Jacksonville Field Office

[aloma 8]

Hello everyone,

 

I have just come back from an Infopass in the Jacksonville office. They told me a few pieces of information that make me be cautious about initiating this whole citizenship ordeal.

 

- They said their processing time frame for citizenship is 1 year!!!! I wonder if that is the real time frame or if they just say that to cover their bases just in case. Just makes it all difficult because I am doing a doctoral program and this Christmas will be the last time I can visit my family in Spain until I finish my program (so two years after this 2018 Christmas). I do not know how I feel about booking a trip when could be my potential Oath ceremony time or not knowing if those appointments will fall in a day I have to be in a hospital away from Jacksonville for clinicals/residency. Any Jacksonville office applicants to share your timeframe experiences? Anyone who has travelled out of the country with a N400 in process?

 

- Also, I am going to change my first name and last name for it to be again like it is in my birth certificate so I will need a judicial ceremony. Anyone had a judicial ceremony in Jacksonville? Did that make your application processing time longer or shorter?

 

- Finally, the USCIS agent told me that nowhere in the Naturalization certificate specifies what parts of your name are first, middle, or last. So I am going from a one-first, one-middle, one-last to a two-first, no-middle, two-last. How do I explain SS etc the name format then?

 

Thank you for your input!

 

           

 

[jxn 86]

On your last point, I don't think there is any legal distinction between first and middle names. They are simply your given names. And your last name(s) are simply your surname(s).

[Hagrid 22]

Quote

They said their processing time frame for citizenship is 1 year!!! (..) Anyone who has traveled out of the country with a N400 in process?

1 year sounds about right, average, in general. Application volume went up a lot after the elections.

My own application will complete a year from filing to interview date in few weeks.

Check the processing times here. For Jacksonville FL, as of November 30th they were processing application of March 16, 2017. That was over 2 months ago, so my guess is they are processing application of May, I'd estimate 10 months, could be less, could be more.

I've heard that if you apply online, the processing is faster. I saw a guy here on vj who took him 45 days from filing to oath last year. Definitively, file online here https://www.uscis.gov/file-online 

 

Travelling is fine with the pending application. The only problem would be as you mention, December comes and the interview is scheduled just right then. Should that happen, you can just write back with the notice and ask for a new interview appointment. Not ideal but it's the option they give. 

 

It is annoying to plan that ahead though, I myself couldn't plan my vacations ahead of time due to the same reason. Being in your shoes, I'd recommend you to file now and don't plan the vacation right now, maybe plan on getting tickets in august (still 3 months before your trip)... that will give you a better sense on how fast they are moving and who knows maybe the online application will be processed faster and you will be a citizen by then.

 

Worst case, you just change the appointment date if you happen to be out of the country at that time. Anyways when you come back you'd come back to the interview.
 

[aloma 8]

Hagrid,

 

You are my hero. Last year I checked to see if the N400 would be a form that could be filled online. I was told by USCIS that it was not an option yet and to my surprise now it is available online. Did that guy who applied online applied to the Jacksonville office? These processing times are frustrating but also a funny thing...I know a lady who applied last year to the Jacksonville office. Her whole process beginning to end took about 6 months then others seem to go through the entire year. Go figure what factor makes it go faster. I wish I knew! By the way question! Being from Colombia are you leaving the birth two surnames in your citizenship application? Thanks again!

[aloma 8]

4 hours ago, jxn said:

On your last point, I don't think there is any legal distinction between first and middle names. They are simply your given names. And your last name(s) are simply your surname(s).

Thank you for your answer. Actually for the SS office the middle name is not part of the legal name so I wonder if they will just take my word for it when I tell them the format I want. https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0110212001

[Hagrid 22]

18 hours ago, aloma said:

Hagrid,

 

You are my hero. Last year I checked to see if the N400 would be a form that could be filled online. I was told by USCIS that it was not an option yet and to my surprise now it is available online. Did that guy who applied online applied to the Jacksonville office? These processing times are frustrating but also a funny thing...I know a lady who applied last year to the Jacksonville office. Her whole process beginning to end took about 6 months then others seem to go through the entire year. Go figure what factor makes it go faster. I wish I knew! By the way question! Being from Colombia are you leaving the birth two surnames in your citizenship application? Thanks again!

Yeah! I checked more threads and the online processing is definitively faster. I figure if there's no actual printed paper to read through and type in, things should be faster for whomever processes those cases.

 

About the lastnames, yeah I decided to keep both lastnames and both names (first and middle) because I don't want to deal with updating everything everywhere (social security, banks, insurance, etc) and having a mistmatch between my colombian and US passports.
 

Edited February 14, 2018 by Hagrid

[aloma 8]

6 hours ago, Hagrid said:

Yeah! I checked more threads and the online processing is definitively faster. I figure if there's no actual printed paper to read through and type in, things should be faster for whomever processes those cases.

 

About the lastnames, yeah I decided to keep both lastnames and both names (first and middle) because I don't want to deal with updating everything everywhere (social security, banks, insurance, etc) and having a mistmatch between my colombian and US passports.
 

The possibility that was long time was giving me a lot of grief particularly now that I am studying for my doctorate and have to meet many requirements in the classroom and in clinicals. Will have to try that online filling. Nothing can be easy huh? Thanks again for your insight!

[tallnbrown 1]

I know few folks who applied in jax last year and got the whole process done in 5 months. Those were paper applications though. Mine is online application & field office is Jax as well. I had my biometrics done on 12/05/17. I'll update you if I get any notification on interview date. 

[aloma 8]

17 hours ago, tallnbrown said:

I know few folks who applied in jax last year and got the whole process done in 5 months. Those were paper applications though. Mine is online application & field office is Jax as well. I had my biometrics done on 12/05/17. I'll update you if I get any notification on interview date. 

Thank you tallnbrown! That would be fantastic to see how you are progressing on your application Much appreciated!

[NC1987 12]

My friend applied in Jacksonville, FL in 2017 and she is now a US citizen. I believe it took around 9 months from start to finish. 

[aloma 8]

Anyone knows if it could jeopardize the N400 application the fact that I am currently unemployed? (I am studying a Doctorate degree where the administrators encourage students not to work because of the time commitment, clinical hours, and intensity of the degree). I have a letter from the school where they state that outside work is discouraged. I wonder if the fact that I say I am a full time graduate student at the moment but don't work since December could affect my application negatively

[marriedtomrg 140]

On 2/16/2018 at 8:25 PM, aloma said:

Anyone knows if it could jeopardize the N400 application the fact that I am currently unemployed? (I am studying a Doctorate degree where the administrators encourage students not to work because of the time commitment, clinical hours, and intensity of the degree). I have a letter from the school where they state that outside work is discouraged. I wonder if the fact that I say I am a full time graduate student at the moment but don't work since December could affect my application negatively

 

Not that I know of - if you go ahead and start a N-400 online application, you will see what questions they ask - I don't think they care if you are unemployed - only if you are able to account for the last 5 years of employment, schooling and any gaps (like unemployment) in your application.  You can likely include that letter as a piece of evidence - but that would be optional, provide it only if they ask for it.

[aloma 8]

On ‎2‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 12:45 PM, marriedtomrg said:

 

Not that I know of - if you go ahead and start a N-400 online application, you will see what questions they ask - I don't think they care if you are unemployed - only if you are able to account for the last 5 years of employment, schooling and any gaps (like unemployment) in your application.  You can likely include that letter as a piece of evidence - but that would be optional, provide it only if they ask for it.

Thank you! I appreciate your insight.

[marriedtomrg 140]

On 2/15/2018 at 1:34 AM, tallnbrown said:

I know few folks who applied in jax last year and got the whole process done in 5 months. Those were paper applications though. Mine is online application & field office is Jax as well. I had my biometrics done on 12/05/17. I'll update you if I get any notification on interview date. 

Hi @tallnbrown - my field office is in Jacksonville. Did you file online or submit a paper application? When did you file? Would be great  if you can update your timeline.

[tallnbrown 1]

17 hours ago, marriedtomrg said:

Hi @tallnbrown - my field office is in Jacksonville. Did you file online or submit a paper application? When did you file? Would be great  if you can update your timeline.

I submitted online. 

 

Submitted: 11/14/17

FP done: 12/05/17

Current Status: Case is active being reviewed by USCIS

 

Last year, couple of folks I know got their whole process done in little over 5 months. Those were paper applications so I expected my online application would go much faster. Apparently, I am wrong.  I have updated my timeline as well.

Edited February 25, 2018 by tallnbrown