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| Chicago IL |  Review on December 20, 2017: |
caeremonarius
Rating:  | Review Topic: Naturalization
My wife completed (and passed) her citizenship interview today at the Chicago office. We arrived about 15 minutes early. There was no line at the security, so we went through pretty quickly. (Curiously, my wife’s jacket fell out of its tray going through the x-ray machine; she didn’t notice till we were at the “dressing table†getting our things together. The security screener asked as what was wrong, and we told her. She said, “Stay there,†and got it out of the machine for us.) We followed the signs up to the third floor, and my wife checked in with her interview letter. We were given a number and told to sit in the waiting area.
There’s no monitor saying what number is being called (like in the BMV). In Chicago, there is “Door 1†and “Door 2†with a large waiting room in-between. An officer comes out and calls out a random number (seriously, there was no apparent order to the numbers being called). They don’t call particularly loudly, and seemed to call only once. Our only major complaint was that we weren’t told which door to sit next to. I told my wife I’d sit and listen for her number by Door 2, while she stayed by Door 1.
Her number was called about 15 minutes after her scheduled interview time. I walked over to her as the officer was introducing herself to my wife. The IO looked at me and said, “Okay, I’ll have to ask you to sit down and wait here.†“I know,†I said, “I just wanted to wish her good luck.†I kissed my wife good luck, then sat down. Then, for me, 30 minutes of waiting.
My wife said that she was taken back to the IO’s office. She was told, “Before you sit down, raise your right hand …†and was given an oath to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. The IO took the interview letter, her driver’s license, Green Card and Spanish passport (she returned everything but the letter). She then went straight into the exam questions:
1. When was the Declaration of Independence adopted?
2. Who is the Speaker of the House?
3. What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution?
4. We elect a President for how many years?
5. Name one of the two longest rivers in the United States.
6. Who lived in America before the Europeans arrived?
After she answered six correctly, the questions stopped. She was then told to read paper that said, “Who was Abraham Lincoln?†She was then told to write, “Lincoln was the President during the Civil War.â€
The IO then went through the entire N-400 application. She asked if my wife wanted to change her name (she did, but the way we’d hoped it would work didn’t fit, so it will be slightly modified). She asked her address, place of work, whether she was married, whether her husband was a US Citizen, any kids. We had forgotten to include a part-time job on the original application and offered to give the information to the IO, but she was told it wasn’t needed. She was then asked every yes/no question on the application.
After all that, she was told she would be recommended for approval. She had her picture and signature taken. She then received a Form N-652 with the boxes “You passed the tests of English and U.S. history and government†and “A) Congratulations! Your application is recommended for approval†checked. There was apparently something wrong with the IO’s computer, so the result won’t appear online for a day or so. She told my wife that the Oath Ceremony would be within the next 60 days.
That’s it. From my standpoint in the waiting area, the whole process took 30 min. Not sure how long it felt for my wife. As we left, the security guard on the third floor said to my wife, “I recognize that smile. Congratulations to you ma’am, and have a nice day!â€
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #22995