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| Wichita KS |  Review on March 14, 2019: |
GoodbyeGirl
Rating:  | Review Topic: Naturalization
12 March 2019: i-751 + N400 interview and civics test
I was really lucky today and had a good combi interview experience. Here’s my story, I hope it helps anyone looking for a detailed account. Warning… it’s long!
It was lousy weather, we (me and my husband) set off for our 8:30am appointment in a torrential downpour. I was a little worried about looking like a drowned rat on arrival. 😊
At the front desk, security asked for my appointment letters and we both had to show ID. We then had to empty our pockets and put our items in a container (like at the airport) and go through the body scanner. We were then told to sit in the waiting room. It wasn’t full, just a few people. There was one officer sitting behind a glass window who had the patience of a saint. I was struck by how many visitors needed an awful lot of help and didn’t arrive with receipt numbers or much in the way of documentation. She seemed to spend most of her time directing people to which form to fill out and explaining that this office didn’t provide visas or a form filling in service.
We got called by an Immigration Officer (about 10 minutes after our scheduled appointment time), and were led to a private office. On the way, he asked for my 2-year Green Card and my 18-month extension letter (both were given back to me at the end of the interview).
The IO seemed to have a lot on his plate, was a bit grouchy at first, but was friendly and clear in his instructions. I had to stand on the left, my husband on the right and we raised our right hands and promised to tell the truth.
The IO explained that we’d be interviewed together for my 10 year Green Card and then my husband could leave, and I’d take the citizenship test and interview alone. He had my application on his desk and went through some basic questions from the i-751 – like name, address, telephone number, job – which I confirmed. We’d moved last summer and though our new address was confirmed by Homeland Security, and letters from service centres have been arriving to the right place, he had our old address and updated it during the interview.
He asked if we had a joint bank account, but didn’t ask to see any of the mountain of evidence I’d brought along. Before I knew it, that was the Green Card part done, and my husband was dismissed. Another nice and friendly IO came and escorted him back to the waiting room.
The IO then explained we’d start the citizenship interview with the civics test. I was asked these 6 questions which I got right so didn’t have to answer the full 10:
When was the Declaration of Independence adopted?
How many US Senators are there?
Who is the Chief Justice of the United States now?
What is the capital of the United States?
Where is the Statue of Liberty?
Who lived in America before the Europeans arrived?
Then I had to read out a statement which flashed up on a screen in front of me, ‘Who elects Congress?’ I used a stylus to write the answer that the IO kept repeating, ‘the people elect Congress.’ Luckily it was legible though it did look like I was kindergarten age. Those things are hard to write with!
After that there was a long list of mostly ‘no’ questions like ‘have you ever committed some horrible act?’ The last 3 or 4 were ‘yes’ questions like agreeing to accept and obey the laws of the States.
He then told me I could relax while he updated the system. He said he was approving me for both Green Card and citizenship and I may or may not get a physical Green Card in the post. He said as my extension letter was good till July-2019, I could hold onto them and not worry about getting a stamp in my passport.
My name and basic details flashed up on screen which I had to check and sign, as this is how they’ll appear on my naturalisation certificate.
He said there was some spaces left on the 19 April oath ceremony so if the system updates in time, I should get an invite in the mail. He then handed me an N-652 confirming that I’d passed the N400 tests and that my application has been recommended for approval. The entire thing took around 30 minutes.
Within an hour of leaving, my case status online had changed to:
N400: Oath Ceremony Notice Was Mailed
i-751: New Card Is Being Produced
Hopefully I’ll get confirmation in my online documents of the oath ceremony date in a few days.
Some stray observations:
The IO seemed time-crunched, and said he gets a set amount of time for each interview. You can get a deferred result if you go over time, bring too much evidence (like all the societies/clubs/organisations) you belong to, as the IO has to type it all in during the allocated interview time slot
Similarly, the IO types up all you say in response to answers, so keep it brief
I was surprised we didn’t get interrogated a bit more, but apparently we are quite boring. The IO said i-751 interviews are typically held if there’s something they want to review in more detail, but in straight forward combi cases, it’s more of an adjudication of the application done with the applicant in attendance. That kind of explains the lack of interrogation.
Anyway, thank God that’s over! Sorry for the long post, I hope it helps someone.
I’m really looking forward to getting my oath ceremony date.
Good luck everyone!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #25778