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| Washington DC |  Review on March 16, 2008: |
misterscn
Rating:  | Review Topic: Naturalization
319(b) Naturalization Interview:
Background: On January 10th, 2008, I received orders for reassignment to Italy. Under Section 319(b) of INA my wife could apply for expedited naturalization since I am a US Federal Employee on assignment orders overseas. I quickly gathered all of the required documentation including having my director sign a DD Form 1278 and submitting that with her application packet to Vermont Service Center. We submitted the packet on January 14th, it was received on January 18th, and we received our first notice on January 27th 2008.
On February 27th, my wife received an email from Agent Bridges @ in the 319(b) section of the Washington, DC USCIS Field office requesting to select an interview date of March 14, 21, or 28. She selected the 14th. She replied to the email. Two hours later she received a PDF I-797c telling her to report to USCIS Office in Fairfax, VA @ 8:00 am on March 14th.
Fast forward to March 14th, 2008. We arrive @ USCIS office in Fairfax, VA @ 7:45am and park in the Garage behing the Bldg (Currently $5 pre-pay). The office is located within a short walking distance of the Dunn-Loring Metro Stop on the Orange Line. We entered the front of the building and passed through security. The guard asked for my wife's letter before allowing us to pass through XRAY and the metal detector. We proceeded past the information desk and was asked by another security guard to show the letter. He directed us to the elevator which took us to the 2nd Floor. Upon exiting the elevator we proceeded to the Reception Desk and presented the letter. The receptionist entered my wife's info into a computer terminal and told us to sit on the west side of the reception area (The east side is for EAD and AOS cases). It is noted that Cell Phone use is prohibited and when one phone started ringing the receptionist instructed the person to turn their phone off and if they needed to make a call they were to exit the building. When we arrived there were 11 people ahead of my wife. There were 3 agents doing interviews. After a 100 minute wait, my wife was called in by Ms. Hernandez. They knocked out most of the interviews within the 1st hour but as they were getting ready for my wife's case they called a quick meeting which lasted for about 25 minutes. (As I read later in the day, the USCIS director submitted his resignation that morning so that could have been the reason for the 20 minute meeting). My wife was asked 10 questions, asked to write a sentence in English, Read a sentence in English, and briefly discuss her travels during the time she held her green card. The rest of the conversation was talk about my daughter and our impending reassignment to Italy. When she was done she was given a green slip of paper and told to be back in the 2nd Floor USCIS reception area between 11:15 & 11:30 am.
After taking a snack and coffee celebration break at the snack bar in the building next door, we head back to the 2nd Floor USCIS reception area. My wife got in line with the other candidates, both 319(b) and regular candidates (62 in all) to check over the information on their certificate of naturalization. Then the candidates were seated in the 2nd Floor Conference Room in order that they were to be called by the USCIS Washington, DC Feild Office Director who presided over the ceremony and gave the oath of citizenship. After about 40 minutes, family members and guests were allowed to file into the back of the room to watch the ceremony.
The ceremony took about 20 minutes after waiting 20 minutes for briefings and getting the room set up. It began with the singing of the National Anthem by everyone in the room (at least most tried). Next came a brief speech by the director, then came the oath of citizenship. After the oath finished, there was a video message from the President and a music video of scenes of the USA to the tune "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood. Then the supervisor called up each person to get their certificate of naturalization. After that was done, each person filed out of the room and back to the reception area to register to vote (if they were residents of VA and wanted to). We were all done by 12:50 pm.
In our case the Expedited Naturalization under 319(b) worked and it worked fast. Part of that was due to the fact that when we filed my wife had a pending I-751 case still open so they were able to use the Background check for both cases. We are both glad we are finally through with USCIS. The only things left to do is go to Social Security so that my wife can change her status on her SSN from Permanent Resident to Citizen and get her passport. Then we are off to my new assignment in Italy.
Overall a great experience at USCIS Office at 2675 Prosperity Ave in Fairfax, VA. 
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #2609