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Emma Dee

Interview Experience in San Francisco today

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Dear VJers,

Thought this little story of my interview may help You, too... so, I am quickly making some notes, before putting this whole experience behind me. (Note for those going to this location: if You drive up Sansome for a good block there is an outside garage there, they charge $7.50/ hour. I ended up paying $10, so it was OK).

So, I arrived at the USCIS office in SF exactly a half an hour early. The security people at the door downstairs were neither nice, nor attentive, nor friendly, but that's neither here or there.

Upstairs, on the 2nd floor the receptionist lady had a smile on, and greeted people like she was actually enjoying being there :) (nice change)

I sat down in the almost empty waiting room (3 people altogether...) - in the next 20 minutes another 3-4 people showed up... very quiet and slow. BTW. I could have taken my phone in, but wanted to be safe, rather then having to turn around, so left it in the car, but others were playing with theirs in the waiting room....

5 minutes to my appointment time, a lady came out and called my name (miss-pronouncing it, but who cares... :D)

After entering her office (where the door was left open the whole time), she made me raise my right hand and swore me in. Never looked at me during this time. We sat down (no niceness such as have a seat, please, or anything like that... all strictly business.. not rude, maybe slightly on the grumpy side....) and she opened my huge file, mentioning how thick it is. I tried to make some human contact, smiled and said yes, it has been a few years and these are all of the documents that I sent in... She then checked my green card, ID, old and new passport, and based on the initial visa I had, she wanted to see a waiver from 2003... so, looked in the big old folder and found it in there. Huh :)

Soo, she started going through the N400 form by asking name, DOB, address and how long that has been my residence, plus where I work and what my company does; and then went through all of the questions at the end of the application, with all of the info on ever being convicted, being a criminal, a comunist, a terrorist, a smuggler, a prostitute, a gambler, etc... when we were done with these, I signed the 2 passport photos submitted, and the end of the form, according to her instructions.

We moved on to taking the test.

The questions were:

- What is freedom of religion? (she noted my response: "The right to practice any religion, or not practice a religion")

- When was the Constitution written? ("1787", she asked me to repeat, and I did)

- When do men have to register for selective service? ("between the ages of 18-26")

- Name one state that borders Canada (chose "Michigan")

- How many US senators are there? (100)

- What ocean is on the East coast of the US? (Atlantic)

She marked them all correct.

I was asked to read: What do we have to pay to the government?

I said taxes of course. (no smile, no looking up)

I had to write: We have to pay taxes.

duh...

Then, she asked if I brought evidence of the marital relationship... I said yes and that I also had submitted the basics,

so, she started going through these: tax returns for '06, '07 and '08, and I also took an account transcript from IRS showing just the filing status as the taxes for '09 have not been processed yet (she never asked for an actual copy of the return, though I had it with me) - she marked the two names on all documents (& going forward on everything else, also...)

then, she checked the lease paper and asked, if we have had the same residence all along (she asked the same question later on twice more.. in different contexts and in so many words...) said yes. Checked our renter's insurance, car insurances - asked how many cars we have, marked our names on the policy and on actual bills; looked at utility bills, said she needed to see at least 3 months' worth... there was much more than that submitted, so those were sufficient - I offered to show the latest ones, but she said the ones she is seeing will do, then looked at PG&E, AAA, and Comcast bills, and then bank statements and marked our names on everything).

She said "you were well prepared for today" and that I had passed the test and she will have to go through my file once again to make sure everything is OK, and if it is, I should expect a letter in the mail with information about the oath ceremony.

Mentioned I will be traveling within a month and would be a bit afraid not to miss the ceremony, she said it should be OK, and if I couldn't make it on the date in the letter, I can let them know and they will re-schedule me (I'd much prefer to make it on the next one, on June 17th, so hopefully that will be it...) - the whole interview/ test took about 45 minutes.

I was quite happy to be done with it, and only got a bit discouraged at home, when looking at the letter she gave me, that does NOT have the phrase: "You have been recommended for approval and should expect an oath letter" marked, but the following: " congratulations, you passed the english and civics test" and "USCIS will inform you of a decision in the mail".

Hopefully it will be a positive one and hopefully it will be soon.

Good luck to all!

:)

Emma

N-400

Feb. 2010: Eligible to & getting ready to file Naturalization application

Feb. 20: Sent application (Priority Mail) to TX lockbox

Feb. 22: Date of Application receipt

Mar. 26: Date of Biometrics - completed

Apr. 12: Received Interview letter (dated Apr. 6)

May 12: Date of Interview - San Francisco office

May 24: Date of Oath letter

June 17: Oath Ceremony/ Naturalization

Apr. 8 2009: Sent I 751 (Express Mail) to CSC

Apr. 9: USCIS Received package (per USPS online confirmation)

Apr. 16: Return Receipt in the Mail showing receipt date of April 13

Apr. 20: Check cleared (Deposit date Apr. 16)

Apr. 22: NOA Received (Shows receipt date of Apr. 9)

May 12: Called USCIS. No record of my receipt# (which they said is normal for I751s). Put in Service Request re. Bio Appt. They said to expect to hear from CSC within 45 days

May 15: Received Bio Appt. (YAYYYYY!!! :) Dated May 11th

May 22: Received letter responding to the phone inquiry, with copy of Bio Appt Notice attached (letter dated May 13th, mailed May 20th)

May 27: Completed Biometrics, as scheduled (in 15 minutes! They were VERY nice, too! :)

May 27: Can follow case online with the Receipt# on Bio letter

June 11: Received APPROVAL letter (WOW!!!), dated June 5th

THIS WAS FAST! :) :) :)

July 9: Email from CRIS - Card production ordered

July 13: Email from CRIS - Approval notice sent (Probably the actual Card :)

July 15: CARD IS IN MAILBOX!!! :)

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Filed: Timeline

Congrats! kicking.gifYou're finally over the interview. Oh my! Good you were armed to the teeth on your big day. From your description, you seemed very well prepared indeed. Thanks for providing us the details. By the way, what time was your interview? I hope you receive your oath letter soon! You did really well. I can imagine me getting nervous and in panic with those repeated questions. One more step and you'll be done with USCIS.

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Congratulations

k37hm7.png

03-06-10 Mailed N-400

03-17-10 Check cashed

03-19-10 NOA received

03-22-10 Biometrics sent

04-09-10 Biometrics appointment

06-14-10 Interview Date

06-22-10 Received letter for Oath

07-02-10 Oath ceremony

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: England
Timeline

heck that was a cheat question !

'What do we have to pay to the government' is not in the 100 question list

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=88086338b3281210VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD&vgnextchannel=7a649ddf801b3210VgnVCM100000b92ca60aRCRD

I would have said 'my utmost respect'

Anyway congrats - all this expecting pleasantness and affability betrays your foreign roots - they need dying - your roots are showing !

I just expect 'put your hands on the car' 'show me your hands', 'hit the ground alien' etc

I went through one of those new explosive detection device thingies at the airport - it blows air up your pants and samples the gases that come out (I know). I giggled coz it tickled and they pulled me out and took me to the little room for scrutiny. I didn't say a word - i just grinned and giggled. We mustn't do that or the representatives of we the people will swat us good. Life is VERY serious and then we die.

Edited by saywhat

moresheep400100.jpg

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Congratulations!!!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing!

I-751

Been a Conditional Resident Since March, 2007

03/09/2009 - Used USPS Express Overnight Mail to mail my package to VSC

03/11/2009 - USPS Confirms delivery of my package to VSC, Signed by D Renault

03/12/2009 - Notice of Receipt Date

03/14/2009 - 2 Yr Conditional Green Card Expired - Waiting for NOA with One Year Extension

03/21/2009 - Received Notice in Mail with One Year Extension

03/25/2009 - Biometrics Notice Date

03/30/2009 - Received Biometrics Appointment Notice for 04/08/2009

04/08/2009 - Completed Biometrics

04/09/2009 - Touched............Now the wait begins..........Still waiting.....

08/21/2009 - Received letter of approval in the mail!!! Oh happy day!! Dated 08/17/2009

09/20/2009 - Received 10 Year Green Card...Woohoo!!!

12/14/2009 - Eligible to File for Naturalization

Naturalization Journey Begins:

05/14/2010 - Used USPS Express Mail to mail my package to Lewisville, TX

05/24/2010 - Notice of Receipt Date

05/26/2010 - USCIS confirms Acceptance via sms and email

06/14/2010 - Received Biometrics Appointment Notice for 07/01/2010

06/29/2010 - Completed Biometrics - Walk in

08/02/2010 - Got Yellow Letter

08/09/2010 - Got Interview Letter Scheduled for 09/08/2010

09/08/2010 - Interview Date.....

09/08/2010 - Approved!!! Same Day Oath!!!!

OFFICIALLY A US CITIZEN

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Filed: Other Timeline

Thank you for sharing. You apparently got a tough one . . .

There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. When I refer to hyphenated Americans, I do not refer to naturalized Americans. Some of the very best Americans I have ever known were naturalized Americans, Americans born abroad. But a hyphenated American is not an American at all . . . . The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate knot of German-Americans, Irish-Americans, English-Americans, French-Americans, Scandinavian-Americans or Italian-Americans, each preserving its separate nationality, each at heart feeling more sympathy with Europeans of that nationality, than with the other citizens of the American Republic . . . . There is no such thing as a hyphenated American who is a good American. The only man who is a good American is the man who is an American and nothing else.

President Teddy Roosevelt on Columbus Day 1915

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Thank you for sharing. You apparently got a tough one . . .

Hey,

Thanks for all the responses, and congrats... hope they are in order... will have to wait and find out... (will update you as soon as I hear anything/ a letter arrives... so far, my case status online says that it cannot show anything, if the case is at a local office... which it is.. but it's still strange, as it was showing the interview phase before... now it just dropped off the map...)

and "saywhat", very special thanks to you for making me laugh on a pretty tough day :) your little story was awesome (btw. the what do we pay the government question was my English reading test, and writing down the answer was the written test... but I'm sure everyone knows that...)

To answer a couple questions that came up: I was just a few days past my GC anniversary date, so eligible for approval, and my appointment time was 12:45, though I don't see how relevant that could be... maybe some people were just cranky, if they didn't have a nice lunch, or wished to take a nap, if they did - instead of bothering with yet another legal alien :)

Good luck to all of You whose interviews are coming up!

Emma

N-400

Feb. 2010: Eligible to & getting ready to file Naturalization application

Feb. 20: Sent application (Priority Mail) to TX lockbox

Feb. 22: Date of Application receipt

Mar. 26: Date of Biometrics - completed

Apr. 12: Received Interview letter (dated Apr. 6)

May 12: Date of Interview - San Francisco office

May 24: Date of Oath letter

June 17: Oath Ceremony/ Naturalization

Apr. 8 2009: Sent I 751 (Express Mail) to CSC

Apr. 9: USCIS Received package (per USPS online confirmation)

Apr. 16: Return Receipt in the Mail showing receipt date of April 13

Apr. 20: Check cleared (Deposit date Apr. 16)

Apr. 22: NOA Received (Shows receipt date of Apr. 9)

May 12: Called USCIS. No record of my receipt# (which they said is normal for I751s). Put in Service Request re. Bio Appt. They said to expect to hear from CSC within 45 days

May 15: Received Bio Appt. (YAYYYYY!!! :) Dated May 11th

May 22: Received letter responding to the phone inquiry, with copy of Bio Appt Notice attached (letter dated May 13th, mailed May 20th)

May 27: Completed Biometrics, as scheduled (in 15 minutes! They were VERY nice, too! :)

May 27: Can follow case online with the Receipt# on Bio letter

June 11: Received APPROVAL letter (WOW!!!), dated June 5th

THIS WAS FAST! :) :) :)

July 9: Email from CRIS - Card production ordered

July 13: Email from CRIS - Approval notice sent (Probably the actual Card :)

July 15: CARD IS IN MAILBOX!!! :)

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:thumbs: Congrats and thanks for sharing your interview/civic test experience. :dance:

HELEN

agif003.gif

22 February 2010 - mailed the N-400 packet

02 March 2010 - Check encashed/I-797C NOA

03 March 2010 - USCIS Acceptance Confirmation via e-mail and text message

06 March 2010 - received I-797C, Notice of Action/Receipt

01 April 2010 - Biometrics Appointment (Biometrics done 4/7/10)

27 April 2010 - received I-797C/ Request to Appear for Naturalization Interview

02 June 2010 - Interview schedule

17 June 2010 - Oath Taking (Memorial Auditorium, Sacramento, CA)

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