nscvet

Well the long wait in limbo is finally over. We received a congratulatory letter from our congressman and enclosed was a letter he had received from L.A.D.O. which stated Mon has been scheduled for the Oath ceremony on Jan 29. I think we are the last ones out here from January. I should have put the year in when I started the topic. Anyway it is wonderful to be able to start planning our lives again at long last.

Well, today was Interview day and all went fine. They approved and gave the oath cerimony notice for this Friday so we are almost done!

Congratulations. It's been a long road. I think we are the last January people out here.

I am married to a USC and will be eligible to apply for citizenship in Jan 2009, using dates of 01/05/2006 - 01/05/02009. This is the complication: I was out of the country during the first few months of 2006, including 01/05/2006. Is there any prohibition about being out of the country on the first date of the qualifying time, ie. 01/05/2006?

Flash

One thing is unclear to me. When did you obtain PR status, 01/05/2006? Wouldn't that have been your interview date? And therefore wouldn't you have been in the country for the interview?

Thanks for all your comments guys. The IO was unhappy about the number and length of Mon's trips out of country. She took four trips out and one was for 176 days and she counted each month as 30 days on crummy advice from Glendale Community College Citizenship Class. So she put down 155 days instead of 176. That may have been a red flag to him. But still she was out less than 18 months and never for 180 days or more. IO gave her the N-652, checked 'passed Eng. and Hist. & Gov't.', checked 'CIS will send written decision about app.' and checked 'A decision cannot yet be made about your app.' He also told her she would hear from him in one week regarding her case. She asked him pointedly, ' You will send me something in one week?' and he told her he would. It has been over a week but I'm not worrying about that. We just don't like being in limbo like this. Like most people on the board I filed everything myself, but since I cannot speak for Mon at an appeal I wonder if I should get a lawyer if we decided to appeal a denial.

Mon was not approved but was not denied at her interview. Has this happened to any of you? Were you later approved? Denied? How long did it take to get resolution?

Bad Day/Sad Day in LA

We had looked forward to the interview for so long and when it finally came on Wednesday 9/24, no decision was made. Mon was not denied but was not approved. The problem was her trips out of country. She had attended a citizenship class at a community college and they had advised her how to calculate her times out by counting every month as 30 days. I had already calculated it and my figure was 20 or 21 days more than the CC method. Well the IO also calculated it and he came up with my figure. I don't know, maybe that raised a red flag or something, like she was trying to put something over on CIS. I wish now that I had insisted on using the higher figure. She was out borderline 6 months. We visited her country and at the time did not know about the six month rule. Our fault, no doubt about it. Anyway her mother became ill and she stayed to help out and I came home. Soon after that I learned of the 6 month rule and told her to get on the next flight home and she got back a few days shy of 180 days. In addition to that trip she also traveled out on three other occasions, but by my count has been out of country less than 18 months. The IO could not figure out all the date stamps in her passport, which is understandable, so he made copies and I guess he is going to review the dates. He told her she would receive a letter from him in one week. I hope so. It is not fun to be in limbo. The form he gave her states that one can inquire about the status after 120 days.

Anybody know of anyone else who had this situation?

Interview Letter Received, Details in Signiature. Am I the last one in the thread? I think so.

Glad to see you got the IL. There aren't many of us left. I guess nobody will stay in contact after everyone has taken the Oath. Unless we all get together for a party in Las Vegas with jilanik.

Congratulations. When and to what field office did you file your N-400?

Our journey ended today. It was an emotional ceremony. I was able to apply for my US passport and was able to register to vote. It all went well. Wish everyone the success in the world.

Congratulations jilanik. You are done, done, done. I'm sure it's a great feeling.

Congratulations. It seems like everybody I've read about has been able to apply for passport and register to vote at the Ceremony, so I guess you will be able to do so also.

Got my oath letter today, September 12, 2008. The Journey is almost over.

Hey, congratulations. Things are moving pretty fast for you.

I'd like to learn some real history of the US not just the answers to a few questions. I've been looking all over and all I can find is ESL classes but nothing about history or prep for the test. Help?

Being near LA can mean a lot of places and many, many miles. I can tell you that both Pasadena City College and Glendale Community College offer classes in U.S. history. My wife took a Citizenship course at Glendale but it pretty much taught to the test. It was not a real history class. I would imagine your best bet would be your nearest community college or adult ed school.

I applaud you for wanting to learn more about our country. Good luck.

does it matter if you filed 2 months ago and had your finger prints cleared already and still did not get your Interview letter? are they over the backlog?

Depends on your District Office? Which DO has jurisdiction of your case?

its the calif one i will do my time line so u can know.

We filed at the California Service Center as you did, but so do people from Nevada and other states. There are several District Offices in California alone. You can find out which one will handle your case based on where you live. We are under the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles District Office which is much slower than others.

Well I had my interview today. It was very pleasant and professional. I was done with it in less then 20 minutes. The interviewer didn't need any of my paper work, or the extra pictures. Told me I should be getting a letter in 2 weeks for the oath ceremony. According to my interviewer I should be taking my oath on the 15th. Will keep everyone posted. Thank you again for all the help.

Congratulations jilanik. Slowly but surely I think we are all finally getting to the end of this process. I take it there were no surprises at your interview. All the questions were right out of the study materials and so forth?

does it matter if you filed 2 months ago and had your finger prints cleared already and still did not get your Interview letter? are they over the backlog?

Depends on your District Office? Which DO has jurisdiction of your case?

Based on the reports of four of our friends it is taking 3 months in L.A.

Yes, yes, yes! Oh happy day. See our post under Jan filers.

Holy I-797C Batman! The IL came today. I can't believe it. ID is September 24. Some people have been posting that maybe the CIS was attacking the problem from two directions; from July forward with some IOs skipping to apps filed in 2008. Apparently they were correct. We could have filed in Dec, but if we had, I'll bet we would not have received an NOA today. Happy, happy, happy! We finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Flava - is there a reason you won't post your timeline?? It would help in answering your questions, if you gave some more background - after all, you don't want to be ignored.

I agree Flava. We don't even know which DO and Service Center you are going through.

Congratulations. It must be wonderful to have this experience behind you.

According to the Los Angeles Times there were so many people going to the Oath Ceremonies on July 11, that they caused a traffic tie-up. An estimated 30,000 to 40,000 people. My question is, where are these people coming from? I know one person who took the Oath that day and her application was handled by the San Bernardino DO, and I think I read on one of the immigration sites about someone from Orange County taking the Oath. I wonder if there were any from LA DO. Out of 30,000 to 40,000 people I would expect at least a couple of them to be on this or other boards. Well maybe those new employees will make a difference. Some time. Some month. Some year.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lacc12-2008jul12,0,202184.story

nscvet, no update yet?

Not a word partner. Thanks for asking. I don't know what is going on at the LA DO. Congratulations to you. I hope the rest of your journey is fast and smooth.

We are so lucky that our immigration journey is complete and I am so proud to have shared something so special with my husband and daughter. I also feel very blessed to have been welcomed here, and I am proud to be part of this country.

Good luck to you all!

Congratulations and welcome.

Great news. Any movement at LA DO is cause for celebration.

Had a computer glitch so belated congratulations everyone.