Had my combo i751 and N400 interview yesterday and I'm nervous

[Fromthemit 23]

I'll try to be as detailed as I can I'm totally freaking out over here .

Case History,
All at DET center 

In a relationship with USC spouse for 4 years  prior to marriage. (I was on DACA)

Married in  April 2016
Filed for AOS the next month. 
Interviewed and approved on the spot in September 2016 for AOS and received Conditional green card a few weeks later 

Marriage got rocky mid 2017 ultimately filed for divorce end of 2017, divorce finalized may 2018

Filed I751 August 2018 and then the long wait 

Met my current spouse in 2018 and was remarried at the end of 2018 (still married)

Filed N400 this year in May after the 5years had elapsed 

Received first interview appointment for last October. After waiting in the lobby of the agent came out to let me know that they couldn't find my paperwork from my i-751 and that they couldn't proceed with the interview that day and they would reschedule it after they found my paperwork. 

Got a notice on October 31st of new interview date of December 5th and just had my interview yesterday.

It was a combo interview i751 and N400 as the i751 had still been pending.

The agent I had was a bit more stern than I had anticipated, however I tried to keep my cool and stick to what I knew. 

Issues I ran into:
A page of my judgement of divorce was missing from my original file. Luckily I had read on here to make sure to have extra certified copies and I gave them one copy. 

Second issue and this would be the most pivotal. Midway through which you told me that he could not approve my i751. He still has a lot of questions to which I instantly told him I have even more proof of our relationship being bonafide. I brought a album of photos which showed our relationship from the very beginning when we were just dating. Much younger through marriage that show trips with family with each other, etc.

He also asked if we owned any property. I told him we didn't. I did have extra copies of our lease agreements bills in both of our names, utilities, credit cards. She was listed as the primary beneficiary on my 401k. My life insurance we shared medical insurance as well through my workplace. I had records of all the trips we took together. Also had copies of letters from the state or address changes etc. Affidavits from some of our friends.  In my paperwork and at the interview I did mention how we started clashing on religious beliefs. We both share the same religion but she chose to not actively practice and it caused clashes on how we planned to raise the kids we were trying to have and it led to other arguments etc. I assume this wasn't a good enough reason for the agent. Because after I showed him the photo album did state. Are you sure that it wasn't because you guys were too young and didn't understand how serious marriage was. To which I did mention we were very young. We got married. Not super young but early 20s and because of this we didn't understand a lot of things that I know now in life after therapy etc. Of our relationships change and how we can't expect them to be the same and then as I was getting ready to pull out more information, he said that's all right. Let's move forward with the n400. 

We went through the entire n400 at the end he told me that I have passed the n400 and he would be recommending me for naturalization pending the i751. On the paperwork that they gave me he did select that I was recommended for naturalization and not the section that says a decision can't be made at this moment. I don't know if this has any weight. I'm just confused because my 751 is of course still pending and I don't know if I gave him enough proof. I offered to leave it any extra documents that I have with him and he told me that he didn't need them and that the next steps after they make their decision would be the scheduling me for my oath ceremony. He went into detail about how I wouldn't receive a green card as what I would receive instead would be a notice of my schedule of ceremony. 

So I don't really know how it went. Hopefully somebody has some advice am I overthinking? It really caught me off guard when he told me that he wasn't going to approve my i751 during the interview. And I don't know if they normally continue the interview for the n400 if they can't prove the i751. Let alone give me the paper at the end recommending my naturalization. Has anyone been through something similar?

[Mike E 11,739]

Congrats. Your N-400 is done. 
 

Your I-751 evidence looks superb. 
 

After 120 days, you can start a chain of escalation (care inquiry, USCIS ombudsman, Congress, law suit) 
 

Start looking at lawyers listed on aila.org who have good reviews on Yelp and Google  maps so that if it comes to that, you can file the triple lawsuit (mandamus, APA, de novo).  I don’t think it will come to that but it will give you something to do.  
 

 

[Rearviewmirror 397]

Not similar at all in terms of background facts of your marriage, but sometimes it just takes time - we had to wait 30 days after the interview for the decision/card is being produced for our AOS. Everything the IO said seems fairly standard to me, and you passed the N400. Hard though it is, you might just need to be patient for a little while longer while they wrap up the I-751.

[Dashinka 24,478]

I agree, I don't think there is anything to be nervous about.  Just be patient and hopefully the I751 will be completed soon.  I commend you on bringing copies of all the potential information to the interview.  

 

Good Luck!

[Fromthemit 23]

6 hours ago, Mike E said:

Congrats. Your N-400 is done. 
 

Your I-751 evidence looks superb. 
 

After 120 days, you can start a chain of escalation (care inquiry, USCIS ombudsman, Congress, law suit) 
 

Start looking at lawyers listed on aila.org who have good reviews on Yelp and Google  maps so that if it comes to that, you can file the triple lawsuit (mandamus, APA, de novo).  I don’t think it will come to that but it will give you something to do.  
 

 

Thank you so much this really gives me a lot of relief. I think i just woke up feeling very nervous i thought that it would all be approved at once and when he told me he couldn't approve me right before i gave him more evidence it really freaked me out even more.  ill be patient and wait on a result

 

5 hours ago, Rearviewmirror said:

Not similar at all in terms of background facts of your marriage, but sometimes it just takes time - we had to wait 30 days after the interview for the decision/card is being produced for our AOS. Everything the IO said seems fairly standard to me, and you passed the N400. Hard though it is, you might just need to be patient for a little while longer while they wrap up the I-751.

Yes im learning now that patience is key, its been a long wait already so waiting more is still ok and worth it in the long run, thank you for your help

5 hours ago, Dashinka said:

I agree, I don't think there is anything to be nervous about.  Just be patient and hopefully the I751 will be completed soon.  I commend you on bringing copies of all the potential information to the interview.  

 

Good Luck!

Yes it was thanks to this forum that i even had the notion to bring any documents at all, so many great resources here that truly had me prepared for any scenario. time for me to be patient indeed

[Rocio0010 5,579]

Hi there,

I don't think there is something you need to worry about. They just take time and are severely backlogged. You did a good job in being prepared and taking copies of your applications with you. I wouldn't worry until 120 days have passed.

[Fromthemit 23]

Got an update today on the USCIS portal

 

Status

Oath Ceremony Will Be Scheduled

Date

January 3, 2023

 

 

January 3, 2023

Status

We recommended that your Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, be approved. Your case was submitted for quality review.

Date

January 3, 2023

 

 

The interesting thing is my i751 application is still only showing fingerprint fee was received. I guess that'll probably never update? It never even showed that I had my interview for it already. 

 

But I think this a good step if I'm interpreting the quality review cirrectly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rocio0010 5,579]

2 hours ago, Fromthemit said:

Got an update today on the USCIS portal

 

Status

Oath Ceremony Will Be Scheduled

Date

January 3, 2023

 

 

January 3, 2023

Status

We recommended that your Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, be approved. Your case was submitted for quality review.

Date

January 3, 2023

 

 

The interesting thing is my i751 application is still only showing fingerprint fee was received. I guess that'll probably never update? It never even showed that I had my interview for it already. 

 

But I think this a good step if I'm interpreting the quality review cirrectly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

yes, it is! You're almost there! congrats!

[Fromthemit 23]

7 hours ago, Rocio0010 said:

yes, it is! You're almost there! congrats!

Thank you so much, i just got an email as well saying the I751 was also approved and the online case status also shows this.

 

So now its on to the oath ceremony, thanks for all the words of encouragement!

[Sweetdreaming 396]

I know it's all settled now for you, but for anyone else reading, yes the officer may grill you, they may even personally suspect that your marriage wasn't valid for whatever personal reason they have. However, in the end if you have evidence to show everything was valid they're going to have a hard time dismissing the case whether they believe or not.

I think most of the the time they act stern as it's probably past the time that doing these interviews is "fun". For what is a big deal interview for you personally it's just another interview for them.