processing.
• Then my new job asked me to fill out the I-9 paperwork. Since I knew that physical mail would eventually reach the right person, I wrote a letter addressed to my case officer explaining that I needed to fill out the I-9 paperwork and inquired about the timeline of my case. It's important to note that I was careful not to exert pressure or anything like that. I simply said that I'd like to know the timeline if possible because if it would take longer for my case to move forward, I would fill out the I-9 paperwork as an LPR; if not, I'd wait until my oath ceremony and fill it out accordingly.
• I sent the letter on a Wednesday morning with overnight post.
• On Friday, I got the notification that I was recommended for naturalization and was in line to be scheduled for the Oath Ceremony. But this isn't the crazy part.
• On Saturday, I received a phone call from the officer asking if I was free that afternoon to come in for the Oath Ceremony. Wow!
• Of course, I said yes and drove down there. After a quick interview asking if I had gotten into any trouble since my last interview, I waited in the room for the oath ceremony. After about two hours, I finally attended the oath ceremony and became a U.S. citizen.

It was surreal, as I didn't really have time to mentally process this. As a matter of fact, I still can't. This has been a very long journey for me. I started as an F1 student over a decade ago and have gone through OPT, H1B, and the whole nine yards before applying for my green card.

Here are the important takeaways from my story:

1. Have courage. Everyone's story is different, and it doesn't mean anything if your case takes longer or not. I feel I got lucky with this job thing, and the officer had compassion for me. Obviously, don't make up a lie just to get things moving, but if you find yourself in a particular situation that needs help, I think it's okay to contact the officer politely in writing who interviewed you. But also try to gauge the vibe of your officer. My officer gave off an "I want to be helpful" vibe 😉
2. Once you are scheduled for an interview, probably no one will look at your file again until the day of the interview. So if your I-751 is at a different processing center than your N-400 and you don't see a "Case was Transferred Notice," you are guaranteed to have to go back again for the Oath Ceremony.
3. Because of the above, I suggest you upload your request for the combo interview as soon as possible, preferably before you get scheduled for the interview.

I hope this helps, and I pray for everyone's case to go smoothly. Let me know if you have any questions.

What an amazing story, congratulations! I think uploading request for combo as you file N-400 is the best, because it gives a lot of heads up to USCIS.

Sounds like a happy end, don't forget to stop by VJ 😃

Edited June 13 by OldUser

[Regdkp 53]

I am getting ready to apply for N-400, and I just received an update to my pending I-751. It was about reusing the fingerprints. Some movement after almost 20 months. 

[gogogo786 38]

1 hour ago, Regdkp said:

I am getting ready to apply for N-400, and I just received an update to my pending I-751. It was about reusing the fingerprints. Some movement after almost 20 months. 

I too just got the same update on my pending 751 about the fingerprints reuse. And seems like a whole bunch of other 751 cases with similar timeline got the same update as well. 
I do have my N-400 interview scheduled for July 1st.

[Sweetdreaming 397]

29 minutes ago, gogogo786 said:

I too just got the same update on my pending 751 about the fingerprints reuse. And seems like a whole bunch of other 751 cases with similar timeline got the same update as well. 
I do have my N-400 interview scheduled for July 1st.

 

Same update, Jan 2023 filer.

[Regdkp 53]

All the best for the interview. 

I see. Great to see some update. 

[A110 96]

I also got the "Case Was Updated To Show Fingerprints Were Taken" ,either someone is working those cases or its just a random update. Most likely random since they all happened at the same time, but if it's random why only a subset of the cases as per casestatusext?

[Sweetdreaming 397]

Hopefully it means it's part of the next batch of applications to be reviewed 

[whiterose123 95]

I just got my N-400 interview scheduled ! No news on the I-751 though 

[OldUser 6,920]

26 minutes ago, whiterose123 said:

I just got my N-400 interview scheduled ! No news on the I-751 though 

Good luck! Assume combo by default. 

[whiterose123 95]

9 hours ago, OldUser said:

Good luck! Assume combo by default. 

Thanks! I hope so!

[A110 96]

On 6/21/2024 at 9:37 AM, Sweetdreaming said:

Hopefully it means it's part of the next batch of applications to be reviewed 

Just checked casestatusext , so many cases got the update and I don't think it could mean much since around 900 people got updated for a block of 3500, there is no way they'd process that many cases in 3 months imho

[OldUser 6,920]

1 hour ago, A110 said:

Just checked casestatusext , so many cases got the update and I don't think it could mean much since around 900 people got updated for a block of 3500, there is no way they'd process that many cases in 3 months imho

Agreed, it really doesn't mean these cases will be decided soon. There was over a year in my case between biometrics reused and decision.

[Letspaintcookies 2,310]

My VJ prediction just came in saying approval could be any day now. Which would be a year early since Vermont still shows 29 months, but hey, I'd take it. I did file for naturalization in April but haven't heard anything besides the 'actively reviewing' status mid May. It will happen when it happens I guess 🙂