onetothered

Earlier this year, wife's passport took 7 weeks (with expedite and 1 day shipping).  The DOS estimate was exactly correct.  Hopefully, the turn-around times have gotten better. 

I agree!! mine took 4 weeks with expedited and priority mail express 1-Day.

If you have upcoming travel, you can call the passport agency and say so, they will ask you for date of travel and will get you an appointment at the closest passport center. They can often do same day or next 1-3 biz days, depending on your date of travel. You will be expected to submit proof of travel (such as airline reservation, could even be fully refundable) and you'll have to pay an extra $60 for the quick turnaround. This page has more information, look for "urgent travel" https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/get-fast.html

Ceremony completed today, lasted around an hour. Finally done with USCIS.
 
A  Huge tremendous thank you to everyone in this Forum for all the help, experience sharing and guidance, it was priceless.
No words can give justice to how much I appreciate everyone here and wish you all the best.
 
Now dealing with department of state, seem passport is taking 10 months or something 🤪🤪 

congrats

well guys, had interview today, went smooth, officer was cool. I am so surprised that they scheduled oath ceremony on Aug 29th, some people got the oath today as well, never heard this before. 
Timeline here: 
Applied on May 17th, 
BIO: June 13th
Interview schedule Notice: July 20
Interview: Aug 24th
Oath Scheduled: Aug 24
Oath: Aug 29 
 

So guys, my Immigration journey that started January 20, 2017 with Form I-130 has now come to an end today with an issuance of a Certificate of Naturalization. I know it is not easy to navigate through USCIS processes and wait times. Best of luck to those still waiting for their interview and congrats in advance on your becoming US citizens. Thanks to you all for being here to provide support and information. 

To edit: biometrics was actually on 6/7, and I filed under the five year rule shortly after divorcing my ex-husband. Figured I may as well since I'd be paying to change my name on my green card anyway. 

thanks so much
congrats 

update based on my lawfully cohort data
 
- 247 in the cohort now
- 6 with confirmed decisions (all naturalizing)
- 88 with interview invites
- 94/247 = 38 % have gotten either a decision or an interview invite.
 
We're well on place for the majority(50 - 55 %) of all May filers to have gotten an interview invite by the end of July. And I will say 75 - 80 % should get one by the end of August. 
 
 

I just checked my case status this morning and saw this update: "On June 19, 2023, we scheduled an interview for your Form N-400".
I checked the documents tab and downloaded the Interview Scheduled.pdf which has the interview date as July 25. 
I honestly wasn't expecting it to be this soon judging from Charlotte NC timelines I see here.
Time to start practicing for civic test...  

Hi everyone, adding in my data point.
 
N-400 Filed on five year basis (No I 751 pending) - May 4th
Receipt of application - May 4th
Biometrics Reuse - May 4th
 
Now we sit and wait, case tracker currently says 6 months.
 
Its been a long journey but we're almost there everyone!

Nothing to do for bio re-use, depends on USCIS if they have your pic and finger print and if they can use them or they need new one … though seem lot of folks were successful with a walk-in. 

Joining the group, N400 (5 year rule) just submitted online (May 18).

Joining the group, N400 (5 year rule) just submitted online (May 18).

hmm 
 
interesting thing i noticed is the old website we used to track our case status https://egov.uscis.gov/casestatus/ does not recognize my new case number, had to create an account in https://my.uscis.gov to find my case.
 
I guess I was not around for long time, since my AOS and things changes.

Finally!!!!
Received the text confirming receipt of petition.

Awesome!!!

Hi
i think there is already a June 2019 thread 
 

Welcome to the forum. Your timeline is vacant. While you are waiting for your receipt letter, It helps everyone that uses the forum. Additionally, it helps give relevance to the VJ stats.
 
Good luck on your immigration journey.

Hi there, 
Adjusting from k1, filled January and got my EAD already. 
Just one check of $1,225 for everything. 
AP and EAD are free of charge. 
No need for additional fee and yes use the c9 categories to adjust from a k1. 
Good luck !

Good Morning,
 
Went to the SSA office in 123 William St in New York to update my SS card (remove the DHS restriction). It was awesome they open at 7 am was done by 7:20 am ... very convenient for working people since most SSA offices open from 9 am to 4 pm.
will receive the new card n 2 weeks.
 
Good Luck everyone

Had the interview yesterday. Our application was was approved & card was ordered on the spot.
 
Here's some detail on the experience which I hope will help you plan for yours, should you have an interview.
 
Los Angeles Downtown Office
Appointment time 715 am
 
Entry & Check-in
 
Arrived at 615 am, we lined up behind 3 early birds. 
By 645 am there were perhaps 500 people lined up around the corner and out of view.
At 7am officers split out the lines so that the earliest appointments were taken first, retaining the order of the line.
We were in first in the 715am line, which itself had a count of about 100.
Lines were split further to utilize two entrances & security centers concurrently.
They were very well organized to say the least.
 
Security was what you'd experience at an airport. After repacking our stuff we immediately went upstairs to our assigned floor and room. The Office was a large waiting room with plenty of seating and a small children area with about 6 processing windows. Check in was as simple as a greeting and handing over the interview form at the first window.
We then sat for a bit before being called for the beneficiary to have another photo taken then we were both called, greeted then invited into the interview suite by our interviewer. On our way photocopies were taken of some original documents then we were invited into a small office for the interview.
 
The Interview ~ 45 minutes
 
The officer was polite and genuinely interested in how we were feeling. In front of us on an office desk lay our i-130 i-485 (including i-693 and i-864) and i-765 packets, now bound on as a single 3 inch slab with pages well worn. 
 
First we went through the i130 (probably not relevant in a K-1 but I'd recommend taking your approved I-129) and confirmed the details were all correct and still valid.
Next was the I-485; we ran through the details of the petitioner and beneficiary then the officer asks for responses on all of the I-485 Part 3 Yes/No answers, followed by the remainder of the application. Neither the I-693 (Medical) nor the 864 (Affidavit of Support) were reviewed in the interview. The officer made a note that they had reviewed all documents prior to our interview.
 
The officer then asked us to give a background on our story, from before we first met to the present.  We also were asked about our wedding, who was there etc; whether my wife had been to my home country, to which she described her two visits, one of which prior to engagement. It really seemed just like a conversation you'd have with a new neighbor or a social event.
 
The officer then wanted see any new supporting evidence since filing, should it be available. The interest was essentially focused on evidence of joint documents.
Given our original packet was extremely thorough & it had only been 6 months since filing we didn't really had much to add. So we noted this then moved to work through the various documents we had submitted:
- Joint lease, bank account, car insurance, life insurance (separate but being each other's beneficiary), flights, wedding receipts, photos.
 
While we didn't review every supporting document we had far more than what you'd consider reasonable.
This is where the additional copy of your packet comes in very handy as you can help the officer work through the original packet to locate each item.
While the original packet had filing labels on everything, table of contents for the whole and for each form & supporting documents and filing labels the packet was a bit different at the interview. All sticky labels had been removed and some items were out of order in a trivial way, but enough so you'd be in a bit of bother figuring things out if you didn't have a copy. The interviewer asked about more recent tax returns however we had submitted 2016 as a joint application in the original packet so we reviewed that together.
 
Still we were able to supply some items not included in our original packet 
- Additional bank & paypal transactions from the time we have known each other
- A photocopy was taken of our car insurance card that has both our names on it
- Honeymoon photos
 
The officer indicated he would approve the case and order the card immediately. Several minutes passed in complete calm and we got the confirmation with an approval letter printed on the spot indicating the card has been ordered. Case status updates followed as we drove away from the office.
 
My thoughts
 
It is a privilege to become a permanent resident of any country. I am happy with the process and understand that the USCIS departments across the country work on processing millions of documents per year.  We feel lucky to have been blessed with a 6 month time frame and an approval. 
 
My advice

Be punctual and prepared:
- Arrive very early
- Ensure you have exactly what is asked for on the interview notice
- Take copies of everything you have submitted to USCIS.  Do not assume the packet you submitted is complete at your interview nor in order. Mistakes happen and the packet is thoroughly examined at NBC and your local office.
- Print quality photos of yourself with context that supports your case. Photos with family, friends, wedding, holidays, whatever
- Bring any new supporting evidence that is became available since submission. This can include affidavits of support, evidence of travel/accommodation together & tax returns
- It is OK to be nervous
- For those about to submit use thick paper stock. They loved it.
 
If you're late don't abandon your hope. Turn up regardless of how late you are or if you've left supporting material behind. An RFE is far preferable to re-submission.
 
Thoughts are with you all and I hope this interview experience helps. If you have questions please ask.

Congrats!!

Hey everyone, just received my 2 year green card in the mail ... sooo beautiful. Wish you all get it soon. Be patient and strong. Have a great week end all of you. 
 
PS: I filed from NY and my card was approved and mailed from Missouri.