DeKi

So ok...this was my experience at my Oath Ceremony today in Brooklyn.
 
Went through security relatively quickly and easily considering I showed up a good 40 minutes early.   Now, I had gone ahead and called Camdan Plaza East where the ceremony was going to be held, so I already knew that no cameras or cell phones were permitted in the courthouse (whether participants or guests), and I already was aware that there would be a possibility that guests were not able to view the actual ceremony.
 
All Queens, NY filers must have their oath ceremony at the court house regardless of whether or not a name-change is requested.  Just how it's done for Queens filers.   The building itself is beautiful inside, with wide spiral staircases, and lots of marble and artwork on the walls.   Headed up to the 2nd floor, where my husband and child were directed to the 3rd floor cafeteria.  I asked if they would be able to view the ceremony at all, and was told they would be called down later on.
 
Fast forward to 8:30AM when we got started with everything.  Applicants were taking up only 3 rows of the court benches, so it wasn't a long process to get everyone situated with how to fill out the back of the Oath Letter.   A few moments later, a representative from the voter registration office gave a small speech on how to vote and pressed us to fill out the application form and immediately hand it back over to her, and then she left the room never to be seen again.   After that, no one spoke to us or gave out any information on how the day would go, or welcomed us, nothing like that and participants were pretty much left on our own to just sit there and wait for....whatever was going to happen next. 
 
We were called up again to hand over the green card and receive an envelope.  Inside the envelope was a hard folder to place our certificate in, a copy of the oath, the passport application, and information on voting/serving on a jury.  Wish I'd gotten a flag, but oh well.  No welcoming letter from the President, but truth be told I didn't really expect one.
 
After about an hour, another lady started talking to us about passport applications and telling us that we can apply for the passport anytime after the ceremony (but not with them in any way, must be done through the post office or passport agency).  One person asked a rather simple question about the form, and when the staff didn't understand him due to a language barrier, I re-stated the question more coherently (I was sitting infront of him). The man was then replied to in a long, drawn-out condescending way that he "shouldn't be asking them anything about passports---ask us about immigration only!  When you go to the post office, you ask them questions about the post office, right???  I can't tell you anything about passports or the post office because I don't know anything about that."  Kind of went on and on increasingly condescendingly....okaaaayyyy....well they DID present the passport application forms to us and asked if people had any questions, but whatever.  She then stated we should apply for our SS status to be changed no less than 10 days after the oath ceremony, and asked if we had any questions about that process.  No one said a peep, probably because they were afraid of being lectured for asking a question.
 
After another wait, the 3rd lady came into the room and started setting herself up at a desk.  I was sitting in the front and could hear the staff conversations taking place since the room was nearly silent, and they were only a few feet away seated at the table.  At that point, one of them said to her "did you bring the country list?"  to which she replied "nah I didn't bother with it".  From reading other oath ceremony threads, and watching videos, I knew then that there would be no announcement of the countries recognized at the ceremony, which was a downer to me because I was looking forward to that part....almost like feeling like our immigration success was a global community effort we all shared in, but wasn't going to happen at my ceremony today.   It was also sad that they just seemed to decide on-the-spot to not be bothered with it and brush it off for whatever personal reason the woman had (maybe laziness?).
 
Soon enough, boredom sets in, since we are not being engaged in any way, and a few of us (myself included) start chatting among ourselves, not loudly.  We have a few giggles discussing our immigration journeys, what country we are from, etc. and generally how we're happy to become citizens.  About 10 minutes into our conversation, one of the workers comes over to us and ----- to my disbelief ---- tells us "You are getting too excited about this now, alright?  You all calm down and be quiet."  We, as a small group, were stunned that we were actually told to stop socializing with each other and just continue to sit there staring ahead in silence.  Personally, I was flabbergasted that she implied we shouldn't even be HAPPY about reaching this day in our lives.
 
One of the workers stood up and threatened everyone that if they didn't hand in all previous USCIS-issued documents (EADs and expired GC's) to them now or failed to mail them in at a later date "We have everything on file so we already know.  We can find out...I'm just letting you know we will find out"  I felt this was completely unnecessary of them to say this out-of-the-blue, and in a passive-aggressive manner.
 
Afterwards, we were called up by line to view our naturalization certificates.  As we approached the desk in single file, the lady barked out "what's your number?!" without explaining exactly what number she was referring to (I learned quickly she meant the last 3 digits of the alien number) then whipped out the certificate and gave each person literally a two-second glance at it before barking at us "sign your name!"  To the woman's eye-rolling annoyance, I refused to give it barely a 2-second glance, knowing this would be the only time I could get the certificate corrected for free, and looked over everything not just my name. Upon sitting down, I remarked purposefully loudly to the woman next to me (who whispered to me how rude she was) "You know, I've never been referred to as just a number before, I thought they only did that in jail."  The other worker met my eyes and slightly smiled sympathetically.  I think even SHE was wondering why her co-worker was so abrupt with everyone, despite her *own* prior unpleasantness towards participants.  
 
One poor girl who had requested a name change pointed out to the worker that the certificate didn't reflect her request.  The worker asked her what her name was supposed to be, and then flippantly remarked "Well they didn't do it.  Sign your name!"  The young lady, for obvious reasons, hesitated in signing it and the worker looked up at her and actually said "What's the problem?"  When the lady repeated that her name is not as requested on the certificate, she was again told to sign it as written.  She did end up signing it, and then respectfully asked "What do I do now, though, about the wrong name?"  The lady abruptly said "You have to go to civil court." and LITERALLY TURNED HER BACK TO HER in her swivel chair!!!  Completely ignored her until she walked away, head down, and confused.   "Next---what's your number?!"
 
Our families did eventually come down and were herded together into a small section partially away from us all. 
 
The judge arrived, we all rose out of respect and then were told to be seated again.  The judge immediately told us that she had just found out this morning that she would be presiding (from eavesdropping on the staff, I could hear them discussing which judge to call to administer the oath just before).  She gave a brief 5-minute off-the-cuff speech about the importance of voting, and serving on a jury.  There was no discussion about the importance of the day, no talk about immigrants contributing to the country, no mention about personal experience with the process.  Just a statement about voting, and jury duty---and a mention of "Happy Diwali" to those celebrating it.  She also introduced her new office clerk to us, a disinterested looking young man sitting next to her.  Overall, she had a pleasant personality, just wished something more poignant was said.  Anything.  Anything at all.   Something to make the day seem special.  Near the end of her comments, she spoke about how we should go forth and be respectable members of society and pay our taxes.  I noticed a few side-eyes being given and maybe we all thought the same thing....that we already *have* been paying taxes and *have* been good members of society.
 
We took the oath of allegiance, and then recited the pledge of allegiance.  We all clapped for ourselves and each other.  The judge handed us our certificate and shook our hands with a perfunctory "congratulations" and then we were immediately directed to leave the courthouse.  Her new clerk, adding to his aura of disinterest, stood next to her with his hands in his pockets, not speaking unless directly spoken to.  
 
All in all, it was a disappointing day.  There was no memorable moment, no feeling of a journey acknowledged, no special gathering, no poignant moment where I felt included as a citizen, no....niceness....about the entire experience.  I remarked to my husband later that it felt like I had just left another USCIS appointment where I just handed over some paperwork.  It was abrupt, the staff seemed mostly annoyed with our presence, rude for the most part, and just an anti-climatic moment all-around since my immigration process began.
 
Am I happy that my journey is over and I'm a citizen as the main thing?  Yes, I suppose so.  Just wish more thought was put into making it an actual special day for people who have struggled, and sweated, and cried, and stressed and sacrificed to make it as far as they did.  Previously reading other people's oath ceremonies in different cities/states had me thinking today wouldn't be "just like any other day".   
 
All in all, the highlight of my ceremony was giving @vkhutchings a hug as we congratulated each other outside of the courtroom.  
 
So that's it.  Oh yeah, that sums up nicely how I felt as soon as I left the courthouse.... "That's it?"

I am thankful to this thread for even giving me the idea to file for citizenship before my removal of conditions was approved! It definitely made a difference in getting things going in my case.
 
Had my I-751 interview today and was approved on the spot. Got notification that 10-year card was ordered an hour after interview. Waiting for oath ceremony in May as well since I already had my N-400 interview at the beginning of this year. Seeing the end of this journey finally!
 
(About today's interview: the office said they only had to call me and my spouse in because my N-400 application triggered the sending of my I-751 file to the local office; would have been approved with interview waiver by VSC staff otherwise. Literally didn't ask us anything other than to confirm our names and DoB and our child's name and DoB. Since we are traveling to Canada at the end of this week, he gave me an I-551 stamp in my passport for three months and took my CR green card.)

I am thankful to this thread for even giving me the idea to file for citizenship before my removal of conditions was approved! It definitely made a difference in getting things going in my case.
 
Had my I-751 interview today and was approved on the spot. Got notification that 10-year card was ordered an hour after interview. Waiting for oath ceremony in May as well since I already had my N-400 interview at the beginning of this year. Seeing the end of this journey finally!
 
(About today's interview: the office said they only had to call me and my spouse in because my N-400 application triggered the sending of my I-751 file to the local office; would have been approved with interview waiver by VSC staff otherwise. Literally didn't ask us anything other than to confirm our names and DoB and our child's name and DoB. Since we are traveling to Canada at the end of this week, he gave me an I-551 stamp in my passport for three months and took my CR green card.)

I am thankful to this thread for even giving me the idea to file for citizenship before my removal of conditions was approved! It definitely made a difference in getting things going in my case.
 
Had my I-751 interview today and was approved on the spot. Got notification that 10-year card was ordered an hour after interview. Waiting for oath ceremony in May as well since I already had my N-400 interview at the beginning of this year. Seeing the end of this journey finally!
 
(About today's interview: the office said they only had to call me and my spouse in because my N-400 application triggered the sending of my I-751 file to the local office; would have been approved with interview waiver by VSC staff otherwise. Literally didn't ask us anything other than to confirm our names and DoB and our child's name and DoB. Since we are traveling to Canada at the end of this week, he gave me an I-551 stamp in my passport for three months and took my CR green card.)

Had my I-751 interview today and was approved on the spot. Got notification that 10-year card was ordered an hour after interview. Waiting for oath ceremony in May as well since I already had my N-400 interview at the beginning of this year. Seeing the end of this journey finally!
 
(About today's interview, the office said they only had to call me and my spouse in because my N-400 application triggered the sending of my I-751 file to the local office; would have been approved with interview waiver by VSC staff otherwise. Literally didn't ask us anything other than to confirm our names and DoB and our child's name and DoB. Since we are traveling to Canada at the end of this week, he gave me an I-551 stamp in my passport for three months and took my CR green card.)

I was really lucky today and had a good combi interview experience. Here’s my story, I hope it helps anyone looking for a detailed account. Warning… it’s long!
 
It was lousy weather, we (me and my husband) set off for our 8:30am appointment in a torrential downpour. I was a little worried about looking like a drowned rat on arrival. 😊
 
At the front desk, security asked for my appointment letters and we both had to show ID. We then had to empty our pockets and put our items in a container (like at the airport) and go through the body scanner. We were then told to sit in the waiting room. It wasn’t full, just a few people. There was one officer sitting behind a glass window who had the patience of a saint. I was struck by how many visitors needed an awful lot of help and didn’t arrive with receipt numbers or much in the way of documentation. She seemed to spend most of her time directing people to which form to fill out and explaining that this office didn’t provide visas or a form filling in service.
 
We got called by an Immigration Officer (about 10 minutes after our scheduled appointment time), and were led to a private office. On the way, he asked for my 2-year Green Card and my 18-month extension letter (both were given back to me at the end of the interview).
 
The IO seemed to have a lot on his plate, was a bit grouchy at first, but was friendly and clear in his instructions. I had to stand on the left, my husband on the right and we raised our right hands and promised to tell the truth.
 
The IO explained that we’d be interviewed together for my 10 year Green Card and then my husband could leave, and I’d take the citizenship test and interview alone. He had my application on his desk and went through some basic questions from the i-751 – like name, address, telephone number, job – which I confirmed. We’d moved last summer and though our new address was confirmed by Homeland Security, and letters from service centres have been arriving to the right place, he had our old address and updated it during the interview.
 
He asked if we had a joint bank account, but didn’t ask to see any of the mountain of evidence I’d brought along. Before I knew it, that was the Green Card part done, and my husband was dismissed. Another nice and friendly IO came and escorted him back to the waiting room.
 
The IO then explained we’d start the citizenship interview with the civics test. I was asked these 6 questions which I got right so didn’t have to answer the full 10:
When was the Declaration of Independence adopted? How many US Senators are there? Who is the Chief Justice of the United States now? What is the capital of the United States? Where is the Statue of Liberty? Who lived in America before the Europeans arrived? Then I had to read out a statement which flashed up on a screen in front of me,  ‘Who elects Congress?’ I used a stylus to write the answer that the IO kept repeating, ‘the people elect Congress.’ Luckily it was legible though it did look like I was kindergarten age. Those things are hard to write with!
 
After that there was a long list of mostly ‘no’ questions like ‘have you ever committed some horrible act?’ The last 3 or 4 were ‘yes’ questions like agreeing to accept and obey the laws of the States.
 
He then told me I could relax while he updated the system. He said he was approving me for both Green Card and citizenship and I may or may not get a physical Green Card in the post. He said as my extension letter was good till July-2019, I could hold onto them and not worry about getting a stamp in my passport.
 
My name and basic details flashed up on screen which I had to check and sign, as this is how they’ll appear on my naturalisation certificate.
 
He said there was some spaces left on the 19 April oath ceremony so if the system updates in time, I should get an invite in the mail. He then handed me an N-652 confirming that I’d passed the N400 tests and that my application has been recommended for approval. The entire thing took around 30 minutes.
 
Within an hour of leaving, my case status online had changed to:
N400: Oath Ceremony Notice Was Mailed i-751: New Card Is Being Produced Hopefully I’ll get confirmation in my online documents of the oath ceremony date in a few days.
 
Some stray observations:
The IO seemed time-crunched, and said he gets a set amount of time for each interview. You can get a deferred result if you go over time, bring too much evidence (like all the societies/clubs/organisations) you belong to, as the IO has to type it all in during the allocated interview time slot Similarly, the IO types up all you say in response to answers, so keep it brief I was surprised we didn’t get interrogated a bit more, but apparently we are quite boring. The IO said i-751 interviews are typically held if there’s something they want to review in more detail, but in straight forward combi cases, it’s more of an adjudication of the application done with the applicant in attendance. That kind of explains the lack of interrogation. Anyway, thank God that’s over! Sorry for the long post, I hope it helps someone.
 
I’m really looking forward to getting my oath ceremony date.

Good luck everyone!  
 

Update on my I-751 from December 2017
 
Just received a letter in the mail (no text or email update at all) regarding the I-751 appointment with spouse. Lists a number of documents to bring, the majority of which I have of course already submitted.
 
The most annoying thing (since I already went for an N-400 interview to which I brought my husband in vain since it was not a combo interview) is that the timing of the appointment at 8am means we'll have to wake up our toddler earlier than she normally wakes up. (I am sure anyone with a young kid will sympathize; the rest of you can just trust me that it's a big deal... )

Thanks for sharing. I am worried about the combo aspect -- I haven't received any information about my I-751. It's interesting you did. 
 
And congratulations again!

Yes, I'm sure--you can present yourself at the border for entry as long as your visa is valid (and since you're entering on an F1, you'll also need your endorsed I-20). You should still be admitted D/S and can remain in the US even when your visa expires, if that's your concern, since you only need the visa to seek permission to enter the country at the border and the duration of your stay is determined by the CBP officer and is not contingent on your visa remaining valid throughout your stay in the US. The visa is, of course, not a guarantee of entry, as that's at the discretion of the CBP officer at the border.
You can also read up on the issue on the DOS' website: What the Visa Expiration Date Means

I think that's exactly the point of a Stokes interview -- only people who truly share a daily life together (full of exactly these "trivial" activities) will know the answers. As the OP said, that's not the kind of thing you "prep" or even can prep, precisely because they are about random things.

@wiss7 -- this thread is for people adjusting from non-family visas (i.e., not from K-1 like yourself). You might have better luck asking on these forums where people will have a more comparable experience to yours:
http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/7-adjustment-of-status-green-card-from-family-based-visas/
http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/551219-june-2015-aos-filers-merged-threads/
http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/555340-july-2015-aos-filers/page-75

If travelling back and forth between Japan and the US, why apply for the spousal visa for Japan and complicate the issues? By getting the spousal visa for Japan, you will be stating that you are planning to live in Japan and make Japan your residence which is contrary to being a LPR--or at the very least make it harder to prove that your intentions are to return to the US. Just leave Japan and re-enter the US to get your dental work done and when the 90 day window opens for being able to apply for citizenship (around June based on your timeline) do so and become a USC and then file for the spousal visa for Japan.
DAve

you guys are both from the same culture and similar in age ect so i find this pretty surprising you would be a stokes interview.. not sure what sent them off? I feel as though if you are not native to the english language, that is a huge barrier in answering many of the interview questions and i know certain cultures act a different way, so i feel as though this may be the reason, how you acted during the first interview?
I think you will be approved (it could take a while)... but you can only renew the EAD while the AOS is pending. if it gets denied your EAD is invalid

you guys are missing the point
any of these places will take and print out your picture
but not of a photo when person is not in this country
the beneficary needs to get the passport photo done in their own country
passport photos are offical and can be used to apply for a passport (therefore must be done in person)
this is why it is good to collect these things at time of meeting in person
i took application, G 325 forms, intent to marry and did all when we were together
we did the passport photos (even mine as was cheaper in Ecuador)
and filled out all the biographies and paperwork
this saves a lot of mailing back and forth

The 129f instruction 8b specifically says a passport sized photo of each is to be included in the petition.

Your file is likely incorrectly prepared for printing. They're not going to rescale it for you. I typically put two of them (2x2) on 5x7 print and send them to Walgreens to have them printed. Requires some basic knowledge of what pixel per inch means though...

SSNs are SSNs -- no one is any "weirder" than any other; it's just a bunch of digits. Note that if you have something that starts with 9, it's not an SSN, but an ITIN. ITINs are only used for tax filing purposes for people who don't have SSNs. But if you had working authorization (OPT), then you probably got an SSN.

A non-immigrant A number that you may have gotten on EADs, etc. is different from the A number they will give you for immigration process. They will assign you a new A number for immigration purposes, so generally if you haven't done immigration stuff before you should leave it blank (you can put it if you want, but it probably won't be used). Usually only people who've had an I-130 or I-140 immigration petition filed for them previously (i.e. not concurrently with the I-485) will put an A number on the I-485, which is the A number from their petition receipt.

Employment in the US is generally at will. This means the employer can fire you at any time without any reason without any notice, and the employee can leave at any time without any reason without any notice. It's nice to give notice, but that's just a courtesy. They could even fire you after you give notice, if they want (though it's not to their advantage to do so).

Take her to a USCIS office and take her passport and the printout of I-94. And tell them here is the person and what do I have to to do?
Good luck.

1) The EAD/AP is received in about 80 days. The AOS processing time varies a lot by office, but for us was interview (and approval) in about 90 days.
2) Just write "present"
3) You mean G-325A? The I-130 instructions require, for spouse petitions, a G-325A each for the petitioner and beneficiary. The I-485 instructions require a G-325A for the beneficiary. So a total of 3.
5) It's not relevant whether you're in status. You mail all the forms together. People suggest using Acco fasteners to group each form's materials.

Let's not make it more complicated than it is. Your wife files an AOS package for her mother. When USCIS receives it, the new period of authorized stay begins.
When her AOS is approved then she is no longer a visitor but a Legal Permanent Resident and therefore doesn't need a visitor visa. Just make sure she doesn't leave before getting AP or green card.

hi
no problem, it's not an obligation to use the i864ez, but an option
the regular i864 is fine

It is common for "connection men" in Ghana and most African countries to charge people and file the paperwork. Heck, there some who charge people just to do the DV lottery.
The problem is that, they fill out the application and sometimes put fraudulent information on it, especially, marital status such as indicating that the applicant is married to some unknown victim of the scheme.
So unfortunately, some of those things have created the bad reputations we are all suffering through.

OP don't let HFM181818 repeated cynical opinions get to you.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I have heard other bad stories about allowing others to complete visa appilcations in your behalf. Once incorrect information is enter, it follows you forever. I hope things work out for you in the future. Best of Luck!