Deribas_Alma-Ata

On 3/22/2018 at 4:19 PM, Natasha&Luka said:

My oath ceremony will be next Monday March 26th 2018 in Moorhead, Minnesota They gave me very short notice considering that the status change this Monday and I got the letter yesterday. Can't wait to be finally done with this process.

Wow!... Finally, 6 month after the interview! Congrats! Please share with us your ceremony experience.

1 hour ago, ruby_7 said:

Congratulations !!!

 

Thank you Ruby_7! It's so funny to read the quotes from the past and realize how anxious and impatient I used to be LOL  Now I am sooooo calm!!! 

42 minutes ago, jkstark said:

Great to hear!  It seems like all of you have gotten some "fancy" mementos; we got a very cool judge and plenty of photos...   No letters from anybody though, but it was all good, and at the end, the final result is still the same.

 

Congrats!

 

No passport for me yet; I was waiting on getting it till I had certified copies of my NC, since I'll have to send some of those out for apostilles and then on back to Finland.  I ended up figuring I'd see what happens if you send a "certified true copy" to the dept of state instead of the original - the local USPS did call me asking about that, but the web page for the passport office states that a certified copy is valid; as of now, my passport is "being processed".  Being in NY, I was able to get an Enhanced Driver License, which is proof of citizenship without having to surrender any of the documents, which was quite nice in and of itself.

 

Again - good luck and congrats - it has certainly been a while!

Thank you very much Kris! Since I live in small town I did not expect any fancy ceremony at all, but I was impressed to have one like so.

I need to do apostle my NC as well to send it to KZ so they can release my pension funds. Also they will take my KZ citizenship away...  Technically by KZ law once people obtain any other citizenship they automatically lose KZ one. But I still should government let know in order to avoid $1.5K fee  of being a dual-citizen on top of $300 regular fee. 

Can't think about it right now anyway cause I am so happy that finally long-winding journey is over.

My very best wishes to you Kris!

7 minutes ago, jkstark said:

So - inquiring minds want to know...  How was your oath?

Hello Kris,

I'm sorry, I should update right away but was so busy celebrating lol

I am an American now! Could not be happier! Long journey is finally over... 

Ceremony was scheduled at 9:00 AM, so me and my family arrived at 8:30AM. It took about 2 hours to check our Naturalization Certificates for errors and return green cards. For 39 people this seems a bit too long but ok.

All was checked and done and by 11:00AM Ceremony should have starting. But judge showed up around 11:20AM and then Ceremony started.

Judge took word first and told us his family story how a bit over 100 year ago his great grandfather at age of 12 on his own arrived on a ship to NYC and so on.

Then USCIS officer told us the process and that we will become Americans right after we take an Oath. And if can't see us taking Oath (lips should moving ) we can't become Americans

So they asked us to stand up for the Oath one-by-one and once all 39 have risen the judge started to read the Oath and we were repeating after him.

Then about 5 people from the Government took word to represent them selves and welcome us as new Americans. After that another guy started calling us by names to issues as the Naturalization Certificates and welcome letters from the President, Governor, Senator and Representative. That was nice.

Hereafter we stood up one last time and bell ringers ensemble played the National Anthem. Right after that the Ceremony was over.

In the hallway I registered for the vote  and my family and myself went to the nice American steakhouse to celebrate.

Would you be please so kind and paint me in red? Thank you!

How are you being doing? Have your received your passport yet?

On 2/23/2018 at 5:26 PM, Zhekaviolin said:

Thank you! I will wait one more month and then try to do something else...

Seems you have so much patience, I did not have. Don't get me wrong, this is probably the right approach. But don't wait too long.

20 hours ago, ruby_7 said:

Finally, a US citizen after a long painful journey... 

 

Good luck to everyone who are still waiting...

Congrats Ruby_7! Glad for you man!  Mine is next Friday.

On 2/13/2018 at 3:52 PM, Zhekaviolin said:

How is it normal if they already processing February? The lady in local office said that my documents are still in the center so she can't say when they will get it. I asked her about congress man and she said it's only for complicated and extraordinary cases and mine is normal. The Tier 2 guy assured me that my documents are ok and are in line but I have to contact local office to check how far in line they are which I did and they don't know too. What else can I do? 

It's been more than a year now...

 

Thank you, any thoughts will be highly appreciated! 

 

Hello Zhekaviolin, I am sorry to hear that. Since you were quiet lately I thought you were doing fine.  

So, here is what I have done but not really sure what exactly made my case moving. 

When I realized that I would not be able to get any valuable response for the USCIS I decided to contact my Congressman. He's office sent me some paperwork that I filled out and sent it back. Three weeks later I received a response from the Congressman where he attached the original letter from the USCIS which was just a general copy/past response  to any or every petitioner. So, nut much luck either.

Then I sent request to USCIS ombudsmen and only received confirmation email back that also stated that the Ombudsmen office usually replies in 3 month or so. Don't remember exactly.

But about 4 week later I received a sms with the case update. 

Not sure if this was just timing issue or Congressmen or Ombudsmen inquiry helped  but always worth to try.

Good luck! We hope to here good news from you shortly!

14 minutes ago, jkstark said:

When is your oath?

It's on March 9th  Thank you Kris!

14 minutes ago, Deribas_Alma-Ata said:

I started doing it again... I did not check USCIS page since I got the interview notice... more than a month ago.. Now I check it multiple times a day like I have no sms and email notification... hahaha 

LOL right after I replied to Kris went to check USCIS page and voila. Thanks much to everyone for your advises and support!

2 hours ago, jkstark said:

For what it is worth, my status on the case status page still states that an interview has been scheduled.... 

I started doing it again... I did not check USCIS page since I got the interview notice... more than a month ago.. Now I check it multiple times a day like I have no sms and email notification... hahaha 

Thank you all guys for your support!

1 hour ago, sunshinestate2013 said:

You should not be concerned, from what I am reading it sounds like your interview went well. Congratulations! 

Thank you for cheering me up!

Hi All,

Today I had an interview... Conclusion is decision can not be made or so...  I've no clue why...

Arrived 30 min prior to interview, was called by IO in about 40 min.

So I have sworn to tell the truth etc. IO started with my application yes/no questions first, all went well.

Then he asked me to write Columbus Day is in October and read Washington is the Capital of the United States. 

After that he said he'll ask me 10 civic questions and once I get him 6 correct answers test will be completed.

Questions were so easy but I remember only 5:

Who is the father of the USA?

How many justices in Supreme court?

When do we celebrate Independence Day?

When both POTUS and VP can't serve, who becomes the POTUS?

One part of the Government?

...........

I was pretty sure I did well. But then IO said even though you passed the test I can not approve your application because I had no chance to study your file yet, but I think I will approve your case this afternoon...

Should I explain what I felt? 

At the end he said... Congratulation!

With what though? Not being approved? 

He was not super friendly, but he was not sarcastic either I guess...

Called to attorney right after and he assured me that it will not take more than 120+ (60 to 90) days... So, another long wait for me...    

1 hour ago, ruby_7 said:

Thanked God, this is almost over.

 

To those who are still waiting for the interview letter, I hope you guys will receive it soon.  I understand the wait is very agonizing and depressing but sooner or later you will get there.  

 

As for Deribas_Alma-Ata ,   I wish you "Good luck"  in your upcoming interview.   All the best for you.

 

 

Hey Ruby_7! Congratulations, You are almost there! Thank you for the wishes, I hope my interview will be as nice and easy as yours.  

2 hours ago, OTCER said:

These are the results from my search. So, who should I contact? Mr. Cornyn or Mr. Cruz?

Hi OT,

I'm sorry for delay respond. I was traveling with my friends and did not check notifications.

You can send a request to any representative I think. I had few either but decided to call to Morgan Griffith office just because I have heard his name somehow before... 

So, I called to his office, explained the situation... in 2 days I received a form from his office that I filled up and return. That was basically a form that states that I let congressman make inquires to USCIS in my behalf...

In about 3 weeks after that I received basic copy/paste respond from USCIS to congressman... something like they balance inconvenience of one person against national security or so...

But a bit over a month interview was scheduled...

So, I can't tell exactly if it was a coincidence or the inquiry worked out... 

But always worth to try...

13 hours ago, jkstark said:

 

 

And that's that - 38 new citizens today from 27 different countries at the Rochester NY Federal Courthouse, myself included.

 

 

Kris

 

Glad for you Kris! Congratulations! In your behalf will be listening The Korpiklaani (former Shaman) all day long today!

Hello All,

Can anybody please add following to the spread sheet. I tried to do it myself but the output was in messed up format and I have no clue how to fix it...

In Line  - 12/21/2017

Int Letter received - 01/03/18

Interview - 01/31/2018

Thank you,

Alikhan

On 12/28/2017 at 11:41 AM, jkstark said:

Sure thing - just didn't have a computer handy yesterday...

 

Questions - as many of them as I can remember...  What does the cabinet do, How many years do we elect Senators for, How many supreme court justices, Who becomes president if netierh president or vice-president can serve.  I can't recall what the last two were, but I did notice that all of them were pre-selected and printed out.  I did have to read 'What month do we celebrate Columbus day' and write 'We celebrate Columbus day in October'. 

 

Beyond that, it was a simple matter of going through the questions on the application, and she wanted to see my passports - I had one expired one and the current one with me, but since most of my trips were to europe, as an EU citizen, I don't get stamps there, so they are pretty much empty other than US entry stamps.

 

I was asked about trips out of the country, where all I could state directly was that I had attached a full listing, and beyond that I could only state that I had gone to Europe roughly once a year except for 2016, where I did three trips out there - all to visit my mother who lived in France.

 

For the entire experience, I had a 2:45 appointment, and got to the office at about 2:15.  Took few minutes to go through security (winter in Buffalo - coats, scarves etc), then they had a hard time scanning a fingerprint at the reception desk.  Got called up about 30 seconds of having sat down at right around 2:25, with the IO stating that she had a no-show so she was well ahead of schedule.  We were out of the office with everything taken care of by 2:45-2:50, with an Oath notice in hand...

 

There was only a slight bit of back and forth questioning when asked about military/militia service - I have served in the Finnish Army as standard conscription, so going through those questions was nothing more than stating that yes, I have served and I have had military weapons training.  The question was about a militia, which was specifically relating to a non-national army militia, so the correct answer there was no.

 

I was also asked about tickets and the like, and she simply asked what the traffic ticket fines were, and since they were under $500, she didn't care.

 

Quick, easy, done.

Thank you Kris for the comprehensive response! Sorry, could not respond earlier due to traveling. Seems all went smooth for you, thats great! Congrats again! On January 11th USA gets another Proud American!

Happy New Year! 

15 hours ago, jkstark said:

Recommended for approval with an oath set for Jan 11 in Rochester - just shy of a full year.

 

Almost done...

 

Good luck to those who are still here.

So glad for you Kris! You made it, Congratulations! 👍

Just in 2 weeks you'll be the Proud American Sitizen! 😊

And yeah, as Ruby_7 mentioned get us some details and don't forget a cherry on top... 😁   

On 12/26/2017 at 2:19 PM, ruby_7 said:

Congrats !! We got almost same date..

 

Dec. 21, my status online changed to "Interview Scheduled". Received a text message as well at 3:00 PM sharp on same date.

 

Finally, I received my interview letter today Dec. 26, scheduled for next month/year January 26  Cleveland, OH

We're almost done my friend...Heeehaaaaa.... What a great Christmas gift we have..

Thank you Ruby_7, my congrats to you as well buddy!!!

It was a long wait for at least 3 of us... and to be honest with you I did not expect to get any updates from USCIS this year... I was like, nah... these guys will not surprise me and sure they did...

I don't know my Interview date yet, but based on the pace I may assume it should be right after yours. What a relief huh? 😁

Happy New Year to All! 

2 minutes ago, jkstark said:

Congrats on your scheduled interview!  I would guess that you'll see yours inside of 30 days or so.

 

I'm headed up to Buffalo this afternoon for an interview tomorrow afternoon...  So - we shall see what they have to say. 

 

Kris

Thank you Kris! Yeah, 30-40 more days are nothing comparing to 10 month waiting in info vacuum... So, I'll take it... 😊

Wish you good luck tomorrow! Keep us posted!

Crossing fingers for you! All be nice and smooth! 😉

On 11/21/2017 at 4:04 PM, jkstark said:

Well - now the online system is stating that they have an interview scheduled...

Hello Kris, have not hear from you for a while?

How is it going? Any updates? 

Best New Year's present 😊

Finally... Seems I am one step closer now.. 😊