JimmyHou

JimmyHou I'm so happy you got an interview date!!! :) I predict you'll become a USC in less than 4 weeks, wishing you the very best of the most insane luck!

Yeeees! lol. I am glad you got the date you wanted. I know you did not want the 6th. All the very best. Mine is in 10 days. Cant wait!

Georgia applications are processed in the Atlanta office.
Atlanta was, historically, probably one of the three slowest offices in the country, with applications taking 9 or 10 months on average... that was as recently as early last year.
More recently, Atlanta has sped up considerably... for example, the two December 2015 applicants on VisaJounrey became citizens in mid-March 2016, faster than almost all the other applicants who filed that month.
That being said, the length of processing depends on your case; you may file at a fast office, but get stuck in background checks (which have nothing to do with your office) for 6 months.
On average, I'd say that most people are finishing in 5-8 months with faster cases finishing in 3 and slower ones taking 9 or more.
If you look through the monthly threads for recent months on the progress forum (link below) you'll see what to expect.. go to the end of each thread and look through the latest updated table. It may be too early to get information from more recent months, but look at February 2016 and go back a few months from there. Look for people who list Atlanta as their field office.
http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/595084-how-long-is-it-taking-to-process-n400/
In short, if you're lucky and your case is straight forward, I would expect you to be done within 4-5 months of applying based on how Atlanta has been trending recently. If you get stuck in a long background check, then it'll more likely be 6-12 months.

Georgia applications are processed in the Atlanta office.
Atlanta was, historically, probably one of the three slowest offices in the country, with applications taking 9 or 10 months on average... that was as recently as early last year.
More recently, Atlanta has sped up considerably... for example, the two December 2015 applicants on VisaJounrey became citizens in mid-March 2016, faster than almost all the other applicants who filed that month.
That being said, the length of processing depends on your case; you may file at a fast office, but get stuck in background checks (which have nothing to do with your office) for 6 months.
On average, I'd say that most people are finishing in 5-8 months with faster cases finishing in 3 and slower ones taking 9 or more.
If you look through the monthly threads for recent months on the progress forum (link below) you'll see what to expect.. go to the end of each thread and look through the latest updated table. It may be too early to get information from more recent months, but look at February 2016 and go back a few months from there. Look for people who list Atlanta as their field office.
http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/595084-how-long-is-it-taking-to-process-n400/
In short, if you're lucky and your case is straight forward, I would expect you to be done within 4-5 months of applying based on how Atlanta has been trending recently. If you get stuck in a long background check, then it'll more likely be 6-12 months.

Good luck Jimmy! Since you help out lot of folks on here. I just wanted to suggest that if you have applied based on 3-year marriage, please carry original documentation (birth certificate, passport, marriage certificate etc.) of your wife.
Lot of folks on VJ Forum treat N400 as another ROC but the Immigration Officer is not necessarily looking for ROC type evidence (I never submitted any with my application). Rather, N400 applicant is derivative of their spouse, hence, the documentation of spouse of importance to establish that their US Citizenship is valid. At least that was my experience based on the interaction with folks during my interview/oath at Newark, NJ.
Of course, if one has shady/shaky ROC i.e. divorce after getting greencard or other legal complications, then yes, IO is going to scrutinize.

Thanks a bunch to both of you.

Thank you )))
Thank you, I'm so happy right now ))) Looks like I'm a horsemen with no horse but a pony....
I'm checking September thru February fillers regularly and even some "februarists" are almost done with their interviews. So I keep my hopes up.
Thanks. Inquiry status still shows "case not assigned for processing", but I believe that's what helped with moving my case faster. I'm glad I did it. I think when 3 of us submitted those inquiries USCIS saw that some of our background checks were completed but files not moved to the field offices. But in my case they probably started looking into my files to see why does it take so long. That's just IMHO.

Here in newark, uscis do open on Saturdays

We had to prove up our marriage. I sent in the following (approximately 120 pages):
1. Receipts and itineraries from four vacations we have taken together;
2. Joint Tax Return Transcripts from 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015;
3. Joint Credit Card Statements from Nov. 2014 to March 2016;
4. Hospital bills and checks showing payment from when we miscarried;
5. Renters and Auto Insurance policies showing we are both covered on same policy from October 2013 to September 2016;
6. Joint Leases for our apartment from March 2013 to January 2017;
7. A card showing that we are jointly enrolled in a health-care cost sharing program;
8. Certified copy of a document showing our marriage is also registered in France;
9. Photographs of us together with friends and family and of our religious wedding ceremony.

Thank you. The RFE was for documents that can demonstrate a bona fide marriage. I think USCIS has an increased focus on marriage fraud since the San Bernardino shooting. The people near the San Bernardino terrorists have been accused of operating a marriage fraud ring.
When we went through ROC about a year or so ago, we did not even have to sit for an interview. So, proving the relationship is not a problem and USCIS was sufficiently convinced last year to quickly approve the ROC application.
When I put my wife's N-400 packet together, I included three-years tax transcripts as that was one of the options. However, tax transcripts alone apparently were insufficient and USCIS requested that we prove up the marital relationship all over again. That is no problem. I just would have appreciated knowing the ground rules before I put the package together per USCIS's checklist. I even accompanied my wife into the interview because I have a G-28 on file for her. The IO could have sworn me in and asked me questions if he wanted.
I think the moral of the story is that if you are applying under the three year rule, then you should prove up the marital relationship from wedding (or even before) to present. Even though the checklist allows you to get by with three years of tax returns and no other documents when applying under the three-year rule, you need to include sufficient documentation to prove up your marital relationship.
I will say this for the Dallas office: I know they are swamped (perhaps even overworked), but every IO has been extremely professional. The officer at the InfoPass this morning was not feeling well. My wife and I made a little small talk with her and, despite her obvious tiredness, was pleasant and very helpful.

You gave your fingerprints 4/4, got interview letter 5/5, interview on 6/6, maybe oath on 7/7?

I was in a similar situation, my packet received on 4/22, they charged my credit card yesterday (05/3), wait a little bit. If there is something wrong they will send you the documents back with a notice explaining what went wrong.

The oath ceremony was a very neat experience, definitely like a lot of people have said it is. My wife, parents, and mother-in-law went with me to the ceremony. We left early in the morning to beat traffic and find parking near the ceremony. It was held at the Oakland Paramount Theatre, located near downtown Oakland.
We went inside the theater and theater staff were directing family and friends to the second floor, while the applicants go straight to the first floor. There was a row of immigration officers and you could choose any IO to hand your oath letter and GC. Some had longer lines than others(noticed they we're scrutinizing people) and I saw one that was not attending anyone so I went with him. Handed him the oath letter and GC, didn't request any additional documents. He only asked if anything has changed and I said no. He then directed me to a specific USCIS employee who I would give my documents to. I went with the specific employee, handed her the documents, then she told me my assigned seating area. Headed down toward the assigned seating area where another USCIS employee told me where to sit.
Not too long after, a federal government employee introduced himself and started going over how the ceremony would be conducted. He also talked about what to do when you're a citizen. A really cool singing group sang a few songs(acapella) along with the national anthem.
Then the director of the San Francisco USCIS office went up and called out 96 countries, 882 people total. She called them out alphabetically and we had to stand once we heard our country's name. Once everyone was standing, we took the oath of allegiance. Then a state department employee came up to swear in the people who were applying for their passport that same day, which I did. Then they played a video message from the president, then concluded the ceremony. IOs then began going to the rows with our certificates in hand and were calling out our names so we can receive them. All in all, the ceremony took a little over a hour to complete.
Once I had mine in hand, I double checked the information(very important, talk to a IO if any info is wrong) and then I signed it. I already had my passport package pre-filled out, so I didn't have to get in line to apply. I just handed it to a state department employee and he told me within a week I can check on the state department website to track my application.
It really was an awesome and moving experience at the oath ceremony, it makes me all the more proud to be an American citizen. I hope this review is helpful to everyone out there, and good luck and God bless to all still waiting! :)

Basically they are using a priority queue, where the weight is on the priority date of the case. If the queue is empty it doesn't matter but for loaded cities they don't want the candidate suffer even further.

hye
Interview process was pretty straight forward and took no more than 25 minutes. Had appointment in the morning, called for interview at the exact same time . There were about 15 people at prosperity ave office- fairfax. Parking is next bldg garage ($6 ). IO officer was very polite. he checked all the paper work first, asked name, add, SSN, employment details, and whatever on the form to make sure every thing is correct. he asked my if I had any arrests other than the traffic violations I mentioned on form, there are none.

Then he asked civic test , I got first 6 questions right .
1 answer world war 1
2 100 senator
3 2 years house of rep
4 435 members
5 the constitution
6 obey the law
Then I was asked to read a sentence and write a sentence (pretty easy). he did not asked for any paper work at all other than ID, passport and permanent res card.

. IO then congratulated me . he gave me a piece of paper which said I was recommended for approval. he said I would receive oath letter in 1 to 3 months.wait for oat letter

This morning I got a text message and an email from USCIS and my online status shows that an interview has been scheduled.
Obviously, I'm happy to hear this, but there's also an interesting piece of information hidden in here...
Houston is a backlogged office. I applied 6 days after Boy15's parents, who also applied in Houston. They were placed inline almost immediately after biometrics, whereas I waited 3.5 months. Their interviews were scheduled last week.
So I was wondering where I would be in the line of people waiting for an interview... would I be behind the Jan, Feb, and Mar Houston applicants who were placed inline right after biometrics, or would I jump ahead of them because I have an older priority date (on the NOA) than they do.
It looks like it's the priority date that's important, because if they were using the inline date, I should not have had an interview until everyone who was inline before me got one.
This is pretty consistent with what I've seen in other months and at other offices where an applicant waits for months to be placed inline then has an interview scheduled almost immediately... same thing happened to Stravoula and Groovyaardvark here.
So, maybe there's some good news in this for Spmaria too... meaning that when you do get your inline notice, you'll jump ahead of a whole bunch of Newark applicants from this year who are already inline!

The attorney's fees are probably a little over average but I paid $2000 and my case ended up straight forward. Just having the lawyer appear with you at the interview, I was quoted $800. I charged the rest of it as payment for my peace of mind. One thing I asked my attorney early on: How confident are you in winning my case? And then you asses his body language and the way he answers it, not just his words. The body language is more important. I would wait for the 5-year mark as well, if I were in your shoes... Unless there is a pressing reason you should be naturalized now.

My husband's interview with today. It went well he passed and the oath ceremony has already been scheduled for this Friday May 6th. We got there about 10 minutes early but had to wait about 40 minutes past the interview time to be called into the back. He was called back he says the guy was nice. Only asked for his green card and his state ID no other documentation. He asked six questions. Who is the vice president of the United States? Why was the Revolutionary War fought? Who was brought to America as slaves? How many amendments are there to the Constitution? What's the highest court in the United States? Who makes the laws in the United States? He doesn't read a sentence that said Americans can vote at eighteen. And then wrote a sentence that was basically the same thing. The guy told him he passed and asked him if he wanted to do the ceremony that was on Friday. He said yes and was back out in about 10 minutes. Can't believe we're finally done hope everyone here get through this quickly. Good luck to all!!!

10 months after filing. My case is finally in line for interview today!.

The reading and writing parts are pretty straight forward.
She'll be asked to read a simple sentence and then write a simple sentence. Spelling errors don't matter as long as they don't change the meaning of the word.
The speaking part of the language test is covered by answering questions about the application. This includes understanding questions related to address and employment information and trips and being able to answer these questions. In rare cases where the interviewer thinks that the applicant doesn't really understand the application and has only memorized answers that someone else has written, additional questions are asked. One applicant was asked to explain, in simple words, what the oath means. Another applicant was asked (when they got to the question about being a member of the communist party) what communism was. Both applicants failed the speaking/understanding portion of the test and were scheduled for re-interviewing.
Don't worry though... if your wife knows enough to get by at a grocery store, she'll probable be fine. These questions are very rare and are only asked when the interviewer feels that the applicant is saying yes or no to things he/she doesn't understand. In the vast majority of cases, being able to go through the application is enough. In some cases, people who can barely ask where the bathroom is in English pass the interview easily.

Update:
I got the denial letter in the mail a little over 4 weeks after the interview. The denial decision was based on the fact that as at the time I filed, my spouse and I were not physical living together in the same household. The IO totally ignored the exemptions pertaining to "Involuntary Separation". As I earlier indicated, my wife and I live in different cities due to our jobs' situation. In spite of all the evidence I provided the IO still went ahead and denied the case.
I consulted an attorney who happened to be a former IO. She was furious that I got denied. She told me I was unlucky to get a crappy/inexperienced IO.
She outlined 3 options :
- Appeal the decision: the prospect of overturning the decision is very bright but it will take forever for USCIS to adjudicate. It will cost me $3700 in attorney fees n appeal fees.
- reapply now and hire an attorney to handle the case. It will cost me $2000 in lawyer and application fees. But the decision will still be at the discretion of the IO.
- Wait and file next year under the 5 yr rule for which the IO's discretion will not come to play and it will be certain that I will get approval barring any criminal record or overstaying my visit abroad.
I decided to wait till next year and file using the 5 yr rule.
The attorney's suggestion is that if your case is not that cut and dry, it is a good idea to hire an attorney to go with you to the interview. That way the IO will not use intimidation or other tactics to deny your case.

They should hand this out to all applicants for naturalization, but they sometimes forget. Some people are going in for biometrics for reasons other than naturalization.
Anyway, here's an electronic copy of the booklet:
https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Office%20of%20Citizenship/Citizenship%20Resource%20Center%20Site/Publications/PDFs/M-638_red.pdf

No change in the inquiry status, but that doesn't mean that it didn't help... they don't always update these things.
I mean, there are some people whose status never changes after "an interview has been scheduled" even after they become citizens.
But back to the inquiry, I don't know if it helped or not, but it didn't hurt!

Many many thanks to the people that contributed to this topic! The details were spot on and helped a lot in figuring out what was going on when I went for my oath.
Just as a note, it doesn't matter if you get seated on the left or the right of the stage. You will be seated and leaving in the order you arrived. There will be many ushers who will guide you on where to get seated. Once you have checked in, the ushers will direct you to where the seating area is. From there, another set of ushers will tell you what row to go sit in. After the ceremony is over, the ushers will guide you out in the order you were seated (first in first out) towards the tables where you can pick your certificate up from.

I'm no expert, but I don't think these "mistakes" will cause even a day's delay.
I wouldn't even think about this again until the day of the interview when you should tell your interviewer that you have two minor corrections.
If there is a delay in your process, which is very possible, I'm certain it will have nothing to do with this.