N400 was delayed because of 912 fee waiver?

[Mikelee1977 7]

USCIS received my application on 8/12/24 according to USPS tracking. A cover letter was included along with 912 and 400 forms.

 

It's been 5 weeks and I heard nothing. Not even a receipt letter. Anyone is going through the same delay? Is the delay because of the 912? How long does it take to get the receipt for (912+400)?

 

I kinda regret filing 912 because otherwise, I would have filed online with an instant receipt and the 400 could have been processed earlier.

[SalishSea 17,801]

43 minutes ago, Mikelee1977 said:

USCIS received my application on 8/12/24 according to USPS tracking. A cover letter was included along with 912 and 400 forms.

 

It's been 5 weeks and I heard nothing. Not even a receipt letter. Anyone is going through the same delay? Is the delay because of the 912? How long does it take to get the receipt for (912+400)?

 

I kinda regret filing 912 because otherwise, I would have filed online with an instant receipt and the 400 could have been processed earlier.

I mean either you could afford the fee, or not……that’s kind of the whole point of being able to apply for a waiver.

[Mikelee1977 7]

How do you define "afford"? If it means I have to eat instant noodles for several months, then yes, I can "afford" it. Who can not?! One can always "afford" by cutting dinner for 6 months, or by borrowing from family or friends, or by selling his only car and starting to walk. 

[Lemonslice 4,831]

6 minutes ago, Mikelee1977 said:

How do you define "afford"? If it means I have to eat instant noodles for several months, then yes, I can "afford" it. Who can not?! One can always "afford" by cutting dinner for 6 months, or by borrowing from family or friends, or by selling his only car and starting to walk. 

In case your fee waiver is denied, please look into this: https://www.onepercentforamerica.org/

 

[OldUser 6,602]

2 hours ago, Mikelee1977 said:

USCIS received my application on 8/12/24 according to USPS tracking. A cover letter was included along with 912 and 400 forms.

 

It's been 5 weeks and I heard nothing. Not even a receipt letter. Anyone is going through the same delay? Is the delay because of the 912? How long does it take to get the receipt for (912+400)?

 

I kinda regret filing 912 because otherwise, I would have filed online with an instant receipt and the 400 could have been processed earlier.

I assume you filed on paper.

 

Paper applications can take 8-10 weeks to get receipted nowadays.

 

 

[Ontarkie 14,214]

Both of my boys used the fee waiver. They were on track with everyone else's case when I tracked it. They were both approved for the fee waiver 100%.

[OldUser 6,602]

29 minutes ago, Ontarkie said:

Both of my boys used the fee waiver. They were on track with everyone else's case when I tracked it. They were both approved for the fee waiver 100%.

OP is likely experiencing a slow down in issuing receipts for paper filed applications we're observing from reports on VJ.

 

Also, with election season culminating soon, one can anticipate N-400 would no longer be the main focus of USCIS, who will likely start paying more attention to other cases.

 

For those reasons, OP's N-400 adjudication may slow down in comparison to current processing times.

 

It would be unrealistic to expect fast turnaround in that case.

[untaken 5]

Hi OP. I’m in the same boat filing with a fee waiver at Phoenix Lockbox. 3 weeks and still nothing.

[OldUser 6,602]

28 minutes ago, untaken said:

Hi OP. I’m in the same boat filing with a fee waiver at Phoenix Lockbox. 3 weeks and still nothing.

It's normal wait nowadays. Probably nothing to do with waiver itself.

[Mikelee1977 7]

It seems it is happening to everyone. I just have to expect a slow turnaround at this time and wait patiently. Does anyone know if the online applicant who filed after me can get his 400 processed before me because my 912 takes time to be processed first? Just curious.

[OldUser 6,602]

1 hour ago, Mikelee1977 said:

It seems it is happening to everyone. I just have to expect a slow turnaround at this time and wait patiently. Does anyone know if the online applicant who filed after me can get his 400 processed before me because my 912 takes time to be processed first? Just curious.

Yes, it's almost guaranteed that some people who filed after you will get approved before you.

Also a paper applicant filing after you with I-912 may get approved before you.

 

This is not a strict line where everybody gets adjudicated in order of filing. There's many factors and each case is unique.

[ineedadisplayname 496]

10 hours ago, Mikelee1977 said:

It seems it is happening to everyone. I just have to expect a slow turnaround at this time and wait patiently. Does anyone know if the online applicant who filed after me can get his 400 processed before me because my 912 takes time to be processed first? Just curious.

It is not first come first served situation.

There are multiple factors so I would suggest just forget about it and at some point it will be your turn. E.g background checks don't take the same time for everybody, your local office where you will have the interview might be swamped, some offices have same day oath ceremony, at other places you will have to wait 2+ month for a court administered oath and so on. 

 

So yeah you will see people filing after you and getting citizenship in 3 months or less because their situation is different from yours.

Edited September 21 by ineedadisplayname

[SalishSea 17,801]

13 hours ago, Mikelee1977 said:

It seems it is happening to everyone. I just have to expect a slow turnaround at this time and wait patiently. Does anyone know if the online applicant who filed after me can get his 400 processed before me because my 912 takes time to be processed first? Just curious.

As it’s an additional form requiring adjudication, it absolutely adds time to the overall process.

[OldUser 6,602]

2 hours ago, SalishSea said:

As it’s an additional form requiring adjudication, it absolutely adds time to the overall process.

In the grand scheme of things it's a smaller factor VS general trend in my opinion.

[Mikelee1977 7]

UPDATE: 

Received Biometric notice yesterday 9/23/24 (original applicaton with 912 fee waiver accepted by USCIS on 8/12/24)