Reputation from Sam713

Sam713 reacted to Kgt in N-400 May 2020 filers April 12, 2022

Filed N400 - 5/20/2020
Biometrics - 3/5/2021
Case processing inquiry 9/2021 no response
Case processing inquiry 1/2022 no response
FOIA - 2/28/2022
Interview Scheduled - 3/31/2022

After being extremely disappoint and frustrated. was searching the internet for other options to get a response or action on my case stumbled across this page on 2/28/2020. filed FOIA the same day. Received interview notice yesterday. FOIA trick worked again!!!! Big thanks and appreciation to @Sam713 for sharing the hack.

Sam713 reacted to Rn400 in N-400 May 2020 filers March 25, 2022

Hi folks . My wife and I are citizens now . Ceremony is over and we so happy this journey is over .

Thank you Sam713 for giving me the FOIA suggestion . If not your advice I would have been stuck god knows how long . Though the journey was long you brought a bright light of hope to us and sweet end !! Me and my family are immensely grateful . God bless you ❤️🙏

Sam713 reacted to keyuree1 in N-400 May 2020 filers March 25, 2022

Sam713, thank you again for sharing the FOIA tip with everyone here. Today I finally became a US citizen. Without you I would still be waiting. No doubt! Thank you!

Sam713 got a reaction from roddie2k in N-400 May 2020 filers February 15, 2022

Congratulations! Very happy for you!

Sam713 reacted to roddie2k in N-400 May 2020 filers February 15, 2022

Folks- my immigration journey came to an end today after 629 days here at Newark NJ.
My appointment was at 7am. I reached the office building at 6:45 am (after parking at the nearby garage). The building was open to applicants at sharp 7am. After the TSA style security checks, I had to go to the 14th floor. Right out of the elevator was a security officer who inspected the appointment letter and directed me to head to Window 2 which was specifically for N400 applicants (Window 1 was for AOS folks).

The lady at window 2 took my appointment letter (last I saw of it) and asked me to have a seat until an IO calls me. It was 7:20 at this point.
At 8:50 am, a lady IO greeted me and took me to the office for the interview. She apologized for the delay (which was due to system issues) and got right to the oath. Following this I was asked for my green card, ID and passport. The next section was the civics , reading and writing portion. I kid you not when I say this, it was done in under 4 minutes! We moved on to reviewing the actual application. The only things I was asked to confirm were:
·       Legal Name, and whether I want to change it
·       Birth date
·       Were parents married before I was born and whether they are US citizens
·       Date of my last trip

Note: No documents were asked for.

Following this were the Yes/ No questions. The officer was selective in the YES/NO questions she asked. Hence this too was short – probably 3 minutes at most

Another 3-4 minutes was spent in signing/confirming data and that was it – I was done. She did ask if I intended to travel in the next few months as coming back into the US without a green card was not an option.

At 9:08 am I was escorted back to the common area and asked to proceed to the 15th floor for the oath ceremony.

About an hour and 10 minutes later, 30 of us had a beautiful oath ceremony and we were pronounced US Citizens. Picture time!
Overall, I must say the Newark Field Office experience far exceeded my expectation. All personnel as far as I am concerned were courteous, professional- no horror stories to report here.

After exiting, I headed to the post office and submitted my passport application
There are so many people to thank on this forum for lending a helping hand or warm wish. The latest among them @sam713 has been a messiah of sorts for a large number of folks on this forum for cracking open the FOIA option – without which many of us Spring filers would be stuck in this rut forever.

Everyone who has been waiting for long and hasn't filed it- just do it. You have nothing to lose. Good luck and God bless!!