AlwaysSunny

Curiously waiting, thank you! For now, I decided just to go to work instead and not take a day off. The ceremony doesn't have a "solemn" feel to me anymore, they've made a joke out of it.

I called them and they told me to mail the letter back to them with an explanation of what is wrong and why I didn't attend. I guess my explanation will be that I don't have a time machine.

Curiously waiting, did the facebook page tell at what time people have oath ceremony on Monday? I want to maybe try and walk in.

Thank you for the info.

I wish, however, that they paid more attention to their testing. On April 20 my status got updated to "Oath ceremony has been scheduled. You will get details in the mail". I wait for the letter and it arrives on April 26th. It says that my oath was scheduled for April 20th! The same day they updated my status! The letter itself is dated April 20th!

Now I get a notice saying that I have missed my oath ceremony!

I'm curious about this too. I had my interview on Feb 20th and was recommended for approval. But the status hasn't been updated since then. The last status of the case is "We scheduled your interview".

I have my USCIS Citizenship interview on Feb 20th. Today I got a letter saying that I've been selected for jury duty on March 13th. If I pass the interview, I don't think I'll have my oath by that date, right? So I probably should check the box that I'm not a US Citizen?

When I got the brochure and started to study the 100 questions, it seemed like they were all over the place. I like everything to be structured, so I wrote up this "story" that has all the answers in it. Just wanted to share it with you guys.

USCIS 100 QUESTIONS RECAP

Before the colonists came to America, the land was inhabited by the Native Americans/American Indians (Q59). Some of the tribes were Cherokee/Blackfeet/Crow (Q87). The first colonists came to America to escape religious persecution/get religious freedom and political liberty (Q58). They started forming colonies, such as Pennsylvania/Massachusetts/Virginia (Q64). At some point, the colonists made the decision to fight the British because of taxation without representation/quartering/no self-government (Q61). A man named Thomas Jefferson wrote the official Declaration of Independence (Q62). It was adopted on July 4^th, 1776 (Q63), which is now celebrated every year (Q99). The Declaration of Independence announced the country’s independence from Great Britain (Q8). It also proclaimed that every person has a right to Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness (Q9). At that time, there were 13 colonies (states), so shortly after independence was declared, the national flag got 13 stripes (Q96).

Eleven years later, in 1787, the Constitutional Convention took place where the Founding Fathers wrote the US Constitution (Q65, Q66). To promote the new Constitution, authors named Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, under a collective pseudonym “Publius”, wrote a collection of essays called “The Federalist Papers” (Q67). At the Constitutional Convention, George Washington was elected by the delegates to preside over the Convention, and later elected President of the United States, therefore becoming “The Father of the Country” (Q69, Q70). Also at the Convention was present Benjamin Franklin, famous for being the oldest member of the Convention (70 years old)/first Postmaster General of the US (Q68).

The Constitution that was adopted is now the Supreme Law of the land (Q1). It defines how the government branches are organized and protects the basic rights of Americans (Q2). In the beginning it says that “We the People” of the United States have established this Constitution, and these words encompass the idea of self-government (Q3). Over time, changes and additions can be made to the Constitution, they are called “amendments” (Q4). Since the Constitution was created, there have been a total of 27 amendments (Q7). The first 10 amendments were adopted simultaneously and are referred to as “The Bill of Rights” (Q5). The First Amendment in the Bill of Rights states that no law can be issued that limits the freedom of speech, religion, press, peaceful assemblies, or prohibits petitioning the government (Q6). According to the principle of the freedom of religion, one can practice any religion, or not practice a religion at all (Q10).  Also, there are four amendments to the Constitution about who can vote: citizens of 18 or older/they don’t need to pay a poll tax to vote/both women and men citizens can vote/male citizens of any race can vote (Q48). According to other amendments to the Constitution, everyone living in the United States, has rights and freedoms of expression, speech, press, assembly, religion, to petition the government and to bear arms (Q51). Out of all people who live in the United States, only its citizens have a right to vote in a federal election and to run for federal office (Q50). Voting in a federal election is not just a right, but also a responsibility of US Citizens, as well as serving on a jury (Q49).

After the United States became independent, it started expanding and developing. In 1803, the United States purchased a gigantic territory that is as large as 15 modern-day states, from France, known as “The Louisiana Purchase” (Q71). In the 1800s, the US participated in several wars, from which it gained a stronger sense of independence (the War of 1812), gained new territories (the Mexican-American War), helped some countries fight against others (the Spanish-American War), or fought over its own internal issues (the Civil War) (Q72). During the War of 1812, the American flag flew over Fort McHenry, inspiring a poem which later became the national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner” (Q98).

As part of the economy at that time, people from Africa were taken to America and sold as slaves (Q60). The slavery, along with economic reasons and the struggle of states against the federal government when it came to slavery regulations, lead to the Civil War (Q74). It was a war between the Northern and the Southern states (Q73). After Abraham Lincoln, leader of the newly created Republican Party, won presidential election, seven southern states seceded from the United States and formed their own Confederacy. The northern states were called the Union. Lincoln led the United States in this war, made sure that the Union stayed together and eventually freed the slaves (Q75). Abraham Lincoln issued an Executive Order called the Emancipation proclamation, in which he proclaimed the slaves who lived in the Southern states to be free people (Q76). Around the same time, there were activists who fought for the rights of other minorities, such as Susan B. Anthony, who fought for women’s rights (Q77).

In the 20^th century, the US first took part in World War I, when the President was Woodrow Wilson (Q79). After that war, following an economic rise, the Great Depression hit. Shortly after that, World War II started, where the enemy of the US was Japan, Germany and Italy (Q81). During the Great Depression and WWII Franklin Roosevelt was President (Q80); the second highest rank of the Army, a five star general, belonged to Dwight Eisenhower, who later became a US President in the 1950s (Q82). After WWI and WWII, the US participated in a few more wars during the 20^th century: War in Korea, War in Vietnam, War in the Persian Gulf (Q78). Also the Cold War, where the main concern of the United States was Communism (Q83).

At the same time, in the mid-20^th century, a movement started to grow that opposed racial discrimination, or any form of discrimination whatsoever, which is called the Civil Rights Movement (Q84). The most prominent leader of this movement was Martin Luther King, Jr. (Q85).

In 1960, when Hawaii became the 50^th US State, the flag got its 50 stars, where each star represents a state (Q97).

On September 11, 2001, a terrorist attack happened in New York City (Q86).

The economic system of the United States is market economy, or capitalism (Q11). The government, as defined by the Constitution, consists of three separate entities, that perform checks on each other, so that the responsibilities are separated (Q14). There are three branches of the government (Q13). The Legislative branch is represented by the Congress, which proposes bills and creates federal laws (Q16). The Judicial branch is represented by the courts, and the purpose of this branch is resolve disputes, review laws and make sure the laws don’t contradict the Constitution (Q37). The third branch is the Executive branch, represented by the President (Q15), who signs bills to become laws (Q33), has a right to veto (stop) bills (Q34), and acts as Commander in Chief of the military (Q32).

The President is elected every four years (Q26) in November (Q27). In 2018, it’s Donald Trump (Q28), representing the Republican party (Q46). The President has advisors – the President’s Cabinet (Q35). Every member of the Cabinet is responsible for a certain field; for example, there’s a Secretary of Education, a Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Transportation, Attorney General (Q36). The Vice President is also a member of the Cabinet, in 2018 it’s Mike Pence (Q29). The Vice President becomes President if the President can no longer serve (Q30).

The highest court of the United States is the Supreme Court (Q38). There are nine justices on the Supreme Court (Q39), one of them being the Chief Justice and heading the federal court system – John Roberts (Q40). The Rule of Law is a principle, according to which the law must govern the nation, and not decisions made by individual government officials, and must be followed by everyone, even the leaders and the government, and no one is above the law (Q12).

The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government. It consists of two parts: the lower House of Representatives and the upper house of the Senate (Q17). Their functions are similar, but there are differences. The House of Representatives is closer to the people, there are 435 members total (Q21), the number of representatives from each state depends on the population of that state (Q25), and is more responsive to the people due to the fact that they are elected every two years (Q22). The presiding officer of the House of Representatives is called the Speaker of the House – Paul Ryan (Q47), and this person becomes President if both the President and Vice President can no longer serve (Q31). In 2018, one of the Representatives for Pennsylvania is Brendan Boyle (Q23).

The Senate represents the states, meaning that a Senator represents the interests of all people of the state (Q24). There are only two Senators from each state, a Republican and a Democrat, making it a total of 100 Senators (Q18). Because a Senator serves for six years, the decisions the Senate makes consider the long-term effect of law (Q19). The Vice President presides over the Senate. In 2018, the Senators for Pennsylvania are Bob Casey, Jr. and Pat Toomey (Q20).

There are two levels of government – the federal and the state government. The federal government makes decisions that affect the entire country, for example, it can print money, declare war, create an army and make treaties (Q41). The state government makes decisions that affect only that state, for example, provide schooling and education, provide protection by having a police force, have fire departments to provide safety, issue driver’s licenses, and approve zoning and land use (Q42). The Governor of Pennsylvania is Tom Wolf (Q43); the capital of Pennsylvania is Harrisburg (Q44).

All government positions that are elective are voted for by the citizens who can vote at the age of 18 (Q54). Citizens can also participate in the political life by joining a political party or a civic group, give elected officials, such as a Senator or a Representative, their opinion on an issue, be it support or opposition, or run for office themselves (Q55). The US has two major political parties: Democratic and Republican (Q45).

When a person becomes a US Citizen, they promise to be loyal to the country and give up loyalty and titles in other countries, follow the US laws and Constitution, and do military or civil work if needed (Q53). People express their support of the country by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, which states that the person reciting it will be loyal to the US Flag and the Republic which it represents, with liberty and justice for all (Q52). However, non-citizens (legal residents) also have responsibilities, such as filing taxes before April 15^th of each year (Q56) and for men, register for selective service between the ages of 18 and 26 (Q57).

The US is bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the west (Q89), and the Atlantic Ocean on the east (Q90), and shares land borders with Canada to the north (Pennsylvania, Montana (Q92)), and Mexico to the south (New Mexico, Texas (Q93)). The most famous city in the US is New York City, with the iconic Statue of Liberty (Q95), but it’s not the capital, which is Washington D.C. (Q94). It also has some dependent territories in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the Caribbean Sea, islands and atolls and reefs, five of which are permanently inhabited: Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, US Virgin Islands and Northern Mariana Islands (Q91). The US has a river system that’s the fourth longest in the world – the Missouri-Mississippi river system, which consists of two longest US rivers. It starts in Montana as Missouri river, and then, after flowing through the Midwest, joins the Mississippi river in Illinois and empties in the Gulf of Mexico (Q88).

National US holidays are: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, etc (Q100).

On 1/23/2018 at 11:32 AM, Morris Marina said:

WOW - congrats, you got an interview in less than a month.

Just curious, did your account portal reflect that same time too? (mine shows 15 months)

Thanks,

No, it still says 16 month till case completion.

I attached a cover letter as additional evidence and listed all my documents with file names (for example, "Copy of joint bank account statement - file "Bank1.jpg""), because all of them uploaded multiple times.

8 hours ago, m@istar said:

So did you got your Interview letter..????

Yep, just got it on the portal. February 20th is the interview date. I can't believe how soon it is.

On 1/11/2018 at 8:17 PM, m@istar said:

Hey....AlwaysSunny.....I would be trying to walk-in tomorrow...Can you tell me will the Appointment letter that is uploaded online in ELIS account work well..Coz I havent received actual appointment letter in mail up till now???? Also once in...do they Stamp the appointment letter confirming that you completed your Biometrics..???

Sorry for late response, but yes, both of these assumptions are correct.

How did your walk-in fingerprinting go?

I'm really impressed by my progress - I filed online on Jan 2nd, and as of Jan 16th they already scheduled my interview (but haven't uploaded the invite with the date yet...)

1 minute ago, m@istar said:

Ohhh..Ok..Thanks for the info...May be I will give a try ....

Can you tell me which documents you took with you and which ones they asked ...????

Just the printed appointment letter with the other time and location, and the 10 year green card. Didn't need anything else.

1 hour ago, m@istar said:

Thanks Alwayssunny....Appreciated all the info...However I dont know how it works at the location I specified. Will look if its possible for an early appointment otherwise will go on my specified date.....Good luck

It was at your location, on Drummond rd.

On 1/8/2018 at 6:57 PM, m@istar said:

When do you plan to go ...Do let me know ..so that If yours work ..then I will too give it a try....

Whats your Office address...Mine is at Drummond Road, Philadelphia...

So, there are two Application Support Centers in Philadelphia that I know of. The first one is in Center City, and is at least an hour from me. The other one is your office on Drummond, which is about 15 minutes from my house. I was scheduled to get my biometrics done in the downtown office on Jan 24th, but I decided to try and do walk-in biometrics for the first time, and do it in the closest office.

I called the USCIS 800 number yesterday, and they said it's possible.

This morning I came there at 8 AM. There is a guard's desk that you have to pass first, and then the reception. I showed the guard my appointment letter and explained that I'd like to do early biometrics in their office instead of the original one. She wasn't sure it was possible, so she called in an immigration officer, who said that I can be let in, and didn't ask any questions. The guard told me to wait until the line gets smaller, and then I went in like I everyone else. There were around 10 families in the office, about 30 people. The process was as usual, I was out by 8:50.

After this. my wait time online changed from July 2019 to May 2019

On 1/9/2018 at 4:49 PM, rjgacek said:

I believe for reasons unknown applying on line is at times faster.

Perhaps it's because they don't have to manually scan evidence and type everything in if you submit it online?

16 hours ago, m@istar said:

When do you plan to go ...Do let me know ..so that If yours work ..then I will too give it a try....

Whats your Office address...Mine is at Drummond Road, Philadelphia...

I wish my office was at Drummond. I have to go all the way to West Philly. So the experience may differ. But I will let you know, prob next week.

24 minutes ago, m@istar said:

Can you do this way...?? Just walk in and give your Biometrics early even though your appointment is scheduled for Jan 24th..????

I know a lot of people do this, according to this forum,  but not in Philadelphia. I want to try and see if I can.

9 hours ago, m@istar said:

Hey Guys....I filed my N-400 online on Jan 5th and got my Receipt number. They scheduled my Biometrics the next day. However when I login to my account, it says that the approximate timeframe to Naturalization is July 2019.....18 months Thats too much wait

Still I am not able to view my Biometrics appointment letter in my account. They have mailed me the letter but still I think I can view that letter online in my ELIS account.

I am in Philly too. Applied on Jan 2nd, biometrics scheduled on Jan 5th. The actual invite only appeared online today. Scheduled for Jan 24th, but I want to try and walk in this Friday.

2 hours ago, fouzimedfouni said:

after you upload 5, take a look at the bar above it says " children, criminal record, civil record, eligibility, information" something like that (the previous tabs you finished before you got to the EVIDENCE tab, click on one of them and you will see "saving process" I believe, ....then you will just back to your Evidence Tab and upload again and it will work perfectly

This worked, thank you! Now I have a bunch of duplicates, but at least I uploaded all my files!

Let me clarify - I'm unable to attach more than 5 files. When I try to attach a sixth file, I get the error...

Even if I attach five, then save, and then try to attach more, it doesn't let me.

When I try to attach scanned evidence documents, I get an error " You cannot upload more than 5 files at once."

Has anyone had this and how did you upload more than five documents?

Hi everybody,

Part 2 Item 9 in the N-400 form asks about the "Date you became a lawful permanent resident".

Do they want the date I got my conditional GC or the permanent 10 year GC?

Thank you.

Hi,

The car insurance documents that I'm planning to submit as evidence in my N-400 package have both our names on them.

However, the names look slightly different in those docs (cards) than in all other official documents. The reason for that is that when my husband was shopping for insurance, he gave them a short version of his last name (for example, Nowak instead of Nowakowski), and gave the "Americanized" version of my first name (for example, Mary instead of Maria). We have different last names, I kept my maiden name.

Last years insurance that I submitted as part of the ROC package had full versions of our names.

Do you think it might cause a problem? Should I just leave the cards out and not submit them at all?

Thank you.