N-400 August 2023 Filers

[DrIdu 50]

Hello all. Final update for our journey. Had the oath ceremony just before the holiday break started. At first it seemed a bit mundane, but when they asked the families to sit in while everyone was getting sworn in… I just felt such immense emotion and excitement and pride. Felt like I was watching a graduation! I’m so happy to be moving on to the nitty gritty of getting Mr.Idu set up as a US CITIZEN now. Waiting for the offices to reopen after their holiday breaks so we can start on the “fun” passport process. 
 

Wishing everyone luck and can’t thank visajourney.com and all y’all in the forums for great guidance and support. We were part of the group of folks pursuing the I-130/IR1 during 2020 covid height and, when everything shut down, this website kept me sane during that time.

 

Happy New Year to all! 🎉🇺🇸

[JenIE 401]

2 hours ago, DrIdu said:

Hello all. Final update for our journey. Had the oath ceremony just before the holiday break started. At first it seemed a bit mundane, but when they asked the families to sit in while everyone was getting sworn in… I just felt such immense emotion and excitement and pride. Felt like I was watching a graduation! I’m so happy to be moving on to the nitty gritty of getting Mr.Idu set up as a US CITIZEN now. Waiting for the offices to reopen after their holiday breaks so we can start on the “fun” passport process. 
 

Wishing everyone luck and can’t thank visajourney.com and all y’all in the forums for great guidance and support. We were part of the group of folks pursuing the I-130/IR1 during 2020 covid height and, when everything shut down, this website kept me sane during that time.

 

Happy New Year to all! 🎉🇺🇸

Congratulations on reaching the end of the journey! This site was such a great resource and definitely helpful for keeping sane during the added complications of covid.

 

If it helps, the passport process is pretty straightforward, especially after all the other forms you've filled out. My husband went to the post office the day after his ceremony and took his Naturalization Certificate and a printed copy of the filled out application and they took photos there. We expedited so he could travel for the holidays and he received his passport in just over 2 weeks!

[Ayrton 965]

My N-400 interview has just been scheduled in NYC for Feb. I applied online in Aug.

 

I-751 still pending since I applied in Sep 2022.

[Selcouth 13]

One of the best if not the best christmas present i got. 
My journey finally came to an end, and i am happy to be done with immigration. 
After everything i've been through in US, the felling of relief i felt when officer said "congratulations, you became a US citizen" is hard to describe. 
Office: Cennetial in Denver, Colorado
It was very quiet in this office, there were only 7-8 of us that day. 
I came 2 hours before my interview and no one said anything for arriving too early. They let me in and also they even called me for an interview one hour before my schedule time. 
The whole interview process and oath took around 20 minutes. 
I applied under 5 year rule.
Both officers that were interviewing that day were very smiley, in a good positive mood. 
It started with civics questions, then went to reading and writing. 
After that i went through a lot of yes and no questions. 
The only thing they asked a little bit in more detail was my travel. I have 8 trips in total with around 500 days out of US for 5 years. One trip in particular was 176 days and officer was interested why i was out of the country for so long. 
I said it was during covid and i had to take care of my sick father and that's it. He put that info in the system, made me sign at the end and then he asked me if i want to get an oath right now. 

Hope this come in use for anyone who traveled a lot during 5 years. 
The whole wait time is a lot more stressful than interview itself. 
Please also, dress up. This is a nice occasion and special moment in your life. Don't go like most people did, like they went to walmart. 

Good luck to all still on this journey, you got this!

Now it's time for expedited passport. 

[Maria P. 35]

On 12/20/2023 at 6:08 PM, CuriousImmigrant_ said:

Congratulations! Just one step to go! By chance, have you submitted any tax transcripts or were asked to submit so?

Sorry for a delayed reply - went away on Xmas vacation) 

 

I did submit 2020, 2021, 2022 tax transcripts with N400. (last 3 years), same with i751 application (from beginning of marriage - 2019, 2020, 2021). Specifically, it was IRS tax transcripts + W2s (paystubs) (from my husband as I was not employed till 2023).  The main point - to show u file taxes together (jointly). This is supposedly one of the most respected proof(s) of bona fide marriage (along with having children) if you file based on 3year rule.  

 

I brought originals to the interview, but officer did not ask for them  

[Maria P. 35]

33 minutes ago, Selcouth said:

The only thing they asked a little bit in more detail was my travel. I have 8 trips in total with around 500 days out of US for 5 years. One trip in particular was 176 days and officer was interested why i was out of the country for so long. 
I said it was during covid and i had to take care of my sick father and that's it. He put that info in the system, made me sign at the end and then he asked me if i want to get an oath right now. 

Hope this come in use for anyone who traveled a lot during 5 years. 

The whole wait time is a lot more stressful than interview itself. 

Please also, dress up. This is a nice occasion and special moment in your life. Don't go like most people did, like they went to walmart. 

Good luck to all still on this journey, you got this!

Now it's time for expedited passport. 

Had the same observations - the wait time was the most stressful part. In Orlando office, there were around 50+ ppl there, and seeing some exiting the doors with tears of joy and smiles and some with faces like their world ended - was pretty nerve wracking. Also observing officer's personalities and some being very 'Karen' like and some super chill, it just plays mind tricks on you and I literally was sitting there for 20 minutes whispering  'please, not that Karen angry lady' or the 'mean macho officer'   

 

Same remark on "Walmart" outfits. Just no comment. 

 

With regard to travel - I had 10+ trips in 3 years with total of 255 days out of USA (the longest was 108 days, the first trip after covid borders opened). The officer didn't ask, just wanted to confirm if any new trips happened after sending N400. Also an interesting thing he mentioned - might be useful for anybody who has delayed oath due to name change for example -> he said, when I go to courthouse for name change and oath, I will have to update them with any new trips, arrests or changes (which are the eligibility criteria). So if you are close to a MAX limit of days out of states, make sure u don't breach the "red line" after interview but before oath, as worst case scenario - they will approve u, but then u make urself ineligible due to 'abandoning' residence status... Super rare situation I believe, but if anybody has something along those limits - u might pay attention to this.

[Selcouth 13]

1 hour ago, Maria P. said:

Had the same observations - the wait time was the most stressful part. In Orlando office, there were around 50+ ppl there, and seeing some exiting the doors with tears of joy and smiles and some with faces like their world ended - was pretty nerve wracking. Also observing officer's personalities and some being very 'Karen' like and some super chill, it just plays mind tricks on you and I literally was sitting there for 20 minutes whispering  'please, not that Karen angry lady' or the 'mean macho officer'   

 

Same remark on "Walmart" outfits. Just no comment. 

 

With regard to travel - I had 10+ trips in 3 years with total of 255 days out of USA (the longest was 108 days, the first trip after covid borders opened). The officer didn't ask, just wanted to confirm if any new trips happened after sending N400. Also an interesting thing he mentioned - might be useful for anybody who has delayed oath due to name change for example -> he said, when I go to courthouse for name change and oath, I will have to update them with any new trips, arrests or changes (which are the eligibility criteria). So if you are close to a MAX limit of days out of states, make sure u don't breach the "red line" after interview but before oath, as worst case scenario - they will approve u, but then u make urself ineligible due to 'abandoning' residence status... Super rare situation I believe, but if anybody has something along those limits - u might pay attention to this.

We had similar observations on everything.

Yes, i hope someone finds useful this info that we shared about travel. 

Did you applied for passport? If you did, what documents did you brought to post office and how long was the wait? 

 

[JenIE 401]

8 minutes ago, Selcouth said:

We had similar observations on everything.

Yes, i hope someone finds useful this info that we shared about travel. 

Did you applied for passport? If you did, what documents did you brought to post office and how long was the wait? 

 

My husband had his oath the Monday before Thanksgiving and we applied for his passport the next day. We expedited so he could travel home for Christmas and he got his passport in just over 2 weeks (which included the Thanksgiving holiday!)

 

All he needed was the application that we filled out online and printed out and brought with us, and his Naturalization Certificate. They took the photos at the post office. Make sure you know what form of payments your passport center takes, our post office only took checks, not credit card.

[Selcouth 13]

13 hours ago, JenIE said:

My husband had his oath the Monday before Thanksgiving and we applied for his passport the next day. We expedited so he could travel home for Christmas and he got his passport in just over 2 weeks (which included the Thanksgiving holiday!)

 

All he needed was the application that we filled out online and printed out and brought with us, and his Naturalization Certificate. They took the photos at the post office. Make sure you know what form of payments your passport center takes, our post office only took checks, not credit card.

Thank you for the info. I just filled up the paperwork and made my appointment in 2 days. Can't wait to get my hands on my american passport, yeaaay 😬

[Lirca 69]

Hi everyone, my completion time changed again from 3 months to 2 months hopefully many of us get interview scheduled for this month 

[naturelover0305 9]

On 1/1/2024 at 12:26 PM, Lirca said:

Hi everyone, my completion time changed again from 3 months to 2 months hopefully many of us get interview scheduled for this month 

mine did the same. I wonder if it will keep on changing until it says "Your case is taking longer than expected" lol.

[Lirca 69]

12 hours ago, naturelover0305 said:

mine did the same. I wonder if it will keep on changing until it says "Your case is taking longer than expected" lol.

Hi so the next day after that  my interview was scheduled so you my get it soon too and also completion time changed again from 2 months to 7 months lol

[CuriousImmigrant_ 8]

3 hours ago, Lirca said:

Hi so the next day after that  my interview was scheduled so you my get it soon too and also completion time changed again from 2 months to 7 months lol

Congratulations! Processing times published are unrelated. It may have been a coincidence.

[Lirca 69]

40 minutes ago, CuriousImmigrant_ said:

Congratulations! Processing times published are unrelated. It may have been a coincidence.

Thankyou!

[naturelover0305 9]

4 hours ago, Lirca said:

Hi so the next day after that  my interview was scheduled so you my get it soon too and also completion time changed again from 2 months to 7 months lol

Congratulations