i filed my n-400 almost end of november i've seen people who r way ahead of me getting their interview even though the service centers r saying they r doing june 20.2007 people who filed in january 2008 r already citizens

what's your question?

i already wrote my question.. why is it that people who filed way after me r citizens by now. and i wanted to ask also do u have any guess on when i should be called i already got my finger prints done in febuary 13th 2008. will my interview be soon or r they seriously going to take 16-18 months? im a female and live in NYC

it depends on what office you are going through - offices throughout the country are processing a huge range of dates. You cannot compare dates from different offices. Have you seen people who are going through the same office as you - if so, what are their priority dates compared to yours?

In addition to the random variations due to different offices, there's another factor. You won't get an interview appointment until after you're through the FBI name check. If your name happens to be common or similar to the name of someone who is on their terrorist watch list, it may take a long time to get through the name check. That's not fair, and the whole name check thing is kind of stupid, since applicants for citizenship are already in the US, able to commit terrorist acts if they were going to do that. That name check doesn't keep anyone out of the US. But it's the way the bureaucracy works.

Flava, we're probably one of the couples that you're talking about, as the interview letter was received very soon after the biometrics and NOA1.

I saw your other post and you are in New York City DO, correct? Sadly, you're in one of the busiest DOs in the entire USCIS system - which can be a major precursor to how long your wait will be. We're in Jacksonville DO - a midsize Florida city that serves all of north Florida and a few north-central Florida counties. There are plenty of immigration files that move through this office, but it is nothing like a NYC, Miami, Atlanta or Los Angeles DO. You have to take the good with the bad, or the bad with the bad - as is the case with the larger offices.

Aside from that, I have learned that in this whole process patience is a virtue and is crucial for getting through the immigration journey. I feel for those that have been waiting a long time to have their N-400 applications processed, but we had to wait for 11 months to process our I-751 because everyone got on the "Dang, I better apply for citizenship before these fees go up" bandwagon. When, in all actuality, many could have applied years before that. Because of this, it caused every single service center - especially Texas, to come to a screeching halt in processing applications.

I know for us, we have submitted every application as soon as we could because we didn't want to be a slave to this system forever.

Good luck - and remember your application has only been hanging out for 5 months - where some have been there for 10+ months or more for those that are stuck in the FBI name check process.

oh ok i understand it better now..im still waiting paranoid i hope they call me for the interview soon i dont want to wait months.. if anyone from NYC filed the n400 plz do tell me