When I first looked at sending in the N-400, the general school of thought was to send it in 6 months prior to becoming eligible. Is this still true? The six months seemed to be based on the average time it took your local office to process an N-400, meaning that if you were filing in a service center that took a year to process an N-400 then you could send in your petition a year in advance. I don't see local office processing times for N-400's posted anywhere anymore. What’s the buzz in Hartford CT?

Hi.
I've got my interview appointment letter invitation in a 1,5 month after the N-400 filing,so i dont know how long will it take to finish the entire process in my case,we;ll see....Sometimes it takes 4 month in someone;s cases and sometimes it takes longer,i dont know what it depends on ,i guess that maybe depends on the Service Center processing timelines or how did you comply with all of the filing requirements,if you filed everything correctly or something like that...
Best wishes.

You can send N-400 90 days (NOT 3 MONTHS) before your 3 year (if married to U.S. Citizen and fulfilling other requirements) or 5 year GC anniversary date. If you send your application before that, it will be rejected and sent back.

Are you sure?
I agree with MJA--you are allowed to APPLY up to 90 days before your eligibility date (ie, 90 days before the 3rd anniversary of your PR status).
total processing time = about 6 months. Is that what you were thinking of?

Watch N-400 for your local office to get a feel for how they *have* been doing; it's a crap shoot when it is your turn anyway. I have to say, it does look like CIS has been trying to keep to that 6 months goal.

No, Im not sure. :-)

So 3 months it is. I was more woried that it would be done too quick than too late. Oh well, looks like no 2008 voting for Debster. Shell be crushed I'm sure.

You mean 90 days, right?

Yes, January 30th, 2008 lol. Lots of time to wait.

Maybe you can catch up on some of that crocheting you've been meaning to do...

Hi
I may be a little behind on the answering of this but we just applied for my husband's citizenship.
As I understand it, the rule is 90 days before you have completed your residency requirement. (3 years in my husband's case)

As I also understand it, you may receive your instructions for biometrics (fingerprints) before the actual date you have completed residency but you will not be scheduled for an interview until the actual date the residency time is up.

Someone please correct me if this information is wrong.

Wrong. You can have FP taken and have interview. You cannot take the oath before GC date + 3 years.

Given that Hartford is almost 9 months behind in processing, I dont think this will become an issue for us.