NovaSprings

On 12/11/2019 at 8:35 AM, Natfor2019 said:

Question before oath ceremony - 

 

Do we need to take any photographs with us when we are going to the oath ceremony. I think I read somewhere those photos will be used for passport application but not sure..

 

Or do they take photos at the oath venue that we can use to apply for the US passport.

 

 

For the oath ceremony,  no.  To apply for a passport, yes

Oath ceremony complete! 52 candidates from 25 different countries  all gathered at the uscis office in New Orleans.  Lots of family and friends there supporting their loved ones.  My journey is complete! Who dat!

1 hour ago, Vikingoutwest said:

Latest stats:

62 applicants

51 have had/are scheduled for interviews

36 have become citizens

4 more are scheduled for the oath!

 

This coming week our group has no interviews, but 3 oaths!

@Natfor2019 has the oath on 12/12

@butalas has the oath on 12/12

@POM has the oath on 12/13

 

CONGRATS you guys:-D 

 

P.S. If any other 2019 April filers out there would like to join our group tracker, you can fill in your info by following this link

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19px0T7I0L1r79JhIJJriP1EXI1sO3u1ImNhcP38FETQ/edit#gid=0

My oath is the 13th in New Orleans 

Passed!!!!!  Oath ceremony is Friday Dec. 13th in New Orleans.  Officer was very nice, appologied for my wait.  My appt was at 1045 but didn't get called in untill 1150.  Interview was 20 min. Can't believe my journey is almost complete.  Thank you VIsa Journey couldn't have done it without you!

13 hours ago, Moofy said:

Thank you everyone for your replies. So I guess things are up in the air at this point as to whether or not they will require an interview? How long after Biometrics do we usually hear something about the next step?

Also, for the Biometrics appointment, my understanding is she only needs to bring her Green Card and nothing more; correct?

At least a year.  I filled Nov 2017, bio Jan 2018, Card produced, no interview Jan 2019. But I was one of the quick ones.  If your file gets transfered to your local office, times can vary widely.  Some Nov 2017 filers are still waiting.  So sit back and relax, it will be awhile.😊.  You might try searching for a May I 751 filers form on here for folks who are on the same train as you. 

Question, for those who have a Nexus card, do you bring that to the interview as well?

18 hours ago, NovaSprings said:

Well wonders of wonders, I awoke this morning to a text saying my interview has been scheduled!  I have checked the portal, but the letter is not there yet.  I will post the date as soon as I know.  Today is a good day!

Its official! December 5th, 10:45, New Orleans office.  

Well wonders of wonders, I awoke this morning to a text saying my interview has been scheduled!  I have checked the portal, but the letter is not there yet.  I will post the date as soon as I know.  Today is a good day!

My letter for ROC bio never arrived.  The only way to get another from USCIS was via fax.  

10 hours ago, shearar said:

some statistics here :

56 filers
26 got interview date, 7 pf those got the citizenship 

 

30 more to go, let us hope that this month all the rest will get interview date
 

Sadly my status still says April 2020

Yeh, things are moving at New Orleans office.  Went from July 2020 to April 2020.  

My impression is this is another example of ICE acting on outdated information.  There are lots of examples of this....and happend to a friend.  She was randomly stopped and questioned regarding a visit to the US 4 yrs ago.  They said they had a record of her entering but no records of her leaving....of course this was not true.  She had left and entered several times and even activated her cr1.....

Yes you can...but it is limited to 35 weeks.  https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/ei-outside-canada/eligibility.html

7 minutes ago, lex07 said:

Thank you.

 

No, the civics test is NOT a multiple choice test. 

Thank you!

22 hours ago, lex07 said:

First thing first, I passed the interview yesterday. The officer was really nice. Once we got to her office, she asked for my green card and then she took my photo and fingerprints. We had to do it twice because the first one it didn't go through or something. Then she asked me to stand to swear to tell the truth.

 

Then we moved on to the speaking/writing test and the civics test.

 

What is the supreme law of the land? The constitution 

Who signs bills to become laws? The president.

When was the Constitution written? 1787

Who is the Father of Our Country? George Washington

Name the war between the North and South? Civil War

The House of Representatives has how many voting members? 435

 

Next we went through the form and the yes/no questions. Then said you should expect the letter about the oath ceremony soon. Yayyy!!

We chatted a little bit about the Oath Ceremony - I asked her how long it is because I heard it's long.  She said it's about 3 hours, so I said then it might not be a good idea for my husband to bring the kids (7yo and 2yo). 

 

And that's it. I'm so relieved that it's all done. And that I even made it to the interview itself... because I was late. The interview was at 2PM and I checked in at 2:06PM. The lady in the checked in desk said, "oooh you've just made it". 

 

@Heley made the right decision to leave early to her interview. Yesterday morning work was a little crazy so I was remotely working from home until around 12:45PM.  Then I got ready and left the house at 1PM - the office is around 25m from my house - I thought I have a lot of time. But traffic was horrendous. I was trying to avoid the massive construction on the highway and took a back road and that was a big mistake. And it also took awhile to find a parking lot. So yeah, I had to run to the building to make it to the interview. 

 

 

Congrats!!  I was wondering, are the civic questions multiple choice like the online test?

4 hours ago, sharin said:

In meanwhile, Dallas folks be like "let us hold your beer until our time comes!"

Yup, I'll hang out with ya, NOLA has the same time lines....est complete time for me is July 2020....sigh. Ready for your next beer?

19 hours ago, N400NYC said:

I 

This field office has >30,000 pending cases. The published "processing time" is 13 months (50% of cases decided by this point) to 22.5 months (93% of cases decided by this point).

 

 

So an interesting data point as comparision, numbers are my thing....New Orleans has 3000+ cases in the que, with a wait time of 12 to 19 months.  I filed late April est completion July 2020.  Both situations frustrating, but does that mean that NOLA has 10% of the officers as Manhattan?  

8 hours ago, mep said:

 

I've not looked into processing times. I'm not sure how to do that ha!

Check https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/

Have you checked into processing times for your local office?  I applied for my n400 at the end of April.  The system gave an original estimate to completion of 22 months, it is now to 14 months.  Based on others I have seen my times are on the long side but are not unusual.

Just putting this out there for the universe, no response required...for those offices with long wait times, ie New Orleans for me, why wouldn't the theses offices consider transfering cases to the applicants secondary office....ie Jackson, MS for me,  where the wait is much shorter.  Yes it is a further distance for me to go for my interview, but given half a chance I would do it in a heartbeat.  

I'm joining the train....went from 22 months to 13 months.....all moving in the right direction!

1 hour ago, James N said:

I filed my N400 application over the weekend (online), and on the case page that the estimated completion date is July 2021 (26 months). This is way longer than the processing times listed on the USCIS. Any insight from others who have filed online (versus by mail to service center)? 

 

I feel your pain.  I applied in late April, my field office is New Orleans.  My original estimate was 20 months, after my bio apt, it went down to 18 months.  However most folks say this is worse case.  Either way, like with all of the steps before in my immigration journey,  you file, put your best case forward and then go about your life. Eventually something will happen.😊

Short story, walk in this morning for my Bio appt in New Orleans complete, tunes on and heading home.

Long story,  they initially wanted to turn me away and told me I needed to check the box to reschedule and send it in.  When I explained that I would be out of country for my scheduled appt day, and presented my ticket, they said they would try to squeeze me in but it might be in 2 hrs.  I was polite, said whatever they could do would be great and went and sat down.  Within 25 min, they called my name.  5 mins taking the photo and prints, and I was out of there.  Biggest issue..

$10 parking fee, and traffic in New Orleans business district.😊

5 hours ago, _Blossom_ said:

I’ve had this issue since last year and the only way around it was requesting my tax transcript over the phone, to be sent to me by mail. Took about a week

I was able to download 2018 return

4 hours ago, Numii said:

Don't we need certified copies from IRS? I checked the website, and it costs 50 bucks. Correct me if I am wrong. 

Tax Transcripts from the IRS.  And they are free, put in your info on the website and you can print/download a PDF. https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript