US Immigration from New Zealand

Interview done earlier in the day on 6th January at the Norfolk USCIS office.

Arrived at 11.30 am for an interview at 11.45 am.

Showed my interview letter and driver's id to be let in.

Asked to wait in the 2nd floor. At around 11.55 am I was welcomed in by a lady officer. While she called out my name I noticed she was struggling to pronounce my last name and I said "It's okay officer, even after 7 years of marriage my wife struggles with it till today" and she burst out laughing and I thought that immediately broke the ice. She led me into a room and a screen separated the officer from me.

The officer first asked to see my passport, green card and driver's id.

The officer made me stand up, raise my hand and essentially made me say that whatever I am about to say in the interview is all going to be true.

Then she said she is now going to administer the English test. She asked me to write down "How many senators do we have? on the electronic pad which I did and then she made me write something to the effect that we have 100 senators. She announced that I passed my English test.

She then proceeded to ask questions for my civics test - she exactly asked me 6 questions which I got them all correct.

1) What did the Emancipation Declaration do?

2) What are the two main political parties in the US?

3) Who signs the Bills so that they become laws? ( I am paraphrasing her question here)

4) What ocean lies to the east of the US East Coast?

5) Name one of the two longest rivers in the USA?

I cannot remember the 6th question.

She proceeded to announce that I passed the civics test.

She then told me that she would go through my application. All she did was basically repeat what I filled out in my application and all I had to do was to say yes or no to them.

When the question about any Federal taxes owed was asked - I replied "Owed at the time of filing application - fully paid as of today". She asked to see the relevant documents and I produced the IRS installment agreement, the 4 installments that I paid - and the final full amount that I chose to pay in advance to fully settle the amount. The officer made copies of the documents I gave her and returned the originals.

Then came the question of my speeding ticket and she did not ask to see any documents as she said "I saw the speeding ticket you uploaded online".

Before she proceeded to the next question - I politely interjected and said that I have something to tell you as I was not quite sure how to fill this out at the time of original filing of the application.

I mentioned to the officer that I was involved in a single vehicle incident - where my vehicle slipped on the ramp in heavy rain conditions and rammed into the guard rail. The cop gave me summons to appear in the court - I went to the court - paid the court fees and nothing ever appeared in my driving record and that was the end of that.

The officer actually commended me that I revealed this information to her- because she told me that she never did find anything in my driver's record but it was good that I told her about this incident. She asked for and made copies of the relevant documents that I brought.

She also made some minor corrections for some errors I made in the application.

She made me go through the corrections she made on my behalf and sign them all on the electronic pad.

At the end she gave me a paper which said to the effect "Congratulations, Your application is recommended for approval". "If final approval is granted you will be notified when and where to report for the Oath Ceremony".

Does anyone know what "If Final Approval is granted" means - what else could they be checking at this point?

Overall it was such an incredibly painless experience - given my initial worries about some issues I had with my application.

I wish everyone all the very best in their N400 journey.

I filed for my adjustment of status after getting married to my US citizen husband way back in July of 2019, the last bit of news I heard about it was in November requesting more information... and nothing since. I've just kind of been in limbo here, and I'm wondering how many of you are also in the same situation as I am.

Hi! First of all, sorry if this is in the wrong category ;-;

I filed to renew my work authorization here in the US around November 7th along with a G-1450 form. It's December now, and I haven't heard anything. We're without a car currently so instead of going to the post office my husband opted to put it in the mail box. It was raining that day and I remember being paranoid and going out to check to see if the envelope was still in good condition; the envelope was gone with new mail taking it place, so I want to think they did take it.

Also, is it possible there was a delay in them receiving it due to us sending it off so-to-speak while they were counting the ballot for the election.

I'm just worried it never arrived. My work autho runs out in March and I really like my job I have now, but I know I will lose it if things don't go to plan. I wrote the correct address and stamped it accordingly. Should I have heard something by now?

Hey all,

I m waiting around for the NOA2 for the K1 visa and was wondering if it s worth going to my GP to get any missing vaccinations now or to just wait and get it at the medical with a panel physician.

Any New Zealand perspectives would be helpful but if anyone could chime in that would be helpful.

Hello Everyone,

Yesterday I was notified in my online USCIS account that I should soon be expecting to receive an interview letter.

After I shared that news with my wife - I asked her to review my N 400 application and she identified 3 potential issues.

I kindly request your thoughts/inputs/advice on the following 3 issues:

• I answered "Yes" to the question - "Do you owe any overdue Federal, state or local taxes?". I answered yes because while I was approved an installment payment plan by IRS - the fact is the installments are still going on. This is the first time we've ever opted to pay it in installments and it is for the year 2019. I do not see this as a major issue as I have now decided that I will actually pay off the remaining balance in full before the interview takes place. I intend to of course carry the installment plan approved by the IRS and the final payment receipt.

• In the "Information About Your Residence" section - it asked where have you lived in the last 5 years. While I have lived in the same house for the last five years - I made a mistake in giving the date of residence from back in 2013 (when we actually moved into our current house - which is over 7 years ago) . And even here I was off by 2 weeks. Nevertheless I am not particularly alarmed about this but I would be curious to see if anyone has any comments on this.

• This is the one that is bothering me the most - the questions from 22-28 about arrests, convictions, citations etc., so I remember that I had a speeding ticket back in 2016. But just to be on the safe side so that I get all my dates and other details correct - I got my driver's record from the DMV and I used it to uploaded all the relevant details. This part is fine. What I forgot is very close to the speeding ticket incident (within 2 weeks)- I had another single vehicle incident where my vehicle slipped in heavy rain conditions as I was about to exit the ramp and crashed into the guard rail. The cop issued me a citation for "Reckless Driving" which I got it reduced to "Improper Driving" after I plead my case with the judge. I attended a driving course and at some point later that whole record of the incident disappeared from my driving record. And since I relied on my driving record to fill out the details in my N-400 - I completely forgot to mention this single vehicle incident in my N 400.

My current thought is that the first one about IRS - I will most likely be asked and I will be prepared with the final receipt and the installment plan approved by the IRS. The second one about the date of residence too does not bother me particularly.

About the 3rd point - should I volunteer information to the officer about the improper driving incident or should I only talk about it and produce the requisite evidence - only if the officer prompts me on that specifically?

I kindly invite your thoughts.

Thank you.