I-751 and N-400 without interview?

[MikeSchw 0]

Hi.

We're together with my US citizen wife since 2018, married in 2019, everything going well, filed tons of evidence, photos, paperwork, credit card statements, insurance, will, life insurance, thousands of pages all together since day 1. My GC interview was quite short, nice lady asking a few questions, and said she will under no circumstances look through the 4 inch thick pile of copied documents, and the photo book with hundreds of photos smiled and said congrats. Not per say but she made me feel pretty confident on her decision when we left her office, 5 minutes later we got the approval. Sorry for the short story long. It was about 3 years ago. I filed for removal of conditions a year and 3 months ago, and for N400 3 months ago. Always everything on the 1st day of eligibility. The countdown started with 12 months, then after a week or two it went down to 6 months, a month ago it went down to 5 months, this week it went down to 4 months, and a day ago to 3 months. So things looking good.

Facing our immaculate status, can it be that they'll waive the interview with the both of us completely and I'll only have to do the citizenship test? Or when it's a combined N-400 & I-751 there's always an interview with husband and wife?

[wildbug100420 117]

You'll have a n400 interview. No way around that. 

[Dashinka 24,602]

2 hours ago, MikeSchw said:

Hi.

We're together with my US citizen wife since 2018, married in 2019, everything going well, filed tons of evidence, photos, paperwork, credit card statements, insurance, will, life insurance, thousands of pages all together since day 1. My GC interview was quite short, nice lady asking a few questions, and said she will under no circumstances look through the 4 inch thick pile of copied documents, and the photo book with hundreds of photos smiled and said congrats. Not per say but she made me feel pretty confident on her decision when we left her office, 5 minutes later we got the approval. Sorry for the short story long. It was about 3 years ago. I filed for removal of conditions a year and 3 months ago, and for N400 3 months ago. Always everything on the 1st day of eligibility. The countdown started with 12 months, then after a week or two it went down to 6 months, a month ago it went down to 5 months, this week it went down to 4 months, and a day ago to 3 months. So things looking good.

Facing our immaculate status, can it be that they'll waive the interview with the both of us completely and I'll only have to do the citizenship test? Or when it's a combined N-400 & I-751 there's always an interview with husband and wife?

There is always an interview for the N400 regardless if an I751 is pending or has been approved.  Aside from taking the civics test, the IO will also evaluate English proficiency, and review the N400 form.  Now in your case you might see the I751 approved prior to the N400 interview without a specific interview, or you might see a combo interview where the I751 is reviewed  prior to the N400 (this is what happened for me and my wife).  My advice, if you get a notice for the N400 interview and the I751 has not been approved yet, make sure both of you attend even if the notice does not mention the I751.

 

Good Luck!

[Sarah&Facundo 595]

We were in the exact same position as you. We ended up having both an I-751 and N400 interview. You will undoubtedly have a N400 interview. Our I-751 interview was unexpected since we have no red flags, and a lot of people get those waived. Unfortunately, we did not. We were there for about 5 minutes where they asked maybe 2 questions and had our approval on the USCIS site within 5 minutes of leaving the building. 

[SalishSea 17,928]

8 hours ago, MikeSchw said:

Hi.

We're together with my US citizen wife since 2018, married in 2019, everything going well, filed tons of evidence, photos, paperwork, credit card statements, insurance, will, life insurance, thousands of pages all together since day 1. My GC interview was quite short, nice lady asking a few questions, and said she will under no circumstances look through the 4 inch thick pile of copied documents, and the photo book with hundreds of photos smiled and said congrats. Not per say but she made me feel pretty confident on her decision when we left her office, 5 minutes later we got the approval. Sorry for the short story long. It was about 3 years ago. I filed for removal of conditions a year and 3 months ago, and for N400 3 months ago. Always everything on the 1st day of eligibility. The countdown started with 12 months, then after a week or two it went down to 6 months, a month ago it went down to 5 months, this week it went down to 4 months, and a day ago to 3 months. So things looking good.

Facing our immaculate status, can it be that they'll waive the interview with the both of us completely and I'll only have to do the citizenship test? Or when it's a combined N-400 & I-751 there's always an interview with husband and wife?

They do not waive naturalization interviews.

[.yana 597]

They will likely waive your I-751 interview and you'll just do the N-400 test (I wouldn't even refer to it as interview because all I was asked were the civics test questions + quick reading & writing test, that's it). 

[MikeSchw 0]

Thanks for all your answers. I may have misphrased my question, I meant "interview" by that miserable questioning about our marriage if it's bona fide, I read too much horror stories on that, couples put in separate rooms, being handled like criminals etc. The N-400 process I have no problem with though it's funny how the people who are taking that "test" know more about the US than some (a lot of?) born and raised citizens.

Your answers which I thank you for vary from there will be an I-751 interview and we can be even questioned on our marriage (we have 0 flags of any kind) to no I-751 at all just the civics test and she will not have to be there at all, so the whole spectrum of the rainbow from heaven to hell.

 

It's ok to rent an office space (1br) and answering the "have you resided since...." question with no right?  

[OldUser 6,894]

1 hour ago, MikeSchw said:

Thanks for all your answers. I may have misphrased my question, I meant "interview" by that miserable questioning about our marriage if it's bona fide, I read too much horror stories on that, couples put in separate rooms, being handled like criminals etc. The N-400 process I have no problem with though it's funny how the people who are taking that "test" know more about the US than some (a lot of?) born and raised citizens.

Your answers which I thank you for vary from there will be an I-751 interview and we can be even questioned on our marriage (we have 0 flags of any kind) to no I-751 at all just the civics test and she will not have to be there at all, so the whole spectrum of the rainbow from heaven to hell.

 

It's ok to rent an office space (1br) and answering the "have you resided since...." question with no right?  

Nobody can tell you for certain whether you will have separate I-751 and N-400 interviews, or combo interview or no interview for I-751.

 

Because you're applying for naturalization based on marriage to US citizen, you can be asked about that marriage. You can be separated (this is more likely for I-751 than N-400 because for N-400 spouse is not always allowed). Experiences vary by office, officer and each case due to uniqueness in each person's circumstances.

 

As one lawyer says, N-400 is the last opportunity for USCIS to deport you. Take it seriously, prepare well and it will go smooth.

 

Good luck!

 

[MikeSchw 0]

my counter went down from 3mo to 31 days yesterday. today 30. is it accurate now? what will i get in 30 days? an interview/hearing appointment for january likely?

if they don't invite her only me what will i be asked?

i did the uscis provided app's test over and over and couldn't get lower than 70% (but mostly 90-95-100) it asks 20 questions not 10 though. doesn't matter i'm not having any concerns about the civis test. but what else will they want to know if she won't be invited?

thanks

[Dashinka 24,602]

21 minutes ago, MikeSchw said:

my counter went down from 3mo to 31 days yesterday. today 30. is it accurate now? what will i get in 30 days? an interview/hearing appointment for january likely?

if they don't invite her only me what will i be asked?

i did the uscis provided app's test over and over and couldn't get lower than 70% (but mostly 90-95-100) it asks 20 questions not 10 though. doesn't matter i'm not having any concerns about the civis test. but what else will they want to know if she won't be invited?

thanks

Hard to say, but the overall recommendation is if you are scheduled for an N400 interview with an I751 pending, assume it will be a combo interview and have you spouse go with you.  Even if the IO does not conduct an I751 interview, it doesn’t hurt to mention that your spouse is with you, and supporting you for your N400 especially when applying based on marriage.  I remember in our case, my wife applied for naturalization based on marriage with our I751 pending.  She was called for an N400 interview with no mention of the I751, but I went with her regardless.  The IO invited me back for a brief I751 interview where the IO had our fairly extensive I751 package in front of her.  The IO asked a few questions about our marriage (nothing like a Stokes separate interview), and reviewed the I751 form, then asked if we wanted to add any additional evidence, so we gave her our latest joint tax filing information.  Then I was escorted to the waiting area, and my wife continued with the N400 alone.  It was fairly easy and took about 15-20 minutes total.  
 

Of course YMMV as not all offices or IO’s are the same (ours was pre-Covid), but if you have a bonafide marriage, and your I751 package is complete with plenty of marital evidence, I would not fret.  Just keep preparing for the civics test, and you should be fine.

 

Good Luck!

[OldUser 6,894]

4 hours ago, MikeSchw said:

my counter went down from 3mo to 31 days yesterday. today 30. is it accurate now?

Most likely not

[MikeSchw 0]

thanks everyone. i'm just pointing it out that i don't want her in the interview because she gets awfully frustrated in situations like this. so a) a lot depending on it, and b) questioning where one needs to be very precise or at least she thinks that way and will may overshare and go details that could make the agent think we've learned a script or something. bottom line no fraud of course i just don't want to overcomplicate easy and simple things and want to get over with this already. it's been 6 years. we're still married what more is there to prove?

so fingers crossed and i hope for the best and easiest process.

[OldUser 6,894]

52 minutes ago, MikeSchw said:

thanks everyone. i'm just pointing it out that i don't want her in the interview because she gets awfully frustrated in situations like this. so a) a lot depending on it, and b) questioning where one needs to be very precise or at least she thinks that way and will may overshare and go details that could make the agent think we've learned a script or something. bottom line no fraud of course i just don't want to overcomplicate easy and simple things and want to get over with this already. it's been 6 years. we're still married what more is there to prove?

so fingers crossed and i hope for the best and easiest process.

You don't get to choose. If IO wants her in the interview, they'll invite her too. If you wanted greater chance of her not being interviewed, you should have:

 

1) Waited for I-751 to be approved (hopefully without interview)

2) Applied for N l-400 under general provision (5 years of being LPR)

Edited November 5 by OldUser

[OldUser 6,894]

33 minutes ago, OldUser said:

 

2) Applied for N l-400 under general provision (5 years of being LPR)

Typo here, I was meant to say "N-400". Not sure where "I" came from.

Edited November 5 by OldUser

[MikeSchw 0]

thanks everyone again.

knowing these can i ask what they could possibly ask? let's not go to the horrors of putting us in separate rooms. not that i couldn't answer close to anything she can and we wouldn't say the same thing but let's go with the most likely outcome and that is that we both will walk in to the office and they interview us like they did last time. what's my address? where we celebrated our birthdays/anniversary, when did we get married, where? such things? anything in the 'weird' side? our lawyer will be there and will watch that they don't ask anything they aren't allowed to though. because one can't be careful enough. but again, let's go with the most likely path and not think in absolutes, i'm no sith.

 

just because everyon talked about it so much... in the unlikely event of having us sit separately, what are the "trick questions"?