oceana15

Hello everyone! Just wanted to share my experience with my combo N-400/I-751 interview, which took place on August 14 in Springfield, MA. I will include all the details to help those with similar cases to mine.
 
First of all, my I-751 had been pending since May 2018, so I went ahead and filed for naturalization in mid-May 2019. My N-400 biometrics and interview scheduling went VERY fast (basically 3 months). My I-751 did not move at all until it was "transferred to my local office" two weeks after I filed the N-400. I knew that I would have a combo interview because I received an email from USCIS letting me know about this, stating that the officer would "adjudicate both cases together."
 
My husband and I went to our interview on August 14 and got there about 15 minutes early. An officer came out and took my appointment notice. About 20 minutes later, the same officer came out and said he would interview my husband alone to "knock out the I-751" (those were the officers' actual words). This freaked us out because we did NOT expect to be interviewed separately! I had never heard of that happening, other than the dreaded Stokes interview. This was NOT a Stokes interview. It was just a regular I-751 interview, but only my husband (US citizen by birth) was called in.
 
The officer interviewed my husband alone for 15 minutes. Then he came to get me and interviewed me alone for the N-400. He started by going through my files and evidence, since I filed under the 3-year rule. He asked for my passports (all of them), green card, and driver's license. Here are the questions he asked me about my marriage -- I will explain why I think he asked some of these questions.
 
1. Why did you file taxes separately in 2018? (My husband has IRS debt so we've kept our finances separate. We eventually want to buy a house so we need at least one of us to have great credit... that's me. He seemed ok with this answer.)
2. Do you know your husband's ex-wife? (My husband was married once before.)
3. When does your husband see his daughter? When was the last time she stayed at your house? When is the next time she will be visiting? (I have a stepdaughter who stays with us once a month.)
4. What is your husband's work schedule?
5. What's the last trip you took together?
6. Did you live together before getting married? Where?
 
NOTE: I will pause here to say that, once everything was done, my husband and I compared the questions the officer asked us separately and they were all the same questions. We gave the same answers.
 
After asking me those questions, the officer asked me for new evidence -- anything with both of our names on it. I brought a LOT of new stuff because I suspected that the separate taxes might be an issue. For example, I brought my husband's 401K form listing me as his beneficiary, joint utility bills, joint car insurance, bank statements showing transfers between us, and photos & receipts from our last trip together. The officer looked through these and then returned them to me without making any copies. He said, "all of this looks good."
 
Then, he did the civics & English test. He asked me:
 
1. What's one Native American tribe?
2. What's the ocean on the West coast?
3. Who was one of the authors of the Federalist Papers?
4. When must men register for the selective service?
5. When do we vote for President?
And one more but I can't remember it!!
 
I got all the questions right so he did the English test (reading "Who elects Congress?" and writing "The people elect Congress.") Then, he went through the entire N-400 application question by question. By this point, he started laughing and joking a bit so I felt better. I was still a bit nervous that the separate finances thing would be a problem. Once we finished going through the application, I signed that I agreed to the oath (willing to bear arms for the US, etc) and confirmed that everything was correct on the application. Finally, he said everything looked good and he would recommend my application for approval. He gave me the interview form but checked "A decision cannot be made at this time." He explained that he had to approve the I-751 first and it sometimes takes 24 hours in the system, which is why he checked that box instead of the approval one.
 
Walking out of the interview, I was so nervous about "A decision cannot be made"! But I checked the USCIS website later that day (about 5-6 hours later) and my N-400 had changed to "We approved your application. You are in line for an oath ceremony." My I-751 did not change -- it still said "transferred to your local office." But today, August 16 (two days after the interview), my I-751 changed to "Your case was approved." So now it is OFFICIAL! I'm so relieved and I realize now that the officer was just doing his job -- he wasn't trying to be harsh or anything. 
 
I'm waiting for my oath to be scheduled and to get a letter about that in the mail. If you're still on this journey, hang in there!! If your marriage is real and you're telling the truth, you will be APPROVED. If you suspect that something in your file might be seen as a red flag (like my separate taxes), make sure to bring lots of evidence to compensate for that. Good luck!!!
 

Hello everyone! Just wanted to share my experience with my combo N-400/I-751 interview, which took place on August 14 in Springfield, MA. I will include all the details to help those with similar cases to mine.
 
First of all, my I-751 had been pending since May 2018, so I went ahead and filed for naturalization in mid-May 2019. My N-400 biometrics and interview scheduling went VERY fast (basically 3 months). My I-751 did not move at all until it was "transferred to my local office" two weeks after I filed the N-400. I knew that I would have a combo interview because I received an email from USCIS letting me know about this, stating that the officer would "adjudicate both cases together."
 
My husband and I went to our interview on August 14 and got there about 15 minutes early. An officer came out and took my appointment notice. About 20 minutes later, the same officer came out and said he would interview my husband alone to "knock out the I-751" (those were the officers' actual words). This freaked us out because we did NOT expect to be interviewed separately! I had never heard of that happening, other than the dreaded Stokes interview. This was NOT a Stokes interview. It was just a regular I-751 interview, but only my husband (US citizen by birth) was called in.
 
The officer interviewed my husband alone for 15 minutes. Then he came to get me and interviewed me alone for the N-400. He started by going through my files and evidence, since I filed under the 3-year rule. He asked for my passports (all of them), green card, and driver's license. Here are the questions he asked me about my marriage -- I will explain why I think he asked some of these questions.
 
1. Why did you file taxes separately in 2018? (My husband has IRS debt so we've kept our finances separate. We eventually want to buy a house so we need at least one of us to have great credit... that's me. He seemed ok with this answer.)
2. Do you know your husband's ex-wife? (My husband was married once before.)
3. When does your husband see his daughter? When was the last time she stayed at your house? When is the next time she will be visiting? (I have a stepdaughter who stays with us once a month.)
4. What is your husband's work schedule?
5. What's the last trip you took together?
6. Did you live together before getting married? Where?
 
NOTE: I will pause here to say that, once everything was done, my husband and I compared the questions the officer asked us separately and they were all the same questions. We gave the same answers.
 
After asking me those questions, the officer asked me for new evidence -- anything with both of our names on it. I brought a LOT of new stuff because I suspected that the separate taxes might be an issue. For example, I brought my husband's 401K form listing me as his beneficiary, joint utility bills, joint car insurance, bank statements showing transfers between us, and photos & receipts from our last trip together. The officer looked through these and then returned them to me without making any copies. He said, "all of this looks good."
 
Then, he did the civics & English test. He asked me:
 
1. What's one Native American tribe?
2. What's the ocean on the West coast?
3. Who was one of the authors of the Federalist Papers?
4. When must men register for the selective service?
5. When do we vote for President?
And one more but I can't remember it!!
 
I got all the questions right so he did the English test (reading "Who elects Congress?" and writing "The people elect Congress.") Then, he went through the entire N-400 application question by question. By this point, he started laughing and joking a bit so I felt better. I was still a bit nervous that the separate finances thing would be a problem. Once we finished going through the application, I signed that I agreed to the oath (willing to bear arms for the US, etc) and confirmed that everything was correct on the application. Finally, he said everything looked good and he would recommend my application for approval. He gave me the interview form but checked "A decision cannot be made at this time." He explained that he had to approve the I-751 first and it sometimes takes 24 hours in the system, which is why he checked that box instead of the approval one.
 
Walking out of the interview, I was so nervous about "A decision cannot be made"! But I checked the USCIS website later that day (about 5-6 hours later) and my N-400 had changed to "We approved your application. You are in line for an oath ceremony." My I-751 did not change -- it still said "transferred to your local office." But today, August 16 (two days after the interview), my I-751 changed to "Your case was approved." So now it is OFFICIAL! I'm so relieved and I realize now that the officer was just doing his job -- he wasn't trying to be harsh or anything. 
 
I'm waiting for my oath to be scheduled and to get a letter about that in the mail. If you're still on this journey, hang in there!! If your marriage is real and you're telling the truth, you will be APPROVED. If you suspect that something in your file might be seen as a red flag (like my separate taxes), make sure to bring lots of evidence to compensate for that. Good luck!!!
 

Hello everyone! Just wanted to share my experience with my combo N-400/I-751 interview, which took place on August 14 in Springfield, MA. I will include all the details to help those with similar cases to mine.
 
First of all, my I-751 had been pending since May 2018, so I went ahead and filed for naturalization in mid-May 2019. My N-400 biometrics and interview scheduling went VERY fast (basically 3 months). My I-751 did not move at all until it was "transferred to my local office" two weeks after I filed the N-400. I knew that I would have a combo interview because I received an email from USCIS letting me know about this, stating that the officer would "adjudicate both cases together."
 
My husband and I went to our interview on August 14 and got there about 15 minutes early. An officer came out and took my appointment notice. About 20 minutes later, the same officer came out and said he would interview my husband alone to "knock out the I-751" (those were the officers' actual words). This freaked us out because we did NOT expect to be interviewed separately! I had never heard of that happening, other than the dreaded Stokes interview. This was NOT a Stokes interview. It was just a regular I-751 interview, but only my husband (US citizen by birth) was called in.
 
The officer interviewed my husband alone for 15 minutes. Then he came to get me and interviewed me alone for the N-400. He started by going through my files and evidence, since I filed under the 3-year rule. He asked for my passports (all of them), green card, and driver's license. Here are the questions he asked me about my marriage -- I will explain why I think he asked some of these questions.
 
1. Why did you file taxes separately in 2018? (My husband has IRS debt so we've kept our finances separate. We eventually want to buy a house so we need at least one of us to have great credit... that's me. He seemed ok with this answer.)
2. Do you know your husband's ex-wife? (My husband was married once before.)
3. When does your husband see his daughter? When was the last time she stayed at your house? When is the next time she will be visiting? (I have a stepdaughter who stays with us once a month.)
4. What is your husband's work schedule?
5. What's the last trip you took together?
6. Did you live together before getting married? Where?
 
NOTE: I will pause here to say that, once everything was done, my husband and I compared the questions the officer asked us separately and they were all the same questions. We gave the same answers.
 
After asking me those questions, the officer asked me for new evidence -- anything with both of our names on it. I brought a LOT of new stuff because I suspected that the separate taxes might be an issue. For example, I brought my husband's 401K form listing me as his beneficiary, joint utility bills, joint car insurance, bank statements showing transfers between us, and photos & receipts from our last trip together. The officer looked through these and then returned them to me without making any copies. He said, "all of this looks good."
 
Then, he did the civics & English test. He asked me:
 
1. What's one Native American tribe?
2. What's the ocean on the West coast?
3. Who was one of the authors of the Federalist Papers?
4. When must men register for the selective service?
5. When do we vote for President?
And one more but I can't remember it!!
 
I got all the questions right so he did the English test (reading "Who elects Congress?" and writing "The people elect Congress.") Then, he went through the entire N-400 application question by question. By this point, he started laughing and joking a bit so I felt better. I was still a bit nervous that the separate finances thing would be a problem. Once we finished going through the application, I signed that I agreed to the oath (willing to bear arms for the US, etc) and confirmed that everything was correct on the application. Finally, he said everything looked good and he would recommend my application for approval. He gave me the interview form but checked "A decision cannot be made at this time." He explained that he had to approve the I-751 first and it sometimes takes 24 hours in the system, which is why he checked that box instead of the approval one.
 
Walking out of the interview, I was so nervous about "A decision cannot be made"! But I checked the USCIS website later that day (about 5-6 hours later) and my N-400 had changed to "We approved your application. You are in line for an oath ceremony." My I-751 did not change -- it still said "transferred to your local office." But today, August 16 (two days after the interview), my I-751 changed to "Your case was approved." So now it is OFFICIAL! I'm so relieved and I realize now that the officer was just doing his job -- he wasn't trying to be harsh or anything. 
 
I'm waiting for my oath to be scheduled and to get a letter about that in the mail. If you're still on this journey, hang in there!! If your marriage is real and you're telling the truth, you will be APPROVED. If you suspect that something in your file might be seen as a red flag (like my separate taxes), make sure to bring lots of evidence to compensate for that. Good luck!!!
 

My husband and I had my green card interview yesterday morning, so I wanted to share it with everyone in case it helps or alleviates someone's nerves! My interview was conducted at the Lawrence, MA field office.
We arrived 30 minutes early and the place was pretty empty. We went through the metal detectors, etc and went up to the check-in counter. They checked our interview notice, stamped it, and sent us to sit down in the waiting area. Not a lot of people there either, maybe 15-20 total. We sat for about an hour and were called in 30 minutes after our interview time (interview was at 11, officer called us at 11:34 or so). Luckily we had a really nice, really laid back officer. First thing he did was smile at us and ask, "are you nervous?" To which I replied (just sort of mumbled), "umm no, a bit, not really." haha. I WAS nervous!
He took us into his office and made us stand and put us under oath. He had our MASSIVE file on top of his desk (we sent a lot of evidence initially, as our lawyer suggested). He looked at us, smiled, and said, "I want you to know you sent more than enough evidence to prove your relationship and I'm going to approve your petition, we just need to go through a few standard questions." This obviously put us both at ease and made me very happy!! Then he asked for all my passports and husband's driver's license. After that he asked to see originals of marriage certificate, divorce decree (husband was married before), our joint lease (we recently moved), my current I-20, my I-94 (which he kept), my driver's license, my SS card. He used these to confirm that the copies we sent were real.
Then he went through both of our biographic forms and asked my husband about himself, then asked my husband about me (husband had to state my full name, date of birth, place of birth, etc). Then he went through my biographic info with me (asked me the same questions about myself, not about my husband). Then we went through the standard "are you a spy?" questions. He was really nice about it and made jokes -- he asked me "are you Batman?" so everyone laughed. ha.
Then he asked if we were happy in our marriage, we said yes, so he explained that we were approved and we would get the card in the mail within 3 weeks or so. He explained about ROC and citizenship. Then we shook hands, thanked him, and he walked us out. That was it! We were out by noon, so the interview itself took about 25 minutes (most of this was him just comparing originals to the copies we had sent, and taking new copies of our lease and all my passports).
I checked my status on the tracker right after the interview and it said my new card was being produced. This morning (next day) I received email confirmation of I-130 and I-485 approval. YAY!!
So my experience should reassure all of you with real relationships that there is NOTHING to worry about. And it *does* matter whether you send evidence with your package or not. I would NOT wait to bring all the marriage evidence to the interview -- it seems better to have the officer already on your side once you walk through the door. In our case it seems the officer felt he already knew us and was comfortable approving us right away.
Best of luck to everyone interviewing this week!! : )

Well, I didn't think they would send me my EAD before my interview, but I got a new update today: "My new card is being produced." We'll see if it arrives before the AOS interview!
I did a change of address last week and it seems to have triggered all this movement on my application. Weird. But I'm not complaining!!

Case update early this morning: interview was scheduled for July 26!

I noticed a lot of March filers got approval within a month of biometrics, sometimes even less, so I wanted to find out if there was anything I could do from my end. I won't ask again!

Yay! Congrats!! When did he do his biometrics?