I751 + N400 Combo Interview Experience

[Renegade 11]

Hi guys! I had my combo interview this morning at 7:45AM, want to share my experience.

I751 filed May 2019 ( Case status was Interview Cancelled since March 2020)
N400 filed September 2020 ( Interview scheduled April 15 for May 21)

My office is Los Angeles. The line for check in windows was about 15-20 minutes long. (By the way my interview notice stated that I should come alone or with lawyer, but ignore that, no one asked my husband anything)  After checking in I told receptionist that my husband is with me because we have I751 pending. She said that officer is aware of that.
After checking in the wait was surprisingly short, got called my name in 2 minutes.
The officer asked us to take the Oath, and said that he's gonna do I751 first then we will move to N400. At first he asked to give him evidence that we brought, so I gave him 2 albums with pictures together, plus about 30 pictures from the trips we took in 2020 (He asked if he can keep these pictures, which was kinda odd to me) , also gave him bank statements, utility bills and last 4 years of tax returns.
He looked every single picture, then he looked at out ID's (Unfortunately my id had our old address and my husbands ID had even older address, we explained that to the officer, he seemed okay), after reviewing evidence he started asking questions
How did you meet
When was your first date
Who proposed
Why do you want to live in the US

After that he asked my husband how he became a US citizen ( We passed his Naturalization Certificate)

 

He was taking notes on the paper. 
After all the questions he asked my husband to wait outside so we can start N400.

N400 part of the interview was super easy, we started with civic test (Answered correctly to all 6 questions) then basic speaking and writing test. After that he started asking basic questions from my application, in the end he showed me the updated info and asked me to sign, and
after that he said that he needs some time to input some information and asked me to wait in the lobby.
After approximately 10 minutes he came outside and asked me to go get 2 passport style photos and drop it off to him. After getting the photos I asked the guard if I can drop off those pics to the officer, so the guard called him again.
Officer grabbed my pics and said that he need to input all the info into the computer and asked me to wait (It was really weird that he didn't tell us if we're approved or not, and I was afraid to ask), this time the wait was little longer about 20 minutes, he came out again and said
that n400 probably won't get approved today since the system has delays in processing, that's when we both asked him if we are approved, and he said yes he's recommending our case for approval and handed us a notice N652 with checkmarks near I passed the Civic and English test, and also under Congratulations!
He said that Oath Ceremony should be on Wednesday and I need to wait for an email.

We thanked him and left the building.

My I751 case status changed to Interview Was Completed And My Case Must Be Reviewed 
My N400 still has the same status Interview Scheduled.

Still kinda nervous and paranoid that they are reviewing the case file in order to find some mistakes, hopefully everything will be officially approved soon. 

 

[USC4SPOUSE 506]

@Renegade, congrats! You're done! There is no need to be nervous. Though, it is only natural. ☺️

[Renegade 11]

3 minutes ago, USC4SPOUSE said:

@Renegade, congrats! You're done! There is no need to be nervous. Though, it is only natural. ☺️

Thank you! That's true, but I know that our case gonna pass through a different officer as well before getting finally approved, that's why I nervous. Quite frankly this officer gave me impression that he was trying his best to find some missing things on our case, although he was very polite.
I guess that's their job 😕

[USC4SPOUSE 506]

3 minutes ago, Renegade said:

Thank you! That's true, but I know that our case gonna pass through a different officer as well before getting finally approved, that's why I nervous. Quite frankly this officer gave me impression that he was trying his best to find some missing things on our case, although he was very polite.
I guess that's their job 😕

That's one way to look at it. The other way to look at it is that they have to justify their recommendations for approval. Therefore, the officer was probably making sure everything checks out before sending it off to the supervisor. 

You're fine! 😎

[Mike E 11,727]

21 hours ago, Renegade said:

After approximately 10 minutes he came outside and asked me to go get 2 passport style photos and drop it off to him.

I had a similar experience with my N-400.   It was last interview of the day and I had to bring photos the next day.  Despite the interview notice saying they were not necessary.  My naturalization certificate did not use those

photos.  

[Mill&bill 131]

On 5/21/2021 at 2:30 PM, Renegade said:

Hi guys! I had my combo interview this morning at 7:45AM, want to share my experience.

I751 filed May 2019 ( Case status was Interview Cancelled since March 2020)
N400 filed September 2020 ( Interview scheduled April 15 for May 21)

My office is Los Angeles. The line for check in windows was about 15-20 minutes long. (By the way my interview notice stated that I should come alone or with lawyer, but ignore that, no one asked my husband anything)  After checking in I told receptionist that my husband is with me because we have I751 pending. She said that officer is aware of that.
After checking in the wait was surprisingly short, got called my name in 2 minutes.
The officer asked us to take the Oath, and said that he's gonna do I751 first then we will move to N400. At first he asked to give him evidence that we brought, so I gave him 2 albums with pictures together, plus about 30 pictures from the trips we took in 2020 (He asked if he can keep these pictures, which was kinda odd to me) , also gave him bank statements, utility bills and last 4 years of tax returns.
He looked every single picture, then he looked at out ID's (Unfortunately my id had our old address and my husbands ID had even older address, we explained that to the officer, he seemed okay), after reviewing evidence he started asking questions
How did you meet
When was your first date
Who proposed
Why do you want to live in the US

After that he asked my husband how he became a US citizen ( We passed his Naturalization Certificate)

 

He was taking notes on the paper. 
After all the questions he asked my husband to wait outside so we can start N400.

N400 part of the interview was super easy, we started with civic test (Answered correctly to all 6 questions) then basic speaking and writing test. After that he started asking basic questions from my application, in the end he showed me the updated info and asked me to sign, and
after that he said that he needs some time to input some information and asked me to wait in the lobby.
After approximately 10 minutes he came outside and asked me to go get 2 passport style photos and drop it off to him. After getting the photos I asked the guard if I can drop off those pics to the officer, so the guard called him again.
Officer grabbed my pics and said that he need to input all the info into the computer and asked me to wait (It was really weird that he didn't tell us if we're approved or not, and I was afraid to ask), this time the wait was little longer about 20 minutes, he came out again and said
that n400 probably won't get approved today since the system has delays in processing, that's when we both asked him if we are approved, and he said yes he's recommending our case for approval and handed us a notice N652 with checkmarks near I passed the Civic and English test, and also under Congratulations!
He said that Oath Ceremony should be on Wednesday and I need to wait for an email.

We thanked him and left the building.

My I751 case status changed to Interview Was Completed And My Case Must Be Reviewed 
My N400 still has the same status Interview Scheduled.

Still kinda nervous and paranoid that they are reviewing the case file in order to find some mistakes, hopefully everything will be officially approved soon. 

 

Do we need to bring two passport style photo on the day of interview in general? or he specifically asked you ?

[Renegade 11]

Passport style photos were not required in the interview document check list.

[Renegade 11]

Today my i751 status changes to Approved and n400 status changed to Oath ceremony will be scheduled.

I guess this is the end of my immigration journey, very excited and happy. Best of luck to everyone who's still waiting ❤️ 

[da95826 387]

20 minutes ago, elegant said:

I was expecting a double interview --- but the i-751 was approved without even an interview.  Weird.  Your thoughts of what are going on?!?!?!?

The ROC was approved that good thing. Congratulations, you had a good case with strong evidence and no red flags, good job.

 

Just need to prepare for the n400, if under the 3 year rule just be prepared to submit updated evidence that you live with your spouse and are still married. You will need proof that your spouse is a USA citizen for the past 3 years or more.