New York City Removing Conditions & Citizenship Experience

[Britt & Stenio 29]

Hello everyone,

 

Just figured I'd share my experience regarding my Immigration process hoping it could help someone if need be. So I got here on a K-1, got married, got the EAD, got the green card with conditions and applied for the green card without conditions over the last 5 years. As I was waiting for the removal of conditions for my green card (I-751) to be approved, I became eligible for citizenship. I started to research online others' experiences about what happens if you get called in for your citizenship interview without actually having your full green card. The consensus was that it was based on the officer you got because they could either expedite the application and do the interview for the I-751 at the same time as the interview for citizenship or they could send you home and tell you to contact them once you receive your green card--there was no guarantee it would work.

 

I decided to go for it and applied. I received my citizenship interview appointment for August, 2023 in New York City and I got really lucky that the officer was fantastic; she was really helpful. I brought my wife, just in case the interview for the I-751 would be conducted right then, and told the officer about the situation. I brought all my documents regarding the I-751 and she went to the back to see what she could do. She came out maybe 10 minutes later and said she looked over our I-751, reviewed the application and checked the proof. She requested for it to be approved. She didn't need us to go back and interview since we gave enough evidence through our application, especially our tax returns as we file together.

 

Going this route, and with the luck of a nice officer, it did expedite my I-751 approval. After she requested approval for the I-751, she took me to the back and conducted the citizenship test. She asked me seven of the questions that were on the study guide as well as asked me to read a phrase out loud and write a phrase down in English. She told me I passed but couldn't officially congratulate me since my I-751 needed to be adjusted from pending to approved. She told me it takes about a month, which it did, for my I-751 status to update. Once that was done, I received a letter in the mail about my oath ceremony and officially became a US citizen a little over a month and a half after the interview in August! 

Edited January 27 by Britt & Stenio
updated the number of questions asked

[JeanneAdil 6,498]

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