George & Roth

Hi @EmptySeats I am the one who made that thread in 2018 and was able to successfully help my wife get her NJ driving license. We had a similar experience that the response would vary depending on the staff member you were able to speak with. We would get one answer on the phone and another at an MVC location. We would call again and get a different answer and head to a different MVC location for some other response.  
 
When she was approved she had the expired I-94 so they used the NOA 1 she received for the conditional green card. 
 
Note that a different location suggested we could not use the NOA 1 and needed EAD. I debated even applying for EAD as she wouldn't be working right away and rather watching our young children. Either way, as you said one of the locations did accept her NOA 1.  Vision test, written test yes. No driving test for her required. She is Cambodian so I think it varies by country of citizenship. 
 
We are dreading her driving license expiring in February and dealing with MVC again, I am about to apply the I-751 in middle of December. Especially as the lines seem to be insane now. 
 
As I see it you have two courses of action:
1) Continue to visit locations and hope you receive an answer you like. You run a significant risk of getting nowhere and wasting many hours of time
2) Wait until you get EAD
 
 

I am writing this to help anybody else out that entered to get a license that entered the USA on a K-1 Visa. It matters very much which office you go to. I am leaving out all the details however I had SEVEN visits to the MVC/DMV and about EIGHT phone calls to the main MVC office.
 
First is more of a rant but see the bottom of this post for relevant info if you want to get your DL. 
 
1)      DO NOT GO TO RAHWAY NJ office
We went in here, they do not know how to handle K-1 immigrants.
·        Incorrectly told her she can drive immediately using her foreign license. Dangerous!
·        Would not issue permit for taking test. WRONG
·        After obtaining permit from other MVC office and passing test they said she is not eligible for license until green card arrives. I explained the absurdity of this and escalated it all the way to the top of the chain (management and coordinator) to no avail.  
 
2)      GO TO Bakers Basin (Lawrenceville NJ)
·        Provide permit to allow for knowledge test with I-94 and SS# as parts of support
·        Provided license after the passed test
·        Screwed up translator appointment but was helpful otherwise
 
3)      Do not trust phone center in Trenton NJ
·        50% of the time they were helpful
·        I was called and yelled at that my wife did not study because they had mixed up her record with someone else who was using a translator repeatedly (5 times) at the cost of the MVC. After I went ballistic they figured out they mixed up her record and apologized profusely.
·        I told them Rahway office does not understand the immigration and I was told it is up Rahway, no set way to handle immigrants across different locations
·        I told them I am confident I can go to another location and receive the license, instead of rectifying the issue it was recommended I try the other MVC. (I did and we did get license)
 
 
 
How it worked for us in New Jersey at Bakers Basin MVC (May vary by STATE!):
A)      You need to first get your SS#.
B)      With your SS# & I-94 you can get a permit to take the knowledge test and after passing get a license issued for the period ended the date of I-94. (We did not do this, skipped to D below)
Bring everything with you (passport, visa, DL from home country, marriage certificate, I-94) Get bank statement jointly right away Add fiance to any lease right away Get fiance a credit card right away (no SS# needed) Get fiance on driving insurance (no SS# needed with progressive) C)      You can get a translator for the test if you fail it once without a translator. Challenge for some is studying the material which is in English.
 She had a bad translator who was not able to translate all of the words (did a combo English/khmer) so was not helpful She passed with no translator by practice of questions and looking up words herself, and I helped as well. For reference, she has a fair level of English not an expert level D)      After you get married and submit your AOS paperwork you can use the NOA 1 (form 797) that you receive for the AOS to get a 6 month license (this is what she received)
E)       Once you receive permission to work (EAD) or the green card you will be able to get a longer license. We will expect EAD is received by this time and use it for next driving license extension.

One day after the interview, my status changed to “oath ceremony will be scheduled”. I am getting closer and closer to the final day! 

My status just changed to interview scheduled at the Seattle office! 
 
I applied online on November 22 2021

Hello everyone, 
 
I am glad to report that I passed my interview this morning. The officer was very pleasant. We chatted throughout the interview. She asked me 6 questions: What is the highest court of the US? What is one promise you make when you become a citizen? Who was Martin Luther King, jr? Who is the commander of chief of the military? What is capital of the US? Name one senator from New York, Then she asked to write that The president lives in the White House. She said I will receive the oath letter within 2 weeks. My journey to become a US citizen is almost over. 

Hello Everyone, 
 
My interview is tomorrow 07/25/2022 in Manhattan, NY at 11:30 am. I’m nervous and excited. I will keep everyone posted after the interview. 

Applied Nov 4th 2021
Received a notice yesterday with an interview date of Aug 18 2022 in Seattle.
 
Very nice surprise given the estimated timeline was originally about 12 months.
 
Congrats to everyone else who have had their interviews scheduled. Fingers crossed to those still waiting. 

Lol Cmon, its a VJ joke! 😁

I filled for my mother and she is now in the us with Green card. My mother was living with her grandchild since my younger sister passed away. My mother filled for her grandchild Hand the case is currently in review at usciss 

Storage locker for 12 years?
 
Were you a high school chemistry teacher by any chance?

Husband received his interview date for N400 next month, still nothing from the 751 case.

It is my opinion that additional fields should be added into the N-400 tracker (and other relevant visa trackers) for the passport application, with the ability to sort by "file date" and "expedited/not expedited" under the "Timeline" chart where "US Citizenship (N-400) Immigration Timelines" can be sorted (see here: https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/citlist.php?cfl=&op5=5,10,11). In my opinion, this may allow easy tracking. Though LPRs become citizens upon oath, their journey is usually not over until they obtain their passport and SSA is updated. SSA probably wouldn't need a tracker, because it can usually be updated same day. But the passport takes a month or two in some cases and many people try to keep track so they know when to expect it. There appears to be a demand for tracking this information, based on the thread, "2020/ 21- US Passport & Card Application-Tracker", viewable here: https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/729036-2020-21-us-passport-card-application-tracker/ .
 
Thank you for your consideration in this matter.
 
Best Regards,
 
bsd058.
 
 

I've requested that fields be added to the N-400 timeline to track the processing of passports. See thread here: https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/782144-passport-fieldtracker-combine-with-n-400-or-other-relevant-trackers/
 
 
If you feel like it, please post under it whether you agree or not, and perhaps the mods will see. Maybe if enough agree, then they will add it, or possibly create a new tracker.

Received back the NC - passport process done
 
2/24 applied in USPS.  Did not expedite
3/1 In process with locator number "34" which is Charleston
3/17 Approved 
3/19 Received Passport
4/11 Received Naturalization Certificate
 
Remaining - Update SS & Update Driver License

Received back the NC - passport process done
 
2/24 applied in USPS.  Did not expedite
3/1 In process with locator number "34" which is Charleston
3/17 Approved 
3/19 Received Passport
4/11 Received Naturalization Certificate
 
Remaining - Update SS & Update Driver License

Hi guys,
 
Bad luck... I was away last week, and when I came back yesterday, I saw the envelope in my mailbox. So I can't finish my tracker accurately.
 
When I picked it up, my heart stopped for a second when I saw that the envelope was damaged. Fortunately, the certificate is intact, although quite wrinkled.
 
So that's it, this envelope marks the end of a process that began more than six years ago. Many thanks to this site and the beautiful people who maintain it for the incredible help and hope it gives to thousands of immigrants.
 
See you around!!
 
 
Final Tracker:
 
March 03, 2022: Submitted Application at USPS in NYC. Passport Book + Card and expedited processing with standard delivery.
March 09, 2022 (Day 06): Check cashed. Status: in process (locator 69).
March 21, 2022 (Day 17): Application Status: Approved. USPS tracking number received by SMS.
March 23, 2022 (Day 19): Passport book in hand, old gen.
March 25, 2022 (Day 21): Passport card in hand.
April 4-8, 2022 (Day 31-35): Certificate in  hand.

I got around 2500 Amex points for my most recent I-751 filing, which was a definite improvement on previously having to pay for the i-751 via cheque and getting zilch points. 

Still not received the NC back, little over two weeks. 

Good news - been watching your updates. Makes me nervous about getting our NC back, we are still in normal timeframe but will be relieved once it is back. 

Today i finally received my NC Intact! 36 days after receiving passport and passport card. It was shipped first class mail and postmarked March 21, it took about a week to get here. Now what i can't understand is why they held it for 30 days to send it back to me, they must be really backed up on that or they forgot to bring it to the Post Office. For reference i uploaded pictures of the envelope that it came in.  

Hi all, I completed oath ceremony today and got the citizenship certificate.

i haven't backtracked enough on pages here but since late February, 3 that applied received back their Naturalization certificate, everybody else still waiting unless some already received it but didn't bother to update here yet and/or are still waiting on the passport itself. I've been noticing most of you got sent to NH (locator 69) and they have been pretty good processing and returning documents, i think i'm one of the few who got Dallas, TX (locator 55) here so its hard to figure out the turnaround ( Mine has been 26 days from passport arrival and counting and no sign of my certificate... 😑 ). Hopefully everybody that still waiting receive it and in one piece. 

03/18 - Naturalization certificate in hand.
 
Finally done 🙃  

02/09 - Application received, locator 69.
03/10 - Application approved.
03/12 - Passport in hand.
 
Big relief. 

Hello,
 
I'd like to share my passport application timeline as might be useful for comparison as a new data point.
 
2/18 applied in USPS for card and passport book. Paid for both ways express and expedited.
2/22 In process with locator number "69".
3/8 Approved
3/9 Mailed with a USPS tracking number
3/10 Received a old gen. passport book in mail.
 
One thing I noticed is that once the status changed from "Approved" to "Mailed", they provided me with the USPS tracking number, but later on after 5-6 hours, when I checked it had changed back to "Approved" and still is. So Basically, it might be a system glitch, but looks like they share the tracking number and if you don't see it by chance, you'll assume it used to be "Approved" and still is "Approved" although in the meantime it had already one change.