2018 San Francisco filers

[DrGecko 7]

12 hours ago, gopinatht said:

Can I register to vote without the original certificate of citizenship? I had to send the original certificate off with passport application.

Bizarrely enough, I was never asked for proof of citizenship when I registered online. They use your signature on file with the DMV, but that's it? I don't know if it's any different if you apply in person at the county office.

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

I don’t think they ask for proof. On dmv forms you just tick a box, right? You keep reading about people who accidentally registered to vote through things like this so I don’t think they ask for proof of status.

[mp24 1]

How long does the Oath ceremony last? Mine is in the morning at 9.15 am. Can folks who already have attended their oath ceremony share their experience? Thanks!!

[DrGecko 7]

22 hours ago, mp24 said:

How long does the Oath ceremony last? Mine is in the morning at 9.15 am. Can folks who already have attended their oath ceremony share their experience? Thanks!!

I was out by 11:30. 9:15 - 10 is processing time for people still in line, some announcements regarding the agenda, patriotic songs by a choir, etc. 10 am is when things start in earnest.

There is a line halfway around the block even as early as 8:45, but it's nothing to worry about too much since the line moves at a decent pace. I barely stood in it for 15 minutes. Some folks have to drive from hours away, so not surprised they give themselves a good buffer and get there very early.

[mp24 1]

Thank you so much!!

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

Thanks @DrGecko

my ceremony is just over 2 weeks away! So exciting. I’ll Bart - we are on the same Bart line so it’s really easy. Have a passport appointment set for 2:30pm that afternoon at the post office (need to do minor child application too).

 

Hope everyone here has been ok with earthquake/fire/smoke/blackouts.... been a bit of a torrid time for some recently.

[DrGecko 7]

Enjoy it, you guys! It really is a nice ceremony 😊 I may be in the minority when I say this, but I think even the 2 minute welcome video from you-know-who wasn't that bad.

 

Yes, if you can, please take BART. It is literally a few steps away from the 19th Street Oakland station.

 

Just to add to my previous comment, I did not register to vote or apply for a passport on the same day, so you might take a little longer if you do that. I just applied later for both things.

[TRAVS 4]

Need help

 

Finally, tomorrow is my interview day and I have a question for the fellow members who have already appeared for the interview in SF. 

 

I work in downtown and will be walking to 444 Washington St., SF from work. I'll have my office backpack with me with all the usual laptop, ipad etc in it

 

Question: Can I take my backpack (with laptop, ipad in it) to the interview? If not, are there any lockers in the building where I can store it?

 

Thanks!

[TRAVS 4]

Sharing my interview experience

 

Note: Two entrances to the building. One on Sansome St (recommended) is closer to the elevators to the 2nd floor. The one on Washington St is little farther away. 

Note: You can take your laptop and phone with you (it’s better to turn off your phone; mute it) to your interview. 

 

I had my interview yesterday. My appointment was at 1:20 PM. I reached Immigration center at 12:45 PM and there was no line at all. I was the only one. Showed appointment letter and ID (Driver’s license) to the security personnel for verification. After that I went through security – belt, shoes off – after which I followed signs and took elevator to 2^nd floor and again was the only one in the line for check in counter. Handed over the interview invitation letter to the lady at the counter. She checked my name on a paper list with names listed of all the candidates scheduled for interview for that day. She took my picture and scanned both of my index fingers. After that she stamped my invitation letter and asked me to head to third floor via elevators. They have 2^nd and 3^rd floor assigned for conducting citizenship interviews.

 

I reached 3^rd floor around 12:55 PM and waited in a big waiting room. There were 3 other candidates already waiting in the room for their interviews. Around 12:58 PM, an officer came in the waiting room and called out my name. I accompanied him to his office where he put me under oath to answer truthfully to all his questions. He thanked me for coming in little earlier than my scheduled time. Looks like someone was in hurry to kick off his weekend early. 

 

After oath and settling down in our respective chairs, he asked me to hand over my Driver’s License, Passports, and PR Card. After verifying the documents, he explained that we’ll go over the Civics, English reading/writing test sections. After that he’ll go over validating the information in my application.

 

Civics test questions:

 

1.     First President of U.S.

2.     Ocean on the east coast of US

3.     Two parts of Congress

4.     Concern during Cold War

5.     What did Declaration of Independence do

6.     Who can vote

 

Writing test: Washington was the first President (As others have highlighted, writing with pen on iPad is extremely painful)

 

After the tests, officer told me that I have cleared my tests and moved on to the application review portion of the interview.

 

First we went over my travels outside the U.S. I had prepared and printed a list with all my travels listed (The ones listed in my application + new travels since I filed my application). He asked me who else accompanied me on these trips and if these were business or personal trips. I pointed out that couple of the trips were business and rest were family vacations.

 

Then he asked me about my current address and who lives with me. He also asked me about my previous address and who lived with me there. Good to refresh your addresses of previous five years that were listed in the application. 

 

After that he asked me how did I came to US. I told him that I came as a student on F1 and then got a job on H1 visa. 

 

Next he asked how did I get my green card. Told him it was through employment and told him the name of the employer. 

 

Then he went through every question in my application at 100 miles/hr speed and I mostly answered in Yes/No.

 

After we were done with the application portion, he said he was recommending me for Citizenship and handed me form N-652 - Naturalization Interview Results which had two boxes checked. 1. You passed the English test and the U.S. history and government test. 2. Congratulations! Your application has been recommended for approval. This whole process took about 20 mins. I was done by 1:20 PM which was my actual interview time. 

 

This morning I got couple emails about update on my case. Online portal shows status "We approved your application". Waiting for the Oath Ceremony date now. Guessing that I'll get the Dec 12 Oath Ceremony date in Oakland. 

Edited November 3, 2019 by TRAVS
Typos

[TRAVS 4]

Updating my Oath Ceremony Date Thursday, November 21, 2019 @ PARAMOUNT THEATRE


UserName.........|GC-Date.|Sent....|Cashd...|NOA.....|Fprints.|In Line.|Int ltr.|Intrvw..|Oath....|Field Office.....|NBC/IOE
zedkyuu..........|08/29/08|01/22/18|01/22/18|01/26/18|02/15/18|--/--/--|12/21/18|01/28/19|03/13/19|San Francisco, CA|IOE
Lily1987.........|--/--/--|01/22/18|--/--/--|02/15/18|--/--/--|--/--/--|01/30/19|--/--/--|--/--/--|San Francisco, CA
Calberry.........|06/04/07|02/05/18|02/14/18|02/13/18|03/08/18|--/--/--|01/18/19|02/25/19|03/13/19|San Francisco, CA|IOE
mitchy_ponsi.....|05/08/14|03/04/18|03/05/18|03/16/18|03/24/18|--/--/--|02/16/19|--/--/--|--/--/--|San Francisco, CA|IOE
JandMA...........|03/16/15|03/17/18|03/22/18|03/22/18|04/09/18|--/--/--|03/12/19|04/19/19|05/15/19|San Francisco, CA
Ashanu...........|--/--/--|04/02/18|--/--/--|--/--/--|05/28/18|--/--/--|04/04/19|05/15/19|--/--/--|San Francisco, CA
Nenton...........|12/01/15|04/03/18|04/03/18|04/06/18|05/17/18|--/--/--|04/10/19|05/20/19|--/--/--|San Francisco, CA|IOE
thedarkelf.......|--/--/--|04/06/18|--/--/--|--/--/--|04/10/18|--/--/--|04/18/19|05/28/19|--/--/--|San Francisco, CA
Solid_Possibility|07/09/13|04/10/18|--/--/--|04/14/18|05/04/18|--/--/--|04/19/19|05/31/19|07/17/19|San Francisco, CA
SFWolf...........|07/08/13|04/24/18|—-/—-/--|05/05/18|06/01/18|--/--/--|05/09/19|06/18/19|07/17/19|San Francisco, CA|IOE
DandelionSF......|01/14/08|04/25/18|04/25/18|04/28/18|05/15/18|--/--/--|05/09/19|06/19/19|--/--/--|San Francisco, CA|IOE
littleitaly......|08/03/15|05/24/18|05/24/18|05/24/18|06/12/18|--/--/--|05/31/19|07/12/19|--/--/--|San Francisco, CA
SemoNowe.........|02/26/08|05/29/18|05/30/18|06/02/18|06/21/18|--/--/--|06/05/19|07/15/19|08/14/19|San Francisco, CA|IOE
kasd.............|09/09/13|06/26/18|--/--/--|06/29/18|07/17/18|06/21/19|06/27/19|07/30/19|09/18/19|San Francisco, CA
Moonski..........|10/27/13|07/30/18|07/31/18|05/24/18|08/20/18|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|San Francisco, CA
sqrl.............|--/--/08|07/18/18|--/--/--|08/03/18|08/24/18|--/--/--|07/12/19|08/23/19|--/--/--|San Francisco, CA|IOE
mdox.............|11/18/98|08/04/18|--/--/--|--/--/--|08/29/18|--/--/--|07/13/19|08/23/19|09/24/19|San Francisco, CA|IOE
parampara........|--/--/13|08/10/18|08/10/18|08/10/18|08/27/18|--/--/--|07/18/19|08/27/19|09/24/19|San Francisco, CA|IOE
isy1025..........|11/10/13|08/13/18|08/13/18|08/13/18|08/22/18|--/--/--|07/18/19|08/28/19|09/24/19|San Francisco, CA|IOE
ip_84............|03/11/15|08/15/18|08/15/18|08/15/18|09/12/18|--/--/--|07/18/19|08/28/19|09/24/19|San Francisco, CA|IOE
gopinatht........|09/13/13|08/20/18|08/20/18|08/20/18|09/13/18|--/--/--|07/25/19|09/03/19|10/16/19|San Francisco, CA|IOE
ramu2012.........|10/21/13|09/01/18|09/01/18|09/02/18|09/24/18|--/--/--|08/01/19|09/11/19|10/16/19|San Francisco, CA|IOE
dakalti..........|09/15/18|10/01/18|10/08/18|10/08/18|10/29/18|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|San Francisco, CA|IOE
SusieQQQ.........|12/26/13|10/01/18|10/01/18|10/01/18|10/22/18|08/16/19|08/23/19|09/27/19|11/13/19|San Francisco, CA|IOE
Califant.........|01/26/14|11/01/18|11/01/18|11/01/18|11/21/18|09/05/19|--/--/--|10/16/19|--/--/--|San Francisco, CA|IOE
TRAVS............|11/01/13|12/01/18|12/01/18|12/01/18|12/28/18|09/20/19|09/24/19|11/01/19|11/21/19|San Francisco, CA|IOE
zeta054..........|11/01/13|12/15/18|12/15/18|12/15/19|01/02/19|--/--/--|09/27/19|11/08/19|--/--/--|San Francisco, CA|IOE

 

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Legend: 
GC-Date: The 'Resident Since' Date located on your first green card.
Sent: Date N-400 was mailed to USCIS.
Cashd: Date your check was cashed / credit card was charged by USCIS.
NOA: Receipt Notice Date Printed on your official I-797 notification.
Fprints:  Date assigned for fingerprinting (Bio-metrics). If you do your biometrics via walk-in prior to your scheduled appointment, please enter the date in bold blue.
In Line: Date you received e-notification about the start of your interview scheduling.
Int Ltr: Date you received the official letter in the mail regarding interview.
Interview: Date of your interview.
Oath: Date Oath taken.

[zeta054 111]

Interview was today and she passed! Now waiting for oath ceremony. We are done with USCIS! Thank god!

[zeta054 111]

We are done!

[mp24 1]

Are you expected to wear formals for the oath ceremony?

[zeta054 111]

2 hours ago, mp24 said:

Are you expected to wear formals for the oath ceremony?

I would assume so for men a nice suit and for lady’s nice dress

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

2 hours ago, mp24 said:

Are you expected to wear formals for the oath ceremony?

The notice says “The naturalization ceremony is a solemn and meaningful event. USCIS asks that you dress in proper attire to respect the dignity of this event.”  So I will definitely dress smart, I would think a business-smart look is fine.