EireneFaith

I like the community feel of this place, so I stuck around.  
 
I also have very little of a life, these days.  So it's a way of connecting with others on a bit of a social level for me too.
 
 
 
Boy, that sounded really pathetic re-reading that lol

It's all good! USCIC is a mystery and they are so good on being dubious and making us nervous... we are here to share our opinions, experiences and point of views. I am ALWAYS very insecure when it comes to immigration and want to do everything right... 

One nice thing about filing online is that if you forget to upload a document when you originally file the application, you can upload any document later while your N400 is pending. This is especially handy if you're waiting for say your latest IRS transcript but don't want to delay further in submitting the N400.

I think some good advantages to filing online are ability to respond to RFE's quicker, ability to see the documents before they even arrive in the mail, no need to shell out extra money to a lawyer for something that you can easily do and therefore cut out the middle man, no risk of your package or other documents getting lost in the mail
 
I don't see a good reason to not. We are going to be filing online when our window opens.

Thanks! 

I filed with the paper method. The e-filing came out the month I applied (if I remember correctly). No one mentioned issues and they seemed to be processed faster but it was hit or miss. I'm still waiting and most have been approved, but my office is also one of the most delayed. File however you prefer. The only reason your lawyer is against it is because he/she is afraid you won't use their services. If you have a straightforward case, just file yourself and save the money. It's not complicated to file either way. Just carve time out of your day to put the paperwork together.

Was coming to say the same thing as others in this thread.....
 
Lawyer makes a ton more money if you don't file online----and lawyer also knows he stands to make $0 once you see how simple the online filing process is,  and decide to drop him altogether.
 
Btw---I filed the N400 online and highly recommend it if you are eligible to do so...you can see my timeline below in red.

Yes I was expecting to receive my certificate by mail. Check and called USCIS website and as it turns out I do in fact need to take an oath ceremony.... Maybe because I am registered as a Mexican citizen after my birth. I am not sure exactly but could be a possibility.... Anyways it is what happened to me could happen to someone else haven't seen similar cases so i thought i should share my journey 

Well, it IS an important day.  I am extremely happy for you.......and thanks for sharing your experience.  You truly are one of the best on VJ......

So ok...this was my experience at my Oath Ceremony today in Brooklyn.
 
Went through security relatively quickly and easily considering I showed up a good 40 minutes early.   Now, I had gone ahead and called Camdan Plaza East where the ceremony was going to be held, so I already knew that no cameras or cell phones were permitted in the courthouse (whether participants or guests), and I already was aware that there would be a possibility that guests were not able to view the actual ceremony.
 
All Queens, NY filers must have their oath ceremony at the court house regardless of whether or not a name-change is requested.  Just how it's done for Queens filers.   The building itself is beautiful inside, with wide spiral staircases, and lots of marble and artwork on the walls.   Headed up to the 2nd floor, where my husband and child were directed to the 3rd floor cafeteria.  I asked if they would be able to view the ceremony at all, and was told they would be called down later on.
 
Fast forward to 8:30AM when we got started with everything.  Applicants were taking up only 3 rows of the court benches, so it wasn't a long process to get everyone situated with how to fill out the back of the Oath Letter.   A few moments later, a representative from the voter registration office gave a small speech on how to vote and pressed us to fill out the application form and immediately hand it back over to her, and then she left the room never to be seen again.   After that, no one spoke to us or gave out any information on how the day would go, or welcomed us, nothing like that and participants were pretty much left on our own to just sit there and wait for....whatever was going to happen next. 
 
We were called up again to hand over the green card and receive an envelope.  Inside the envelope was a hard folder to place our certificate in, a copy of the oath, the passport application, and information on voting/serving on a jury.  Wish I'd gotten a flag, but oh well.  No welcoming letter from the President, but truth be told I didn't really expect one.
 
After about an hour, another lady started talking to us about passport applications and telling us that we can apply for the passport anytime after the ceremony (but not with them in any way, must be done through the post office or passport agency).  One person asked a rather simple question about the form, and when the staff didn't understand him due to a language barrier, I re-stated the question more coherently (I was sitting infront of him). The man was then replied to in a long, drawn-out condescending way that he "shouldn't be asking them anything about passports---ask us about immigration only!  When you go to the post office, you ask them questions about the post office, right???  I can't tell you anything about passports or the post office because I don't know anything about that."  Kind of went on and on increasingly condescendingly....okaaaayyyy....well they DID present the passport application forms to us and asked if people had any questions, but whatever.  She then stated we should apply for our SS status to be changed no less than 10 days after the oath ceremony, and asked if we had any questions about that process.  No one said a peep, probably because they were afraid of being lectured for asking a question.
 
After another wait, the 3rd lady came into the room and started setting herself up at a desk.  I was sitting in the front and could hear the staff conversations taking place since the room was nearly silent, and they were only a few feet away seated at the table.  At that point, one of them said to her "did you bring the country list?"  to which she replied "nah I didn't bother with it".  From reading other oath ceremony threads, and watching videos, I knew then that there would be no announcement of the countries recognized at the ceremony, which was a downer to me because I was looking forward to that part....almost like feeling like our immigration success was a global community effort we all shared in, but wasn't going to happen at my ceremony today.   It was also sad that they just seemed to decide on-the-spot to not be bothered with it and brush it off for whatever personal reason the woman had (maybe laziness?).
 
Soon enough, boredom sets in, since we are not being engaged in any way, and a few of us (myself included) start chatting among ourselves, not loudly.  We have a few giggles discussing our immigration journeys, what country we are from, etc. and generally how we're happy to become citizens.  About 10 minutes into our conversation, one of the workers comes over to us and ----- to my disbelief ---- tells us "You are getting too excited about this now, alright?  You all calm down and be quiet."  We, as a small group, were stunned that we were actually told to stop socializing with each other and just continue to sit there staring ahead in silence.  Personally, I was flabbergasted that she implied we shouldn't even be HAPPY about reaching this day in our lives.
 
One of the workers stood up and threatened everyone that if they didn't hand in all previous USCIS-issued documents (EADs and expired GC's) to them now or failed to mail them in at a later date "We have everything on file so we already know.  We can find out...I'm just letting you know we will find out"  I felt this was completely unnecessary of them to say this out-of-the-blue, and in a passive-aggressive manner.
 
Afterwards, we were called up by line to view our naturalization certificates.  As we approached the desk in single file, the lady barked out "what's your number?!" without explaining exactly what number she was referring to (I learned quickly she meant the last 3 digits of the alien number) then whipped out the certificate and gave each person literally a two-second glance at it before barking at us "sign your name!"  To the woman's eye-rolling annoyance, I refused to give it barely a 2-second glance, knowing this would be the only time I could get the certificate corrected for free, and looked over everything not just my name. Upon sitting down, I remarked purposefully loudly to the woman next to me (who whispered to me how rude she was) "You know, I've never been referred to as just a number before, I thought they only did that in jail."  The other worker met my eyes and slightly smiled sympathetically.  I think even SHE was wondering why her co-worker was so abrupt with everyone, despite her *own* prior unpleasantness towards participants.  
 
One poor girl who had requested a name change pointed out to the worker that the certificate didn't reflect her request.  The worker asked her what her name was supposed to be, and then flippantly remarked "Well they didn't do it.  Sign your name!"  The young lady, for obvious reasons, hesitated in signing it and the worker looked up at her and actually said "What's the problem?"  When the lady repeated that her name is not as requested on the certificate, she was again told to sign it as written.  She did end up signing it, and then respectfully asked "What do I do now, though, about the wrong name?"  The lady abruptly said "You have to go to civil court." and LITERALLY TURNED HER BACK TO HER in her swivel chair!!!  Completely ignored her until she walked away, head down, and confused.   "Next---what's your number?!"
 
Our families did eventually come down and were herded together into a small section partially away from us all. 
 
The judge arrived, we all rose out of respect and then were told to be seated again.  The judge immediately told us that she had just found out this morning that she would be presiding (from eavesdropping on the staff, I could hear them discussing which judge to call to administer the oath just before).  She gave a brief 5-minute off-the-cuff speech about the importance of voting, and serving on a jury.  There was no discussion about the importance of the day, no talk about immigrants contributing to the country, no mention about personal experience with the process.  Just a statement about voting, and jury duty---and a mention of "Happy Diwali" to those celebrating it.  She also introduced her new office clerk to us, a disinterested looking young man sitting next to her.  Overall, she had a pleasant personality, just wished something more poignant was said.  Anything.  Anything at all.   Something to make the day seem special.  Near the end of her comments, she spoke about how we should go forth and be respectable members of society and pay our taxes.  I noticed a few side-eyes being given and maybe we all thought the same thing....that we already *have* been paying taxes and *have* been good members of society.
 
We took the oath of allegiance, and then recited the pledge of allegiance.  We all clapped for ourselves and each other.  The judge handed us our certificate and shook our hands with a perfunctory "congratulations" and then we were immediately directed to leave the courthouse.  Her new clerk, adding to his aura of disinterest, stood next to her with his hands in his pockets, not speaking unless directly spoken to.  
 
All in all, it was a disappointing day.  There was no memorable moment, no feeling of a journey acknowledged, no special gathering, no poignant moment where I felt included as a citizen, no....niceness....about the entire experience.  I remarked to my husband later that it felt like I had just left another USCIS appointment where I just handed over some paperwork.  It was abrupt, the staff seemed mostly annoyed with our presence, rude for the most part, and just an anti-climatic moment all-around since my immigration process began.
 
Am I happy that my journey is over and I'm a citizen as the main thing?  Yes, I suppose so.  Just wish more thought was put into making it an actual special day for people who have struggled, and sweated, and cried, and stressed and sacrificed to make it as far as they did.  Previously reading other people's oath ceremonies in different cities/states had me thinking today wouldn't be "just like any other day".   
 
All in all, the highlight of my ceremony was giving @vkhutchings a hug as we congratulated each other outside of the courtroom.  
 
So that's it.  Oh yeah, that sums up nicely how I felt as soon as I left the courthouse.... "That's it?"

I (a lifelong USC) took the test and was mortified to score only 98 out of 100.
 
For an irreverent (?) look at Mrs. T-B.'s experience with the test, see:
http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/382775-mrs-t-b-the-citizenship-test/
 

Oh, brother... upon further review...
T-B.: Let's review the citizenship questions again.
Mrs. T-B.: Ask me from the first two pages.
T-B.: OK. "What did the Declaration of Independence do?"
Mrs. T-B.: The decoration of WHAT?
T-B.: No, no -- the DECLARATION of Independence.
Mrs. T-B. [moderate pause] Declarate independence.
T-B. [to self]:
T-B.: "Name the U.S. war between the North and the South."
Mrs. T-B.: Word Wart Two.
T-B.: "What ocean is on the West Coast of the United States?"
Mrs. T-B.: The Specific Ocean! The Pacific Ocean!
T-B.: "How old do citizens have to be to vote for President?"
Mrs. T-B.: 18 months! [bursts out laughing]
(In fairness, Mrs. T-B. got 4 right on page 1 and 5 right on page 2.)
T-B.: Let's go to page 3.
Mrs. T-B.: No, NO! I haven't looked at those yet.
T-B.: Let's try. "During the Cold War, what was the main concern of the United States?"
Mrs. T-B.: Global warming? No... [looks sad]. I don't know.
T-B.: Russian nuclear proliferation.
Mrs. T-B.: [looks blank & forlorn]
T-B.: Here's one that you know. "What is one right or freedom from the First Amendment?"
Mrs. T-B.: Religion.
T-B.: "What is one reason colonists came to America?"
Mrs. T-B. [looks blank]
T-B. [helpfully]: What was your last answer?
Mrs. T-B.: Religion! Freedom from religion.
T-B.: Well, freedom "of" religion. "Why does the flag have 50 stars?"
Mrs. T-B.: For each of the states.
T-B.: That's right, although you can point out that Obama thinks that there are 57 states.
Mrs. T-B.: He does? There are?
T-B.: Si, and no. "Name your U.S. Representative."
Mrs. T-B.: Perry something! Perry Ellis!
T-B.: No, no -- RICK Perry is the GOVERNOR.
Mrs. T-B.: Calvin Klein?
T-B. [to self]:
(In fairness, Mrs. T-B. got 5 right on page 3.)
T-B.: Let's go to page 4. [Mrs. T-B. strains to look] "Who is the Governor of your state now?"
Mrs. T-B.: Pet Olson.
T-B.: No, no -- PETE Olson is our Representative. You answered this just now.
Mrs. T-B.: Perry Ellis! Perry.
T-B.: They'll accept "Perry." "Name two national U.S. holidays."
Mrs. T-B.: Christmas, and... and Black Friday.
T-B.: Well, perhaps. "What did the Emancipation Proclamation do?"
Mrs. T-B.: Proclam emancipate.
T-B.: For whom?
Mrs. T-B.: The Negros. Can I say that?
T-B.: Well, "the slaves" is probably better. "What is one promise you make when you become a U.S. citizen?"
Mrs. T-B. [long pause]: To go shopping on Black Friday... and every day!
T-B. [to self]:
(In fairness, Mrs. T-B. got 4 right on page 4.)
T-B.: Let's go to page 5.
Mrs. T-B. [makes exaggeratedly sad face]
T-B.: "There were 13 original states. Name three." Remember the hint that I told you.
Mrs. T-B.: What hint?
T-B.: Back then, they were all NEW...
Mrs. T-B.: I know this! Nueva Hersey, New York, and... and... Nude Hamshit... Nude Hamster.
T-B.: "Hamp-shur."
Mrs. T-B. [trying to imitate]: Hant-shirt. Hand-shell. [looks sad]
T-B. [sympathizing]: You can choose 10 others. "Name one war fought by the U.S. in the 1800s."
Mrs. T-B.: Wort Warld Two.
T-B.: In the EIGHTEEN-hundreds.
Mrs. T-B. [looking blank]: Whirl Wart One. Will you be there to help me with these answers?
T-B.: Nope, but maybe you can be so pretty that the officer will forget your answers.
(In fairness, Mrs. T-B. got 4 right out of 8 questions asked from page 5. She got 4 right from page 6.)
T-B.: Let's try page 7. "Who is the Chief Justice of the U.S. now?"
Mrs. T-B.: I don't know! Calvin Klein.
T-B.: "The idea of self-government is in the first 3 words of the Constitution. What are those words?"
Mrs. T-B. [pause]: Freedom... Ice cream! Chocolate. [sadly] Don't buy any more. I can't sleep after I eat it.
T-B.: Of course not; we won't buy any more until tomorrow at latest.
Mrs. T-B. [to T-B.]:
(In fairness, Mrs. T-B. got 5 right on page 7. In unfairness, all the chocolate ice cream had already been eaten last night.)
For not having studied, Mrs. T-B. actually did pretty well, si man, perhaps because she is so pretty, see man.

My wife has been going to this website to listen to the questions and answers:
http://www.uscitizenpod.com/2009/05/quia-citizenship-teachers-interactive.html

T-B.: Have you been studying for your citizenship test?
Mrs. T-B.: Si.
T-B.: OK: Name 3 of the original 13 Colonies. Remember the tip that I told you.
Mrs. T-B.: Nueva York, Nueva Hersey, and, and, and... Nueva Handsome... Nueva Handshirt... uh..
T-B. [to self]:

You have good taste, si man. Earlier (not part of the above dialogue), I asked her, "Do you know one right that's reserved only for U.S. citizens?" She said, "What?" I said, "As soon as you get your Certificate of Naturalization, you go straight to the hair parlor and get turned into a blonde."I immediately ducked as something (perhaps a can of cling peaches) whizzed just by my ear, whee man.

(I could give her better answers, but they'd probably get her kicked out of the interview, if not deported.) That's good, si man, because I omitted a dialogue from the original post:Mrs. T-B.: Ask me another!
T-B.: OK... What did the Emancipation Proclamation do?
Mrs. T-B. [after long silence]: Emancipate, and... and proclamate.
T-B.: Do you know what "emancipate" means?
Mrs. T-B. [faintly]: Independence.
T-B.: Then who was made independent by the Emancipation Proclamation?
Mrs. T-B. [after long silence]: The illegal Mexicans.
T-B. [to self]:

Background:
We mailed Mrs. T-B.'s N-400 (citizenship) to USCIS last week. I printed the 100 interview questions that USCIS can ask, wrote the answers, and gave them to Mrs. T-B. to study. She stated that she had "looked" at them "a little" during the last couple of days, between Facebook activity and chasing after young Mini-Bone.
As I tucked her into bed tonight (she has resigned herself to my late-night VJ-ing), the conversation went as follows:
Mrs. T-B.: I was looking on-line for "how to remodel your kitchen without money."
T-B.: Shouldn't you have been looking for "how to pass my citizenship test without studying?"
Mrs. T-B. [brightly]: I looked at the answers! Ask me some of the questions!
T-B.: OK... uh, "Who was the Father of our Country?"
Mrs. T-B.: Abraham Lincoln?'
T-B.: No, man.
Mrs. T-B.: Donald... Ronald Reagan?
T-B.: Good guy, but no, man.
Mrs. T-B.: Barack 0bama?
T-B.: [censored]
[silence]
T-B.: Here's a hint: Jorge...
Mrs. T-B.: Jorge Washington! George Washington! He or someone else is on the $5... the $1 bill, right?"
T-B. [invisibly rolling eyes]: Uh, si man.
Mrs. T-B. [undeterred]: Ask me another!
T-B.: OK... uh, "What is one thing that Benjamin Franklin is known for?"
Mrs. T-B.: Oh, I saw this one! He was hit by... hit by... [makes vertical zigzag motion with hand]
T-B. [helpfully]: That thing that happens before thunder?
Mrs. T-B.: Si -- that's it! But I can't remember the word in English.
T-B.: Lightning?
Mrs. T-B.: That's it! He was hit by lightning!
T-B.: What was he doing when he was hit by the lightning?
Mrs. T-B. [blankly]: Uh, mmmm... sitting in his back yard, drinking beer.
T-B.: No, no no... uh, si, man; we'll talk about this one later.
Mrs. T-B.: I know how I can study! You put the answers on an MP3, and in three days, I'll know all of them.
T-B.: All of them?
Mrs. T-B. [mischievously]: Si, and you can motivate me by paying me $10 for all of them that I miss.
T-B.: You're not going to sneak that one by me, no man.
Mrs. T-B. [flashing big brown puppy-dog eyes]: OK -- you can ask me more of the questions tomorrow, and sometimes husbands make financial arrangements so that wives can remodel their kitchen.
T-B. [to self]:

Are you sure it's in NY/NJ?  U.S. Postal Service says it's in Vegas.
 
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/07/06/postal-service-misidentifies-statue-liberty-stamp-million-mistake/762306002/
 

My husband is an USC born and raised here and he would know maybe half of the answers. Most of the USCs would not answer the 100 questions correctly. My hubby learned a lot by helping me prepare with these questions.

I just found the questions which have numbers as their answers confusing and I mixed them up all the time but I passed my interview without a problem. 

most Americans couldnt pass the test.
 
its a sad world we live in.
 
Fortunately, politics and history are passions of both myself AND my fiance, so no worries on him not passing it lolololol hell, sometimes he even knows something i dont, and i have a degree in history LMAO

New Jersey is not a correct answer but an "accepted" answer according to USCIS, https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/teachers/educational-products/100-civics-questions-and-answers-mp3-audio-english-version:
USCIS is correct (from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Island):

Photos are required with submission only if you are applying from outside of the US.

No.  And considering it's NYC with NYC security.... If you did just show up out of the blue,  without her accompaniment, you wouldn't be even allowed into the waiting area much less the interview room.
 
Also curious as to how you would even know when her interview date rolls around?  Unless you are just pretending to befriend her throughout to gleam further info from her.
 
If you have actual concrete evidence of this (on paper), not just hunches or accusations---then you can present that information to USCIS.
However----keep in mind that the two of you spent previous years submitting a mountain of evidence pertaining to the validity of your marriage during her AOS (and if applicable, ROC) days.   That will also weigh heavily in her favor against whatever proof you have to submit now (if you have any proof).
 
You are divorced.  If she is applying under the 5-year eligibility rule, and even if under the 3-year eligibility with a divorce waiver, her citizenship process is just that----hers, and hers alone.  Has nothing to do with you.

hi
 
no, I assume she is filing under the 5 year rule, not based on marriage, so citizenship has nothing to do with you,
 
forget about her and move on