JimmyHou

Your check will be cashed, you will get a receipt notice with a case number (with which you can set up an online account to track your case), you will get an appointment letter for fingerprinting, you will undergo a background check, you will be placed in line for an interview, you'll get an interview date, you'll be interviewed, if approved, you'll get an oath ceremony date, you'll take an oath of citizenship, you'll get a naturalization certificate.

English is not the official language of the United States. That is a fact. No law requires residents or citizens to learn English. The law does require certain applicants for naturalization to pass an English test, but that does not apply to this woman. No law requires assimilation. This woman has done nothing wrong and is fully within her right to apply for naturalization regardless of her reason for doing so.
Many countries requires immigrants to learn an official language... the US is not one of these because it has no official language. Of course an immigrant should learn English. Of course they can contribute more to society if they do learn English. But US immigration policy recognizes that there is a benefit to exempting certain people from these requirements. This policy sees value in reuniting younger immigrants with elderly parents even if those parents aren't going to be able to assimilate or contribute to the economy directly.
This woman has probably been through things that the rest of us only see in nightmares... her very presence in this country is a symbol of the strength of people's desire for freedom and survival. Just by sitting at home and being with her family she probably does more for this country than I ever will.

N-400 Interview 5/3/16 @ Oakland Park FL. Arrived early,but interview actually started 70 minutes after my scheduled appointment time.
Interviewer spent a lot of time on the topic of my two first name changes. Then asked about income taxes (5 minutes). Then more discussion of name changes, and I got RFE'd (N-14) for documentation of a first name change that was done by my parents during childhood (I was about 1 year old at the time).
Interviewer asked for green card, reviewed N-400, asked questions from N-400, returned to the name change / N-14 topic, then abruptly started the Civics test.
Civics questions (as numbered in the USCIS Civics Questions Guide) were:
1) What is one promise you make when you become a United States citizen? (#53)
2) Who is the Governor of your state now? (#43)
3) Where is the Statue of Liberty? (#95)
4) What movement tried to end racial discrimination? (#84)
5) Who was the first President? (#70)
6) Name two national U.S. holidays. (#100)
Reading test was to read "When is Columbus Day?"
Writing test was to write "Washington is the capital"
All questions were answered correctly.
Interviewer had me sign my N-400 and 2 more papers.
Interviewer asked if I had any questions. Discussed N-14 response procedure and then what happens next.
Total time taken by interview was one hour (!!).
Got N-14 dated 5/4/16 in the mail on Friday 5/6/16.
Physically delivered the documentation of early name change requested by N-14 to Oakland Park office on Monday 5/9/16.
Now waiting for USCIS to process the N-14 documentation. Tick tock, tick tock...

Hi guys!! I just came back from my interview and I passed with flying colors!!!
I got there around 12.00 with my husband. My appointment was for 12.30 pm but the IO didn't show up until almost 1.15 pm.
She was incredible nice with me and she made me feel super comfortable. She requested my passport, my SSN, my driver's license and green card. And then proceeded with the civic test.
Then we went through my application, it took probably 45 mins to go through the entire thing: she asked me about my jobs, my husband's previous marriage, our son, my family. We talked about my speeding ticket ( thank God I took the court resolution and dismissed). She told me a ticket is not big deal.
She joke here and there and honestly It didn't feel like an interview at all despite the lenght (around 50 mins). She approved me on the spot and made me signed my application. She then told me to wait for my oath ceremony letter and handed me an approval letter.
She scort me to the main door where my hubby was waiting for me, when he saw my big smile he ran to hugged me and kissed me...my IO was behind me and she started laughing and she then approached to say hi to my hubby. She was extremely kind and nice.
She told me my oath ceremony is within days so I needed to make sure not to travel far away.... And that was it!
Im so so so excited and I can't believe I'm just a step away from being an US citizen???

As you sit in the waiting room awaiting your name to be called for your citizenship interview think of this.......
"Ireland, thou friend of my country in my country's most friendless day's, much injured, much enduring land, accept this poor tribute from one who esteems thy worth, and mourns thy desolation".
George Washington.

I also went to my oath this morning. It was solemn. Good speakers. It lasted for about an hour.The passport application though... That's where we spent around 2 hours. A lot of people applied.
Thank you vj for the support. and good luck to the others!

Hello, had my oath ceremony this morning. It didn't take long and it was really fun!! Just wanted to use this moment to say a BIG!!THANKS!! To Visa Journey. I'm now a US CITIZEN. I applied for passport after ceremony. Good luck to people that are still waiting..!

I believe she can wait for you in the waiting room.

Wait for the denial letter so that you can figure out what you're thinking about appealing.
You're right that usually you would get an RFE to prove that you had a payment plan in place.
However, there are other reasons (both related to and unrelated to the tax issue) that could have resulted in the denial.

Our experience at the New York City Javits Federal Building
Interview was a 09.45, we walked in the building at about 09.15. Passed through security and checked in at a couple other stops before arriving at a small waiting room - got there about 09.25 or so. Two numbers were called before us, so after waiting about 20 minutes they called ours and we both went up, but of course they didn't let us both in for the interview! The IO was a wonderful Dominican lady who, in the middle of the interview, actually answered a call from a friend on her personal cell phone and chatted for a couple minutes! Anyway, she had a huge file on us (probably everything from the I-125 until now), and all she asked for was a passport, Green Card, and New York driver's permit. We had brought taxes, marriage certificate, birth certificates, and all that jazz, but she said 'no, I got it all here!'
Questions were:
1. How many justices (eight now, but should be nine!)
2. What did the Declaration of Independence do?
3. Who becomes President if the President and Vice President can no longer serve? ('the Speaker of the House, who is now Paul Ryan and...' 'No, no, too much! I just need the answer to the question!')
4. What does the Cabinet do?
5. For how many years to we elect a Senator?
6. Name one branch of goverment.
The sentence (to answer and write) was 'When is Columbus Day?' - 'Columbus Day is in October.'
There was a little confusion about the place of birth: technically it was the Soviet Union - or, rather, the Soviet Socialist Republic of Armenia, a constituent republic of the USSR, which is what we put on the N-400 application to be most correct - but Armenia became an independent country shortly thereafter. The IO said 'so, you were born in Russia?' 'No, Armenia!' 'But the Soviet Union is Russia...' Anyway, the rest of the conversation was just chatting ('you don't make very much as a teacher!') and confirming no past criminal history or child soldiery. Then she said congrats, you passed, and that was that!
When asked about the oath ceremony (we're leaving New York for an extended trip at the end of May), she said 'four to six weeks - you'll received a letter in the mail.' 'Can we get it sooner?' 'Four to six weeks.' Harumph. Looks like we're going to have to fly back to New York for that, and we've already got a subletter lined up for our apartment!
We were out of the building by 10.30. Status online still hasn't changed. Now we're just waiting for the oath scheduling.

No.

4 months and 2 weeks for me in Houston before I was placed inline. I applied in December.
3 others in my month waited between 4 months and 5 months. All others were placed inline right after bio.
Everyone has had their interviews scheduled now.
I wouldn't worry just yet.

Chicago Field Office Interview Experience
My interview was scheduled for 8:45am. I went through security, checked in at 8:12am, and was given a number. Sat quietly by myself, looking up every time the door opened. There was an Indian lady that I overheard failed the speaking test. Finally, an officer came out and called my number. I grabbed my folder and purse and followed him in, greeting him good morning.
He showed me into his office, where he had my file open, and a small clear ziploc with my photos in it was sitting on the table. He put me under oath, and asked me for the appointment letter, my passport, LPR card and driver's license. My folder was still open, so he told me to put it away for now. He spent some time inputting information into the computer, before he turned to me and we started off with the civics test. In no particular order:
1. What is an amendment?
2. What do we show loyalty to when we say the Pledge of Allegiance?
3. What is the supreme law of the land?
4. Who vetoes bills?
5. Who did the United States fight in World War II?
6. What is the capital of your state?
Then he told me to read number 1 out of 3 sentences ("Where is the White House?") and to write "The White House is in Washington DC". After that, we started reading through my application, where he just asked me what was on the form and I responded as I had written in February. He checked my list of travel dates against my passport, while asking if I had traveled recently. I said yes, and he updated my list with the one business trip I had at the end of March. I also had to provide my previous passport as well for some of the trips. He flipped through the pages so much, I thought the trips weren't on there, so I asked if they were (I had my third previous passport with me). He said "They are". He also asked whether some trips were business, and I said that the ones to China were on business, while everything else was on vacation. "Was your husband with you?" "For all the vacation trips, yes".
When we got to the arrests/citations part, I hesitated slightly before I said No (I have not been cited). He looked up at me from the form, noticing my hesitation. I apologized, saying that I hesitated because I do have a traffic citation that I forgot to mention on my initial submission.
"Was it alcohol-related?"
"No. I ran a red light."
"That's fine."
We continued through all the yes/no questions to the end. Apparently he had all my submissions from AOS and ROC, he chatted about my bank account statements, asked about my husband's job, about whether we had any pets (I was kinda surprised to be talking to him about my cats' names and why we picked them). He did ask if I had filed all my taxes, and whether I owed on any. I said I do not owe on taxes, and that I submitted the original IRS transcripts with my application, but had copies on me, including my 2015 tax transcript. He requested the 2015 copy, so I surrendered that to him. After all that was done, he asked me to sign my form, and then congratulated me on my approval. He told me that the letter will come in the mail for my oath ceremony, and that it would take a few weeks.
He walked me out of the office, congratulated me again. I shook his hand, thanked him, and went off!

Here is why I think you need a second opinion:
-For misdemeanors, almost all states (all but 2 I think) allow something called "citation in lieu of arrest". This means that you are issued an order to appear in court instead of being arrested on the spot. This seems like a serious issue to me, although I can offer you any expert advise.
-I don't know if this means you were charged or not, your lawyer says it doesn't, another VJ user above says it does (which seems plausible to me). I would talk to another lawyer for confirmation.
-If you are denied and have to reapply, as part of your interviewer will make sure that you meet the Good Moral Charachter requirement. Although the rules state that this is reviewed for a statute period of 3 or 5 years, some applicants have been denied for infractions older than that and some have been approved with infractions (even some similar to yours) within that time period. There are several posts on VJ about such cases but you'll have to do some digging.
-Disclosing this will almost certainly lead to the ceremony being delayed. You'll be given some time to address this... If the court doesn't rule in that time, your application will be denied. If you are convicted you will almost certainly be denied. If you are cleared of the charges or if they are dropped within the USCIS RFE time period, you may be approved, after you send in the required documents and perhaps after a second interview.
-The consequence of lying on the oath letter is denaturalization. This is a rare occurrence, but can happen if USCIS finds out that you lied at any stage in the process. They don't use the term "lying" they use the term "providing false information" so whether or not it was intentional, false information can have serious consequences. If you are denied at this point, you will continue to be a green card holder. However, if you become a citizen and are de naturalized, then you can lose you green card. Again, denaturalization is quite rare.
I can only speak for myself, but I would disclose this and face the consequences. But I don't want to advise you to do this until you've got a second professional opinion. I wouldn't rely on one legal opinion or on this forum for this. This issue is well worth the one-time consultation fee of good immigration attorney.

Man that was a very detailed short description of a naturalization process. very good.

English is not the official language of the United States. That is a fact. No law requires residents or citizens to learn English. The law does require certain applicants for naturalization to pass an English test, but that does not apply to this woman. No law requires assimilation. This woman has done nothing wrong and is fully within her right to apply for naturalization regardless of her reason for doing so.
Many countries requires immigrants to learn an official language... the US is not one of these because it has no official language. Of course an immigrant should learn English. Of course they can contribute more to society if they do learn English. But US immigration policy recognizes that there is a benefit to exempting certain people from these requirements. This policy sees value in reuniting younger immigrants with elderly parents even if those parents aren't going to be able to assimilate or contribute to the economy directly.
This woman has probably been through things that the rest of us only see in nightmares... her very presence in this country is a symbol of the strength of people's desire for freedom and survival. Just by sitting at home and being with her family she probably does more for this country than I ever will.

English is not the official language of the United States. That is a fact. No law requires residents or citizens to learn English. The law does require certain applicants for naturalization to pass an English test, but that does not apply to this woman. No law requires assimilation. This woman has done nothing wrong and is fully within her right to apply for naturalization regardless of her reason for doing so.
Many countries requires immigrants to learn an official language... the US is not one of these because it has no official language. Of course an immigrant should learn English. Of course they can contribute more to society if they do learn English. But US immigration policy recognizes that there is a benefit to exempting certain people from these requirements. This policy sees value in reuniting younger immigrants with elderly parents even if those parents aren't going to be able to assimilate or contribute to the economy directly.
This woman has probably been through things that the rest of us only see in nightmares... her very presence in this country is a symbol of the strength of people's desire for freedom and survival. Just by sitting at home and being with her family she probably does more for this country than I ever will.

Your check will be cashed, you will get a receipt notice with a case number (with which you can set up an online account to track your case), you will get an appointment letter for fingerprinting, you will undergo a background check, you will be placed in line for an interview, you'll get an interview date, you'll be interviewed, if approved, you'll get an oath ceremony date, you'll take an oath of citizenship, you'll get a naturalization certificate.

English is not the official language of the United States. That is a fact. No law requires residents or citizens to learn English. The law does require certain applicants for naturalization to pass an English test, but that does not apply to this woman. No law requires assimilation. This woman has done nothing wrong and is fully within her right to apply for naturalization regardless of her reason for doing so.
Many countries requires immigrants to learn an official language... the US is not one of these because it has no official language. Of course an immigrant should learn English. Of course they can contribute more to society if they do learn English. But US immigration policy recognizes that there is a benefit to exempting certain people from these requirements. This policy sees value in reuniting younger immigrants with elderly parents even if those parents aren't going to be able to assimilate or contribute to the economy directly.
This woman has probably been through things that the rest of us only see in nightmares... her very presence in this country is a symbol of the strength of people's desire for freedom and survival. Just by sitting at home and being with her family she probably does more for this country than I ever will.

Scheduled bio-metrics done today. I got there 5 mins before my appointment time of 11am and I was there for close to 2hrs. Don't know if that is the norm but anyone going to the Jamaica, NY ASC be prepared to spend close to 2hrs.
Hopefully within the next week I should get an in line for interview notification.

English is not the official language of the United States. That is a fact. No law requires residents or citizens to learn English. The law does require certain applicants for naturalization to pass an English test, but that does not apply to this woman. No law requires assimilation. This woman has done nothing wrong and is fully within her right to apply for naturalization regardless of her reason for doing so.
Many countries requires immigrants to learn an official language... the US is not one of these because it has no official language. Of course an immigrant should learn English. Of course they can contribute more to society if they do learn English. But US immigration policy recognizes that there is a benefit to exempting certain people from these requirements. This policy sees value in reuniting younger immigrants with elderly parents even if those parents aren't going to be able to assimilate or contribute to the economy directly.
This woman has probably been through things that the rest of us only see in nightmares... her very presence in this country is a symbol of the strength of people's desire for freedom and survival. Just by sitting at home and being with her family she probably does more for this country than I ever will.

English is not the official language of the United States. That is a fact. No law requires residents or citizens to learn English. The law does require certain applicants for naturalization to pass an English test, but that does not apply to this woman. No law requires assimilation. This woman has done nothing wrong and is fully within her right to apply for naturalization regardless of her reason for doing so.
Many countries requires immigrants to learn an official language... the US is not one of these because it has no official language. Of course an immigrant should learn English. Of course they can contribute more to society if they do learn English. But US immigration policy recognizes that there is a benefit to exempting certain people from these requirements. This policy sees value in reuniting younger immigrants with elderly parents even if those parents aren't going to be able to assimilate or contribute to the economy directly.
This woman has probably been through things that the rest of us only see in nightmares... her very presence in this country is a symbol of the strength of people's desire for freedom and survival. Just by sitting at home and being with her family she probably does more for this country than I ever will.

English is not the official language of the United States. That is a fact. No law requires residents or citizens to learn English. The law does require certain applicants for naturalization to pass an English test, but that does not apply to this woman. No law requires assimilation. This woman has done nothing wrong and is fully within her right to apply for naturalization regardless of her reason for doing so.
Many countries requires immigrants to learn an official language... the US is not one of these because it has no official language. Of course an immigrant should learn English. Of course they can contribute more to society if they do learn English. But US immigration policy recognizes that there is a benefit to exempting certain people from these requirements. This policy sees value in reuniting younger immigrants with elderly parents even if those parents aren't going to be able to assimilate or contribute to the economy directly.
This woman has probably been through things that the rest of us only see in nightmares... her very presence in this country is a symbol of the strength of people's desire for freedom and survival. Just by sitting at home and being with her family she probably does more for this country than I ever will.

In defence of the OP, my 90 year old grandmother was asked a couple of years back when she was renewing her greencard by a USCIS worker why she didn't become a citizen. She's been living here since the 70s. Her answer was "young man, that's none of your business." ?

English is not the official language of the United States. That is a fact. No law requires residents or citizens to learn English. The law does require certain applicants for naturalization to pass an English test, but that does not apply to this woman. No law requires assimilation. This woman has done nothing wrong and is fully within her right to apply for naturalization regardless of her reason for doing so.
Many countries requires immigrants to learn an official language... the US is not one of these because it has no official language. Of course an immigrant should learn English. Of course they can contribute more to society if they do learn English. But US immigration policy recognizes that there is a benefit to exempting certain people from these requirements. This policy sees value in reuniting younger immigrants with elderly parents even if those parents aren't going to be able to assimilate or contribute to the economy directly.
This woman has probably been through things that the rest of us only see in nightmares... her very presence in this country is a symbol of the strength of people's desire for freedom and survival. Just by sitting at home and being with her family she probably does more for this country than I ever will.