Namel

Well I understand the frustration of all of those whose case seems not to be moving. 

Some cases might be faster than others for no apparent reason.

My case for example has been pending now with the USCIS for 15 months. 

A fun fact is that I am a service member and I currently have over 12 years of service.

I am not the only service member in the case. The general misconception is that military applications are faster. Well, they are not. 

Even if you check on the USCIS Facebook page, you will see a lot of service members complain about this situation every time the USCIS tries to "brag" about their commitment in honoring the military through a faster process. 

I have watched family members that I have sponsored for a green card become citizen way faster than I could ever imagine and they are civilians. 

Yet I have to wait for whenever USCIS  is ready. Even longer than most civilian in my case.

Just be patient and keep moving forward folks. You will eventually get it done.

Hopefully everyone gets their case finalized soon. 

I applied more than 6 months ago and my online status still shows 'case was received'.

I recently found out from the hotline representative that because I served in the U.S. Military, the USCIS has recently been imposing behind doors that all military applicants (past or current) be granted a top secret security clearance in addition to regular previous checks before they process their Citizenship.

I don't know how true is that but it is what I have been told over the phone. I couldn't also help to notice the delay in my case as well.

Well, the people/organization conducting the security clearance operation are backlogged for at least 2 years now because of a data breach that happened so I will be waiting for quit a bit.

Who knew service could hold you back in getting your citizenship while civilian are not required any form of top secret security clearance in order to naturalize. 

The fun fact is that if you are married to a service member, you do NOT need a top secret security clearance whatsoever to naturalize and it could be completed in 3/4 months as you are technically considered civilians.

In that case, all Background Checks they do if you are a civilian are: fingerprints checks, FBI name checks, and other additional border and Interpol checks.

But if you are/were the service member, you now have to wait for your top secret security clearance first in addition to all the other checks that civilians go through unless you really got lucky by some miracle and they overlook at your application.

I thought I would share in case there is anyone else in the case.

Their*

All these delays due to the background checks vary totally from one applicant to another and especially from one IO to another. They are human too with some work load, some might obviously be more productive than other.

Sometimes, it really seems like it depends on the applicants' luck and whoever is the immigration officer looking into their file.

I have a friend whose application has been pending now for 5 months, some including USCIS might say she is still within a normal processing time but she is an active duty service member who might deploy anytime on a short notice.

I was chocked when she mentioned that there are thousands of military personnel whose application get stuck for over 8-12 months and that it is very common.

You would think it is faster military personnel but unfortunately they get stuck as everyone else. 

Sometime as a reward for their patience, they are invited to the white house for their naturalization ceremony or stuff like that according to her.

In fact there are a lot of civillians whose process get completed a whole lot faster than military applications.

The point is, it really seems like there is nothing to do except trying to move on with your life and trying to forget about it as of now though it might definitely be a game changer in your life if you were to get it sooner.

Senators, representatives tend to get the same answer as the one they give applicants on the phone except the fact that theirs is in writing. But, definitely keep trying as you never know what doors will open eventually.

I just wish someday, the process will be a lot more rigorous especially time wise so that everyone get there stuff done within the same amount of time.

22 hours ago, cybermax said:

Neither do I. Sh!t always happens to good people.

Is there anything that people can do? Perhaps a number at FBI to find out what is going on?

I believe there was a number but it is no longer working.

Some people are done in a 3 months period with the whole process whereas others take months and months.

I believe it is safe to say then that is kinda random.

Let's just hope things move forward

6 minutes ago, Gabriela73 said:

HI I HAVE MY INTERVIEW ON 02/07/2017 EVERYTHING WENT WELL I PASSED AND I GOT LETTER WE CANNOT MAKE DECISION RIGHT NOW THEN FOR A MONTH NOTHING I MAKE INFO PASS THEY DID NOT GIVE ME SOME ANSWER I WENT AGAIN BEGINNING OF APRIL AND OFFICER HE STAND UP AND HE WENT TO THE SAME OFFICER WHO I HAVE INTERVIEW HE TOLD HIM SHE WILL GET APPROVED NO LONGER THAN TWO WEEKS AFTER 4 DAYS I GOT PHONE CALL FROM THE INTERVIEW OFFICER HE IS TELLING ME THAT IS THE ISSUE WE  HAVE TO WAIT FOR BACKGROUND CHECK AGAIN WHY IDK I ASK DO I HAVE TO DO FP AGAIN HE SAY NO EVERYTHING IS FINE WITH FP . AND I AM STUCK AGAIN DID SOMEBODY HAS ANSWER WHAT IS GOING ON ??  MY CASE START 06/19/2016 IT WILL BE ONE YEAR SOON THANKS!

That is very interesting!

I always thought that all Background Checks have to be completed before applicants get an interview letter.

This is some very confusing stuff.

39 minutes ago, austindude said:

did anyone take an infopass appt  to check whats going on? My wife's N400 is stuck in background check . We both had our FP done on Jan 25 and my interview is scheduled for May 12. Its more than 90 days and still no news on my wife's application

Let's see if her background checks come back in a week or so. 

That will be a perfect case to see if the 90 days thing is true.

Also, let's not forget that they have been people waiting for 8 months or so. I think that is just extremely frustrating.

@lidaliu

A lot of people are in the same situation as yours unfortunately. Have tried calling them?

Hey guys, 

1) Is it true that if a person's background checks have been pending for 90 days, that means that such person is definitely stuck in the name check?

2) Also has anyone on here gotten they name check cleared before the 90 days mark since this thread was created? 

3) If so, after how many days did that happen and what did you do on your end to help the process?

Thank you.

1 hour ago, eb278 said:

 

My best guess the tier -1 folks are contractors with no "update" access.

Seems this is more geared for people that don't go online much and want to speak to a live person.

 

The Tier-2 folks are Immigration Officers for sure .

Until now I never gave thought to the fact that they could make a ' negative' comment on a case file if you call and make some unwanted responses 

But I have never heard of anyone calling Tier-2 folks and having some consequences

I think eb278 might be right with the comment above.

I have never heard of anyone having some negative consequences after altercation on the phone either.

But febfiler made a good point though. Since Tier-2 folks are immigration officers, they might have some authority on your case throughout the process.

Also I think everyone's call is directed to Tier-1 folks first unless they request Tier-2 but I might be wrong.

12 hours ago, FebFiler said:

I am very curious to know if the person on the other end of the phone line when we call the USCIS helpline are actually Immigration officers, Immigration Adjudicators, or clerks?

Do they have limitations in what they can do/handle about your file?

Can they really add/ substrate anything to your Naturalization case even the smallest thing such as a comment positive/negative to your case every time you call?

I would like to know the answer to that too.

Do not quote me on this but my guess is that they might be just contractors or clerks.

I would think Immigration officers and adjudicator will probably have cases to handle instead of answering tons of calls. 

I don't know about the tier-2  people thought.

Hello, I am just being a bit curious about couple things in order to understand better the process.

    1 *At what point does USCIS initiate the background check after the biometrics ?

    2 * Do they wait until one's appointment date regardless of that person doing an early walk-in?

    3 *Does the ASC send it for review to the agencies right after it picture/fingerprints are taken?

    4 *How does one knows when the background check is completed and on average how long does it take?

Thank you

1 hour ago, rlam57 said:

I think your case might still in lockbox. By sending an email to Lockbox, give them your address, name and date of birth. They will be able to give you information about your case. 

Allow them around 7-10 days to respond. FYI, LockboxSupport@uscis.dhs.gov.

 

Your check/money order hasn't cashed?

 

Thank you for your response. Yes it was cashed a week ago. The operator said to give them few days to issue my receipt. 

It just did now make sense to me that the file was uploaded 2 weeks ago and that there is still not a receipt number.

I even asked the operator if there was any issue with my application or rejected for some reason, he said no and that everything looks good.

Hi, I submitted my Naturalization documents over 2 weeks ago and still haven't heard anything back yet. 

I called USCIS today, I was asked my A number and after he found my file and verified my info, I have been told by the operator that my docs have been uploaded in the system a week ago and that I have not been issued a receipt number yet. 

In the meantime, I have seen from the tracker that people who submitted their application after me have already received their Notice of Action /Biometrics Appointment Notice. 

Do you know what is going on with my case by any chance? 

Any input will be appreciated.

Thank you