fcl

Wanted to share my experience requesting a US passport for the first time.

I requested my passport first days of september and received it the last week of september, so overall it took a little over 3 weeks to receive it, no need to expedite. No need to spend more money right now expediting (IMO) 

That was my experience, i'm not saying it will apply to everybody but as far as im concerned, it was pretty quick. 

I received my certificate 3 days after receiving my passport in the mail.

Got my Certificate back 3 days after receiving my passport in the mail.

6 hours ago, MASH said:

Sorry for the late reply , I do thank u for posting this and it gives me hope that I will be ok on mine.

 

once again congrats on finishing ur journey.

If you have no red flags your interview should go well.

Thanks.

On 8/7/2022 at 8:23 AM, MASH said:

Congrats!

 

how did the interview go before ur oath ceremony ? Anything new that we should know for us to prepare?  

Interview was easy and very fast. Spent more time going through security and checking in than the actual interview itself. 

Officer welcomed me and walked me to his office, started with the six civics questions, then the English test. He then asked the yes/no questions, congratulated me and told me to expect an oath ceremony since I requested a name change. 15 minutes or less in total interview time. Officer was very serious but very professional.

Scheduled Oath ceremony came in the mail around month and a half later. 

My Journey is over.

Interview scheduled June 14th 22

Oath Ceremony  August 04 22

N-400 interview was the first time I was ever interviewed by USCIS.

Had my interview June 14. Interview time was 7:55am, came in at 7:40, passed through security, checked in and was told to proceed to wait area atr around 7:51am. 

At 7:55am I was called by the IO.  He took my Oath, proceeded with the Civics part 6 questions, English test read and write. 

He then went ahead with my application, asked me  what's my name, dob, about my job, my wife, etc.  After that he congratulated me and told me he was recommending for approval.  30 mins later, status changed from recommendation for approval to In line for Oath on the USCIS case status.

In total interview time was 8 minutes max, it took me longer to get through security and check in.

Very easy interview.  BTW this was my first time interview with USCIS.

Finally got my interview scheduled

Filed on December 3 2021 

Interview scheduled for June 14th

Card in the mail.

Never had an interview by USCIS.

I had my interview scheduled for March 23rd, two weeks before my appointment i got an update that my interview was cancelled, i was ready to wait several months to be rescheduled. Yesterday i woke up with an update from USCIS, Card is being produced, today it changed to Case Approved.

It's weird because I've never been interviewed here in the US.

Got my interview notice early March, interview was March 25, one week ago i got an update that my interview had been cancelled, letter received last week.

Now the waiting game begins (AGAIN).

22 hours ago, Adam D said:

Cool! Which is your local office? I haven’t even checked to see when mine reopened, but I did get my fingerprint notification way back in May. I’m with Potomac 

That only applies if you still haven't received a biometrics appointment by now.

Around August i called USCIS to get some updates (of course none at the time), but the operator told me that if 3 months after my home office reopened due to covid i still had no appointment/updates i should call them back. So i called after 3 months and they issued me a service # and was told that my local office had 30 days to respond with updates, 20 or so days later i got my appointment letter.

So if you still haven't received your biometrics appointment you should verify when did your home office (uscis) opened after covid.

In my case, july 23rd is when my home office reopened. Call them so USCIS at least tells you what is going on with your case.

BTW my case status online never updated.

GC expires 04/05/20

ROC packet shipped 3/16 to Dallas

Received 3/17

Forgot to send form g-1145 ,so i called USCIS 3/20 and they had no updates whatsoever (started to feel the rush).

Called them again 3/23, agent said the packet was received and i-797 should be on it's way same day.

I-797 received by mail on 3/27/2020  MSC

I told them about several rejections due to "expired forms" and they said they've been hearing about them and that we shouldn't worry about it.

We take our family pet across the border (Bridge P.O.E) all the time. They only ask that you have the current vaccines up to date from a Vet.  Sometimes they just ask if shes up to date with the vaccines, and they wont even take a look at them, they'll just wave you to go on. 

I know for a fact that it's mandatory for a dog to be at least 4 months old since rabies vaccine doesn't work on younger dogs. 

16 hours ago, Sandraher said:

I don’t understand so I have to call to make my interview appointment, I thought they send the scheduled interview appointment 

 it's easier to help you.

19 hours ago, ICM said:

Congrats.  How was your interview? What did they ask? If you don't mind me asking what hotel did you stay at and how much did you spend in hotel?

Thanks

Thanks.

They were actually pretty simple questions.   What is your relatives name? Where do you live? What do you do for work? Where is your relative right now? Have you ever been to the US? Then they asked to see the Tourist Visa (At this point they cancel the visa).  The longest thign was her typing like crazy god knows what. Overall a super easy interview, the Officer was this very nice young lady.  Then she said congratulations your visa is approved, handed some instructions along with a green paper with instructions to pickup the visa.

Regarding accommodations, i can't tell you since i live here in Juarez,  but there are Hotels like City Express or Holiday Inn that are literally a few steps away from the consulate.

Our CC was Dec 2017. Had our interview April 02 2018.

17 hours ago, Jose1989 said:

Thank you FCL! I acutally have been contacting them very helpful people. I will definitely consider recommending my husband for his medical examine here. Very helpful and polite people I actually called all 3 clinics listed and they were the kindness and most helpful. Thanks for the info!!  Although has anyone received vaccines in Mexico and been accepted?

 

 

You're welcome. Yes, i had my exam there and they were very professional and polite. 

The nurse that administered the vaccines told me that you can get the vaccines in a medical institution/doctors office, you just need to bring the record for the shots that you received to the medical exam. 

In our case, ours was like 4 months old, and didn't have a problem at all.  Just make sure it's from the state (Fiscalia del Estado), not a municipal record. 

2 minutes ago, geowrian said:

You applied for an immigrant visa. This is for a K-1. A requirement of the K-1 visa alone involves handing off the process from the IV unit to the NIV unit. That is part of AP.

Ohh ok, i tought it was an IV. 

https://www.smf.com.mx/smf_vacunas.html

That's from the actual clinic that performs medical exams for the embassy.

After our fee payment at NVC it took like 13 days for it to show as paid.  If you have all the correct paperwork in hand, you are looking at approx 40 - 60 days at NVC (it might take a little longer now) for Case complete.  Plus whatever timeframe your embassy has to assign interview dates, Sweden is probably fast.  I'd say being optimistic 2.5 - 3 months for your interview. 

I don't agree that everyone is put under AP, at least in our experience, 5 minutes after our interview, we checked our status and it was already updated to issued. So at least in our case we never encountered AP.

You schedule biometrics on the same link you provided after you register.  You can also pick your shipping method, i picked it up at the same location as the biometrics (CAS) since i live here, but a lot of out of town people wait for it here since it's faster than waiting for it to be shipped by DHL. (Took 2 days from interview to pickup) 

This link should help you with the process: https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/iv-dv-supplemental/CDJ_Ciudad-Juarez.pdf