Joint I-751 and N-400 Interview – NYC

[Celebi 160]

I completed my joint I-751 and N-400 (3-year rule) at the Federal Plaza in Manhattan this week. I arrived at around 8:05 a.m., and my interview was scheduled for 8:45 a.m. The security asked to see the interview letter and our government IDs. They asked us to wait in line outside the doors, but by 8:20, I went to the security stationed right outside the door and told him that our appointment was at 8:45. He made us go inside, and we had to go through the X-ray machines. They asked us to remove everything – belts, jewelry, except our rings and shoes, unless you were wearing sneakers. 
Afterwards, we went up to the 8th floor. We went to the window to provide the appointment letter and my green card. They stamped it and gave us our queue number. There were probably around 20-30 people in the waiting room. Honestly, I was surprised because there were only a few of us who had bags, and I assumed, like us, they brought extra documents for the interview. At 8:39, an officer called us to follow him inside. 
When we got to the room, he asked for the stamped interview letter, state IDs, and my green card. He took my picture, and then my trouble started. The system won’t accept my prints for some reason. He restarted his systems 3x, and after about 10-15 minutes, we finally got my fingerprint accepted by the system. Thankfully, I had a very nice officer, and he was joking with us while I kept on trying Purell, alcohol, and lotion to get my prints. He said I probably wash the dishes a lot. And I said my husband does the dishes as well, though! In a way, I think it was a great opportunity for the officer to see that we had a legitimate marriage. 
After swearing us in, these are the questions I remember:
To Husband:
-    What is your wife’s full name
-    Birth date
-    When did you meet
-    What are the names of her parents
-    Have you ever met her parents? When and where?
-    What is her job
-    Where does she work
To me:
-    Where are you from
-    What’s your address
-    When and where did you meet your husband
-    How many (step) kids do you have and their ages
-    Do they live with you
-    What is your husband’s job and where does he work
Civics questions:
-    Name one American Indian tribe
-    Who did the US fight in WWII
-    When was the Constitution written
-    Name one branch of the government
-    When do we celebrate Independence Day
Read and write:
Who lives at the White House?
The President lives at the White House.
By the way, my husband stayed in the room while I did the N-400 interview/ exam. After the reading and writing assessment, he congratulated me and told me that I passed, and told me that I will receive a letter when the oath-taking is scheduled. He walks us back to the waiting room and hands me the paper stating that I passed. It was all over by 9:10. When I got outside, I checked my emails, and I got the approval for I-751 around 8:55 AM and another email for N-400 at 9:16. 
Thank you to everyone who helped me with my immigration journey. It helped me save lawyer fees, LOL. Good luck to everyone else, and I hope you have the same experience as I did! 

[OldUser 9,429]

Congratulations and thank you for detailed report!

[Celebi 160]

1 minute ago, OldUser said:

Congratulations and thank you for detailed report!

Thank you! It was hard to find reviews like these anywhere, so I figured I'd write one myself for the others once I did my interview, lol. 

 

[Celebi 160]

Just to add, I brought EVERY possible document I thought they would ask for, but the officer did not ask for anything except for our IDs and appointment letter. He told us that we had already submitted sufficient documentation for our marriage and application. 

[OldUser 9,429]

2 minutes ago, Celebi said:

Just to add, I brought EVERY possible document I thought they would ask for, but the officer did not ask for anything except for our IDs and appointment letter. He told us that we had already submitted sufficient documentation for our marriage and application. 

It's a classic one. Whenever you bring tons of documents, you don't get asked for it. But if you come emptyhanded - that's when officer is eager to see more evidence.

The moral of the story, in my opinion, is to bring evidence to make officer unmotivated to ask for evidence

Edited 18 hours ago by OldUser

[Dashinka 25,686]

30 minutes ago, Celebi said:

Just to add, I brought EVERY possible document I thought they would ask for, but the officer did not ask for anything except for our IDs and appointment letter. He told us that we had already submitted sufficient documentation for our marriage and application. 

Congratulations!  Yes, when my wife had her combo interview in Detroit it was similar except I was not able to remain when the IO switched to the N400 interview of my wife.  We also brought a lot of evidence and nothing was asked for, I chalked it up to it being a combo interview and the IO had our relatively large I751 package already.

 

On another note, maybe consider adding your detailed review to the Office review section.

Edited 18 hours ago by Dashinka