USCIS Newark N400 - Feb 20, 2019 Applications asked to go home!

[1cruise@atime 3]

Guys...I would like to add our experience at Newark...Things just did not go as expected.

 

1. Our (me and my wife) appointment was for Feb 20, 2019 at 9:15am (June filing under 5 yr rule, GC 09/09/2013)

2. We reached there by 835am and saw a huge serpentine line almost flowing down to Broad St....So we went to the back of the building where line was comparatively shorter.

3. We had an impending snow storm which made the 35 mins wait a bit too hard. Specially I could see elderly people and kids in line too. I believe this building does much more than just regular interviews.

4. After clearing the security we took the elevators to 15th floor and were asked to show up to the window 1. we were there by 9:10 ( 5mins ahead of our scheduled appointment time). The lady was nice and took our appointment letter, picked up our file and she asked us to take a seat in the hall. The same things was done for guys ahead of us and behind us.

5. The hall was full to the brim...I mean really full and unlike no other federal building I have ever been to. There were people everywhere with confused and frustrated look and it was the first sign for us that something does not look good. Some also said that Monday being a holiday there was unprecedented rush which didn't make much sense as appointments are not made on federal holidays anyways.

6. We soon realized that almost half of the guys in the hall were waiting for their Oath ceremony. Others were waiting for their appointments from 830am...Second sign that things were behind schedule. the guys we spoke to also added that there seems to be some "system issue, recoding errors, certificate printing errors etc.)

7. After waiting until 1030am and no progress....the superintendent/supervisor lady came out and announced " we have a system issue and there is nothing can be done today....People who have their certificates and flag were asked to go for Oath, People who have submitted their appointment letters already (like us) will get a mail with new appointment date.. and finally, people who have given the interview but don't have the certificate should watch their mail & may also get a call about the next steps. I asked her if there was any indication of when we will need to come back and she mentioned that at the moment their center is 1 month full or something like that...

8. With this announcement as expected their was some confusion and chaos. The happy ones went for Oath, Frustrated ones i.e. who had their interview done but didn't get the certificate were upset and unclear...understandable so. Our category was fairly simple I assume...nothing happened apart from losing the appointment letter to the window lady...which we can always reprint online.

9. We took the elevators and moved out...but we noticed that people were still coming in.....so bet no one at security or other points were aware of what was happening upstairs.

 

So guys here is our story. We don't know what to do next. I am tempted to call USCIS helpline but I am thinking may be we should wait for a day or 2 to see if anything gets updated online. Life is back to normal in NJ after the snow storm so may be the guys at the building will update our records that.

 

So now we are wondering what do we do? Website says Newark does not accept walk ins or infopass...but if they please advise...

 

I will be happy to share more details if anyone has any questions. Thank you all for your insights on this forum

 

[Dashinka 24,597]

There does not appear to be a lot you can do right now other than wait.  I realize that blows, but stuff happens.  Hopefully, this office will get caught up soon.

 

Good Luck!

[lichtstarke 0]

My appointment was for Feb 20, 2019 at 1:00pm at Newark. (GC 08/2013)

Received a call in the morning on the day around 8:30am and was told the appointment will have to be rescheduled "to late March or April" due to the incoming snowstorm.

My wife's appointment was the next day Feb 21. I went with her and asked the lady at the check-in window if they can squeeze me in and she wouldn't accommodate it. Asked again at another window later when another lady yelled "anyone still holding appointment letter please come to the window" and she wouldn't do anything either and just told me to wait. I asked how far out my new appointment would be rescheduled to and she said "not long"...

No update on the USCIS website so far. 

[TBoneTX 45,537]

Thread is moved from the US Citizenship main forum to the US Citizenship Case Progress subforum.

[N400 waiting 0]

Hi, can you please let know, within what time USCIS rescheduled N400 Interview. I greatly appreciated your prompt reply 

 

thanks,