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| Los Angeles CA |  Review on July 13, 2017: |
jane78
Rating:  | Review Topic: Naturalization
Pre-Interview:
The LA field office is on the 8th floor of the federal building at 300 N. Los Angeles. I'd been to the federal building once before and the last time I went there was no waiting for the security screening area in the lobby. This time I had to wait for a couple of minutes (truly, just a minute or two) in a short line outside the building, before they let me in the door into the security screening area. Note: Others have experienced much longer waits than I did before they were able to get in the building and go through security, so you may want to give yourself some extra time for this step.
I took the elevator to the 8th floor and gave my appointment notice to the security guard in front of the door to the field office who said "thank you , please wait in this room" and pointed me to a large waiting room behind him. I arrived pretty much exactly 30 minutes before my appointment and my name was called pretty much exactly at my appointment time.
Interview:
The field officer who interviewed me was very professional and friendly. This was the procedure as I remember it:
1. As soon as I walked in the door of her office she had me swear that I would answer all questions truthfully
2. Had me give her my greencard, driver license and passport. Note: Because there has been some inconsistency reported by other VisaJourney members at the time of my interview regarding whether hard copy passport photos are needed, I brought passport photos with me but was not asked for them. Still glad I had them with me in case they needed them.
3. English reading test (gave me one printed sentence to read aloud). English writing test (spoke a sentence and had me write it down).
4. US Civics/History (asked 6 out of 10 questions and then stopped as I had gotten them all correct). I don't remember every one of the questions but they included:
-Who is in charge of the Executive branch? (the President)
-Name one reason why colonists came to America? (religious freedom)
-What was the main concern of the U.S. during the Cold War? (communism)
5. Went through my N-400 pretty much item by item. She didn't dwell on anything for too long but just systematically went through each page. I had made a couple of typing errors eg. I put my greencard date as 02/07/2012 when it was actually 02/07/2013. She simply corrected it on the form with her pen. She was understanding about it, not suspicious or critical. Notably, although I had brought the originals of my husband's birth certificate to prove his citizenship and of our marriage certificate to prove our marriage, along with tax transcripts for the past 3 years, she did not ask to see any of these documents. Of course, I would not recommend to anyone that they leave such documents at home based on my experience, as she certainly had the right to ask for them.
On the jobs pages she only asked me about my current job, whether I still work there or if my job has changed since I submitted the application.
On the address page she also only asked me about my current address, whether I still live there. She also asked me if my husband and I lived at the same address and I said yes.
For all past jobs and past addresses, she just visually scanned them and did not ask me any questions. She didn't read them out to me, she just looked at them. Maybe if she'd seen something concerning she would have asked me about it.
On the travel page she didn't ask me the dates of travel I'd listed, she only asked me if I had traveled outside of the country any time after the last trip I listed on the form. When I said "No" she wrote on the form in pen something like "Claims no further travel". Also, although I gave her my passport at the beginning of the interview which had all the entrance and exit stamps in them for the trips I listed on the form, she didn't look in my passport to verify the dates of those trips.
It was interesting, whenever she asked a question and I answered (eg. "Have you filed for divorce since submitting this application?") I would answer and she would hand write the answer on the form but it always started with "Claims..." eg. "Claims no divorce" in other words, she's just recording my statements, not that they are verified fact. Very interesting.
6. When we got to the question about the oath I asked for modified language (removal of "so help me God"). She crossed that wording out on the oath page, explained what I would do during the oath ceremony (when the judge gets to that part, replace with with "I so affirm"), then had me sign the oath page. Just want to say she was completely neutral and respectful of this request, no judgement or negativity.
7. Printed out a sheet of paper with my details on it and and had me review them for my certificate of citizenship (A#, name, height, city of residence, country of original citizenship etc.)
8. Gave me my "Naturalization Interview Results" (N-652) form that said I had passed the tests of English and U.S. history and government and that my application had been recommended for approval. It was stapled to a sheet giving general information about what to expect at the oath ceremony. She let me know that I should receive an oath ceremony notification with 30-45 days.
8. Took a xerox of my greencard, driver license and passport.
9. Asked if I had any final questions and said congratulations!
Such a relief. javascript:emoticon(' ')
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #22143