Houston N-400 Filers

[dwheels76 5,468]

5 hours ago, Galileo Gafer said:

Hello all,
 

I was K1 but got divorced. I have a GC now. I am from the Middle East.
It is about time to apply for N400.
I am not sure how easy or hard the interview and the officer questions about why did you get divorce in less than a year.
 

My question, do I have to hire a lawyer. Or it is ok/easy to do it by myself?
I am just worried about the interview since I was married and divorced through K1 waiver

Thanks. 

No you don't need a lawyer they won't be answering the question. If they ask about the divorce and why just tell them the truth why?

Edited February 8, 2020 by dwheels76

[Galileo Gafer 5]

9 minutes ago, dwheels76 said:

No you don't need a lawyer they won't be answering the question. If they ask about the divorce and why just tell them the truth why?

Ok.

 

I just don’t know what is the perfect answer. I am not very sure why did we really divorce. 
There is always a reason but I just don’t know exactly. 
We just got divorced.

 

 

[tlammby 19]

9 hours ago, Galileo Gafer said:

Ok.

 

I just don’t know what is the perfect answer. I am not very sure why did we really divorce. 
There is always a reason but I just don’t know exactly. 
We just got divorced.

 

 

With what I have read so far on this platform....I don’t think you should worry yourself about if you would be able to explain your divorce, that’s if the marriage was in good faith in the first place...these IO are like psychologists....they study your countenance & reactions....if you could prove the good faith marital union from the date of the marriage to the separation period....you should fine....that’s my thought. I think we have more experienced members just wait it out, they would advise you. 

[dwheels76 5,468]

12 hours ago, Galileo Gafer said:

Ok.

 

I just don’t know what is the perfect answer. I am not very sure why did we really divorce. 
There is always a reason but I just don’t know exactly. 
We just got divorced.

 

 

I don't understand why you are looking for answers. The truth is always the perfect answer. Why would you go there and lie? If they ask you tell them. Doesn't have to be a long story. Didn't work out, cheating, drugs, just wasn't met to be. But the TRUTH is always the PERFECT answer.

[dwheels76 5,468]

20 hours ago, Chev9 said:

How long did most people who have had their interview wait from 'in line for oath to be scheduled' to attending their oath ceremony?

 

My application was recently approved (yay) and went to 'in line for oath to me scheduled' but on USCIS the expected wait time increased 9 months to the end of this year. 

 

I was hoping it would be a month or two? Not almost a year. 

That's processing time for approval. Not to Oath. There's no status on the website to check wait for Oath. It's usually 1 to 2 months in Houston.

[Chev9 9]

2 minutes ago, dwheels76 said:

That's processing time for approval. Not to Oath. There's no status on the website to check wait for Oath. It's usually 1 to 2 months in Houston.

Ok, that's good to know. Just after I had my interview the processing time changed from 6 months to 9 months... Not sure why, it says I'm in line for oath ceremony schedule.

[starsky 99]

Yay!! Interview passed yesterday!

 

Here's my experience:

• Arrived 30 minutes ahead of appointment time. Long lines and lots of other people waiting (don't leave it too close to your appointment time to go in). First they check you in, then I had to go get photos and fingerprints taken. After that they call your number out and you go for the interview. I waited 15 minutes for my biometrics to be taken, sat down and within 2 minutes was called for interview. The announcing system is not terribly clear especially if someone with an accent is calling out numbers so be sure to listen closely once you get your number from the check-in desk (they write it on your appointment letter).
• The interviewer was cordial but zero small talk. Once she placed me under oath, she dived straight into confirming who I was, I presented my IDs (Drivers License, GC, Passport), confirmed address etc. Asked a few basic questions such as if I had been married before, if I had any children, etc. After that, she started the test and began asking the test questions. She asked 6 questions which I got right.
• After the test was over she asked some tickbox questions (basically all of those that you said No to on your N-400 that implicates you as an undesirable potential new citizen). After that she said I passed the test and inteview and I would be recommended for approval. 
• 15 minutes later I received text messages of action taken on my case. Logged in to USCIS but didn't see any updates yet. Waited till this morning to see that it is approved and now waiting on oath ceremony scheduling.

Let me know if anyone has any questions about the process or what to expect when you go to the USCIS center. 

[tlammby 19]

14 hours ago, starsky said:

Yay!! Interview passed yesterday!

 

Here's my experience:

• Arrived 30 minutes ahead of appointment time. Long lines and lots of other people waiting (don't leave it too close to your appointment time to go in). First they check you in, then I had to go get photos and fingerprints taken. After that they call your number out and you go for the interview. I waited 15 minutes for my biometrics to be taken, sat down and within 2 minutes was called for interview. The announcing system is not terribly clear especially if someone with an accent is calling out numbers so be sure to listen closely once you get your number from the check-in desk (they write it on your appointment letter).
• The interviewer was cordial but zero small talk. Once she placed me under oath, she dived straight into confirming who I was, I presented my IDs (Drivers License, GC, Passport), confirmed address etc. Asked a few basic questions such as if I had been married before, if I had any children, etc. After that, she started the test and began asking the test questions. She asked 6 questions which I got right.
• After the test was over she asked some tickbox questions (basically all of those that you said No to on your N-400 that implicates you as an undesirable potential new citizen). After that she said I passed the test and inteview and I would be recommended for approval. 
• 15 minutes later I received text messages of action taken on my case. Logged in to USCIS but didn't see any updates yet. Waited till this morning to see that it is approved and now waiting on oath ceremony scheduling.

Let me know if anyone has any questions about the process or what to expect when you go to the USCIS center. 

Congrats on your approval.

 

Edited February 12, 2020 by tlammby

[tlammby 19]

I attended and passed my combo interview today. I arrived 40mins ahead of the appointment time with my spouse. Checked in and biometrics taken after (took up to 20mins because their systems were slow). After that I waited for my number to be called. I was called about 20mins after biometrics. When I was called, the IO told my spouse “Ma’am I don’t need you now, but if need be, I would call for you”. He led me to his office. He was friendly and placed me on oath immediately we got to his office. He asked for my driver’s license and GC. I was asked to confirm my contacts; address and phone number. After that, he asked if I was ready to take the test. N400 - He asked 6 questions (I got them right) on civic, English test, and follow by yes or no questions. On 751, he asked where my wife was born, asked about our trips to my home country and my parents and couple of questions I couldn’t recollect now. He told me I passed the test and I would be recommended for approval. He printed a document that says you passed your test and he wrote I751 approved on it. Good luck to those still waiting…

[dwheels76 5,468]

On 2/11/2020 at 8:28 AM, starsky said:

Yay!! Interview passed yesterday!

 

Here's my experience:

• Arrived 30 minutes ahead of appointment time. Long lines and lots of other people waiting (don't leave it too close to your appointment time to go in). First they check you in, then I had to go get photos and fingerprints taken. After that they call your number out and you go for the interview. I waited 15 minutes for my biometrics to be taken, sat down and within 2 minutes was called for interview. The announcing system is not terribly clear especially if someone with an accent is calling out numbers so be sure to listen closely once you get your number from the check-in desk (they write it on your appointment letter).
• The interviewer was cordial but zero small talk. Once she placed me under oath, she dived straight into confirming who I was, I presented my IDs (Drivers License, GC, Passport), confirmed address etc. Asked a few basic questions such as if I had been married before, if I had any children, etc. After that, she started the test and began asking the test questions. She asked 6 questions which I got right.
• After the test was over she asked some tickbox questions (basically all of those that you said No to on your N-400 that implicates you as an undesirable potential new citizen). After that she said I passed the test and inteview and I would be recommended for approval. 
• 15 minutes later I received text messages of action taken on my case. Logged in to USCIS but didn't see any updates yet. Waited till this morning to see that it is approved and now waiting on oath ceremony scheduling.

Let me know if anyone has any questions about the process or what to expect when you go to the USCIS center. 

Awesome. Congratulations. That's great to hear. We have ours on Feb 27th at 8am. So I know we need to be there by 7:15am to 7:30am.

But we also have pending I-751 so we will go together ready for a COMBO interview just in case. Got my cute outfit already. LOL

 

 

[dwheels76 5,468]

11 hours ago, tlammby said:

I attended and passed my combo interview today. I arrived 40mins ahead of the appointment time with my spouse. Checked in and biometrics taken after (took up to 20mins because their systems were slow). After that I waited for my number to be called. I was called about 20mins after biometrics. When I was called, the IO told my spouse “Ma’am I don’t need you now, but if need be, I would call for you”. He led me to his office. He was friendly and placed me on oath immediately we got to his office. He asked for my driver’s license and GC. I was asked to confirm my contacts; address and phone number. After that, he asked if I was ready to take the test. N400 - He asked 6 questions (I got them right) on civic, English test, and follow by yes or no questions. On 751, he asked where my wife was born, asked about our trips to my home country and my parents and couple of questions I couldn’t recollect now. He told me I passed the test and I would be recommended for approval. He printed a document that says you passed your test and he wrote I751 approved on it. Good luck to those still waiting…

 

That is great news to hear about the combo. Wish we were there same time to have met.  Congratulations.

 

Keep us posted on oath ceremony. Maybe we will get same day for Oath.

[starsky 99]

11 hours ago, dwheels76 said:

Awesome. Congratulations. That's great to hear. We have ours on Feb 27th at 8am. So I know we need to be there by 7:15am to 7:30am.

But we also have pending I-751 so we will go together ready for a COMBO interview just in case. Got my cute outfit already. LOL

 

 

Thank you. And best of luck to yourself! Definitely a good idea to get there 45 mins early (provided they let you in), the lines were no joke.

Edited February 13, 2020 by starsky

[SCCH 12]

On 2/11/2020 at 8:28 AM, starsky said:

Yay!! Interview passed yesterday!

 

Here's my experience:

• Arrived 30 minutes ahead of appointment time. Long lines and lots of other people waiting (don't leave it too close to your appointment time to go in). First they check you in, then I had to go get photos and fingerprints taken. After that they call your number out and you go for the interview. I waited 15 minutes for my biometrics to be taken, sat down and within 2 minutes was called for interview. The announcing system is not terribly clear especially if someone with an accent is calling out numbers so be sure to listen closely once you get your number from the check-in desk (they write it on your appointment letter).
• The interviewer was cordial but zero small talk. Once she placed me under oath, she dived straight into confirming who I was, I presented my IDs (Drivers License, GC, Passport), confirmed address etc. Asked a few basic questions such as if I had been married before, if I had any children, etc. After that, she started the test and began asking the test questions. She asked 6 questions which I got right.
• After the test was over she asked some tickbox questions (basically all of those that you said No to on your N-400 that implicates you as an undesirable potential new citizen). After that she said I passed the test and inteview and I would be recommended for approval. 
• 15 minutes later I received text messages of action taken on my case. Logged in to USCIS but didn't see any updates yet. Waited till this morning to see that it is approved and now waiting on oath ceremony scheduling.

Let me know if anyone has any questions about the process or what to expect when you go to the USCIS center. 

My experience was exactly same as yours. Only thing different was the wait: I had to wait almost 45 mins for my number to be called. After that it was super smooth and I was out in like 15 mins (probably less). Now status shows " Your final step to becoming a citizen is to attend your naturalization ceremony. We will mail you a letter when we schedule your naturalization ceremony."

so Hopefully we will be at the next month's ceremony? Good luck to all

[Mike Bico 9]

On 2/11/2020 at 11:01 PM, tlammby said:

I attended and passed my combo interview today. I arrived 40mins ahead of the appointment time with my spouse. Checked in and biometrics taken after (took up to 20mins because their systems were slow). After that I waited for my number to be called. I was called about 20mins after biometrics. When I was called, the IO told my spouse “Ma’am I don’t need you now, but if need be, I would call for you”. He led me to his office. He was friendly and placed me on oath immediately we got to his office. He asked for my driver’s license and GC. I was asked to confirm my contacts; address and phone number. After that, he asked if I was ready to take the test. N400 - He asked 6 questions (I got them right) on civic, English test, and follow by yes or no questions. On 751, he asked where my wife was born, asked about our trips to my home country and my parents and couple of questions I couldn’t recollect now. He told me I passed the test and I would be recommended for approval. He printed a document that says you passed your test and he wrote I751 approved on it. Good luck to those still waiting…

 

Great! I am also pending I751 and N400 interview. Can you share your timeline?

[Mike Bico 9]

1 hour ago, SCCH said:

My experience was exactly same as yours. Only thing different was the wait: I had to wait almost 45 mins for my number to be called. After that it was super smooth and I was out in like 15 mins (probably less). Now status shows " Your final step to becoming a citizen is to attend your naturalization ceremony. We will mail you a letter when we schedule your naturalization ceremony."

so Hopefully we will be at the next month's ceremony? Good luck to all

Do you mind sharing your timeline?