Hamilton

On 3/10/2022 at 9:52 AM, arnab221 said:

What a sad sate of affairs when it comes to backlogs. Are they still sending folks to Portland for interviews ? 

Ugh I wish they would send people to Portland! At this point I'd be happy to drive several hours to complete this process.

7 hours ago, phdng said:

Also, funny enough, I got my interview scheduled today and the online estimation jumped from 3 months to 18 months .

 

Just another data point to show that we should just all ignore that online estimation. Honestly, USCIS should just remove that online estimation or replace it with a table of current wait time at the local office, which would be infinitely more useful.

 

 

It also says that the online estimation is based on 5 year rule naturalizations, so it's hard to know if the 3 year rule ones are any different (longer, faster...). Congrats on getting scheduled!

3 hours ago, PedroDaGr8 said:

From my understanding, it has already begun to some degree. In the old Seattle thread, there were a few people who mentioned they went to the Tukwilla site and their interview was a video interview via an iPad with an officer in Spokane via an iPad. USCIS mentioned in a recent report that they conducted over 42,000 video interviews, it is clearly in the testing phases still but it does seem like they are working to implement it.

That's awesome! Man, I'd be more than happy to drive all the way to Spokane or Portland to get an interview sooner too.  

13 hours ago, arnab221 said:

If the USCIS is to be believed , virtual interviews will soon create a leavel playing field as it would allow faster offices to share interview workloads of slower offices remotely . They plan to create a central pool of officers and allocate them to any interview nationwide time zone permitting. That would mean wait times across the country would become uniform. 

https://youtu.be/ukqAmPgAN4w?t=564

Thanks for sharing this link!

If anyone else wants to watch -- the report about using more video-based interviews and evening out disparities in wait times across offices takes place around the 1 hour mark. 

Does anyone think this will actually happen soon enough to help those of us already in line? I feel like that's hoping for too much.

1 hour ago, eugene-eugene said:

Welcome! I am on month 4 of them "actively reviewing" my case. Very thorough people.

Hah thanks! Mine switched to being "actively reviewed" within an hour or so of submitting the application, so I figured that was automated and meaningless. 

Hi all! Just filed for citizenship, can't believe I get to join the club for one of the slowest local offices!! The system is predicting 14 months, but maybe we'll all be pleasantly surprised!

Hi all, I applied this month too! System's currently predicting 14 months for me (Seattle office is slow), but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised!

Anyone else filing in Seattle?

On 6/1/2021 at 3:43 PM, Keyboard Warrior said:

Good day, just for giggles: I was able to track down the the court deposition for a speeding ticket that I received in 2003. It took emailing 6 different court houses within the county in which I was cited. Yes, I'm that particular. To their credit, every court house replied within a day and the offending one sent me a copy of the deposition that showed I had paid the fine and case was closed. I submitted this along with my N400 -  If I fail N400, it wont be for the lack of evidence.

Thanks for sharing!! After I posted, I actually managed to find my receipt from paying the fine in my email. Interesting to know that the court houses actually emailed you back - I hadn't even considered just emailing them. I might do this too just for thoroughness! 

1 hour ago, JrGoldMiner said:

Yes, I was asked two questions regarding it. 

 

1) Are there anything else beside the speeding tickets?  

2) Do you have proof  that you've already paid for the speeding ticket? 

 

For the first one I answered No as I didn't have anything else (if you do you but forgot to list it earlier you can say that here) and for the second one I said I've obtained my driving record from DMV which is clean. IO was satisfied with the answer and didn't ask to see DMV records and moved on to other parts of the interview. 

 

So to answer your question, it wasn't an issue in my case. It could also depend on the IO though. 

 

Thanks for the reply! I'll go ahead and get my driving record too, because I have no idea how to track down the ticket proof (happened ages ago). 

On 12/21/2020 at 11:51 AM, JrGoldMiner said:

I mentioned all of my minor traffic violations while filing n400 but unlike you, I didn't have the receipts as these were over decades ago. I didn't submit any evidence online just mentioned I got the ticket and paid for it. I'm taking my clean driving record in lieu of the paid receipts. Hopefully that doesn't pose an issue. Lets see! My interview is next month  

 

In your case, it's perfectly fine to say you forgot about it and present the certified receipts.  It's Ok to say you forgot about stuff (we're humans after all) and the thing you forgot doesn't disqualify you. For this reason they go through the whole application with you anyway, so don't worry about it. 

Did the traffic violations come up during the interview, and was not having documentation of them an issue?

18 hours ago, DianaLucena said:

Hello everyone. I just submitted my N-400 online 😃

It was very easy and user-friendly to do it online. I uploaded the required documents and some evidence. 

 

My ROC still showing the same status since last year, fingerprints were taken. 

Hi! What evidence did you upload? I've been meaning to submit my N400 too but haven't had any time.

On 4/1/2021 at 10:23 AM, Sam2134 said:

I will just be uploading docs from Jan 2020 as previous set was already submitted via I751.

 

Submitting the following - bank statements, mortgage, auto & home insurance, utilities bills and photos. Be mindful that when you upload online they have limits to your document size. My documents are good to go and will start working on the N400 application next week

Minor issues - when I opened a bank account or get my driver's license changed 

Thanks!! Did you write up a cover letter too and just upload it as a separate attachment? I'm guessing with a label?

On 4/2/2021 at 7:25 AM, SouthBrook said:

 I actually only uploaded the required documents plus my husband's birth certificate to prove citizenship. They don't need all the support documents on your online application, you can just bring them with you when you get your interview date. 

Thanks! I've been eligible for a month now but I've been stressing about needing to gather all the documents once again before applying

On 3/20/2021 at 9:27 AM, Sam2134 said:

Get the evidence ready in the meanwhile and once eligible you can start uploading and complete the application quickly.

How much evidence would you suggest uploading for the online N400 application? If I'm naturalizing under the 3-year PR marriage through a citizen rule, would you suggest uploading all the marriage/living in marital union evidence (lease, tax transcripts, etc.)? 

On 3/10/2021 at 1:32 PM, Chicken7585 said:

SRC I-751 Case here filed April 1, 2020 and my case has only updated with my old biometrics. No other updates for 286 days.

 

I know lots of people have already received their 10 year GCs (including folks who filed as recently as November 2020) but I'm really frustrated. I filed my N-400 application last week even though my I-751 has not been adjudicated yet.

 

Anyone else want to report back on their progress?

Nice job getting the N-400 in already!

Did you upload any additional evidence as attachments? I'm wondering if I should upload all the documents I submitted for my ROC in my N-400 application too -- leases, bank statements, IRS tax transcripts, etc. I know it isn't mandatory but it seems like front-loading is good?

1 hour ago, yogabbaz said:

Hello all! It's been a while since I asked a question here, but I came to share good news! My husband's 10-year green card came in the mail today! I had almost forgotten that we were waiting for this or some sort of information about an interview or something. Hopefully you all will be receiving your 10-year green card in the mail sooner than you think!  

 

Congrats! It's the best feeling when you manage to stop obsessing about the application and then the card shows up!

11 hours ago, Daneandkathy said:

Hey all we are looking to move in the next few months. Really hoping the 10yr green card will come before the move, however, our present address is my parents house. Do you think it is ok to keep this as our mailing address instead of having to change everything to a new address in a different state? 

 

Thanks 

Kathy and Dane 

Well, as a green card holder, you're supposed to update your address with USCIS within 10 days of moving. I know that increases the chances of things getting sent to the wrong/old address.

I moved during the process and updated my address, and my card did successfully get delivered at the new address -- but I'm just one data point. And I'm a rule follower 😂 

Awesome! April is also tax filing month so let's see if we get the N400 out in the same month or end up delaying to May 😂

I'm guessing it's probably useful to have the tax transcript from this year available to submit too. 

3 hours ago, Daneandkathy said:

@Hamilton I was just reviewing the document checklist and it looks like a significantly smaller forest will suffer destruction on the naturalization application: 

 

copy of green card (I am assuming the notice of extension too if they haven't sent the 10yr green card)

a check for $725 (total with biometrics)

Evidence the spouse is a US citizen (for me that is a copy of my naturalization certificate)

copy of marriage certificate 

Tax transcript OR IRS certified copies of income tax forms OR tax returns/bank accounts/leases etc... (I am assuming you only need to send one of these that cover the 3yrs as resident, but I might send more just in case)

 

Those are the main ones unless previously married, criminal charges, military service etc....I am going to make a printed copy for reference and then try the online form. That way. Ican take the next couple of months to prepare and print and make sure it is all ready, then just one day to upload and send in the application. 

 

 

I'm pretty sure I'll do the online app instead of paper. I hate mailing things.

So looking at the N400 application's instructions document, it only lists a few things that you mention in your post. But if you look at page 11 point 7A "Other documents", it lists a lot of other documents like leases etc. that you should bring to the *interview* if you are naturalizing through marriage. BUT it also says "you may also submit copies of these documents with your application". So I'm not sure if people applying under the 3 year marriage rule are also choosing to submit all the additional evidence too. I don't want to end up submitting too little paperwork... 

Edit - here's the link to the instructions for N400: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/n-400instr.pdf

12 minutes ago, Daneandkathy said:

 

I know you can do it online as well, but part of me wants to print out another forest just so I can physically see that all the paperwork is there, main reason I was wanting to start now. 

 

I almost feel like paper is easier because we've done it twice and so there's a routine there that we can follow. That said, I think I saw rumors swirling around on VJ that the online route is faster? I'm not sure how one uploads millions of evidence documents online though...

4 hours ago, Daneandkathy said:

 I guess they maybe just close their eyes, stick their hand in the pile and pull out a file.... 

It really does feel that way! I got approved from LIN as an April filer the same week as another LIN filer who filed in Feb. And there are lots of folks still waiting...

I'll be applying for N400 in April too! What paperwork are you thinking of collecting? I haven't been able to figure out what is needed -- it seems they may only need a few marriage-related documents (like tax transcripts?). Do we need to send them all the millions of things again (like joint insurance, joint leases, joint bills, etc.)?

1 hour ago, SouthBrook said:

Congrats! But I believe the slowest service center is Potomac, to my sadness.

Thanks! And maybe then you will hear surprisingly early too, never can tell 😃 

I wouldn't panic just yet. The holidays mean that there have likely been delays in the process both at USCIS and USPS. 

The Tier 2 officer can definitely see the date of the interview. Back when my interview was scheduled, I called and found out over the phone. So I would recommend that you try calling again a couple of times until you're successful in speaking with a Tier 2 officer. 

In the meanwhile, you're not in immediate danger of missing your interview date. Most interviews are scheduled at least a month out, so you have some time still to find out the date (either via phone or by waiting for the mail).

It seems overwhelming at first but it's very doable. Search the forums and you'll even find drafts of cover letters and table of contents that you can use. ROC is a separate process from AOS and if you file without a lawyer this time, all the correspondence should come to you.