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| Norfolk VA |  Review on May 21, 2009: |
Goran
Rating:  | Review Topic: Naturalization
Hello Everyone!
The following is my experience going through the interview process on the journey to become a Citizen. While I am sure there is a general interest in my post, I am posting partly because of the seemingly small group of people on this forum who go through the Norfolk office. So, hopefully, this post will be of some help and reassurance to those folks. Here goes...
I arrived at 9:15AM for a 10:00AM appointment. The reason I was 45 minutes early was because you are never too sure of the delay going through the tunnels to the peninsula where Norfolk is located. There was about a 4.5 mile backup before the tunnel at 8:45am (going east on I-64). However, had there been a wreck, it is not unusual for much longer delays.
Guards outside of the USCIS building inform everyone that cell phones, weapons, and other sharp objects have to be left in the car. I was prepared and did not have any of these items. As you enter the building, the first thing you will hit is the X-ray machine, on which you have to place everything except your clothing.
The next step was to put your notice to appear document in a basket just off the waiting room area. I did so, and sat down and waited. At 9:50AM I was called by Officer Patterson to come with her to her office. She conducted the interview as follows:
1) You are sworn in. She asked me to remain standing, drop my brief case, and raise my right hand. After I swore to tell the truth, she invited me to sit down.
2) She asked for my Passport and Green Card. She took a quick glance and then explained that she would start the exam. She started by giving me a piece of paper with about 10 sentences on it. She pointed to one sentence and asked me to read it. Then she took that paper and gave me another that had 10 empty rectangular boxes. She asked me to write something about freedom of speech. Cannot remember the exact wording.
3) Next she started to ask me the questions. If I recall correctly, these were the questions she asked:
* What do you promise to do when you become a United States citizen?
* Who is the Governor of Virginia?
* Name two national U.S. holidays.
* Where is the statue of liberty?
* Who was the first President?
* What movement tried to end racial discrimination?
As I was answering the questions, she marked on a sheet of paper what I answered, and checked off whether the answer was correct. I must have answered all 6 questions correct since she didn't continue with questions 7-10 (which were printed on her form). She checked off "100% Correct".
4) The next step was to go through my application. We started with my name. She asked me to say my first, middle and last names. I did, and then I added that there is a discrepancy on my passport last name and my last name as printed on the green card. This is a long story (explained in a different post). The short story is that my Swedish passport and birth certificate spell my last name with an "f", however, all my official documents here in the U.S. (Green Card, SSN Card, etc, etc) spell my last name with a "v". I filled out my N-400 with the "v" spelling, since the instructions said that you should spell it exactly as it appears on your Green Card. Nevertheless, she said that to fix this, she had to change the spelling of my last name on the N-400 to an "f", and then request a name change to "v". She said she will file the paperwork, and my "new" name will take effect when I take the oath on July 15th.
5) Continuing on with the application, she verbally asked the questions in the application. Then she asked me if I have ever been arrested. I explained that I had been cited twice for speeding, and therefore answered yes to the "Have you ever been arrested, cited, or detained..." question. She said that traffic tickets are no problem, and wrote "traffic tickets" on the line with that question.
6) The last thing left to do was to sign the application. I had not used my "real" signature, since it is ineligible, and they asked for a legible signature on the application. She said that was fine, but that I need to sign with my "normal" signature at the very bottom, and then print my name.
7) Then she congratulated me and said that I passed and that she approved my application.
8) She asked if I still lived in Richmond, and that she would schedule me to take my oath in the U.S. court house in Richmond on July 15th there. She gave me two pieces of paper. The first document stated that I had passed the test and that I was recommended for citizenship. The second document stated that I was to appear in the U.S. Court house in Richmond to take the oath on July 15th.
The whole process took 15 minutes. I was out of there at 10:05 am. Officer Patterson was very nice, professional, and made me feel "at ease."
I think one thing to take away from my experience is that if you are worried about whether you filled in the application right, you will have the opportunity to change it as you are talking with the IO, as they can give you definite answers as how to correctly fill it out.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #4429