Seattle Interview Experience

[mijomast 1]

I had my interview yesterday at 9:45 am yesterday in Seattle. It started promptly. The interviewer was a man in his 50's who was warm, welcoming, and thorough. I saw once I sat down that he had made several marks on my file - it was clear he reviewed it before I came in. He asked me to take the oath, then went through each question one-by one. He asked about a $25 summons I received for drinking a beer on a beach in New York - I showed him the certified court disposition showing it had been paid. (I paid an attorney $100 to get this for me - it was worth it). He barely looked at it, made a joke about how such fines cannot bring the city much revenue, and placed it in my file. He did not mention an arrest I had several years ago in my home country for assault (no charges). I had disclosed this throughout the immigration process and I saw he placed a check mark on the note of explanation I had provided. I brought a certified police statement showing there were no charges, prosecution, etc., but he did not ask for it. After this, he asked me six questions on US knowledge - I answered them all correctly - and asked me to write a brief sentence. He then approved my application and asked if I was able to attend the 1:15 ceremony that day, which I did. I am now a proud US citizen.

The advice I would give to people is not to worry / obsess over this process. I did not get the impression he was trying to catch me out, and a youthful indiscretion from years ago was not an issue; neither was the open container citation. Be thorough and honest, and unless you are a serious criminal or liar, you have absolutely nothing to worry about.

Good luck everyone.

[TBoneTX 42,991]

Congratulations, and thanks for your thoughtful post!

[Sunnyland 639]

Congratulations! Wow they put you in the oath ceremony that same day. That was fast! Do you mind if I ask you what those 6 questions were? I'm curious. Congratz again.

[Zara_ 3]

Congratulations mijomast!

I'm in Seattle too, good to hear about your interview experience! Thanks for sharing!

[mijomast 1]

Thanks! The interview questions were as follows:

1. If the President cannot serve, who would take his place?
2. What is one right or freedom from the First Amendment?
3. Who is in charge of the Executive branch?
4. What is one reason colonists came to America?
5. During the Cold War, what was the main concern of the United States?

I'm scratching my head and can't remember the sixth question.

[mijomast 1]

I had an InfoPass a few weeks ago, just to ask why there were delays in Seattle (turns out a lot of interviewers had retired). He advised that in Seattle, for the majority of cases the ceremony is on the same day as the interview.

[VetsWife328 7]

How long was the process?

I will send my paperwork in on Monday (which is our 10 year anniversary ;-) )

[YouAndMeForever 1,022]

Congratulations!

[mewbaby 0]

congratulations!

[Helpme123 9]

Cool story

thanks for sharing