Pennywise

5 hours ago, JoeSchmoe2017 said:

@Pennywise How was your Oath Ceremony today?  Congrats on becoming a citizen!!!

I just got home and even tho have I only slept three hours, I'm going to go celebrate. Mark me RED guys, I'm officially an American Citizen!

17 hours ago, sunshinestate2013 said:

Good luck, @Ami&Chigs, on your interview this week! Let us know how it goes.

 

Good luck, @Pennywise, at your Oath Ceremony this week!

Thanks, I can't believe I'm almost done. Well, I still need to get the passport but that should be super quick compared to this whole ordeal.

12 hours ago, Texan86 said:

I'll be taking the oath next week in San Antonio (Oct 19th) 

I’ll be having mine on Friday the 20th!! 

Question for those who have already completed the journey and may still be hanging around in here. During the ceremony, did they play a video message from the new president and also, did any of you got the welcome letter from the new president or are they still giving out the ones from the previous administration?

Thanks.

Hey guys, I just got my notice to appear for my oath ceremony even tho my status has not changed. My appointment is for October 20th yet again in the middle of the day. I stayed up since I found out it was coming from my daily delivery digest from USPS.

Can the list curator's add my app date to it please? 

Thanks.

11 hours ago, txaim said:

Oct 19th , Nov 16th , Dec 14th  - these are the dates from court, sometimes the oath can be in immigration office ( which you need to check with immigration office )

When I was there for my interview I did see they held about 4 mini ceremonies with no more than 40 people in them. Each was about 2 hrs long.

im guessing the dates you provided are for ceremonies held in court when're people change their names?

All,

So I got through the interview and in my case it was not as pleasant as others have reported:

I got off from work at 7AM and my appointment was at not until 13:20, they ended up calling me in at around about 14:50. The officer was very strict and cold, right after placing me under oath he asked for my social, license, green card, selective service letter, photos, and income tax proof. He said he was glad I brought photos which makes the process "easier", according to him. He went over all the documents and said that he needed to check with his supervisor because of my age (30) and the selective service issue. He warned that my application may be denied on the spot. He got back and said it was all ok and carried on with the interview.

He handed me a piece of paper with a sentence for me to read "Who can vote?" and I wrote the answer on another paper as he watched. He then asked me my questions which I got all right:

What people were brought to America and sold as slaves?

Who writes federal laws?

What's the name of the vice president?

What is the supreme law of the land?

Name your US senator.

Why did colonists fought the English?

After that, he congratulated me and proceeded to go through each page of my very think file as well as my N-400 application. He kept making notation with a red ink pen and stamping along the way. He asked me all of the questions listed towards the end of the application. He then handed me a copy of the U.S constitution and an "immigrant's almanac" booklet. He asked me a lot of questions about my kids, wife and parents. He asked if I had family here, and I said no. He asked if I was going to petition to bring family members over and I said no, he replied "good". As we walked out of his office he congratulated me and said that I should be getting a notice in the mail and that I need to bring the questionnaire along with my GC and a black in pen to the ceremony. 

I came out of there thinking I was going to have a heart attack, I don't know how but I got though it and it's done. Next stop the oath ceremony!!!

I would like to point put that all throughout the morning the office ket holding small ceremonies over in an adjacent room they have, 4 in total. Each had about 30 people in it. When I walked out I asked a girl how long was it from interview to ceremony and she said 1 month. 

On 8/21/2017 at 2:23 PM, txaim said:

Congrats

txaim do you happen to have the oct/nov/dec ceremony dates for San Antonio?

thanks.

On 9/1/2017 at 7:51 AM, Texan86 said:

Just FYI: I had my interview on 8/17 in San Antonio and got approved. My interviewer mentioned that it currently might take up to a month until you receive your in-line for oath notification. Apparently they are swamped with work right now. 

 

That being said, does anybody know the oath ceremony dates in San Antonio and Austin for Oct/Nov/Dec?

 

Thanks!

Damn, I have my appoint met on September the 18th and I don't think they'll put me on the September 21st ceremony. I hope they can fit me in the October 19th for sure.

I'm putting together the documents I will more than likely need for my N-400 interview next month. (3 yr rule)

Here is what I have so far:

Last 3 years of transcripts

selective service letter 

my passports, the old one with the IR-1 visa and the new one I got on 2015

color copy of my wife's U.S. passport info page

I will be taking passport photos in the upcoming weeks, other than that what do you guys think I need to add?

Thanks.

On 8/14/2017 at 7:06 PM, txaim said:

Let me know, if your interview dates. In San Antonio the upcoming oath dates are  Aug 24, Sep 21,  Sep 27 ( Austin ) ,Oct 19

  Three months is not long wait. I waited exactly 1 year for interview.

I just found out my appointment is on September 18, 2017. I'm guessing they will most likely not put me on the September 21st ceremony, I'll have to probably wait until the October 19 one.

It's better than nothing, I don't mind waiting another month.

Hay guys, I received my interview notice:

9/18/17

Can someone please update the list, I'm on mobile today.

Thanks.

I'm thinking about changing my last name along with my naturalization, but this would involved my wife and kids (all American born) changing theirs as well, lots of trouble. Has anyone tried this in Texas?

any advise, suggestions, and opinions are welcome.

1 minute ago, txaim said:

When did you complete your interview,

I haven't yet. The barely sent out my interview notice on Friday the 11th. I've waited for 3 months for an interview and I hope I don't have to wait too lon for the oath ceremony.

Hi guys, does anyone know the scheduled ceremonies for San Antonio?

According to the system they sent out my appointment notice on August 11th and I would like to see which oath ceremony I may be assigned to.

Thanks. 

On 8/1/2017 at 10:58 AM, Gary_UK said:

Hey All.

 

Just wanted to share something which may be of benefit as you go through the process and come out the other end...

 

I learned that when you need to go to the social security office to report your citizenship, be there as early as possible. Preferably as they open or you are going to have a long wait. (mine was well over an hour ).

 

Have your passport application done ready when you go to the post office and to make things smooth have your photos ready to hand in.

 

But this is the sad part. When you DO hand over your certificate. ( they will not take copies ) There is a likelihood that some ####### is going to bend / Fold it.  

The nice staff at my post office warned me that they had a staff member go though this process and was devastated that the passport office folded their certificate.  

 

They were kind enough to put my cert in a cardboard backed envelope with a "DO NOT BEND" notice, but I guess I will find out when my Passport arrives on the 18th.

 

 

Thanks.

 

G

 

Gary:

I heard we need to wait at least 10 days before we go to the social security office to update our SSN's to show you are a citizen, is that correct?

Also, when you say "they fold" the naturalization certificate, is that because you sent it along with your passport application?

I read on the department of state's website that I can apply in person by going to my local passport field office and that they no only take the photos then and there (for an extra charge) but they also review and certify the naturalization certificate and there is no need to send it anywhere. Does anyone know anything about this?

Here is the link:

https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports/applyinperson.html

Hey guys, I'm back after just concentrating on work and summer school. Today I decided to check my case status and it says that on August 11 they sent a letter with my appointment info. The weird things is that I have been calling every 1st of the month asking for an update and every time they all refer to date listed on the USCIS processing times site. In there, my local office should be working on cases from November 2016, yet here I am. Anyway, I should be getting the letter sometime next week. My local office is literally 3 minutes from work, the only bad thing is that I work overnight and I'm usually out of the office by 7:30 ish, so I hope I get an early app.

Will the letter say what documents to bring and so forth?

Thanks.

4 hours ago, casualuser said:

But your tracker entry says you've got the "in line for interview" notification on 05/01/17?

You are right, I forgot to mention that.

4 hours ago, casualuser said:

I think your estimate is very pessimistic. You could try extracting data for your field office

There is one February filer from the same city who has not even gotten in line for interview, they did their fingerprints on 3/15/17. Besides, the San Antonio field office serves both Austin and San Antonio. That alone can add months to anyone's timeline.

4 hours ago, casualuser said:

the first quarter of 2017 have seen a substantial surge in N-400 applications (it is true for Raleigh), as many people realized that a green card is not safe and one could be stranded outside of the country at any time. In fact, it was always like that, GC is just a visa and letting a GC holder in at the border is to some extent a discretionary decision of a CBP agent

You make a great point about the GC's, I agree with you 100% on that.

8 hours ago, blk said:

She did also say that it can take up to 6 to 8 months to complete the naturalization process at this time, as there is still a backlog of applications.

Interesting, I'm guessing either USCIS is "pushing" the 6 to 8 month dates just like their website and the USCIS call center. Like I mentioned before, I applied on mid March, did the fingerprints on early April and the status hasn't changed since. I estimate to get an interview in or around December and get an oath ceremony by March next year.

3 hours ago, vegano said:

FYI, those who filled in *** Raleigh-Durham office ***. I just called them to find out what's going on they told me they are working with the applications from *** September / 2016 ***, so there's a delay of 6 more months. I filled on March/17, so I shouldn't expect to finish the N-400 journey before December, they told me... honestly, that sucks. My parents got their citizenship in 3 months last year under BO administration.

Interesting, I called USCIS and they said the San Antonio, Texas office is also working on cases from September 2016. Just like you, this means I probably wont get an appointment until December and wont even take the oath until March. Are they looking at the national average or what?

Great news @Agentpig, 4th of July will now hold even more meaning for you.

10 minutes ago, skmv said:

All,

 This forum has been great and motivated me to take an Infopass today morning at the Austin office.

Incidentally found out that my Oath was scheduled for later this month when I met with the IO. He said it appeared in the system just this morning, so he was able to print out a brief statement that showed the time, place and date. He was real friendly too and said more than a 1000 people are scheduled for an oath ceremony later this month in Austin, hence a lot of delays in sending out the paperwork.

A couple hours later, I also got an email alert indicating the Oath ceremony notice was mailed.

Big relief given that I applied in April 2016.

Application filed - April 2016

Biometrics - May 2016

Interview notice - Feb 2017

Interview - Mar 2017

Status changed to Inline for Oath - Mar 2017

 

Good luck to everyone out there. 

 

 

 

Let me get this straight, you filed in April/16 and are barely being allow to take the oath?! That is more than a year!!

5 hours ago, austindude said:

I looked at  meeting minutes between AILA and San Antonio FO. http://www.ailatexas.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Liaison-Questions_3.1.17.pdf held in March. If you look into Page 8, Naturalization section, it says the following "

23. What is the approximate time between an applicant’s interview (and the issuance of a recommendation for natz) and the time that the individual will receive a swearing in notice? Is there a certain number of days after the interview before an inquiry or follow up should be sent?

There is no set time. Sometimes individuals cannot be scheduled right away because of jurisdiction. If not scheduled after 60 days and there is concern, send inquiry.

 

FYI, a guy on another forum took 9 months form filing to actual oath ceremony! I myself filed 90 days early (march) on the 3 year rule and have not even been given an interview date. We might as well be ready for a long wait as the San Antonio FO also serves Austin.

26 minutes ago, Investinmiami said:

Nothing happened last week neither for March filers not for February filers, just January filers are more or less optimistic about getting their interview letters somewhere on August-September. 

   What do you think guys? I hoped we could get it those months ...

When I filed I knew there was going to be a wait, never imagine it was going to take this long. I figure I file in March, get an interview around May, and take the oath mid July. Not to be.

I called the USCIS customer service number and lady informed me that my local USCIS office takes care of both San Antonio and Austin appointments and oath ceremonies. My case hasn't moved since 05/01/17 and I don't expect to get an interview until mid September only to take the oath in mid December.

18 minutes ago, Gary_UK said:

Just got my first email update following my interview last Tuesday. So logged in to check on my USCIS Case Status and got this.

 

Amazing, congrats! I should be getting my interview appointment set by the time you get you U.S. passport.