Sonia_Sonia

7 hours ago, CookieCat said:

~Split two posts and merged with an existing thread of the same topic~

VJ Moderation

 

I am not understanding your quote CookieCat. Can you clarify it to me? What is the problem?

Can't I make a reasonable questions in this group?  We are here to help each other, and my questions is legitime and   it can help another person in here too.

Has anyone here attended the Oath ceremony at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston? If yes, would you able o answers few questions?

1) How big is this convention?

2) Can I bring more than one guest to the ceremony, even though USCIS advises us to not bring more than one guest?

3) How long does it take from the beginning to the end of the ceremony?

I would like to take my 6 years old son, my husband, my on-laws, and my two sister to this so important event in my life, but I don't know what I am going to do to get them to get in, since USCIS stated that I only can bring a guest. How can I get around with it?

I took a look on the calendar of June for events at Hynes Convention, and they are saying that they are expecting 3 thousand people for the Oath on June 22. It seems like a lot me, but I know that a lot people have applied for citizenship since the end of the last year.

Thanks for everyone help.

Has anyone here attended the Oath ceremony at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston? If yes, would you able o answers few questions? How big is this convention? Can I bring more than one guest to the ceremony, even though USCIS advises us to not bring more than one guest. How long does it take from the beginning to the end of the ceremony? I would like to take my 6 years old son, my husband, my on-laws, and my two sister to so important event in my life, but I don't know what I am going to do to get them to get in, since USCIS stated that I only can bring a guest. 

I took a look online on the calendar of June for events at Hynes Convention, and they are saying that they are expecting 3 thousand people. It seems like a lot me. 

Thanks for everyone help.

On 1/22/2017 at 9:51 AM, ptm897 said:

It's actually very easy to pass someone on the history/civics yet flunk them on the speaking and understanding.  Usually in these situations people have memorized the history/civics questions yet they really cannot speak and understand basic conversational English and we have no choice but to flunk them on that portion.  In my 10 years of interviewing N-400 applications I can give you example after example of people that came into my office and could not even understand "Please raise your right hand"  when I tried to place them under oath to start the interview.  They have no idea what those words mean, sometimes they are coached to immediately put their right hand up and say Yes when they walk into my office, so when I see them do this I know right off the bat they are being coached by someone telling them what to do and say, these people really do not understand basic English.  They are then motioned to sit down,  we proceed with the history/civics test and they amazingly pass that, but then when I tell them that in order to continue with the interview I need to place them under oath so at this time can you please stand up and raise your right hand they again have no idea what I am saying and sit there with a blank look on their face.  

 

Many of these people, practice very hard to memorize those questions, so when they hear the question or hear a few key words in the question they know which question and then give the answer.  But the problem comes when they do not understand the simple words,  "Please raise your right hand"  and then when I try to put them under oath  "Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"  they have no idea what I am asking.  They further cannot explain what it means to tell the truth.  

 

Also, sometimes they are able to get through the first part of the application,  going over the N-400 is the way that we determine their speaking and understanding English, if they cannot be placed under oath, they immediately flunk that portion, then if they get through the first few sections like, name, and do you want to change your name, their address, and marital information, if they have children etc.. we get to the questions that they must completely understand and answer in a manner that we know they understand,  this is where many of them that really do not speak and understand basic English are not able to pass and move forward.  The most difficult questions for people that truly cannot understand and speak English are the questions about whether or not they have ever been involved in a terrorist organization, if they have discriminated against anyone, if they have been arrested, if they have ever claimed to be a citizen, which many people don't understand what that question actually means, many of them think it means have you filed for citizenship before.  If people do not understand those questions and it's pretty evident that they have a totally blank look on their face and if we ask them to tell us what a terrorist means to them and they cannot, they will flunk speaking and understanding.

 

I think you might not understand just how prevalent the issue is that people pass the history and civics because they are extensively coached and are taught key words and phrases to pick out of the sentences in order to answer those history civics questions correctly, but in reality they cannot speak a word of English with any understanding of what they are saying, they have just memorized certain words in English in order to pass the test.  

 

Now the situation as explained here in this original post by the OP, I do NOT believe that this is the situation with this posters husband, it is very evident from what she has said here that her husband does speak and understand English but he had a Horrible Horrible Immigration Officer that was either very rude and nasty to him for no reason at all or the actual Officer's way of speaking and heavy accent was the problem, which I have seen before in our own office by one of our officers,  so what I was doing in this response here was giving you the examples of other people that can easily pass the history/civics but really do not speak and understand conversational English at that is how we are able to flunk them on that yet they pass the history/civics portion.

 

I had an older Chinese lady one day in my office that I could not place under oath, she was coached to keep her right hand raised the minute she walked in my office and she tried to do that as soon as we got in my office, and she just kept repeating "Yes" "Yes" and finally when I got her to understand that I wanted her to sit down first, we did the history test and she passed it, got the first 6 questions correct, it was pretty easy to see that she had memorized those questions pretty much word for word. She then wrote one sentence correctly and read one sentence out loud.   Then when I told her in these exact words  "In order to move on to the next part of the interview, I need to place you under oath, so can you please stand up and raise your right hand?"  I repeated that to her 4 times, very slowly and enunciated my words to her very carefully, as a good officer you learn to do that, to slow down your speech when needed and enunciate your words very carefully.  That short set of instructions to her and very basic general English and it was very clear she had absolutely no idea what I was saying to her.  Even though I couldn't place her under oath, I still tried to talk to her with some basic questions like  "How did you get to this office today?"  "Are you here with family members?"   "Do you have a family member waiting here for you?"  "Is there someone I can talk to that can explain why I cannot pass you today?"  

 

So, if we are not able to place someone under oath, we are not allowed to continue on with the interview and we cannot attempt to go over the application with them and we must flunk them that day on speaking and understanding.  One sentence or one word that is not understood is not a basis to flunk someone, but if they are not able to understand the most basic of instructions, like "Please raise your right hand?"  It is pretty evident at that point the person does not speak and understand conversational English at all.  And sadly they must flunk that portion of the exam.  

 

And again I do not feel that the OP of this thread is in this kind of scenario with her husband, I really think her husband had a horrible Officer that should have never ever flunked him.  I'm keeping fingers crossed he gets a much better Officer on his second interview.

 

 

You are a really good person, and I am impressed with you. Thanks for sharing with us your years of experience interviewing people at USCIS. You were for sure an excellent USCIS agent. The best for you my dear.

9 minutes ago, Maria89 said:

She just said i should be expecting a letter from the mail stating additional documents she would ne needing!

If you can do research on the internet, and look for a immigration lawyer to guide you, even before you get the letter on the mail. That is my suggestion. If you have a way to get the documents that proves that you and your husband live together you don't have reason to worry about. Do you guys file tax jointly? 

2 minutes ago, Maria89 said:

We have been married since 2012, but been living together since 2013. He has always come with me to the intrrviews except for today as i was told they dont let spouse in. She asked if he came with me i said no and she asked if he had come in the past and i said yes!

I don't know in your state, but on mine spouse and kids can get at the building and wait for you. If they stop my husband a the entrance, then I would ask him to hang around the building in case I need to call him to come in, and have a conversation himself with the agent. Anyway, it is a little bit late for you now, but you are going to be okay if you find a lawyer to help you out. Did she guide you in what to do to bring more evidences? Did she give you a date to go back with more proof? If she did, then collect everything you can, documents showing both names, affidavit of people saying that you guys are married and live together on the same address. Get affidavit of family member talking about you guys marriage, along with the photos with family members and etc.

2 minutes ago, Transborderwife said:

I don't believe that spouses are allowed at citizenship interviews 

They can get at the building with you, so the agent when call you can see that you are accompanied by family member and they can ask about them to you. I will take my family with me. Of course, they won't get in the interview room with me, but they will be outside waiting for me.

Hi everyone, I read in here in one of the treads that someone was able to check online on their USCIS account the date that the Naturalization interview was schedule. How could guide through it? Is it possible to find out online, once the interview is been scheduled? I appreciate any help. 

For how long have you been married? Why you didn't take your husband with you to the interview, so she could see him or her? Doe guys have kids together? Do you have legal documents showing both names? If you are not sure, look for a very good immigration lawyer to help you out.

I am so happy for you that everything went well at your interview. It was a long day for you, but you can now rest and wait until the OATH. Thanks for sharing with us. You were the first one from the VJ (December filer) that got the interview, and I am really happy for you. I hope we all from the December filers group can get our case processed fast too. Congratulations to you!

On January 20, my case got in line for a interview. How long is going to take USCIS to schedule the interview? Can you guys share your your timeline? Thanks

This is a great material. Thanks

Yes, they are working on the cases. Lets keep positive, and everybody is going to get their letters, and finish the process of naturalization soon. Keep posting your dates, because we all are in the same track.  

I was getting nervous too, until I got the NOA. I sent my package on December 14, and I only got my NOA 2 days ago. They cashed my check on 12/20/16. Be patient and wait a little bit longer, especially because we had the holidays that got in our way, and USCIS got the holidays break too.

I truly tried not to worry about it too much, given the holidays. I believe that now that the holidays are over, everybody that is eligible is going to get their NOA.

22 hours ago, CookieCat said:

USCIS will always send you paper notices regardless of whether you opt for text/e-mail messages or not. Good luck!

Does anyone know what PRIORITY DATE means on the NOA receipt? Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the information. I will go online to opt to receive notice from USCIS by text or/e-mail too. I want to make sure that I don't miss any important step towards to the citizenship. My local Post Office keeps delivering mails from other people at our mail box. They have also delivered couple of our packages in different states. Can you believe that? 

Good luck to you.

I got my NOA from USCIS. If I go online and opt to receive updates by text message or e-mail does it mean that USCIS is NOT going to send the hard copy of any letter they send to me?

Is there any way to fix it? I was so overwhelmed, and I really didn't read anything about receiving text message or email communication from USCIS. I wished someone had told me that.

If someone knows how I could fix this, please share with me. Maybe it is too late for the G-1145 form, but maybe there are other options out there that is going to help me no to miss any piece of correspondence from USCIS. Any help is appreciated. 

I didn't know anything about this form.  How can I fix this? Is it too late? My USPS location is always delivering mails that aren't ours.  I am afraid of missing any communication from USCIS.

Please, help me to fix this. Thanks

No, which form is this? I didn't know about this form. How did I miss it?

On December 14 I sent my N-400 form package to Texas which was delivered by Fedex on December 15. On December 20 USCIS cashed my check, but I haven't received any text or email or NOA by mail yet.

Is it normal? Why do some people get the 3 forms of communication, and I haven't got any of it yet?