cbaker284

My husband became a citizen yesterday!  He had to wait in a line outside in the hot Las Vegas sun (113 degrees!) for a while so I was worried about everyone in line getting heat stroke in their suits and dress clothes.  The CBP officers went through the line and had each person briefly remove their mask to verify their identity then went through the line again to collect and check everyone's paperwork (N-455 forms, etc.).  Everyone then started making their way inside through security.  They were allowed to bring in cell phones, but were told they couldn't record anything inside and needed to turn them off.  He said that they were brought to a large room where chairs were placed 6 feet away from each other.  They were each given 2 envelopes.  One envelope contained a letter from President Trump.  The other envelope contained some information on registering to vote, applying for a passport, and a flyer with the Pledge of Allegiance and the words to the Star Spangled Banner.  They also received a small American flag.  They had to wait for a bit for the Judge to arrive on the TV screen then the CPB officers said something along the lines of "we present these individuals who have been vetted and are approved for citizenship."  The Judge said a few inspiring words about these being trying times and that he knows it is a big decision to leave your home country behind.  He said that we are a nation of immigrants and that it's important to not forget about where you came from, but to bring the good qualities of your countries with you to your new life here to help build a better America.  (Or something along that line!)  Then the Judge read the oath and everyone responded with "I do."  Then they all had to repeat the oath.  They were given their citizenship certificates and were shown out.  The whole time inside the building was about one hour.

It's crazy to think that after six years (exactly six years from the date I mailed our I-129F application!) that this is finally all behind us and he is now a full American citizen.  I truly hope that each of you that are still waiting hear more news soon.  Good luck to you all!  Be sure to keep updating the google doc!

43 minutes ago, Cali23 said:

Thank you. Any update on your oath yet?

Yes, scheduled for this Monday, June 22! 

On 6/16/2020 at 11:43 AM, Cali23 said:

I’m now a US citizen! I had my oath this morning in Vegas. 
The ceremony wasn’t that good because of Covid. We couldn’t have anyone with us and had a judge recite the oath through a live feed. It was 15 minutes long and then we were handed our certs and left the building. 
No speeches, no saying what countries were represented, no cheering, no photos etc. 
 

It’s over with and I’m happy about that but it doesn’t feel like a big day. 

Congratulations!!  Glad it went well, even if it was a bit underwhelming!

Just wanted to give an update:  My husband's case status was updated two days ago to say "Oath Ceremony Notice Has Been Mailed."  Yesterday the letter appeared in his portal to give the Oath Ceremony date of June 22nd.   Can't believe it's finally almost here!  I really hope everyone else hears soon as well.  

Hey all!  Anyone here received any updates yet?  Just curious.

3 minutes ago, Cali23 said:

No it was cancelled. I don’t know what or how long the process will be from here. 
Did you end up getting a date set before all this happened? Hopefully we’re not waiting until the end of the year to have everything finalised. 

Ugh, I'm so sorry to hear that!  No, they never scheduled ours and I'm guessing it won't happen for quite some time now either.  Hoping the world is able to get through this in shorter amount of time than expected.  Fingers crossed.

On 2/9/2020 at 7:30 AM, Cali23 said:

Sorry I didn’t see this until now either! Yup 14th March so at least they give plenty of notice. 

Cali23, did you end up having your Oath Ceremony this week?  I've been wondering, with all of the Coronavirus changes this week, if they were still holding the ceremonies.  

On 2/3/2020 at 1:27 PM, Cali23 said:

Just got my date for the oath ceremony and of course it’s for when I’m out of town. I’m panicking about rescheduling it but I don’t know what to do. I know it says to send back the letter with a written reply but does anyone know if they have a phone number I can call? I don’t know if I’m wasting their time calling but just want to see if it’ll be an issue or not. 

Would you mind saying what date they scheduled it for?  I'm curious how far out they're scheduling.

Just now, cbaker284 said:

Would you mind saying what date they scheduled it for?  I'm curious how far out they're scheduling.

Oops!  Just saw you updated the spreadsheet!  Thanks!!

On 2/1/2020 at 6:31 AM, Cali23 said:

This thread is buried deep!

 

Finally got the notice that they’ve scheduled my oath ceremony. My interview was on 13th December. Still waiting for the document to show up so I know the date but happy I know it’s soon. Now just have to hope it’s not on the only Friday I’m out of town. 

Congrats!!!  Hopefully this means that ours is coming soon as well since we are the ones from Las Vegas that filed a week ahead of you!  (And I hope it's not that we haven't gotten ours yet because something is wrong!)     So nice to think that the end of this long process is in sight and my husband will finally be a citizen! Woo!

My husband received his interview status change on October 17th and received his letter on October 19th!  The interview is scheduled for November 26th.  I've updated our stats on the google spreadsheet.  Good luck everyone!

For those of you that have recently posted that you've had your interviews schedule, please be sure to update your info in the Google Doc so we can keep track!  Thank you!

OBX, how was your interview?  On the google spreadsheet it looks like you had yours a few days ago.

Hi everyone! I added a column to the spreadsheet for people to also include when exactly they received their interview appointment notification. I hope that's ok! Thank you!

To clarify, are there certain documents that you need multiple copies of (such as copy of passport, copy of marriage certificate, etc) that you put a copy of in each section? Like a copy of the non-citizen passport goes in the pile for the I-485, one copy goes in the pile for the I-765 stuff, and another goes in the pile for the I-131 stuff and then you stack all the sections together? Because I've been following the Step-by-Step Guide (http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1k3aos) especially the assembly instructions and it makes it seem like I only needed one copy of the non-citizen passport (shown as item # 4 on the list) if that makes sense. Basically- should each form have all of it's own separate documents, even if that means that the AOS packet you send in ends up having multiple copies of the same document, or do those forms (I-485, I-765, I-131) "share" all of the same supporting documents?

You do not fill out and include an I-693 on your own. That is only for a civil surgeon to fill out and sign for you. If you had all the required vaccinations, then include a note on your cover letter that states you had all the required vaccinations and your DS-3025 can be found in your file along with your other medical documents. Don't get the I-693 unless instructed to see a civil surgeon for one, through an RFE or at an interview.

Cool! Thanks so much!!

So my fiance had his medical done in Montreal within the last year and he did not need any additional vaccinations (except a flu shot which they gave him) but he did not receive a copy of the DS-3025. I read above that it should have been sent to USCIS after the CPB officer examined everything at the POE so it shouldn't be a problem (hopefully), BUT does he still need to attempt to fill out an I-693 to include in his AOS packet or just leave that form out entirely? Thanks!

Hang in there. I literally just checked my e-mail as I'm typing this and see that Loomis has emailed me instruction to pick up my passport. Hopefully they should get in contact with you latest some time next week. I understand this whole process is very nerve wracking from the beginning to end but we all are on our way to the finish line! Keep your head up and please keep us updated!

My fiance just got the email!!!!! I'm so excited! So happy for you too!

After endless delays this year, our status changed to "Issued" on Tuesday, June 9th (two days ago). Since you guys seemed to be a few days ahead of me on getting "Issued" and are now getting your emails from Loomis I really hope that ours will be here soon too!

Does anyone know if you can still hang on to your Canadian driver's license when you get your new one (specifically getting a license from New York State) or if you have to surrender the Canadian one?

UPDATE:

After another day went by and the background check still did not arrive in the mail, we went to a place in Montreal in Place Versaille to get another background check done. This time we did the more basic one (no fingerprints) and we were assured that we would be able to pick it up in 24 hours, maybe 48 hours at the very most. We called every day to check on it. They kept saying that they were having an issue with the police system so they had not received anyone's back yet, but it should be fixed any time now. After four days of us checking they finally offered us a refund, but said that if it came in that they would still notify us and we could come and pick it up. We then went to a different place downtown. Supposedly they are not affected by this police system problem and we should be emailed in 24 hours and can print the background check results ourselves. Unfortunately now it is Friday and while there is a chance we could get it tomorrow, it will most likely be Monday. And after all this time the original one has still not been delivered by Canada Post.

Driving to Ottawa to get a copy of the original one was not an option since they do not keep any files and they do not let civilians in the building there anyway. We never expected we would run into so much trouble on this one item. At this point we just keep laughing because how on earth is it possible that we are on our third attempt at getting a Canadian background check and there seems to be no end in sight!

On top of this our sublet here has gone through a series of unfortunate events. No heat or hot water for five days, then as soon as that was fixed the fridge broke, once that was resolved the stove/oven broke. Trying to break out streak of bad luck!

He is currently subletting a place in Montreal and I'd rather not go into more detail than that. He had to get background checks done for multiple countries so he waited to do the Canada one after he got to Montreal (after visiting me in the U.S.). In Montreal, he went to the commissionaire first, but they were very rude since he arrived right before their lunch break (which was not posted ANYWHERE online or otherwise) so he went to the police station instead. They took his fingerprints and info and electronically submitted it to the RCMP in Ottawa. The RCMP in Ottawa mailed it via Canada Post the next day. The problem is simply that Canada Post is taking forever to deliver it. It has definitely not been delivered yet. He is very organized and we have gone back through every piece of mail that has been delivered since the day it was mailed from Ottawa.

We are looking into driving to Ottawa to just get a new one done there, but I haven't finished researching if this is even a possibility. Unfortunately it is also Easter weekend which is a four day weekend here so no mail again until Tuesday.

Thanks for all of your responses.

My fiance had his K-1 interview in Montreal yesterday morning. We knew going in that we were going to have an issue because he had not received his Canada background check in the mail yet. It was supposed to have arrived a few days before that, but had not. All of our other paperwork was in order. We had three copies just to be safe and everything was well organized. When he went to window #8 for the actual interview part they asked him a few questions but said that he was denied because of not having the Canadian background check. He then sent me back to the apartment where we were staying to see if maybe it had come in the mail and if so I could bring it back to him, but unfortunately it had not. He was given a letter explaining that he needs to mail the background check and his passport to the courier service and then they will forwarded it to the U.S. Consulate in Montreal and once it gets there it will take 6-8 weeks to process.

This is devastating news for us as we cannot afford to have him wait in Montreal for 8 weeks for this to be processed, but it seems like this is our only option. Has anyone else gone through this? I really wish I could just take the background check to the consulate myself when it arrives since they allowed me into the building no problem as a U.S. citizen (I kept having to leave to pay more for parking as the day went on and I was able to come and go easily into the building unlike everyone else who was there who was not a U.S. citizen), but it says clearly on the letter that you cannot do that. You must mail it to the courier.

I know that we failed by not having that document in time for the interview, but it seems so crazy that if we had had it at the interview we'd be expecting his visa within a few days or so, but by bringing it in the next day we set ourselves back up to two months. I naively expected that the process would just be put on hold until we could provide it, not that the process would be delayed by this insane amount. Any advice on how to expedite this would be appreciated. Thanks!

Whew! Thanks so much!

Thank you!

Thank you!

My Canadian fiance received the same email, but we were wondering if this is the only way it was sent to him and therefore is what he needs to bring with him to the interview or if a hard copy was mailed (that we didn't seem to receive) that he is actually supposed to bring.

Did you get a hard copy mailed to you or just the email?

My Canadian fiance received the same email, but we were wondering if this is the only way it was sent to him and therefore is what he needs to bring with him to the interview or if a hard copy was mailed (that we didn't seem to receive) that he is actually supposed to bring.

Did you get a hard copy mailed to you or just the email?