Amhara

This is great information! Thank you for this post. I know my husband had a rough first few weeks before we could really do anything. I was able to get a second job at a college, which has helped tremendously, but the finances were still out of wack. We are just now getting more stable. I think getting my husband's drivers license was the beginning of him feeling like his life was being built here. He missed the busy bazaars - since America has so much land compared to many countries, our neighborhoods aren't designed like many other countries. I've had many migrant co-workers say they felt isolated by the way Americans drive everywhere and lack of foot traffic - now they are used to it and prefer it after about a year or two.
We planned on enrolling him in college courses soon after he got here and that has helped a lot too. He didn't want to take the bus, but now he's very comfortable with it. He gets to travel to downtown for classes, so he gets that public exposure he is used to. It's hard to prepare someone for a new culture, but try to understand their expectations. Many immigrants tend to idealize American life and movies give the idea that Americans go shopping all the time, have hours of leisure time and have no health concerns - that's simply not the case. The harsh reality is that America is not so much different than where they are from, but at the same time is quite different than where they are from.
Expect relationship issues and stay committed to each other. Listen, listen, listen. Communicate with love and be clear about your needs. You will find that your relationship becomes different. It's up to both your attitudes to make that a positive different, but if it becomes a little negative, don't give up. Remember the love for each other and tackle the problem with your spouse's point of view. Apologize when you need to. Foreign spouses have a lot to adjust to; the excitement of moving to be with the one they love can switch to missing their old life and more importantly - their family. It's normal - try to make them feel safe and don't feel like you made a mistake. If you continue to build a strong relationship, it will all be worth it. You will never stop building - keep thinking about making each other happy, and you both with enjoy a selfless marriage!

This is great information! Thank you for this post. I know my husband had a rough first few weeks before we could really do anything. I was able to get a second job at a college, which has helped tremendously, but the finances were still out of wack. We are just now getting more stable. I think getting my husband's drivers license was the beginning of him feeling like his life was being built here. He missed the busy bazaars - since America has so much land compared to many countries, our neighborhoods aren't designed like many other countries. I've had many migrant co-workers say they felt isolated by the way Americans drive everywhere and lack of foot traffic - now they are used to it and prefer it after about a year or two.
We planned on enrolling him in college courses soon after he got here and that has helped a lot too. He didn't want to take the bus, but now he's very comfortable with it. He gets to travel to downtown for classes, so he gets that public exposure he is used to. It's hard to prepare someone for a new culture, but try to understand their expectations. Many immigrants tend to idealize American life and movies give the idea that Americans go shopping all the time, have hours of leisure time and have no health concerns - that's simply not the case. The harsh reality is that America is not so much different than where they are from, but at the same time is quite different than where they are from.
Expect relationship issues and stay committed to each other. Listen, listen, listen. Communicate with love and be clear about your needs. You will find that your relationship becomes different. It's up to both your attitudes to make that a positive different, but if it becomes a little negative, don't give up. Remember the love for each other and tackle the problem with your spouse's point of view. Apologize when you need to. Foreign spouses have a lot to adjust to; the excitement of moving to be with the one they love can switch to missing their old life and more importantly - their family. It's normal - try to make them feel safe and don't feel like you made a mistake. If you continue to build a strong relationship, it will all be worth it. You will never stop building - keep thinking about making each other happy, and you both with enjoy a selfless marriage!

Yes, the estimates are generally longer than your actual resolution date....unless you fall into the USCIS black hole.

The ROC can be approved by the officer who adjudicates the N-400.  Most of the officers do not know this and I have seen many different posts.  One where someone was verbally told they were approved for both and should have oath within 60 days (which did not happen) and someone told they could not approve the N-400, but by the time that person reached the train station, both ROC/USC petitions were approved.
 
The officer will need to request and review the ROC petition, which they may have access to, but not fully understand.  Send several correspondences with your ROC/USC NOA's to the field office and request they be approved together.  If I were you, I would send triplicates to the field office and to both service centers that received ROC & USC petitions.  Just bother the heck out of them!

Hello all, my husband had his at the Plano event center at 7:30 am.  There were about 800 naturalized from 90 different countries.  Then we spent the rest of the day updating his drivers license (which was quick) then applied for his US Passport.  He wasn’t thinking about applying for his passport at first, so we weren’t prepared.

But next, after he gets his naturalization certificate back from the State Department, he will update the SSA and then work on mom’s visa.  Phew!  What a day!  It’s time for a nap, but it sure is nice to have our timeline completely filled.  Our four year anniversary was on the 16th, so this timing was pretty nice.  I hope the backlog gets cleared out of Dallas forever!

@JeanF My husband's oath ceremony will be on the 21st of November in Plano, too!  Yay, VisaJourney!  We made it!!!!!

@JeanF My husband's oath ceremony will be on the 21st of November in Plano, too!  Yay, VisaJourney!  We made it!!!!!

@JeanF My husband's oath ceremony will be on the 21st of November in Plano, too!  Yay, VisaJourney!  We made it!!!!!

I had my interview Saturday 11/16. I was approved and oath ceremony is scheduled for Thursday 11/21 (I was expecting a longer wait).
Edit: I only took the documents listed in the interview letter.. my permanent resident card, husband's birth certificate, daughter's birth certificate (just in case) and my passports (expired and current). The IO did not ask for anything other than my PRC and the interview letter.

My husband had his interview today and his file was not located at the Irving office either. 
 
The IO made me sit in the waiting room despite the fact that my husband applied for citizenship based on marriage and every other couple/family was allowed to join the applicant. So that was irritating, but I didn't argue. My husband said that the guy was still nice and asked easy questions pertaining to the 4th of July, Abraham Lincoln, how many total number of senators, etc. 
 
Based on that we believe he passed, but the IO did not say anything to confirm it. However, like I mentioned earlier in the thread, we are leaving the country for an extended vacation next weekend. So he asked if it was possible to do a same day oath ceremony and that's when he learned that his file wasn't even at that location. I'm not sure where it would be when we were living in Dallas when he filed his N-400 online. 
 
We're going to keep checking the online portal, but at this point I'm assuming he'll get scheduled for his Oath Ceremony while we're abroad. The IO told him that he's only allowed to reschedule the Oath ceremony once. 

I received email notification this morning 5am CST that interview was scheduled. Online portal don't show date, I guess I need to wait for letter in mail.
 
 

I am back so that i can provide hope to someone who may be in the same boat as I was and is feeling depressed to the core.
i heard back from my IO yesterday. She called me to tell me that she just received my i751 file and she updated my case and scheduled me for the next available oath and wanted to see if i will be available next Thursday Nov 14th. 
She said she was feeling really bad and as soon as she got my file she updated my status right away. I was ecstatic. 
i had lost all hope in USCIS, but this IO proves that there are still good people. Instead of letting my file collect dust she was proactive to keep my case flowing. 
Thanks to everyone on this forum for all your help.
 
I applied on Feb 4th 2019
Interview was on October 24th 2019 at the Irving office
Oath is on November 14th 2019 at the Plano Events Cent

Picked my U.S. Passport up today for commerce St, great feeling. 

I had my interview today. Went smooth, had applied for citizenship after my 10 year green card expired. I was selected to have oath on same day at the office. So came back in afternoon and took oath along with 3 other folks. No idea what criteria is for same day oath, other than the  interview has to be completed before 11 am. 
 
So total time from application took less than 9 months. 

I have a friend here at work from the UK and he just had his interview this morning at Irving and was given the same November 21st oath ceremony there on the spot.

The interview letter finally populated.  It was strange - the DHS site updated this morning about 5 am, then I checked a few times during the day and now at 7 pm the letter popped up.
 
My husband's interview is October 19th at 6:30 am!  Wow!  That's an early interview date and an early time!!!!  But hopefully the oath ceremony is soon!

So we called USCIS yesterday because the DHS site said that as of September 14th, he had already attended his interview.  The tier two officer said that his case was touched, but it was on some sort of hold.  But today, I checked and my husband’s status is now “Interview Scheduled”!  Yay!  
 
The DHS site hasn’t updated yet, but we will be checking it often!!

The interview letter finally populated.  It was strange - the DHS site updated this morning about 5 am, then I checked a few times during the day and now at 7 pm the letter popped up.
 
My husband's interview is October 19th at 6:30 am!  Wow!  That's an early interview date and an early time!!!!  But hopefully the oath ceremony is soon!

Interview scheduled on Nov 8th

UserName.........|GC-Date.|Sent.|Cashd|NOA..|Fprints.|In Line.|Int ltr.|Intrview|Oath....|Field Office|NBC/IOE|Paper/Online saladboye........|05/11/11|07/15|07/17|07/17|08/08/17|08/28/17|09/18/17|10/18/18|04/18/19|Dallas, TX..|NBC....|Paper imadol...........|12/06/11|10/02|10/10|10/06|11/01/17|02/12/18|11/19/18|12/21/18|--/--/--|Dallas, TX..|IOE....|Paper Mimi11...........|01/13/13|10/13|10/13|10/25|11/10/17|--/--/--|11/20/18|12/26/18|01/14/19|Dallas, TX..|NBC....|Paper suvaan11.........|03/02/13|12/11|12/11|12/11|01/04/18|--/--/--|11/08/18|12/10/18|12/17/18|Dallas, TX..|IOE....|Online austex...........|07/31/13|12/12|12/15|12/15|01/04/18|--/--/--|11/07/18|12/13/18|12/19/18|Dallas, TX..|IOE....|Paper Hypnos...........|04/03/13|01/03|01/03|01/03|01/09/18|--/--/--|12/11/18|01/14/19|02/14/19|Dallas, TX..|IOE....|Online JRatDallas.......|--/--/--|01/03|01/03|01/03|01/09/18|--/--/--|12/13/18|01/16/19|01/30/19|Dallas, TX..|IOE....|Online Dallas_Jim2018...|--/--/--|01/11|01/11|01/11|01/20/18|--/--/--|12/21/18|01/25/19|02/05/19|Dallas, TX..|IOE....|Online ManoloMMAd.......|11/23/91|01/17|01/17|01/17|02/07/18|--/--/--|12/28/18|02/04/19|--/--/--|Dallas, TX..|IOE....|Online Exception1981....|05/16/13|02/15|02/15|02/15|03/05/18|--/--/--|01/30/19|03/06/19|03/14/19|Dallas, TX..|IOE....|Online thinblueline.....|04/17/15|02/20|02/23|02/21|03/12/18|--/--/--|02/01/19|03/08/19|03/22/19|Dallas, TX..|NBC....|Paper KisAshu..........|09/11/12|03/12|03/12|03/12|04/05/18|--/--/--|02/15/19|03/23/19|04/04/19|Dallas, TX..|IOE....|Online Makena...........|04/02/13|04/01|04/01|04/01|04/25/18|--/--/--|03/14/19|04/18/19|04/25/19|Dallas, TX..|IOE....|Online SaladBoyeParents.|05/01/11|04/01|04/01|04/01|04/2X/18|--/--/--|03/18/19|04/18/19|04/25/19|Dallas, TX..|IOE....|Online DesiCan..........|01/13/15|04/16|04/16|04/16|05/07/18|--/--/--|04/05/19|05/14/19|05/16/19|Dallas, TX..|IOE....|Online Asiavik..........|10/23/08|04/19|04/19|04/21|05/11/18|--/--/--|04/10/19|05/15/19|05/21/19|Dallas, TX..|IOE....|Online Waiting_not_fun..|--/--/--|04/19|04/19|04/21|05/11/18|--/--/--|04/10/19|05/15/19|05/21/19|Dallas, TX..|IOE....|Online PettyW |--/--/--|04/19|04/19|04/21|05/11/18|--/--/--|04/10/19|05/15/19|--/--/--|Dallas, TX..|IOE....|Online photomile........|08/05/13|05/07|05/07|05/07|05/30/18|--/--/--|05/31/19|--/--/--|--/--/--|Dallas, TX..|IOE....|Online vego13...........|08/05/13|05/07|05/07|05/07|05/31/18|--/--/--|04/25/19|05/31/19|--/--/--|Dallas, TX..|IOE....|Online sundr............|04/30/13|06/01|06/01|06/01|06/09/18|--/--/--|05/13/19|--/--/--|--/--/--|Dallas, TX..|IOE....|Paper maxis27..........|08/30/13|06/04|06/04|06/04|06/28/18|--/--/--|05/13/19|06/18/19|--/--/--|Dallas, Tx..|IOE....|Online segaivd..........|09/01/13|06/05|06/05|06/05|06/28/18|--/--/--|05/13/19|06/18/19|09/09/19|Dallas, TX..|IOE....|Online love_my_wife.....|11/23/10|06/28|06/28|06/30|07/09/18|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Dallas, TX..|IOE....|Online jpfig87..........|07/20/15|07/18|07/18|07/21|08/10/18|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Dallas, Tx..|IOE....|Online MaghrebiSun......|07/29/18|07/30|07/30|07/30|09/12/18|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Dallas, TX..|IOE....|Online TPL..............|06/10/10|08/27|08/27|--/--|09/18/18|--/--/--|07/13/19|08/08/19|08/29/19|Dallas, TX..|IOE....|Online Sakura06.........|12/04/13|09/08|09/09|09/15|10/02/18|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Dallas, TX..|IOE....|Online mymercy..........|12/05/15|09/18|09/18|09/06|09/08/18|--/--/--|07/10/19|08/14/19|08/29/19|Dallas, Tx..|IOE....|Online Natonstan........|03/06/15|12/13|12/13|12/13|01/03/19|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Dallas, TX..|IOE....|Online Carosman.........|03/31/16|01/01|01/04|01/01|01/17/19|09/04/19|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Dallas, Tx..|IOE....|Online RJQuilla.........|--/--/--|02/18|02/18|--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Dallas, Tx..|IOE....|Online Sean and Kristina|04/26/16|03/02|03/02|03/02|03/13/19|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Dallas, Tx..|IOE....|Online Sharin...........|07/12/16|04/15|04/17|04/17|05/07/19|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|--/--/--|Dallas, TX..|IOE....|Paper

I FINALLY got the notice to say interview scheduled, now to wait to see the date

Finally after 19 month and 4 days, after N400 interview that I passed in May, CSC showed mercy, and this is a news today.

We got back Friday. I had expired GC with extension letter and my son had stamp in his passport. We had no issues. 

Just returned from Vietnam and China. No problems, but some scrutiny of the letter. It's hard for me to believe that a U.S. officer wouldn't know the form - even a new one is trained on the various paperwork they will encounter. Maybe she was just being difficult.

To be honest, I don't consider anything to be obvious anymore....😁  and it is possible that someone might think a copy of the I-751 could be used....