Darth Vader Q

When I sent away my passport application the service centre lost the entire package with my Naturalization certificate, along with another persons. Our only choice was a new certificate, but we got lucky and the post office found the package if not it would of been a long wait to get a new one.

What!? Insane. Looks like my optimism is misplaced.

goldsus,

You're simply wrong.

While it is true that every N-400 case is unique, there are certain traits that, for the vast majority, are true irrespective of their individuality. Casual observation of previous experiences supports the point second stage is trying to demonstrate (kudos to him for his persistence, by the way) which is that the majority of N-400 applicants are placed in-line for interview scheduling no earlier than 30 days before the relevant anniversary of their "Green Card Date."

This is a useful tidbit of information because, in the March 2014 forum where we followed this discipline fairly studiously for instance, it helps anxious filers manage their expectations of when they can expect to be placed in-line. In fact, I would argue that Moaz benefitted directly from this debate when his case did not follow the expectations laid out by second stage and he took action accordingly. Applicants are generally put in-line for interview scheduling in two waves:

- those who apply well beyond their 90-day eleigibility window and are placed in line almost immediately after completing their bio-metrics appointment and

- those who apply inside their 90-day eligibility window and are held till no earlier than 30 days preceding their "Green Card date" before being placed in-line

Other aspects of the N-400 appliction process that are fairly uniform (contrary to your assertions of highly individualised experiences) are that most people receive their Notices of Action within two weeks of submission, are scheduled for their bio-metrics appointment within two weeks of application acceptance (consistent with USCIS bio-metric scheduling goals), and receive dates for their bio-metrics appointments that are within five weeks of application acceptance.

Like every rule, exceptions will aplpy but those exceptions do not, as you imply, disprove the rule. Just accept the "Green Card Date" column which helps much more than it hurts and does not "mess-up" the formatting. If you have objective evidence that the "Green Card Date" column does not lend additive value to the timelines, by all means, do share it with us.

As I said in my previous posts no one can predict based on green card date, and that's why this column is more confusing and stressful than helpful. Every case is strictly individual. Predicting N-400 case is like playing Black Jack.

Mistere,

I would not give this a second thought. I have not read a single case of a complication arising from sending off a Naturalisation Certificate in conjunction with a passport application. If you are still worried however, you might consider applying in person at your local National Passport Agency for a same-day passport (if such a facility is available in your region). $60 more expensive, but perhaps a worthy investment for the peace of mind it will lend.

At my interview I did not receive a passport application form, but my guess is that is the same thing you can download from the DOS website.

It gives me an uneasy feeling to part from the Naturalization Certificate you just received, knowing that the only way you can prove your citizenship is in someone else's hands.

Congratulations to you!

I became a US citizen yesterday!!! Thank you all for keeping me company during the wait. My visa journey is finally over.

DONE WITH USCIS FOREVER!!!

Here is my oath ceremony experience:

Oath letter said to report at 10am at mechanics hall in Worchester MA. Keep in mind if you are going to a larger venue such as this one, the check-in time is staggered. Try to find out from the venue's website for the actual start time of the ceremony if you have guests coming and don't want to make them wait too long. The actual ceremony in my case wasn't scheduled until noon so in-laws didn't get there until 11:30.

I got there at 9:30 and waited outside the building until it was my turn to check in, was checked in by the same IO that interviewed me who proceeded to verify my answers on the back of the oath letter. He stamped the front of the letter and wrote down a number corresponding to where I have to sit in the auditorium. Hang on to that oath letter. I sat around waiting for the actual ceremony to start. My husband who came with me had to sit in the balcony (designated for guests) People continued to arrive in waves. Right before it started, they came around and collected everyone's oath letters to be exchanged with the certificate after the ceremony. Ceremony started with a slide show/photo montage: pretty images of Ellis Island and past oath ceremonies. A welcome message from USCIS, instructions on voter registration, then the judge finally arrived. The naturalization oath was administered, followed by the oath of allegiance. The judge called each country that was represented telling us to stand up as he says them, missed a few but the crowd yelled out the rest.Judge said a few words, told us to congratulate each other as new citizens, we sang the national anthem. Judge left, and they closed with the song Proud to be an American. Then the IOs went around and handed out the naturalization certificates and that was it! By the way it is possible i have the order of events during ceremony mixed up because once the judge arrived, the oath taking part itself went by really quickly. I didn't do the passport application after because I had already made an appointment at the passport agency for today.

We all exited after tripple checking to make sure everything was correct on my certificate (and taking a few pictures of course), walked a few blocks to a nice restaurant called the Boynton (named after the architect that designed mechanics hall apparently), ate ourselves silly and went home happy.

Good luck to everyone else!!

Very normal. Keep waiting.

Hi all,
My GC anniversary is 08/28, and i did biometric walk in 07/01 , till now 1 month but no update from Uscis for in line interview, so tired for waiting.
What should i do now ?
:(

Darth vader Q

I called USCIS 3 times and i talked with a lady and she didn't want to referring me to a higher officer after 10 mns i call again and the lady was nice on the phone and she referred me to the officer and i wait online about 1h:59 mns then i hang up and i call back and i talk to a guy and he put me on hold but instead of waiting for the officer i scheduled with USCIS to call me back when my turn arrived , then i was desperate cause i think USCIS won't call me back and in 64 mns later, my phone rang and i heard my name and the machine said if its correct press 1 and i did then a lady can you spell your last name for me and i did a d she said that she is UCIS officer and i explain her that made a walk in for my finger print but my case still going really slow, honestly she is very nice and she has a spanish accent and she said no problem and she said that she gonna enter to the system and she put me on hold for mns then she told me she saw that my finger print has been taken since july 21, 2014 and she gonna make a request to my field local office to put me in preliminary interview and she said that i will receive a letter for my interview by August 15, 2014 and she said now its time to congratulate you on your way to become a US citizen and i say thank you . I heard her on typing the request, she asked me for my day of birth , my address and she read the request to me on the phone.

I hope that something gonna happen like she said and i am so excited now that i called USCIS today.

I'll keep you up date guy's !!!

Moaz,

Congratulations! I'm so glad you were persistent and that you got a definitive answer.

Well done on not letting the Tier I agent intimidate you; it sounds like the Tier II lady was very helpful.

What Can You Do Now?

- Keep checking your USCIS case status online.

From your narration of the conversation you had with the Tier II lady, it sounds as though someone simply dropped the ball on your application

- If you don't receive the interview letter by 15th August, call them back again and attempt to speak to a Tier II agent

It sounds as though you need to be proactive simply because, from what it sounds like, someone/some system is not moving your application along as it should be

- Don't be intimidated by long wait times to speak to a Tier II agent (in the event that to call them again).

From experience, I can tell you that those wait times are almost always over one hour (unless you call them on the dot of 8:00 am local time in your time zone), but the call

back system is also very reliable. The automated system always calls you back when your turn in the queue arrives, and even if you miss the call the first time, the system will

automatically try three more times at ten minute intervals

Good luck!

Re-posting in correction of rogue320's post with quotation marks.

Colouring in BalooSL's citizenship status

I'm not particularly keen on starting an argument here, but:

1) It is hardly lazy to review every single blueprint-style requirement that is noted with a benefit/contract/obligation, etcetera. In fact, the legislative arm of the very same government that provided you an immigration benefit realised this very fact and they...wait for it...wait for it....(gasp!) passed legislation pushing for simplification of language that is attached to many, many contractual obligations in the United States

That said, I do agree with you that in serious affairs, such as receiving an immigration benefit from another country, extra care should be paid by the recipient of the benefit to ensure compliance with all directions; however, to to colour all who fail to note every single one of these requirements as lazy is a stretch. Perhaps they don't have as much leisure time as you do.

2) I am not advocating molly-cuddling people for their lapses, and I never implied that the Original Poster be absolved of responsibility for his lapse. I simply acknowledged the situation for what it was and proferred solutions accordingly. Attempting to fix a wrong is not the same as condoning it.

3) You guessed wrong with your stereotype about which generation I belonged to; however, I am part of the no-BS generation that calls a spade a spade. Hope that specificity helps?

4) I'm not sure what document you're referring to, but you can be sure that it's not serving its purpose adequately since, despite its exsistence, MILLIONS of obligated immigrants fail to register for Selective Service due to ignorance not intentional avoidance.

If someone is too lazy to review all the information they receive from the government that provides them with immigrant status then they deserve the mess. I know most just think they can shine this requirement and it is forgotten about later. There is no need to molly cuddle people for bad behavior. A bit of personal responsibility goes a long way in this world. My guess is you are a member of the young and not responsible for anything generation. It is clearly stated as a requirement It is on page 2 in large bold font with ages listed and an 800 number and a web site. One of 4 requirements on the page , the others being filing taxes , registering change of address within 10 days and filing for a re entry permit if you leave for over a year. In fact it is before the change of address requirement.

NigeriaorBust,

It's a bit harsh and considerably unfair to state that failing to register for Selective Service is the "stupidest" thing an immigrant can "ignore" given that many, many immigrants are not aware of this requirement and it is very, very easily overlooked in the plethora of requirements expected of immigrants. The requirement is not highlighted properly enough (indeed, more people are aware of the requirement to inform USCIS of an address change than they are about the need to register for Selective Service) and a great many immigrants are registered not because they paid attention, but because they were fortunate enough to have been registered automatically (without their knowledge) when they signed up for some other government benefit/privilege.

Let's take a step back, shelve the criticism, and put things into perspective for the Original Poster.

Original Poster: your best bet now is to apply anyway with a personal notarised statement stating several ways the requirement to register for the Service escaped your attention with documented examples. In addition, seek out personal references (employment, police certificate of Good Conduct, religious instiitution (if any), educational institution, neighbours) who can testify to their perception of you as one who has a good moral character.

Good luck!

I had my interview on July 1 passed, no oath letter yet

How long does it takes in New Orleans anybody with expurience

There is a poster, DanTes, I believe, in the March 2014 forum who had his naturalisation interview in the New Orleans area in early June and has not received any oath scheduling confirmation. Post in the March 2014 to see if he/she has further updates.

Thank you very much for your advice and i will try that to see cause i really want to be done with that naturalization process .. Thanks again

Good luck! Keep us posted.

lol, initialy I thought it might mean Driving Without Any Insurance, because I'd never ever heard of it before. Thanks for the leson, Ian H.

It stands for driving while ability impaired. You can get it from being under the influence of drugs/and or alcohol. This is in place for people who aren't legally drunk (.08% here in NY) but your driving ability is impaired, meaning you didn't pass the field sobriety tests, (counting backwards, walking in a straight line, etc), or you were driving weird.

Not yet! Im still having problems with my tax. I thought we amended our tax for 2011 and 2012. I didnt know my friend forgot to mail the 1040x..lol..do u think i can still amend my 2011 and 2012 tax to change the marital status?

I know tax returns can be ammended retroactively, but I am not sure how far back retroactive amendments are permitted. You should probably google that and/or ask the Internal Revenue Service. It might be three years in which case you'd be lucky!

I also do know that even when your tax returns can be amended, the processing time-frame is considerably lengthy; four months, perhaps more.

Are you in a rush to naturalise? It is my understanding that applicants filing under the three-year rule face considerable scrutiny on the status in which they filed their tax returns along with other documentation of co-mingled finances with the US citizen spouse. Your situation seems to raise red flags and, quite frankly, stating that your friend forgot to mail your 1040x (for two years in a row?) sounds as silly to me as the pupil who claims the dog ate her homework.

Well, Queue, Que or Cue, spelling does not really matter as long as they all have the same result as far as you are concerned, congratulations and hope you get scheduled soon...

Good luck...

Haha, thanks! Will update as soon as I'm scheduled.

So looks like you're targeting the 27th of August ceremony? I'm not sure, but I think you fall under the Los Angeles jurisdiction like Christi85, correct?

Good luck!

Thank you dart vader! I called them and they said i did register. I was so happy. I really didnt know that i registered..but thank you so much!

Congratulations, looks like you're all set!

lol, yet another immigrant who was automatically registered in the Service without being aware.

Moaz,

No one, other than informed agents at the USCIS, can definiteively inform you when you might be placed in-line for interview. That said, your apparent frustration is not unreasaonable, and I would have expected that anyone with your profile would be in-line for interview scheduling by now. Here's my take:

Possible Options

1) You may be in-line, but for some reasons, your case is not updating properly in the online USCIS case status portal and/or you ae either not signed up for alerts or you are signed up for alerts, but the alerts transmissions in your case are glithcy.

2) Call the Customer Service Centre and ask to be transferred to Tier 2 agent and ask for the latest information on your case. You could meet with resistance from the Tier 1 agent who attends your call, but be persistent. A Tier 2 agent always has more real time visibility than a Tier 1 agent

3) Attempt an INFOPASS appointment at your local field office. If one is not immediately abailable, go as a walk-in. The worst that can happen is that you get turned away, more than likely, if you're sufficiently sympathetic, you will be assisted

Good luck!

I mean February 9, 2011my green card so i already completed my finger print and i would
Like to know when uscis could put me in line for interview. Yes, i did an early biometric on July 21 it takes so long to be in line for interview, my windows were opened since november 11, 2013 and february 9,2014 was my third year of green card anniversary so why i am not in line for interview now??

NigeriaorBust,

It's a bit harsh and considerably unfair to state that failing to register for Selective Service is the "stupidest" thing an immigrant can "ignore" given that many, many immigrants are not aware of this requirement and it is very, very easily overlooked in the plethora of requirements expected of immigrants. The requirement is not highlighted properly enough (indeed, more people are aware of the requirement to inform USCIS of an address change than they are about the need to register for Selective Service) and a great many immigrants are registered not because they paid attention, but because they were fortunate enough to have been registered automatically (without their knowledge) when they signed up for some other government benefit/privilege.

Let's take a step back, shelve the criticism, and put things into perspective for the Original Poster.

Original Poster: your best bet now is to apply anyway with a personal notarised statement stating several ways the requirement to register for the Service escaped your attention with documented examples. In addition, seek out personal references (employment, police certificate of Good Conduct, religious instiitution (if any), educational institution, neighbours) who can testify to their perception of you as one who has a good moral character.

Good luck!

At least once in the mess you get with your green card there is a very specific warning about registering for selective service. It is the stupidest thing an immigrant can ignore because the last draft was over 40 years ago so there is basically 0 chance of anything coming out of registering and a lot happens when you don't .

Er...more like six years.

It might be helpful in the first place if you actually spelled out what DWAI stands for as opposed to assuming that criminal offence acronyms are common knowledge among the general population.

I have early bio on 7/11, the real day is 7/22, I got inline on 7/24.

do you think they will mail the yellow later after inline ? how long it takes normally to get yellow letter?

It is not guaranteed that you will receive the "Yellow Letter;" indeed, many applicants never do. Further, those who do can receive it at any time during their application process. There really seems to be no pattern regarding the timing of the receipt of this document.

Good luck!

I got the yellow letter today.

Feeling a little anxious as it asked for me to provide evidence that I didn't abandon my residence in the US. I did spend a lot of time abroad with my husband (on and off for 3 years due to him having a job in Singapore), and 3 times I was away for over 6 months. Unfortunately I didn't know that was going to create a problem for my citizenship. I guess I just need to gather all the evidence I have and hope for the best.

alix,

It's not as bad as you think, BUT the burden of proof of maintaining residence in the United States has shifted to you because of your trips within the statutory period that exceeded six months. Financial evidence carries the most weight with the USCIS. Following is a list of my suggestion as to what would constitute acceptable evidence of reisence maintenance during your statutory period:

1) Tax returns for all years

2) Bank statements (hopefully at the same financial institution) for all years - you could save yourself paper by printing statements at the end of, say, each quarter

3) Letter from bank attesting to 2) above

4) Credit card statements

5) Mortgage/lease for the entire period

6) Letter from landlord in case 5) above is a lease

7) Notarised prsonal statement explaining the peculiarities of your personal situation and why you did not consider your residency abandoned

This suggestion originates from a conversation I had a while ago with a USCIS agent. Good luck!

P.S: I read what you posted about an experience you had a few years ago in Phoenix with your passport. I'm sorry that happened to you because not only was it appalling and unnecessary, but it was also VERY illegal for that document to be withheld in that manner.

Small update:

I was placed in the Oath Scheduling "Que" (I am puzzled why the USCIS insists on misspelling this word) on Tuesday, July 22 exactly one day after being approved. Seven days in line to date. Wondering if I'll be scheduled for August's judicial ceremony or September's. The judicial ceremonies for the Miami field office are only held once a month.

Still waiting for Oath to be scheduled, sent in an e-request to see if that does anything. They are well past the 45 days from interview.

This is often a weird situation:

USCIS officially states that oath ceremonies are normally scheduled within forty-five days from being approved at/after the interview; in fact, in cases of judicial oaths, the law requires that an oath ceremony be held no later than forty-five days after an approval is given (otherwise, jusrisdiction is lost, but that's another story).

However, the Customer Service Centre insists that it has up to 120 days beyond the approval to schedule an oath ceremony (in line with the provisions permitting litigation for N-400 applications pending beyond this time) and offers to take administrative action only after 90 days have passed.

I think your best bet is to do a walk-in INFOPASS (the scheduling system is horrid) since there's a good chance you won't be turned away and it's quicker than waiting for an INFOPASS appointment to become available.

Good luck!

Excellent! I hope you can get into the August ceremony, that would be nice. Looks like next month might wrap up the process for the majority!

Hey everyone,

Today I had my interview at the San Fernando Valley Office in Chatsworth, CA and I passed!

Here's a more detailed account for anyone interested: My appointment was at 2:15pm. I arrived around 1:45pm, passed security and went straight in. They had a box where you had to drop in your appointment letter and then they would call you up in one of the windows to have your green card checked and verified against their system. Then you waited. There were maybe 30 people all in all in the room when I arrived (not everyone waiting for Naturalization interviews). I waited for a while and was finally called in by one of the Officers at around 2:35pm. He took me to a private office in the back and I noticed there were several similar offices. First thing he swore me and then he had me sit down. He checked my green card, driver's license and passport, and since I was applying based on marriage, he wanted 3 years worth of IRS joint tax returns. I had already submitted those with my application, but I gave them to him again. I had also brought originals of the forms I had submitted with the N-400, but he never asked for those. He then had me sign a couple papers because I have requested a name change, and then we went through my application together.

When that was done, it was time for the test. Reading test was 'Which state has the most people?'. Writing test was: 'California has the most people'.

And then the history/civics test questions:

1) What does the President's Cabinet do?

2) What did the Declaration of Independence do?

3) How many justices are on the Supreme Court?

4) We elect a US Senator for how many years?

5) Name one part of the goverment

6) If both the President and the Vice President can no longer serve, who becomes President?

He informed me I passed, had me sign the last pages of the N-400 application and gave me a handout talking about the oath ceremony. He told me I'd be receiving an invitation to the oath ceremony about 2 weeks prior, and that most likely I'd be scheduled for the next one on August 27, which was music to my ears

He then had me follow him while he made photocopies of my passport, green card and driver's license, handed them back to me, and sent me on my merry way!

I was in and out in just over an hour, and waiting was most of it. The interview itself was maybe 10 minutes. I noticed that some other people who were called in while I was waiting were taking much longer - sometimes up to 30 minutes or so, which made me a little nervous. But then I wondered if their cases were more complicated, because there were other people finishing much sooner, and luckily I was one of them.
All in all, a very smooth experience! Looking forward to the oath and being done with it all!