Trent & Alexa

On 9/10/2022 at 1:19 PM, Hamilton said:

Hi folks, the journey is finally over - I'm officially a US citizen!! I loved when people shared detailed experiences on VJ, so here's mine: 

 

My interview was early in the morning. Parking was straightforward in the USCIS lot. I entered the building 15 minutes before my appointment time. There was no one ahead of me in security so it all went really smoothly - it functions like an airport security checkpoint, you have to take off your belt, shoes, jacket, etc. and put your bag through a scanner. Then at the next window, I got my photograph and fingerprints taken again, and then I was directed to go upstairs to the waiting room for my interview. 

 

My interview was virtual. A really friendly assistant came and took me to a large room with about 8ish office-style cubicles. I had to take out my passport, ID, and green card and put the rest of my stuff in a drawer. The interviewing officer turned on their video on the iPad the moment I sat down, and the interview began. She was very professional and very serious. We started with the reading and writing test, followed by the civics questions (and stopped after I got the first six correct). Then we went through a lot of the N400 questions (current employment, current and old addresses, many of the yes/no questions). I let her know about a correction I needed to make to the form, and it was no big deal -- she made it for me. She also asked me how I met my wife and if we rented/owned our house - but this didn't feel like an interrogation, just like a chat. She asked about our marriage evidence, and I told her about a few of the documents I had brought in. She wanted our latest tax transcript, so she sent a message to the assistant to come fetch it from me. The assistant took the papers and scanned them and then brought them back. While we waited (about 5-10 mins), the officer turned her video off and I just hung out 😄 Then she asked me to confirm all my details were correct on the iPad for my naturalization certificate, said I was approved, and sent an approval notice to the printer that was on the desk next to me. The only issue with the interview was that people in the room were really loud, and occasionally I had to ask the officer to repeat herself -- but it really wasn't a big deal. While the interview started out really serious, I chatted with the officer a little while she was entering things into her computer and we ended up having a nice conversation and joking a little too.

 

Then the assistant came back to fetch me and congratulated me a few times 😊, and I went back downstairs to the auditorium. The officer there took my green card and threw it in a bag 😂 it felt weird seeing it dumped into a bag like that after I've guarded it with my life for so long. I asked if my wife could come in for the ceremony and she said yes! So I texted my wife and met her outside, and then we both came back inside together (had to go through security again). There were about 15 other people at the ceremony and it was only about 10 minutes long, but it was still nice -- the officer smiled a lot and said how momentous the occasion was and how long our journey has been, and congratulated us. Then we said the oath and received our naturalization certificates and little US flags. Some folks posed for photographs in the auditorium afterwards. 

 

The whole thing took about 1.5 hours (30 min interview, 10 min ceremony, plus waiting around). Overall, it was a great experience. Everyone was SO nice and friendly and chatted with me and put me at ease -- the security guards, biometrics person, the assistant, the interviewing officer, and the ceremony officer. I'm so glad to be done! Good luck to the rest of you with interviews coming up, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

 

 

Thank you for your detailed experience! For the marriage evidence, did you bring documents similar to what was needed for 751?

Hi everyone! 

I filed the N-400 only 3 months ago, and my interview just got scheduled for October 31st! Anybody else going on that same date?

Got my interview scheduled on October 31st, at the Seattle office! Anyone in the same boat?

7 minutes ago, KYICGM said:

Hello 👋 

had my interview today at 9:45 in Cleveland and  I passed. 5 mins later my case was updated to I’ve been placed in line for my oath ceremony 😁 I’m so glad my journey is almost over. 
I applied June 16. Interview schedule July 29. Interview Sept 15 2022. They didn’t ask to see any of my papers just my green card, Id and passport. 6 civic questions asked. One sentence to read and one ro write. Officer was nice. 

Congrats! Can’t believe how fast that went!

1 minute ago, MK9353 said:

Congratulations!! What is your field office? And did you see any progress in your I-751 case?

Thank you!

Field office is Seattle, and my I-751 was approved on August 5!

On 6/20/2022 at 4:20 PM, Trent & Alexa said:

My timeline looks like:

 

90 day mark for submission:  April 27, 2022

Submitted N-400: June 20, 2022 (online)

N-400 Online Biometrics Waiver: June 20, 2022 (online portal)

N-400 NOA1: June 20, 2022 (online portal)

I-751 Pending: Yes, submitted July 14, 2021 

I-751 RFE: April 15, 2022 - Replied to the RFE June 15, 2022

Hi everyone!

Just randomly logged into my USCIS account today and now my case status says that the "Interview Was Scheduled". There's no interview date, so I am guessing I'll get the letter with the actual date in the mail in a few days. I was surprised because it's only been 3 months since I filed, but it looks like a few of you too got your interviews scheduled fairly quickly.

Looks like some of you already went through your interviews, or have them very soon! Would anyone mind sharing their experience? 

Thanks!

1 minute ago, Steve3990 said:

Congratulations on this one, this is really great.

Quick questions:

 

1. What was the RFE about?

2. What was your I-751 Service Center?

Thank you!

The RFE was because we didn't give enough proofs of commingled finances. At the time of filing we were living with my husband's father. Right after filing, we bought a house so we were able to send the house title as evidence when we got the RFE, plus the latest 2021 tax return.

We originally filed from California and service center was CSC. Then we moved to Washington, and I'm not sure if the service center changed. 🤔

49 minutes ago, MK9353 said:

This morning I got an email from USCIS which says “We have take an action on your case”. When I login I don’t see any update to my I-751 or N-400 case status. Anyone ever received similar email? Thank you!

Exact same thing happened twice! Not sure what it was. Maybe about them mailing the physical receipt notice and bio waiver because I received them few days later.

Not enough proof of commingled finances. We were both living at my father in law in order to save money to buy a house, so no lease to show for. Sent the ROC in July 2021 but bought a house right after in September 2021. And maybe so much time had passed (9 months) so they also wanted to verify we were still together?  Hopefully the house will help to show shared assets.

54 minutes ago, mytruelove18 said:

Each case is diferent, my cousin sent his application on april 8 , 2020 and got a RFE on january 2022, he sent evidences on february 28, 2022 . Uscis updated his case as evidence received march 10, 2022 , after that he hasn’t hear anything from them.

more that 90 days from when he sent evidence and 2 years and 2 months from the time he sent his i-751. Still waiting

Thanks for your reply! He’s been waiting for so long 😨 

Filed in July 2021, received the RFE in April 2022 and replied In June. Service center is California. 

Hi!

Those of you who got an RFE on your I-751, when did you hear back from USCIS after sending in your extra evidence? It looks like it can be anywhere from 60 to 90 days but read some stories where people had their green cards approved only after a couple weeks.

Thank you! I just realized anyways that before looking at my travel history they will be looking at my 5 years residency history, and will see that I wasn’t living in the US 5 years ago  So I think I’ll be fine! But yes, they could really be a little more clear in the instructions!

My timeline looks like:

Hi everyone!

On 6/18/2022 at 3:15 PM, Gaps0214 said:

Anyone in this thread with Seattle, WA as your local USCIS processing office? I read somewhere that filing an N-400 before receiving ROC approval may set back the processing further by another year or two. Thoughts?

 

Thanks for writing back.

 

G&A

Well, I hope not 😱 . I moved to Washington state 8 month ago and guessing my local office is now Seattle. I filed I-751 in July 2021, got an RFE in April 2022 and just today filed my N-400. Will keep you posted!

I recently filed my N-400 (marriage based, I've been a lawful permanent resident for the last 3 years, my I-751 still processing) and I'm having second guesses about the "Time Outside the US" section. In this section, they ask for how many trips and total days did you spend outside the United States during the last 5 years. (I know the other way to get citizenship is to be a lawful permanent resident for 5 years but in my case it's 3.)

I have only filled in the trips that I took since moving to the US which was 4 years ago. Thing is, 5 years ago I was living outside the US (for obvious reasons as I was waiting for my K-1 Visa to get approved). I was not a US resident back then. Did that count as time spent outside the US? Or am I freaking out for no reason?

While filing I was pretty sure that even though they ask for the last 5 years, the year where I was living abroad waiting for my K-1 Visa to get approved doesn't count as time spent outside the US because I hadn't moved to the US yet. But now I'm driving myself crazy wondering if I messed this up.

Hi everyone 🙂

I entered the US on a K1 Fiancée Visa in May 2018. I filed form I-751 in July 2021 and received an RFE in April 2022. I will be sending my packet of evidence to respond to the RFE in a few days. Can I file for my N-400 at the same time? Or would you advise I wait to hear back on form I-751? 

Thanks in advance!