Interview experience San Jose district office

[XboxOne 0]

Long time lurker, but decided to register to share my experience with the community. I am one of the early April 2013 filers applying on the basis of the 5-year rule.

I have a straight forward case with no complications. Here is my interview experience -

Appointment - 28th May 2013. Got the text notification about 35 days in advance and the notice in mail about 30 days before my interview date.

Preparations - Mainly went thru experiences based on the posts on this forum and some of the other immigration forums. I used the USCIS civic tests material for preparation for a couple of hours every week for the past 2 weeks. Had a few more hours spent on Monday going thru everything.

Dress Code - Plain full sleeved shirt with slacks and formal shoes. Tried to look sharp with a close shave this morning and a nice crop haircut a week back.

Documents - I had taken just the following documents

1. Interview letter

2. Yellow letter

3. GC

4. DL

5. Passports (current and old)

6. A sheet of paper with the details of my travel after the N400 filing date.

7. 2 PP photos

These are all that were requested in the document checklist and the interview letter. I did not take anything else with me.

Arrived at the local office about 10 min before the interview time. Parking was plenty and I left my phone in the car. My ID and interview letter were checked and I was asked to go through security which was a typical airport style security. At the reception I was checked in and was asked to place my interview letter in a tray near one of the windows.

In about 10 min my name was called and I was led to the office of the interviewing officer who was cordial and welcoming. I was placed under oath before I sat down in the office. For those of you wondering what this is – you say "I do" with your hands raised by your shoulder after the officer asks you to swear to tell the truth.

I was asked to be seated after this and the officer made the introductions by stating the name and the task that was to be accomplished today. Once this was done, I was asked to provide the Green Card and my DL. This was compared to the details that were present in the officers file. The officer has your complete immigration information in their file, right from when you entered the US and all the paperwork from this interview is neatly added to that file. Once done, I was asked to take the tests to get them out of the way. First was the reading test. I was asked to read one sentence out of the 3 on the paper (What is the capital of the United States) and as a part of the writing test I was asked to write the dictated answer right below the sentence I had read (on the same sheet of paper). This was followed by the civic tests where my answers were typed into the computer by the officer. The questions were

1. How many justices are there in the Supreme Court?

2. Who becomes the president if the current president and the VP are unable to perform thier duties ?

3. What did the declaration of independence do?

4. Name one branch of the government?

5. How long the US senators are elected for?

6. * forgot *

The officer then informed me that I had passed the tests and they we would move to the verification of the information. The officer went on to ask all the questions that were on my application while making some corrections (mostly stiking out the tables that were empty in the form). During this time we went thru the international travel section as well. It was at this time that I handed over my prepared sheet of arrival/departure dates, destination and # of days outside US. The office made some minor corrections and then we went through the rest of the section. Each time the officer asked the question and made me answer whether it was a yes/no questions or other types of questions.

Once we were done, the office completed the part that they had to complete and explained to me how the changes and amendments that were tallied up and documented in that section (in N-400). Then the officer made me sign the N400 application. Just as a hint to others, when they say "sign your name" it is your signature (that wriggly one that sometime is illegible) and when they say "print your name" you have to spell out your name. The was followed by me signing the 2 photographs that were sent with my N-400 application.

Once all this was done the officer told me that I had passed the interview and that I would be recommended for approval. It was also indicated that I will be scheduled for the next oath ceremony in June. Once this was done, I was asked if I had any more questions or concerns. After this I was congratulated and walked out of the office and the door.

All in all this was a pretty straight forward experience. I was with the officer for about 15 min.

Edited June 7, 2013 by XboxOne

[menina 50]

Congratulations!