Joining husband who will be stationed overseas. Is it possible to expedite naturalization while still on 2-yr conditional GC?

[Iscir 295]

9 minutes ago, ZKT said:

 

Hi iscir! 

 

Good luck on filling it later this year! Well, if you submit it, do exactly what you would do for a regular n400.. but in your cover letter you'd have to mention you're filling for n400 under ina319b. Then you add your orders, dea, ds 1278 and your letter of intent to reside back in the usa once your orders overseas are over and then in the mail packet make sure to send it to the chicago military address and add the "attn: military n400". It says it in the n400 uscis page. I added a few more documents in mine like proof/evidence of me being my husband's dependent, my husband's proof of being active duty navy sailor and that we have 3 yrs there in japan before our next pcs/permanent change of duty station. Oh and i made a table/chart where it lists all the ina 319 b eligibility and i placed a tick/check mark and had the reasons why i qualified for it. I made it extra easy for them since i wanted mine to go extra smoothly and faster/or like make my case very air tight that they can't refuse me at all. 

thank you very much! i will be doing all that so it goes smoothly. i’m excited and a little nervous about filling, it’s a very big step compared to the green card paperwork.  I hope you get everything done before you have to leave for Japan!

Edited September 14, 2020 by Iscir

[ZKT 118]

i'm happy that you filled online and got your receipt number and was able to call the military hotline. I hope they get to it right away. 

 

I was told that its faster to get processed via regular mail. But with the usps slowing down and the pandemic right now the uscis has been more open about submitting online. And yeah they seem to work on it at a super fast speed vs. The regular mail. I have not heard from them yet. Nor have they encashed/deposited my cashier's check yet into their bank account. So it might take 2 full weeos before i hear from them. But i'm hoping to hear from them slightly earlier. Or if not.. well i just hope everything goes smoothly and quickly once o get my receipt number.

[Pumpkin 24]

11 minutes ago, Iscir said:

Thanks! That helps a lot! I don’t have new evidence of marriage since I moved here a week before everything shut down because of covid, so I was a little worried about that. 

 

About the visa, I know you have to get the missione visa for Italy. Did you ask the passport people at your husband’s base how to apply for the visa? If they don’t know, I would ask directly to the italian consulate/embassy how to apply for it. Since we aren’t citizens people on base usually don’t know what we should do  i’m going to Europe too and they told me to just ask the embassy about my situation, I’m not going to Italy but in my case the consulate was able to help me about all the things I needed for travel. 

No problem! I was actually worried about the same thing. Before I even considered filing for the N400, I was already thinking about the evidence I needed to send for when I had to file ROC and I literally don't have much to add on since my AOS at all because of COVID. My husband's currently stationed in S.Korea and we've been separated for a year. I was supposed to go see him back in April through May and that would've counted as something for our evidence but it got cancelled so the only evidence we have at this point is just a lot of calls and a short trip we had to LA before COVID which really isn't much.

 

I totally feel that right now...really no one knows what we're supposed to do. I'm going to call the passport office on base and ask if they can help me at all but one of the people my husband did ask (he asked a few people and everyone all suggested different things! Aaahh!!) also suggested calling the Italian embassy which I'll probably do if the first option doesn't really help. 

 

29 minutes ago, ZKT said:

Oh yeah tons of military spouses go through this and get their citizenship right away. I know how stressful and daunting it is to keep looking for info about it but there's not many stories of people who actually went through this or know about the process itself. Its like its a myth or a legend you hear in fairytale books. Hahaha. But i was lucky enough to be in that foreign military spouse fb group which seems to be the fave hangout of foreign military spouses where they talk all about their foreign issuess + military issues and most especially things that have to do with uscis because a lot of smaller bases and base legals don't exactly know what to do with us foreign spouses and our cases.

 

Most n400 under ina 319b is being processed around 1.5-3 months this year. 1.5 was the fastest and that's from submitting it to actually being naturalized. Most of them take that long cause they submit it via mail and send it to the military address which is the one in chicago. We send it there because the moment it gets there, they know you're military and the ones that process it are familiar with are familiar with the extra documents they will be needing and understand what you're submitting. Because there is a lot of additional documents you'd be submitting unlike the regular n400 which are military specific. 

 

Heads up that i'm actually pcsing out of our current duty station mid oct and leaving our current place by latest end of oct. So that makes the 2 of us! Trying to get this done. My base legal and command didn't know what it filling under ina319 b was. And so despite me giving them a jag packet of documents... they were so skeptical about it and took them at least a 3 weeks before they actually gave me the ds1278 form i was asking them and to fix my dea (dependent approval for the pcs). Dea is not a requirement but its a nice to have/submit since it shows the military approved you to pcs. I also sent in our excemption from the military stop movement orders since my husband is essential. Since japan has travel bans. 

 

Anyway as soon as you have a receipt number, go and give the military hotline a call to expedite your case. Be sure to have a letter ready why you are expediting your case and show evidences like your orders/schedule in your orders. Since you filled it online. Most people just include it in their n400 under ina 319b packet they mail. I included it in mine too. There was like 2 girls that sent in that request and the uscis was even the one that contacted them first and went on ahead to expedite their cases and sent it right away to their local field office. Most uscis local field offices are are also nice. Once it gets there, they call you to ask you when its most convenient for you to do the interview, tests and the oath taking. It takes 1 day for all of it. Pre covid times and current covid times. 

 

So i hope that answers your question. My only problem now is how soon i get the naturalization certificate and getting the no fee/diplomatic passport. Japan is strict and want dependent people entering with their no fee passport which takes about 4 nowadays weeks despite it being rushed. But i'll be trying to get that and also as a backup plan going to my consulate to try and get my dual citizenship so if my us no fee passport doesn't make it in time... i can still use my foreign passport to enter japan. From nov to dec i won't be having any address. We go on temporary duty at 1 base for rom/quarantine and then training. Then fly out from seattle in dec. 

 

Good luck on your journey. I hope you finish yours before you fly. Its a hassle to come back to the us. Well europe is less stressful. Japan is very strict so i might not be able to fly back into japan because of the travel bans. So guam might be my best bet and just flying the rotator flights from bases so its all military/no commercial flights. 

I filed my N400 online, I hope I get it gets expedited the same amount of time as filing it through the mail. I think the only part where it indicated that I'm filing under INA 319(b) is in my letter of intent. Although when I started filing online, it did ask me under what circumstance I'm filing for naturalization and it was pretty straight forward that I chose that I'm filing due to my husband's continued employment overseas. Also, now I feel like I definitely didn't give them enough evidence??? Not that I can give them much outside of what I already included anyway. Here's hoping the orders is enough proof that my claim on filing N400 is legit. I couldn't send them the approval for pcs because I'm actually still in the middle of getting medical/dental clearance.

 

I just called the military hotline an hour ago and they filed to get my case expedited without issue. I just have to wait a week to hear back from them whether they do or don't accept my case to be expedited. Hopefully they do! Hearing what you say others went through is giving me hope. I'm crossing my fingers....and toes. lol Good luck to you as well, I hope you make it (and without issue!) to when you're supposed to leave for Japan.

[ZKT 118]

13 minutes ago, Iscir said:

thank you very much! i will be doing all that so it goes smoothly. i’m excited and a little nervous about filling, it’s a very big step compared to the green card paperwork.  I hope you get everything done before you have to leave for Japan!

Actually filling for aos was more stressful than this n400 since you're starting from zero. I guess i was just more stressed for the extra military requirements/evidence to make sure i am accepted in for ina 319b. But in general i found n400 much easier. Cause i basically just sent everything i sent in for aos but with additional ones like for example my apartment lease agreement with both our names, our house bills with both our names --- we submitted additional updated months/years to it. So its not much of a new thing. And like additional pictures of me and my husband through the months which again i have sent in the aos. There's not much additional evidence i had too and felt guilty/worried, so i just did the extra military ones that prove we are a real couple like the sgli document where i'm his sole beneficiary of the 400,000 if he dies or that he is my sole beneficiary of 100,000 if i die which all military have. Or like the emergency contact page where i'm listed as the the one the navy contacts. Oh and i added the navy certificate they gave my husband for reenlistment and my navy certificate of appreciation (i used that for evidence of 3 yrs in japan but also for me being a spouse). So yeah just a little additions since there's not much to add. So i'm sure you'll be fine. You can actually send your application as soon as you have your hard orders. 

[ZKT 118]

27 minutes ago, Pumpkin said:

No problem! I was actually worried about the same thing. Before I even considered filing for the N400, I was already thinking about the evidence I needed to send for when I had to file ROC and I literally don't have much to add on since my AOS at all because of COVID. My husband's currently stationed in S.Korea and we've been separated for a year. I was supposed to go see him back in April through May and that would've counted as something for our evidence but it got cancelled so the only evidence we have at this point is just a lot of calls and a short trip we had to LA before COVID which really isn't much.

 

I totally feel that right now...really no one knows what we're supposed to do. I'm going to call the passport office on base and ask if they can help me at all but one of the people my husband did ask (he asked a few people and everyone all suggested different things! Aaahh!!) also suggested calling the Italian embassy which I'll probably do if the first option doesn't really help. 

 

I filed my N400 online, I hope I get it gets expedited the same amount of time as filing it through the mail. I think the only part where it indicated that I'm filing under INA 319(b) is in my letter of intent. Although when I started filing online, it did ask me under what circumstance I'm filing for naturalization and it was pretty straight forward that I chose that I'm filing due to my husband's continued employment overseas. Also, now I feel like I definitely didn't give them enough evidence??? Not that I can give them much outside of what I already included anyway. Here's hoping the orders is enough proof that my claim on filing N400 is legit. I couldn't send them the approval for pcs because I'm actually still in the middle of getting medical/dental clearance.

 

I just called the military hotline an hour ago and they filed to get my case expedited without issue. I just have to wait a week to hear back from them whether they do or don't accept my case to be expedited. Hopefully they do! Hearing what you say others went through is giving me hope. I'm crossing my fingers....and toes. lol Good luck to you as well, I hope you make it (and without issue!) to when you're supposed to leave for Japan.

I'm happy that they filed to get you expedited. I hope that they do expedite your case. Let us know what happens/update us what happens. 

 

As for me.. because filling via regular mail was the advice of all the military spouses.. i followed their lead. Plus i did hear that its better to file it that way so you can easily add all the additional documents you need. So i don't really know how it would have been if i filed online. But about the actual form, yes i know you have to put what your filling under and put what local field office you would want to work with. I know that for a fact and the other marine lady from yuma arizona that did it in my local field office in imperial ca couldn't put our local field office so she ended up doing it by mail too. So yeah.. you'll be the first i got to talk to that did it online. Which is cool. Anyway i sure hope they expedite it for you soon! Good luck and thanks for the well wishes too! I'm both so excited and anxious for it. 

[Pumpkin 24]

On 9/14/2020 at 1:15 PM, ZKT said:

I'm happy that they filed to get you expedited. I hope that they do expedite your case. Let us know what happens/update us what happens. 

 

As for me.. because filling via regular mail was the advice of all the military spouses.. i followed their lead. Plus i did hear that its better to file it that way so you can easily add all the additional documents you need. So i don't really know how it would have been if i filed online. But about the actual form, yes i know you have to put what your filling under and put what local field office you would want to work with. I know that for a fact and the other marine lady from yuma arizona that did it in my local field office in imperial ca couldn't put our local field office so she ended up doing it by mail too. So yeah.. you'll be the first i got to talk to that did it online. Which is cool. Anyway i sure hope they expedite it for you soon! Good luck and thanks for the well wishes too! I'm both so excited and anxious for it. 

After filing the N400 yesterday, I checked my account on USCIS today and it updated! Now it says this:

 

We received your application

You submitted your application on September 14, 2020

We will begin reviewing your application by conducting a background check in order to identify any issues that need to be addressed. We will schedule a biometrics appointment to collect your fingerprints. We will also review your application to make sure you have submitted all of the required information and documentation.

 

Estimated wait time: 4 days

 

I'll definitely be checking everyday after this, just in case. lol There's no indication that they accepted or even received my expedite request though, but I'll give it a week like the person on the phone told me.

 

I also got to add more documents since I've been paranoid ever since you mentioned the documents you sent. I definitely haven't sent enough. So I added a (recent) joint bank statement and also a document indicating that my husband gave me power of attorney. I also scanned my military ID in there since I can't think of anything else I can add as proof that we're still together. I'll be wracking my brain for other things I can add in later for good measure.

 

And yes, I'll try to update here as much as I can on the progress of my case. Hopefully it can help others in the same situation as us too.

[ZKT 118]

On 9/15/2020 at 10:40 AM, Pumpkin said:

After filing the N400 yesterday, I checked my account on USCIS today and it updated! Now it says this:

 

We received your application

You submitted your application on September 14, 2020

We will begin reviewing your application by conducting a background check in order to identify any issues that need to be addressed. We will schedule a biometrics appointment to collect your fingerprints. We will also review your application to make sure you have submitted all of the required information and documentation.

 

Estimated wait time: 4 days

 

I'll definitely be checking everyday after this, just in case. lol There's no indication that they accepted or even received my expedite request though, but I'll give it a week like the person on the phone told me.

 

I also got to add more documents since I've been paranoid ever since you mentioned the documents you sent. I definitely haven't sent enough. So I added a (recent) joint bank statement and also a document indicating that my husband gave me power of attorney. I also scanned my military ID in there since I can't think of anything else I can add as proof that we're still together. I'll be wracking my brain for other things I can add in later for good measure.

 

And yes, I'll try to update here as much as I can on the progress of my case. Hopefully it can help others in the same situation as us too.

It's great that they are working on it and that you uploaded more evidence. I hope it satisfies them already so that you won't be asked for extra stuff. Did you put in a copy of hard orders? Just in case i forgot to mention and if you also have a dea (dependent approval) would be great additions. 

 

Anyway on my end, the uscis finally deposited my check yesterday and it cleared today. So it means they are now for sure looking at my case/file since my check was under my g1145, military n400 under ina319b cover letter and above my n400 form. Hopefully by next week i'll get my text message that they received my application because of my g1145 form. And possibly my noa1 in my mail in a few days. I hope sooner rather than later so i can have it expedited sooner. But yeah its good news to me that they started to check on my application. I've been worried it was still sitting in a pile at their office. 

[ZKT 118]

Another update, last night i got a sms/text message from the USCIS that they have accepted my N400 application and they are currently processing it. They also sent me a NOA1 in the mail on Sept 16 so that's gonna arrive in my mail i guess next week. 

 

I created a uscis account so i can track things and all. I do have my case number but i need a certain code from the mail. At least that's what the website said. 

 

On monday i will call the military hotline to expedite my case. I have provided evidence for my husband's schedule in his military orders and wrote and requested it in my n400 under ina 319b cover letter. So i hope that they expedite it already because of my cover letter.. but i'll call them on monday to ask them to expedite it just like you did. To make sure its rolling along surely and quickly. 

[ZKT 118]

So it's monday today. The military hotline is available/open already since last night friday when i received my receipt number. 

 

I called in to request an expedite on my case. The lady wasn't the friendliest person and almost seemed mad the entire time (must be the monday blues and getting back to reality after the weekend). She asked me a few questions like why i'm requesting for an expedite and under what category of reason i'm requesting it. i told her our hectic pcs schedule and then us not having any address here in the us by the end of october when we leave our current duty station and then i also mentioned the travel bans of us citizens in japan because of the current pandemic and how it is both a financial and military reason. 

 

The lady told me the same thing as you that the expedite is a case to case basis and its not a guarantee they will and that it will take 7 days for them to review my application/or before I hear from them again and gave me a case/reference/tracking number for the expedite. She was talking so fast... and as soon as she said the last number she hung up on me. So i wasn't able to double check if its correct and ask where i can check or track it. 

 

Call took a total of 3 mins with her and 9 mins of wait time before i got to talk to her. 

 

So yeah do update me on how they updated you after those 7 days @Pumpkin thanks so much! I'll be taking cues/tips from you. 

 

And now it's a waiting game for me. 

[Pumpkin 24]

1 hour ago, ZKT said:

So it's monday today. The military hotline is available/open already since last night friday when i received my receipt number. 

 

I called in to request an expedite on my case. The lady wasn't the friendliest person and almost seemed mad the entire time (must be the monday blues and getting back to reality after the weekend). She asked me a few questions like why i'm requesting for an expedite and under what category of reason i'm requesting it. i told her our hectic pcs schedule and then us not having any address here in the us by the end of october when we leave our current duty station and then i also mentioned the travel bans of us citizens in japan because of the current pandemic and how it is both a financial and military reason. 

 

The lady told me the same thing as you that the expedite is a case to case basis and its not a guarantee they will and that it will take 7 days for them to review my application/or before I hear from them again and gave me a case/reference/tracking number for the expedite. She was talking so fast... and as soon as she said the last number she hung up on me. So i wasn't able to double check if its correct and ask where i can check or track it. 

 

Call took a total of 3 mins with her and 9 mins of wait time before i got to talk to her. 

 

So yeah do update me on how they updated you after those 7 days @Pumpkin thanks so much! I'll be taking cues/tips from you. 

 

And now it's a waiting game for me. 

Hey!! I called the military hotline earlier today as well. Unfortunately, nothing new as far as my case is concerned.

The rep I spoke to was nice enough, I told him my situation since he asked the purpose of my expedite request and also told him I already called in last week on Monday requesting for it and the person I spoke with last time told me to give it a week to know if my case is approved for expediting or not. He checked my status for me and he confirmed seeing my expedite request but also told me there's no update for it and that the 1 week/5 business days the person told me last week was just an estimate and really it's up to the people looking into my case to update my status when they can. So basically he told me to just keep checking my status online until it reflects my request. Personally, I'll probably give it another week and call again next Monday if there's no update still by then...but I'm really hoping for an update sometime within the week.

 

As for my online account on the USCIS website, after the "estimated time" said "1 day", it updated the day after into: We are taking longer than expected to process your case. You do not need to do anything at this time.

Kinda expected that just 'cause everyone's online status did the same as well but was hoping it wouldn't be the case for mine, but oh well. I can't really do much but wait for an update at this point. I received mail from USCIS over the weekend and I thought that would be the biometrics appointment letter already LOL but it wasn't. It was just the receipt notice stating that they received my N400 application which is the exact same one that's available online through my account.

 

Thanks for letting me know how your case is doing! Here's hoping you get someone more decent on the line the next time you have to call. The very first person I spoke to last week (I called twice) was like that as well. He even insisted I make the expedite request online by myself which you can do apparently but for the life of me I can't figure out their website and where I could actually do that. So I called again and thankfully got someone else who made the expedite request for me. If it makes you feel better, the reference number they give you doesn't really do anything. Or so far it hasn't anyway. I wrote mine down from last time but when I spoke to the rep earlier, he didn't ask for it and was able to find my expedite request on my "file" with them after I gave them me receipt #, name and other personal details they asked for. So I think there shouldn't be a problem that you didn't get it all down.

 

I'll keep updating here as soon as there are any changes.

 

[Iscir 295]

2 hours ago, ZKT said:

So it's monday today. The military hotline is available/open already since last night friday when i received my receipt number. 

 

I called in to request an expedite on my case. The lady wasn't the friendliest person and almost seemed mad the entire time (must be the monday blues and getting back to reality after the weekend). She asked me a few questions like why i'm requesting for an expedite and under what category of reason i'm requesting it. i told her our hectic pcs schedule and then us not having any address here in the us by the end of october when we leave our current duty station and then i also mentioned the travel bans of us citizens in japan because of the current pandemic and how it is both a financial and military reason. 

 

The lady told me the same thing as you that the expedite is a case to case basis and its not a guarantee they will and that it will take 7 days for them to review my application/or before I hear from them again and gave me a case/reference/tracking number for the expedite. She was talking so fast... and as soon as she said the last number she hung up on me. So i wasn't able to double check if its correct and ask where i can check or track it. 

 

Call took a total of 3 mins with her and 9 mins of wait time before i got to talk to her. 

 

So yeah do update me on how they updated you after those 7 days @Pumpkin thanks so much! I'll be taking cues/tips from you. 

 

And now it's a waiting game for me. 

you can create an account on the egov website ( https://egov.uscis.gov) and there you can see the tracking code for your expedite and see if it’s been assigned to someone. You don’t need any code to create an account there, I think it’s myUscis the website that needs the code but my uscis didn’t show tracking numbers or anything about my cases 

[ZKT 118]

22 hours ago, Iscir said:

you can create an account on the egov website ( https://egov.uscis.gov) and there you can see the tracking code for your expedite and see if it’s been assigned to someone. You don’t need any code to create an account there, I think it’s myUscis the website that needs the code but my uscis didn’t show tracking numbers or anything about my cases 

Hi Iscir!

 

Thanks so much for your advice. I followed it and it worked! Yay! Now i'm tracking it like a hawk.

 

So I created an account on the other website last friday but I couldn't add my case cause I still didn't have my code letter with my code arrive in my mail. But at least that's ready. 

 

I also made an account on the website you gave me. But didn't realize i could add my case there. I just clicked on check case status. But because you mentioned it yesterday... i tinkered around the website and was able to find how to add my case to it and add text and email notifications on my case. All day yesterday nothing showed up. But then it finally did this morning and it says this in the case history:

 

On September 22, 2020, your request to have your case expedited, referral number T1B2652002XXXXX, was assigned to an officer for response.

Edited September 22, 2020 by ZKT

[Pumpkin 24]

@ZKT

 

Major Update on my case today!!!

 

So late last night, I sent an e-mail to to the military help line for USCIS. I told them my situation just like I did on the phone when I requested for the expedition of my N-400 application. I also told them I already made a request through the phone last week but was just sending an e-mail "in case" and with the e-mail I included my husband's orders with my name on it that we're supposed to head to Italy by October/November. No one told me to do this, but I just wanted to be proactive since I'm on a time crunch and I just added the orders in there 'cause well, it couldn't hurt right? Anyway, so they replied earlier this morning asking when I'm supposed to leave for Italy. I told them I didn't buy my ticket yet because I wasn't sure if my N-400 will even be completed before the flight date and I didn't want to have to cancel tickets in case I have to stay to complete to process since I don't even have a biometrics appointment scheduled yet. But to give them a proper estimate, I also told them my husband is supposed to fly to Italy (he's currently stationed in S.Korea while I'm state-side) on Oct. 15th.

 

I suspect the person I was communicating with via e-mail (who has been so nice and quick with their replies during our exchange by the way!!) forwarded this information to whoever is in charge of my case since I only gave this information (the specific date of when my husband leaves) this morning and never told the person from my first expedite request via phone call last week. Because a few hours after my e-mail exchange with the military help line, someone from my local field office (the one I listed as my field office of choice on my N-400) just called me and told me he's the one who'll be working on my case! He said he's just waiting for my file from somewhere (sorry, not sure what he said specifically but basically it's at one of the main USCIS offices) and because of this he can't schedule a biometrics appointment until he receives it which is why when we discussed about possible appointment dates, he gave it a bit of time between now and when he can for sure receive my file. So he scheduled a biometrics appointment for me on the 6th (ample time for him to get my file) and that the turn-around time for the biometrics to be registered on my file is at least 48 hours so he also said he'll schedule my interview on the 9th or at the latest (in case there's a delay with my biometrics getting registered) on the 13th. He then said I'll have my certificate after the oath ceremony by then (so I'm assuming the oath ceremony will be held on the same day as the interview...assuming I pass??), just in time for me to fly out on the 15th and he said I can book my ticket now if I want???! He also advised me about passports since he said I definitely won't get an American passport before the 15th since it takes a while to request for one and that I'll only have a certificate of naturalization at that point (not a problem since I'm flying to Italy with my old passport anyway). He said I can start the application for one but get the physical passport in Italy.

 

And...that's that. He also gave me his direct phone line in case I want to contact him with anything regarding my case but he reassured me that it's basically straight-forward at this point which I'm assuming is the case just as long as I meet the appointment dates and actually pass the test.

 

So far, this experience has been WILD. I only applied for Naturalization last week on Sept. 14th and I was basically told today just a little over a week later than I can get citizenship less than a month later?? It's so surreal I can't really believe it but I'm just so thankful I could cry!!! I can't fully get my hopes up just yet until I actually go through and finish with the process but so far this has been really good news and I really hope I can get through this without a hitch!!

[ZKT 118]

23 hours ago, Pumpkin said:

Hey!! I called the military hotline earlier today as well. Unfortunately, nothing new as far as my case is concerned.

The rep I spoke to was nice enough, I told him my situation since he asked the purpose of my expedite request and also told him I already called in last week on Monday requesting for it and the person I spoke with last time told me to give it a week to know if my case is approved for expediting or not. He checked my status for me and he confirmed seeing my expedite request but also told me there's no update for it and that the 1 week/5 business days the person told me last week was just an estimate and really it's up to the people looking into my case to update my status when they can. So basically he told me to just keep checking my status online until it reflects my request. Personally, I'll probably give it another week and call again next Monday if there's no update still by then...but I'm really hoping for an update sometime within the week.

 

As for my online account on the USCIS website, after the "estimated time" said "1 day", it updated the day after into: We are taking longer than expected to process your case. You do not need to do anything at this time.

Kinda expected that just 'cause everyone's online status did the same as well but was hoping it wouldn't be the case for mine, but oh well. I can't really do much but wait for an update at this point. I received mail from USCIS over the weekend and I thought that would be the biometrics appointment letter already LOL but it wasn't. It was just the receipt notice stating that they received my N400 application which is the exact same one that's available online through my account.

 

Thanks for letting me know how your case is doing! Here's hoping you get someone more decent on the line the next time you have to call. The very first person I spoke to last week (I called twice) was like that as well. He even insisted I make the expedite request online by myself which you can do apparently but for the life of me I can't figure out their website and where I could actually do that. So I called again and thankfully got someone else who made the expedite request for me. If it makes you feel better, the reference number they give you doesn't really do anything. Or so far it hasn't anyway. I wrote mine down from last time but when I spoke to the rep earlier, he didn't ask for it and was able to find my expedite request on my "file" with them after I gave them me receipt #, name and other personal details they asked for. So I think there shouldn't be a problem that you didn't get it all down.

 

I'll keep updating here as soon as there are any changes.

 

Hey pumpkin! 

 

I'm sorry to hear that there there was no update yet yesterday when you called. I hope that they'll be the first one to reach out once they do come to a decision and I hope that you hear something from them within this week or at the least when you call next week.

 

i'm happy that the person you talked to was nice yesterday and also the 2nd person you talked too last week. I agree I would not have known or be able to do the filing of military expedite online on my own and talking to an agent is much easier. 

 

As for my case status it still remains the same as received and they sent me a letter. So my expedite request only reflects on my case history. 

 

Super thanks for keeping us updated. I super appreciate it. 

[ZKT 118]

6 minutes ago, Pumpkin said:

@ZKT

 

Major Update on my case today!!!

 

So late last night, I sent an e-mail to to the military help line for USCIS. I told them my situation just like I did on the phone when I requested for the expedition of my N-400 application. I also told them I already made a request through the phone last week but was just sending an e-mail "in case" and with the e-mail I included my husband's orders with my name on it that we're supposed to head to Italy by October/November. No one told me to do this, but I just wanted to be proactive since I'm on a time crunch and I just added the orders in there 'cause well, it couldn't hurt right? Anyway, so they replied earlier this morning asking when I'm supposed to leave for Italy. I told them I didn't buy my ticket yet because I wasn't sure if my N-400 will even be completed before the flight date and I didn't want to have to cancel tickets in case I have to stay to complete to process since I don't even have a biometrics appointment scheduled yet. But to give them a proper estimate, I also told them my husband is supposed to fly to Italy (he's currently stationed in S.Korea while I'm state-side) on Oct. 15th.

 

I suspect the person I was communicating with via e-mail (who has been so nice and quick with their replies during our exchange by the way!!) forwarded this information to whoever is in charge of my case since I only gave this information (the specific date of when my husband leaves) this morning and never told the person from my first expedite request via phone call last week. Because a few hours after my e-mail exchange with the military help line, someone from my local field office (the one I listed as my field office of choice on my N-400) just called me and told me he's the one who'll be working on my case! He said he's just waiting for my file from somewhere (sorry, not sure what he said specifically but basically it's at one of the main USCIS offices) and because of this he can't schedule a biometrics appointment until he receives it which is why when we discussed about possible appointment dates, he gave it a bit of time between now and when he can for sure receive my file. So he scheduled a biometrics appointment for me on the 6th (ample time for him to get my file) and that the turn-around time for the biometrics to be registered on my file is at least 48 hours so he also said he'll schedule my interview on the 9th or at the latest (in case there's a delay with my biometrics getting registered) on the 13th. He then said I'll have my certificate after the oath ceremony by then (so I'm assuming the oath ceremony will be held on the same day as the interview...assuming I pass??), just in time for me to fly out on the 15th and he said I can book my ticket now if I want???! He also advised me about passports since he said I definitely won't get an American passport before the 15th since it takes a while to request for one and that I'll only have a certificate of naturalization at that point (not a problem since I'm flying to Italy with my old passport anyway). He said I can start the application for one but get the physical passport in Italy.

 

And...that's that. He also gave me his direct phone line in case I want to contact him with anything regarding my case but he reassured me that it's basically straight-forward at this point which I'm assuming is the case just as long as I meet the appointment dates and actually pass the test.

 

So far, this experience has been WILD. I only applied for Naturalization last week on Sept. 14th and I was basically told today just a little over a week later than I can get citizenship less than a month later?? It's so surreal I can't really believe it but I'm just so thankful I could cry!!! I can't fully get my hopes up just yet until I actually go through and finish with the process but so far this has been really good news and I really hope I can get through this without a hitch!!

Eeek!!!! I'm super super super happy for you!!! This is amazing!!! I might just try this route too today! Hahaha! Just in case ms. Grumpypants wasn't able to list everything down. But i did send all my orders and dea, and stuff in my packet and was in my cover letter so they should be able to see it. (Gonna reply and rejoice again later. Gonna cook for a bit now)