Citizenship Interview experience in San Francisco, CA

[safroot 1]

Alright, so i just got back from my citizenship interview at San Francisco office. My appointment was at 2:15 and i arrived there at 1:30. there was no line to get into the citizenship and immigration building and the security was easy. i went to the second floor where i checked in with the reception and received the passport application packet. There was 5 people ahead of me and i waited around 30 minutes before i was called by the IO.

when i get in the office, the IO swore me in first and then she started the interview. she first asked for my Passport, Green card and ID, i gave her all the documents. she then asked me to verify my name, date of birth and all of that. then she went through my application, each section to verify all the information. The IO then asked me all the yes,No questions on the application. then she asked me to sign my application.

without giving me heads up, she started asking me the questions for the test right away :-) she asked me 6 questions and i got all of them right, the questions were:

which state borders Canada?

how many US Senators?

which ocean is in the East Coast?

what is freedom of religion?

when was the Constitution written?

when do men has to register for selective service?

Then she asked me to read a sentence and then asked me to write " we pay Taxes". she then congratulated me on passing all three tests an asked to see my selective service registration card, luckily i had it with me :-)

at the end of the interview the IO gave me a piece of paper stating the i passed the test and that a decision can't be made yet, since my 5 year anniversary is on 03/03/2011. so she said that she will have to wait until that day to approve my application. i thanked her and that was it. good experience and i hope i get approved and get my Oath letter soon :-). the whole interview took about 20 minutes.

Good luck everyone and thanks for your help with sharing your experiences to make it easy for us.

Oh she didn't ask me to sign the back of my photos, so i hope she didn't forget that

[ledo2131 1]

Congratulations!

[OBX 51]

Congratulations and thanks for sharing your experience.

[Sand 5]

Mabroooook

[nigel 7]

Congrats safroot...Your jouney is almost done...one last step maybe March/April then you be divorced from the uscis

[And_Sam 44]

Congratulations!!!!

Thanks for sharing your interview with us!!

[NycBra 4]

I wish I could say I had such a good experience as our friend Safroot.

I had my interview at the same San Francisco office but I got a different IO.

After I promised to tell the truth not but the truth, Ms. IO said "I see here that you submitted your application on December 6 but your 3 year residency is on December 15". I had to explain to her that the instructions allowed you to submit the application before the 3rd anniversary, but that one person cannot be sworn it as a citizen until that 3rd anniversary is met. And she was like "huummm... you are the second person I see today with this case, I have to talk to my supervisor about it, I am not sure if this is the case".

Anyway, she continued and went through every single line of my N400, when she came to the employment and school history she was like "what did you do between this and this job? I don't see anything here". I told her I was looking for a job at the time. And she was like "but it has to show continuity". I politely said "I wish I could show continuity but unfortunately I could not find a new job right after moving cities because of my husband's job".

I was getting angry. Who is this person? Was she new to the process? No, she was not I later found out.

Then she was going through my papers and said "oh no, I see here that your fingerprints were rejected". I explained I received a second appointment and that I retook fingerprints, etc. And she said that BOTH were rejected. I was in shock. I didn't even know you could have an interview before the fingerprints were cleared! She told me I would need to get a clearance record from the Police Department from every city I lived in the past 3 years.

I was already getting red in anger but being polite. Then she said "let's go to the test part so we can get that out of our way".

First question: "Which promise do you make when you become a US Citizen?". I responded "To defend the laws and the Constitution of the United States". And this Ms. IO told me

IO: Your question is different.

NycBra: How is it different? I am sorry but I don't understand.

IO: Most of the people I interview give a different answer.

NycBra: My answer is one of the alternative answers given in both the print and CD study guide. I am confident my answer is correct.

IO: Let me check (then she look at her computer). What was your answer again?

NycBra: To defend the laws and.....

IO: Ok, I see it here. That's fine.

I was in SHOCK...trying to keep a calm yoga breath...

The next questions were:

- What is the name of the governor

- Where the Statue of Liberty is located

- Which movement tried to stop racial discrimination

- Name 2 US holidays

- Who was the first president

I answered all correctly.

Then she told me that she needed to attest my English compression (as if we were not talking in English for the last 20 minutes, with me educating her in the laws and instructions for the N400 application and test). I had to read a very basic sentence and write a very basic answer.

Then she gave me the paper that "we cannot approve you at this time", but that I passed the tests. Then gave me the form that I need to submit the clearance records for all the cities I've lived in the last 3 years. Once I receive the records, I need to submit to USCIS so they can continue to review my request/application.

As soon as I drove back from SF to my town, I went to my local police and I had to pay $30 to get a clearance record plus $18 to get a fingerprint card that need to be mailed to NY where I used to live. Then I need to submit another $35 to NY along with this fingerprint card. Why did I have to pay $80 for biometrics for God'sake? Can I have it back?

That was my AWFUL experience.

[safroot 1]

I wish I could say I had such a good experience as our friend Safroot.

I had my interview at the same San Francisco office but I got a different IO.

After I promised to tell the truth not but the truth, Ms. IO said "I see here that you submitted your application on December 6 but your 3 year residency is on December 15". I had to explain to her that the instructions allowed you to submit the application before the 3rd anniversary, but that one person cannot be sworn it as a citizen until that 3rd anniversary is met. And she was like "huummm... you are the second person I see today with this case, I have to talk to my supervisor about it, I am not sure if this is the case".

Anyway, she continued and went through every single line of my N400, when she came to the employment and school history she was like "what did you do between this and this job? I don't see anything here". I told her I was looking for a job at the time. And she was like "but it has to show continuity". I politely said "I wish I could show continuity but unfortunately I could not find a new job right after moving cities because of my husband's job".

I was getting angry. Who is this person? Was she new to the process? No, she was not I later found out.

Then she was going through my papers and said "oh no, I see here that your fingerprints were rejected". I explained I received a second appointment and that I retook fingerprints, etc. And she said that BOTH were rejected. I was in shock. I didn't even know you could have an interview before the fingerprints were cleared! She told me I would need to get a clearance record from the Police Department from every city I lived in the past 3 years.

I was already getting red in anger but being polite. Then she said "let's go to the test part so we can get that out of our way".

First question: "Which promise do you make when you become a US Citizen?". I responded "To defend the laws and the Constitution of the United States". And this Ms. IO told me

IO: Your question is different.

NycBra: How is it different? I am sorry but I don't understand.

IO: Most of the people I interview give a different answer.

NycBra: My answer is one of the alternative answers given in both the print and CD study guide. I am confident my answer is correct.

IO: Let me check (then she look at her computer). What was your answer again?

NycBra: To defend the laws and.....

IO: Ok, I see it here. That's fine.

I was in SHOCK...trying to keep a calm yoga breath...

The next questions were:

- What is the name of the governor

- Where the Statue of Liberty is located

- Which movement tried to stop racial discrimination

- Name 2 US holidays

- Who was the first president

I answered all correctly.

Then she told me that she needed to attest my English compression (as if we were not talking in English for the last 20 minutes, with me educating her in the laws and instructions for the N400 application and test). I had to read a very basic sentence and write a very basic answer.

Then she gave me the paper that "we cannot approve you at this time", but that I passed the tests. Then gave me the form that I need to submit the clearance records for all the cities I've lived in the last 3 years. Once I receive the records, I need to submit to USCIS so they can continue to review my request/application.

As soon as I drove back from SF to my town, I went to my local police and I had to pay $30 to get a clearance record plus $18 to get a fingerprint card that need to be mailed to NY where I used to live. Then I need to submit another $35 to NY along with this fingerprint card. Why did I have to pay $80 for biometrics for God'sake? Can I have it back?

That was my AWFUL experience.

OMG, i'm really sorry to hear this. that's weird that she didn't know anything about instructions or even the answers to the questions. wow i really hope it won't take too long for you to get the records and for them to get you approved. i'm shocked how different it is between Immigration officers. it's weird that she asked for the clearance from all cities you've lived in as well. i thought that was their job to do that!!!!!!!

Anyway i wish you the best and sorry again for the bad experience

[OBX 51]

Sorry you had such a frustrating experience. Hope things get cleared up quickly.

[LADYDARE 28]

Congratulations

[JaneD 0]

I reached the immigration office 45 minutes before time. They check everything downstairs and allow everything, even the phone, food etc. 

 

Once you get upstairs check in at the reception and wait for your turn. There were maybe 10 people waiting in the room already (huge room). There were signs not to eat, drink or cell phones, but people were doing all three. Btw, there were restrooms on the ground floor and there were restrooms in the wait area also. 

 

I was called in 5 mins before my actual interview time. Somebody who came in after me got to go in first because they obviously had the sense to not come so much in advance

 

The interview officer was polite and soft spoken. Asked me take oath and then took a scan of all my travel documents and id. Then he said lets get the test out of the way and asked me 6 simple questions from the 100 questions civics quiz. Then I read and wrote a sentence in english. 

 

Then he asked me to verify all info on N400. He went through it step by step and I had to answer every question. 

 

That was it. Total interview time was about 20 mins. Good Luck Fellaws.

[Joseg 0]

Congratulations Safroot!! Did you already have the ceremony? Did you get your national passport back or the IO kept it?  Thanks

[TBoneTX 43,001]

The two recent replies above were to a thread from 2011.  Old thread is now closed to further comment.