My Citizenship experience

[VFittipaldi 30]

Hi,

This is my path to becoming a US citizen in Portland, OR. Hopefully this post can help someone even if just a little bit!

I applied/sent out my N400 packet in the middle of January and got naturalized in the middle of August. Long ride for me, this is because the Portland, OR office is very slow right now. I had a simple case i guess, never married, never convicted of anything, no kids and so on. I was filling on the 5 year rule but i lived in the states for almost 9 years now.

~Biometrics: I received my notice for biometrics very soon after sending out the packet. On the day of my appointment Portland has seen one of the worst snow storms in a long time. USCIS office was closed but me and a lot of other people still showed up because we didn't know if it is closed or open. They mailed me out a new appointment letter but i did not wait for it, i just showed up for my biometrics to be taken one random day a week later. Yes you can do that (at least in Portland you can). It was super fast and the staff is very friendly and nice.

~Travel: After the biometrics i traveled overseas for a month still on my green card. Before that I called USCIS to make sure that it is ok to do and they said yes. On the interview the IO asked me when was the last time i traveled outside of US, I said March 26 which was 4 months ago. I asked her if she would like to see the copies of my boarding passes and she said No.

~Interview. It was a long wait for me since my biometrics appointment. If you check your case status online it is going to change at some point from for example "On March 26 you have been put inline for an interview to On June 2 you have been scheduled an interview" Example dates only. The latter that said the date and time of the appointment came about 1.5 weeks later after the website update. It will also have a list of documents to bring with you.

At the interview i came in and set in the waiting room, a lady came out and called me by my name and i followed her into her office. She was very quite and did not say one word extra. The interview took maybe 10 or so minutes. Very fast. She swore me in and asked questions about my application especially the yes or no questions. She asked to see my green card and travel passport. In the letter it was asked to bring proof that i have registered for the selective service which i asked if she wanted but she said No. She asked me 6 history and government questions and than said congratulations, you passed. She asked if i would like to come for my Oath ceremony the next day and i said (while shaking a little) YES.

~Oath. This was easy. On the interview i got a letter to fill out and bring to the oath ceremony so i did. All you have to bring is this filled out letter and your green card. You can bring your family and kids too. We went in, they took our letters and green cards, set us down. Couple of videos and speeches later they gave us the certificates and we were done. Its a great feeling!

Good luck to everyone on their journey.