N400 November 2022 filers

[Knome 245]

I applied N 400 online on Nov 6 2022. Today I got an update that N400 interview is scheduled for March 8. I 751 is pending at LIN..( 1 year 2 months )...I am excited but super nervous as well..N400 service center is Seattle ..interview is at Tukwila.

[ricvtr22 32]

Has anyone ever gotten a RFE during their N-400 interview, uploaded it to USCIS account and got in line to get scheduled for the Oath? Or does one need to receive another interview notice to appear before the IO with the RFE before the application can be approved and placed in line for the oath? My mom got a RFE on the N-648 form (medical exemption form) because the doctor did not answer one of the questions completely. The officer just want the doctor to complete the answer to approve the N-648. 

[SorrowL 138]

6 minutes ago, ricvtr22 said:

Has anyone ever gotten a RFE during their N-400 interview, uploaded it to USCIS account and got in line to get scheduled for the Oath? Or does one need to receive another interview notice to appear before the IO with the RFE before the application can be approved and placed in line for the oath? My mom got a RFE on the N-648 form (medical exemption form) because the doctor did not answer one of the questions completely. The officer just want the doctor to complete the answer to approve the N-648. 

Once you complete the interview, you do not need to attend another interview. If you complete the RFE after the interview, it's normal to be approved / scheduled for an oath. 

[Mike E 11,723]

Some cases do get a second interview.  

[1022Lap0G 10]

On 11/6/2022 at 12:41 AM, 1022Lap0G said:

Hello all,

 

Filed my family application 5/Nov/2022. Here are the details,

 

1. Both my wife & I are 5 years based applicants.

2. We both filed our individual applications. We assume that our 9 years old daughter would be automatically naturalized when we are. So we could all apply passports together.

3. I have been on F1, F1/OPT & H1B visa in the US until I turned 26. So I chose I was not qualified for Select Service in the application.

4. We also lost most of our original documents when we relocated a couple of years ago. Although we had a scanned copy of our marriage certificate and uploaded it in the application, we both also wrote a letter mentioning the absence of original documents.

5. As additional documentation we also uploaded our tax filings for the past 4 years.

 

Receipt showed up almost instantaneously. Biometrics waived for both of us. Please let me know if I missed anything.

I will keep the community posted on progress. Thank you.

Glad news, interview scheduled for 07/March/2023 at 12:10 PM for me & 12:50 PM for my wife. This forum and this thread has been a great guide for many of us. Thank you so much.

 

Question: Given the time, is same day oath possible for both of us? 

[Pablito 16]

On 11/22/2022 at 9:25 PM, Pablito said:

Filed today as well. Hoping for everything to go smoothly and quickly. 🤞

got the interview schedule notice at the end of February

[LostRonin 22]

On 12/30/2022 at 6:14 PM, Butterfly2 said:

oh, sorry to hear that.

Wife decided to change her flight to accommodate the interview. She passed and completed the oath. 

[irene123 15]

I applied N-400 November 27

3 years rules, ROC (I-751) steel pending

got the interview schedule notice today, January 27 (60 days)

interview was schedule on March 16

Florida, Broward County, Fort Lauderdale

[Mike E 11,723]

On 12/28/2022 at 9:16 AM, Mike E said:

January 31 is going to an active day for our thread 

 

On 12/28/2022 at 8:35 AM, LI Filer said:

Long Island (Nassau County), NY filer here:

 

Online application: 11/4/2022

Biometrics reuse notice: 11/9/2022

Interview scheduled notice: 12/23/2022 (Interview on 1/31/2023 in Holtsville, NY)

 

On 12/21/2022 at 4:12 PM, Mike E said:

Interview scheduled for January 31, 2023

Because my VJ  timeline is broken and not editable by me, and requests to fix this have been without effect, I will briefly summarize our timeline:

 

7/1985 - I became a Resident Alien which is the same as an LPR in 21st century terms
1/2018 - I took oath of U.S. citizenship 
2/2018 - filed I-129F for my fiancée Iris

12/2018 - K-1 interview 

1/2019 - POE

1/2019 - Marriage 

3/2019 - I-485 filed

1/2020 - I-485 interview and approval 

10/2021 - I-751 filed 

10/2022 - I-751 approved (no interview)

11/2023 - N-400 filed based on 3 year rule 

12/2023 - interview scheduled for Jan 31. 

 

We went to the Tucson field office on January 31, 2023.  This is the smallest field office I’ve seen (my other experiences being Chicago, Denver, San Jose).  Rather than over a 100  people in the waiting room as we are accustomed to, there were zero when we arrived 11:45 am. It doesn’t add up to me: less than 70 miles from the border in a metropolis with  400,000  Latino people.  There should have been a line out the door.  
 

After clearing the security check point, the receptionist took new biometrics. Photo + plus each pinkie fingerprinted.  
 

We then waited for the ISO to call  Iris.  He would not let me join her in her marriage based interview.

 

Iris took the normal pre-interview oath in the interview room. Then whule setting up the phone call with Iris’s attorney (San Jose based) he made small talk with her, asking her where we met and about her travels.  When we mentioned this to her lawyer after a quick debrief, the  lawyer asked us, in a perturbed tone: “the officer asked her questions on the record before calling me?”. 
 

So that was a no no by the ISO.  
 

After her lawyer joined the meeting, the officer first did the reading / writing tests:

 

Reading: ”Who lives in the White House?”

 

Writing: “The president lives in the White House.”

 

Iris got the first  6  civics questions right.  Fortunately she wasn’t asked to name her Senator (Sinema) or Representative (Ciscomani) as she was having trouble with pronunciation of those. She was asked to name the VPOTUS and a territory (PR).  No questions about dates in history. She doesn’t recall the other 4 questions.  

 

Then the  ISO:

 

*  reviewed the questions on her N-400 form

 

* asked about travel history prior to January 16, 2020 (the “resident since” date on her gc). Our lawyer shut that line of questioning down.     Had we done DIY  and not included history from prior to becoming an LPR, that might  have delayed the case.  
 

* Asked  her more questions about her  travels, including:

+ Asked where will she travel next after taking oath of citizen.  

+ When he asked Iris how many times her husband had been to Burma (7) he  expressed surprise and asked her to confirm. 

 

* Asked to see her AZ drivers license (recommended by her lawyer to bring and not listed  on the interview letter) 

 

* Asked to see her green card 
 

* The ISO did not ask for the following evidence that Iris brought per the interview letter and/or lawyer’s advice:

 

+ marriage certificate 

+ her passports,

+ my passport (not submitted with N-400)

+ my naturalization certificate

+ my divorce decree  (not  submitted with N-400)

+ evidence of joint accounts since filing N-400 

+ social security card 

+ travel history since filing N-400 

* The ISO did not ask for the following which was a good because we didn’t bring:

 

+  tax transcripts (submitted with N-400)

+ 2022 tax return, not filed yet.  

+ passport photos (I was blind sided for these at my own N-400 and it slipped my mind to have these ready for  Iris)

+ birth certificates of my kids (all adults at the time Iris and I married)  which were not submitted with N-400
 
After 15 minutes, the interview concluded with a written recommendation for approval. 30 minutes from check point  to parking lot.  
 

Today her oath was scheduled for Friday February 24, at a federal court house in Tucson in a “special proceedings” court room.   Note that there is no name change being requested. I plan to attend. 
 

Her passport appointment is scheduled for Monday February 27.  

 

“But that’s illegally claiming to be a US citizen!”  That’s ok.  We neither agree nor care.
 

She will apply for both a passport and passport card.  A passport card is handy when you live 64 miles  from the border and have a foreign accent.  

Edited February 2, 2023 by Mike E
Typo - 11/23 -> 11/22 and 12/23 -> 12/22 / Won't let me edit comment

[IvyJ 24]

I know it might be too early for ask since according to USCIS my case is still in normal processing time. But I submitted in November 3, 2022 with 3 year rule, my tracker still shows waiting period estimated to be 6 months away.

 

So many people here get the appointment one-two months after submission. I’m getting jealous.

[Mike E 11,723]

10 hours ago, YuanYuanYuan said:

I know it might be too early for ask since according to USCIS my case is still in normal processing time. But I submitted in November 3, 2022 with 3 year rule, my tracker still shows waiting period estimated to be 6 months away.

 

So many people here get the appointment one-two months after submission. I’m getting jealous.

https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/citlist.php?op6=All&op7=Baltimore+MD&op1=6&op2=&op4=1&op5=5%2C10%2C11&cfl= 

 

and

 

https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/citlist.php?op6=All&op7=Baltimore+MD&op1=3&op2=&op4=1&op5=5%2C10%2C11&cfl=

 

suggests Baltimore is not processing N-400s  like most other offices. 
 

Yet
 

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/data/N400_performancedata_fy2022_qtr4.pdf

shows that like most offices, Baltimore is processing more N-400s than it receives. 
 

One hypothesis is that Baltimore is processing cases first in first out instead of last in first out. IOW Baltimore is being fair. 
 

The good news for you is that the backlog is reducing by several thousand a quarter. We don’t have the December (FY2023 Q1) numbers yet, but assuming the back lot reduced by 1000 per month, it stands at 8000 now. So 8 more months. 
 

San Francisco processed over 15,000 cases in Q4. Holy smokes. It went from the office where new cases went to die (before the pandemic) to the place to be if you want to be a citizen. 15,000 / 90 = 167 interviews per day, 7 days a week.  They could not have been doing anything else. 

 

[IvyJ 24]

14 hours ago, Mike E said:

https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/citlist.php?op6=All&op7=Baltimore+MD&op1=6&op2=&op4=1&op5=5%2C10%2C11&cfl= 

 

and

 

https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/citlist.php?op6=All&op7=Baltimore+MD&op1=3&op2=&op4=1&op5=5%2C10%2C11&cfl=

 

suggests Baltimore is not processing N-400s  like most other offices. 
 

Yet
 

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/data/N400_performancedata_fy2022_qtr4.pdf

shows that like most offices, Baltimore is processing more N-400s than it receives. 
 

One hypothesis is that Baltimore is processing cases first in first out instead of last in first out. IOW Baltimore is being fair. 
 

The good news for you is that the backlog is reducing by several thousand a quarter. We don’t have the December (FY2023 Q1) numbers yet, but assuming the back lot reduced by 1000 per month, it stands at 8000 now. So 8 more months. 
 

San Francisco processed over 15,000 cases in Q4. Holy smokes. It went from the office where new cases went to die (before the pandemic) to the place to be if you want to be a citizen. 15,000 / 90 = 167 interviews per day, 7 days a week.  They could not have been doing anything else. 

 

Wow this is some badass analysis you pulled out. Don’t know what I did to deserve you. You r my god here. 

[LI Filer 17]

On 12/28/2022 at 10:35 AM, LI Filer said:

Long Island (Nassau County), NY filer here:

 

Online application: 11/4/2022

Biometrics reuse notice: 11/9/2022

Interview scheduled notice: 12/23/2022 (Interview on 1/31/2023 in Holtsville, NY)

 

I posted this in the NY thread, but as a November 2022 filer, re-posting it here with my experience:

 

Update on my filing:

 

Online application: 11/4/2022

Biometrics reuse notice: 11/9/2022

Interview scheduled notice: 12/23/2022 (Interview on 1/31/2023 in Holtsville, NY)

Interview: 1/31/2023 in Holtsville, NY (Long Island) office

Approved: We recommended approval; submitted for quality review: 1/31/2023 (status updated immediately after interview)

Oath Ceremony Will Be Scheduled: 1/31/2023

 

Waiting on oath ceremony to be scheduled (with a name change on my original application). Was surprised to see this notice, as I passed all of the tests, but I received an expected "A decision cannot be made yet about your application" notice, due to prior arrests in the past (long time ago and final outcomes were just violations/disorderly conduct). Both IO and my attorney mentioned that all cases with prior arrests take more time to process (1-3 months), so wouldn't be surprised if my "oath will be scheduled" changes, but for now, waiting on either oath to be scheduled and/or final approval. 

 

Hardly anyone on line to enter building...was able to enter 25 minute prior to my appointment, checked in, and was called 10 minutes earlier than my scheduled time.

 

IO was business-like but friendly enough, though very poker-faced. Ran through civics test (basic enough questions), simple reading of one sentence, and writing the response on the tablet, bunch of yes/no questions, and then asked if I had been arrested before. Answered yes, and when asked what happened? Just replied it was a long time ago (26 years ago) and that they were disorderly conducts (a violation), produced official court dispositions, which she took and just moved on. All in all, was done in about 10 minutes, said I passed but because of the arrests, it has to be approved by a supervisor, and that there's no way to tell how long it would take. 

 

After getting in the car, checked USCIS website and it was already updated to approved and oath ceremony will be scheduled, so not sure if that was in error, just a temporary update, or whether it was already fully approved, but will keep checking to see if I receive an oath ceremony date. 

 

Oh, and I forgot to mention, my attorney (who did not attend the interview with me), advised that I should take additional passport photos (in addition to the submitted ones for the original application), and sure enough, the IO asked if I had additional passport photos, which I did, so I handed them over. 

 

Not sure if there would have been a delay or issue if I didn't have backup, additional passport photos, but I was super glad that I did. 

 

I also took the following documents with me, though was only asked to see green card, driver's license, selective service registration info, and original court dispositions with seal (for prior arrests):

 

Valid and current foreign passport, green card, driver's license, selective service registration, original court dispositions with seal, 5 years of tax returns, utility bill, marriage certificate (my naturalization was not based on marriage but took it anyway), and current W2 paystub. 

 

I was dressed business casual (V-neck sweater over a button-up sweater, dark washed jeans, and dressy/casual sneakers), and I felt this was very appropriate compared to other applicants and immigration officers, who were mostly all dressed similar. 

 

Hope this is helpful, and let me know if any specific questions. 

[Mike E 11,723]

13 minutes ago, LI Filer said:

Oh, and I forgot to mention, my attorney (who did not attend the interview with me), advised that I should take additional passport photos (in addition to the submitted ones for the original application), and sure enough, the IO asked if I had additional passport photos, which I did, so I handed them over. 

This was my experience in 2017 in San Jose. Alas no one warned me, and I had to get photos the next day.

 

Years later I asked my wife's lawyer why, and  the explanation is that the device that prints certificates of naturalization will not print a certificate with the same photo more than 2 times. Extra photos give ISOs an 3rd and 4th opportunity to recover from a printer issue.

 

I didn't prepare my wife with photos for her (January 31 too) N-400 interview. But we lucked out: Tucson takes new biometrics at reception before proceeding to waiting room.

 

Congratulations on your approval.

[Mike E 11,723]

18 minutes ago, LI Filer said:

I was dressed business casual (V-neck sweater over a button-up sweater, dark washed jeans, and dressy/casual sneakers), and I felt this was very appropriate compared to other applicants and immigration officers, who were mostly all dressed similar. 

In Tucson the ISOs were wearing blue jeans.