N-400 ... April 2009 Applicants, Post your dates here!

Kathryn41 · July 8, 2009

Congratulations!

babonsi · July 8, 2009

Well, yesterday was my turn and the interview came and went just like that - a little bit of an anticlimax after over 4 years of immigration procedures but, hey, I'm not complaining!

I'll give you guys a full report because I know I enjoyed reading everyone else's, although it was pretty much the same experience as any before me.

My appointment was at 2:00 pm, my husband and I arrived there at about 1:30. After slipping my interview letter in the window slot, we sat and waited for my name to be called. There were quite a few people in the waiting room but they were moving pretty fast and everything was going smoothly. At about 1:45 they called my name and a lady with a strong Russian accent told me, after introducing herself, that she will be conducting the first part of my interview - the test itself - which was a breeze. She made a point of letting me know that I could ask her to repeat any of the questions as many times as I wanted, if needed. I had to bite my tongue and wait for her to actually finish asking the questions before firing the answers, as she was speaking very slowly. The 6 questions were:

1. Name one right/freedom from the first amendment.

2. What is one reason colonists came to America?

3. During the Cold War, what was the main concern of the United States?

4. There are four amendments to the Constitution about who can vote. Describe one of them.

5. Who is in charge of the executive branch?

6. If the President can no longer serve, who becomes President?

She handwrote each of my answers and marked them as correct. Then she had me read one sentence: " Which state has the most people?" and write: " California has the most people." At this point, after making some quick notes, she congratulated me and said I had passed the test and that I would have to return to the waiting room and wait for my name to be called again for the second part of the interview, which would be conducted by a different IO.

She only asked to see my DL and green card. I noticed she didn't have my file on her desk and it seems that she was some sort of processing clerk or something, not an IO. All this only took about 5 mins or so and I was back in the waiting room after completing the test, even before my scheduled appointment time. I just had to take advantage of this and, with a pathetic face, told my husband who was anticipatively gazing up at me that, unfortunately, we had forgotten an important document and that we'd have to come back another time (it's a 3 hrs drive each way). Poor hubby, I think I heard his heart hitting the floor, awww

At about 2:15 or so, another lady comes out and calls my name. When we reached her office, she introduced herself as officer Pale and swore me in. She proceeded to tell me that she will be reading and checking things as we go along and excused herself in case it appeared that she was ignoring me. We were making small talk as she was getting things ready. I kept myself busy for a while by staring at the walls lol and couldn't help but notice some cute children's drawings and scribbles hanging all over her office walls. She struck me as really easy going and extremely friendly.

Then, out of nowhere, here comes this enormous file (more like a stack of bricks) about 10 inches thick! I gasped and she started laughing, saying that my file was the biggest and most thorough she had seen in a while. I knew that we had sent in a lot of documents throughout the years, beginning with K-1 more than 4 years ago, but it was shocking to actually see it all there, every single piece of evidence. I asked her what do they do with all these files after everything is done, how long do they keep them ... she grinned and said that the government makes sure they have plenty of room to store them "indefinitely". It was obvious that it was the first time she had seen my file, as she was curiously flipping through pages from the very beginning and it was sort of a trip down memory lane for me as I got to see all the pictures we had sent initially with the K1 docs. She looked at those for a while and laughed "holy s**t, you guys sent us your whole family album" (ok, maybe the holy s**t part is mine )

The only thing she asked to see, besides my DL and green card, was the original of my husband's birth certificate. I offered the 2008 tax transcript, as I had only sent in the 1040 tax forms with the N-400 application. She shrugged and said sure, although it didn't seem like she would have asked for it. Then we went over the whole application, double checking everything. At the end, she had me sign the last page of the N-400 and then the front of each picture. She said I could use my usual signature in the boxes that asked for "complete signature of applicant", as long as it was legible. I just wrote my full name cursively and that seemed ok.

She went on to congratulate me and said that I was approved. We double checked my personal information on a form which she said was going to be used in order to fill out my naturalization certificate. She informed me that I will be getting the oath ceremony letter in the mail sometime later this month or at the beginning of next month and then handed me a piece of paper with more detailed information as regards the Oath Ceremony. We chatted some more about this and that and then she asked if I had any questions. At the end, as she accompanied me down the hall, she thanked me again for "being so well prepared and making her job easier". Well, who am I to argue? :whistle: We were out of the building by 2:30.

I just want to thank everyone who, selflessly, kept this amazing site going throughout the years and helped all of us in our immigration journeys. It's extremely comforting to know that you're part of a community who's going through the same things as you are, more or less. Whether it's sharing our experiences, seeking advice when in doubt or simply venting, VJ is able to provide all that.

Good luck to everyone else whose interviews are coming up, it's such a relief to be (almost) done with USCIS!

l.j./1999 · July 9, 2009

Congrats to all the recent approvals -- Sleepbear, macb1980, James, and babonsi! Way to go, guys!!! :dance:

Great to see all the April filers now have interviews assigned. I guess the good thing about being one of the latest interviews scheduled is the benefit of being able to read about everyone's experiences. Glad to see everything is going smoothly so far for the April filers group.

king&queen · July 9, 2009

Hi,

I'm new to this forum. Found this forum to be very helpful. Thanks to all of you. Got my interview letter yesterday. My interview is on Aug 13th at 12:45 Pm at Atlanta.

Can anyone suggest whether we can use cell phone in the INS building. Any other restrictions?

Thanks!

My timeline

DO : Atlanta

04/30/09 - N400 Sent

05/04/09 - Priority Date

06/03/09 - Biometric

07/07/09 - Interview Letter received

08/13/09 - Interview at 12:45 pm

queendlee · July 9, 2009

The 6 questions were:
1. Name one right/freedom from the first amendment.

2. What is one reason colonists came to America?

3. During the Cold War, what was the main concern of the United States?

4. There are four amendments to the Constitution about who can vote. Describe one of them.

5. Who is in charge of the executive branch?

6. If the President can no longer serve, who becomes President?

She handwrote each of my answers and marked them as correct. Then she had me read one sentence: " Which state has the most people?" and write: " California has the most people." At this point, after making some quick notes, she congratulated me and said I had passed the test and that I would have to return to the waiting room and wait for my name to be called again for the second part of the interview, which would be conducted by a different IO.

i had the same questions on monday

mrPuffyBunny · July 9, 2009

UPDATING, RDan's last update lost my IL receive date, congrats to all April filers, no-one got stuck in name check and we all got an interview apppointment, let's hope everyone get approved for the oath as well :thumbs:

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USCIS Lockbox Texas

UserName.........Sent........NOA1........Biometrics....Int ltr recd....Interview....Oath........Office

KromiX...........04/01/09....04/13/09....04/28/09......05/09/09........07/02/09.....--/--/--....Miami, FL

Raleighn400......04/02/09....04/07/09....05/11/09......05/22/09........07/29/09.....--/--/--....Durham, NC

SY2k9............04/02/09....04/11/09....05/02/09......05/11/09........06/18/09.....06/25/09....San Antonio. Tx

Tumande..........04/02/09....04/10/09....05/01/09......05/15/09........06/23/09.....--/--/--....Dallas, TX

GabLopSan........04/06/09....04/13/09....05/08/09......06/02/09........08/20/09.....--/--/--....Newark NJ

James............04/07/09....04/10/09....05/01/09......05/21/09........07/08/09.....--/--/--....Miami, FL

Ssalburo.........04/07/09....04/13/09....05/08/09......05/18/09........08/06/09.....--/--/--....Baltimore, MD

SleepBear........04/10/09....04/20/09....05/11/09......06/01/09........07/06/09.....07/15/09....Miami, FL

weirdon..........04/10/09....04/20/09....05/20/09......06/08/09........07/28/09.....--/--/--....Philadelphia, PA

l.j./1999........04/11/09....04/16/09....05/07/09......06/27/09........08/18/09.....--/--/--....New York, NY

n400filer........04/11/09....04/20/09....05/22/09......05/27/09........07/28/09.....--/--/--....Boston, MA

liahnsilver......04/16/09....05/05/09....05/30/09......06/21/09........07/30/09.....--/--/--....Houston,TX

jeangab .........04/20/09....04/30/09....05/15/09......06/05/09........07/29/09.....--/--/--....Durham, NC

pampita2.........04/20/09....05/04/09....06/05/09......06/19/09........07/22/09.....--/--/--....Front Royal, VA

Cliff_Ksenia.....04/23/09....04/29/09....05/20/09......06/08/09........07/22/09.....--/--/--....Christiansted, VI

J&D..............04/24/09....04/30/09....05/16/09......06/04/09........07/23/09.....--/--/--....Tampa, FL

Kathryn41........04/30/09....05/06/09....06/03/09......07/06/09........08/13/09.....--/--/--....Atlanta, GA

etahb............04/30/09....05/04/09....06/03/09......06/12/09........07/23/09.....--/--/--....Albany, NY

USCIS Lockbox Arizona

UserName.........Sent........NOA1........Biometrics....Int ltr recd....Interview....Oath........Office

anci78...........03/26/09....04/02/09....04/22/09......05/15/09........06/22/09.....--/--/--....San Francisco, CA

jsnearline.......03/28/09....04/03/09....04/25/09......05/20/09........07/17/09.....--/--/--....Denver, CO

gopalag..........04/01/09....04/13/09....04/29/09......05/21/09........07/01/09.....--/--/--....San Diego, CA

sjjp1974.........04/03/09....04/17/09....05/09/09......05/22/09........07/21/09.....--/--/--....Portland, OR

Babonsi..........04/06/09....04/18/09....05/08/09......05/26/09........07/07/09.....--/--/--....Sacramento, CA

Swatcat..........04/09/09....04/17/09....05/27/09......06/18/09........07/28/09.....--/--/--....Kansas City, MO

macb1980.........04/09/09....04/16/09....05/08/09......05/26/09........07/07/09.....--/--/--....Cincinnati, OH

RDan19...........04/18/09....04/20/09....05/19/09......07/07/09........08/18/09.....--/--/--....St.Paul, MN

MsAnn............04/20/09....04/27/09....05/29/09......06/17/09........08/19/09.....--/--/--....Portland, OR

mrPuffyBunny.....04/20/09....04/27/09....05/28/09......07/06/09........08/20/09.....--/--/--....St.Paul, MN

tpontirolli......04/22/09....04/29/09....05/22/09......06/05/09........07/15/09.....--/--/--....San Diego, CA

Wifey246.........04/24/09....04/30/09....05/13/09......06/08/09........07/30/09.....--/--/--....Los Angeles, CA

Clarax...........04/28/09....05/08/09....05/26/09......06/26/09........08/11/09.....--/--/--....Denver, CO

USCIS Lockbox Nebraska

UserName.........Sent........NOA1........Biometrics....Int ltr recd....Interview....Oath........Office

GermanInDixie....04/03/09....04/09/09....04/29/09......06/02/09........06/16/09.....07/22/09....Atlanta, GA

wifey246 · July 9, 2009

Adding king&queen's timeline