silvermoon

I had my interview today at the Houston field office. My appointment was at 11:55am; I got there at 11:25am and went through security, then sat to wait in the waiting area. There were heaps of people (probably around 50), so I didn't get called until about 12:20.
 
The interview lady was very friendly. She had me swear to tell the whole truth and then took my fingerprints and picture. I then gave her my passport, green card, and driver's licence.
 
We began with the civics test:
 
1. What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress? (Senate and House of Representatives)
2. In what month do we vote for president? (November)
3. What is one responsibility that is only for United States citizens? (Serve on a jury)
4. What did Susan B. Anthony do? (Fought for women's rights)
5. Where is the Statue of Liberty? (Liberty Island in New York Harbor)
6. When do we celebrate Independence Day? (4th of July)
 
She then updated my application with my tax return from last year (including a bank statement I had brought showing we had paid what we owed on our taxes), a trip we had made to Canada last year, and the birth of our second baby four months ago. She kept complaining that the computer system is slow, so she interspersed the Yes/No questions in the middle of all of this, which was a little confusing, but the questions were all pretty easy.
 
There were only two questions that took me by surprise. One of the questions was about have you ever tortured anybody, but I guess they have to clarify that you understand what torture is... so in the middle of all my Yes/No questions, suddenly she asked "Can you describe a form of torture?" which caught me off guard! Super weird to ask that! (I responded with "waterboarding" in case anyone's curious, but I was so confused!) The other thing that was a surprise was when she was asking the Yes/No question about being prepared to make the Pledge of Allegiance; I said yes I was and then she asked if I could tell her what that meant. I hadn't memorized the Pledge yet :S but I gave the answer from the civics test to "What is one promise you make when you become a United States citizen?" (give up loyalty to other countries, promise to be loyal to the United States, defend the Constitution, etc) and that was fine. So technically I answered seven questions from the civics test! 
 
I did the reading and writing test (writing on an ipad which made my handwriting look awful haha) and then she asked me to confirm the changes that we'd made to my application and confirm my name was all correct for the naturalization certificate (everything was correct).
 
She then told me that she could NOT recommend me for approval at this point. **cue my face DROPPING because literally nothing had gone wrong and everything had been super easy** She could obviously tell that I was worried and was quick to let me know that it was only because the background checks program wasn't working as of that morning so no one was being recommended for approval until that could go through, which would probably be by the end of this week. It was a surprise to me because I thought they did background checks before the interview?? So I was surprised but she didn't sound worried and she gave me all the information for my naturalization ceremony including which gate to register at, so I think everything should be fine. I asked if I would make the April ceremony and she said maybe but probably May.
 
So that was my somewhat weird experience! If anyone else had their interview today, I'd be curious to see if they told you the same thing about the background checks and non-approval. But I'm so glad it's over!

Update: I had my interview last week on March 5. Got notice today that action has been taken on my case--application approved! Now to wait for the oath ceremony notice... anyone know when they usually show up online after approval?
 
Also my estimated case completion time changed from Feb 2020 (11 months) to June 2019 (3 months), although it says 4 months wait in the screenshot below. So who knows? I'm hoping I'll make either the April or May oath ceremony and not have to wait until June!
 

This is correct. I naturalized yesterday, 13 months after submitting the application. My estimated processing time was Feb 2020.
 
Naturalization ceremony was awesome! 2263 people naturalizing from 132 different countries. There are no restrictions on how many people you can bring to the Houston ceremony since M.O. Campbell Center is huge, so there were tons of people. 
 
Pro tip for the Houston ceremony... parking is INSANE. Get there as close to 7am (or earlier) as possible. We arrived at 7:15 (two kids under two to get ready!) and the east parking lot was already full. Yikes.
 
Best of luck for anyone still waiting! I don't know what to do with myself now that for the first time in a decade I don't have to worry about immigration!

Congrats! We'll be at the same ceremony! Not long to go now
 
Great news! I think my letter was up the very next day!

I had my interview today at the Houston field office. My appointment was at 11:55am; I got there at 11:25am and went through security, then sat to wait in the waiting area. There were heaps of people (probably around 50), so I didn't get called until about 12:20.
 
The interview lady was very friendly. She had me swear to tell the whole truth and then took my fingerprints and picture. I then gave her my passport, green card, and driver's licence.
 
We began with the civics test:
 
1. What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress? (Senate and House of Representatives)
2. In what month do we vote for president? (November)
3. What is one responsibility that is only for United States citizens? (Serve on a jury)
4. What did Susan B. Anthony do? (Fought for women's rights)
5. Where is the Statue of Liberty? (Liberty Island in New York Harbor)
6. When do we celebrate Independence Day? (4th of July)
 
She then updated my application with my tax return from last year (including a bank statement I had brought showing we had paid what we owed on our taxes), a trip we had made to Canada last year, and the birth of our second baby four months ago. She kept complaining that the computer system is slow, so she interspersed the Yes/No questions in the middle of all of this, which was a little confusing, but the questions were all pretty easy.
 
There were only two questions that took me by surprise. One of the questions was about have you ever tortured anybody, but I guess they have to clarify that you understand what torture is... so in the middle of all my Yes/No questions, suddenly she asked "Can you describe a form of torture?" which caught me off guard! Super weird to ask that! (I responded with "waterboarding" in case anyone's curious, but I was so confused!) The other thing that was a surprise was when she was asking the Yes/No question about being prepared to make the Pledge of Allegiance; I said yes I was and then she asked if I could tell her what that meant. I hadn't memorized the Pledge yet :S but I gave the answer from the civics test to "What is one promise you make when you become a United States citizen?" (give up loyalty to other countries, promise to be loyal to the United States, defend the Constitution, etc) and that was fine. So technically I answered seven questions from the civics test! 
 
I did the reading and writing test (writing on an ipad which made my handwriting look awful haha) and then she asked me to confirm the changes that we'd made to my application and confirm my name was all correct for the naturalization certificate (everything was correct).
 
She then told me that she could NOT recommend me for approval at this point. **cue my face DROPPING because literally nothing had gone wrong and everything had been super easy** She could obviously tell that I was worried and was quick to let me know that it was only because the background checks program wasn't working as of that morning so no one was being recommended for approval until that could go through, which would probably be by the end of this week. It was a surprise to me because I thought they did background checks before the interview?? So I was surprised but she didn't sound worried and she gave me all the information for my naturalization ceremony including which gate to register at, so I think everything should be fine. I asked if I would make the April ceremony and she said maybe but probably May.
 
So that was my somewhat weird experience! If anyone else had their interview today, I'd be curious to see if they told you the same thing about the background checks and non-approval. But I'm so glad it's over!

Hugs for you. We were in the same boat with conceiving... both our kiddos are IVF miracles ❤️ I know how demoralizing the wait can be.

So today I get to give the update I have been hoping to give since all of this nonsense began.
 
I received a flurry of text messages from USCIS this afternoon indicating that my case was updated. Puzzled but hopeful, I began to login to my online account, but before I could do so received a call from a Dallas number. They identified themselves as Officer SomebodyOrOther (I forget the name; I recall it wasn't the person who interviewed me) calling from the Dallas field office. They said they had received my case today, and had seen there was an issue. That she had gone ahead and reversed the denial and approved it, and could schedule me for an oath ceremony next Thursday afternoon, on Valentine's Day, if that would be ok. I said that would absolutely, completely, and totally be fine with me. She said she would mail out a copy of the letter today, and that I should receive it soon. I thanked her, and then called the congressional liaison working my case to let her know what had happened.
 
So... there we are. It's been a rough couple of weeks. I lost about 5 lbs the first week, which I can't say I'm unhappy about since I wanted to lose 10-15 lbs before the police academy begins later this year that I will hopefully (now) be attending, but this wasn't how I had planned on doing it.
 
I just want to say that the system works. And by the system I do not mean USCIS. Everyone who has read VJ for more than 5 minutes knows that USCIS is an inefficient and poorly run federal agency in drastic need of an overhaul. No, by system I mean the checks and balances of oversight of them. I'm not sure whether it was my congressman's office or the CIS Ombudsman that got this reversed. I'm choosing to believe a little of both. But to anyone whose naturalisation eligibility date is approaching, I would strongly urge you to wait just a day or two to head this issue off, unless you enjoy uncertainty and stupidity, in which case have at it.
 
My online USCIS account is currently showing no changes. It still indicates that my application is denied, and there's no oath letter there yet. Perhaps it will change, perhaps it won't. But the older case status site is showing my oath letter was mailed.
 
I'm glad to finally be able to put this behind me. Thanks to all the well-wishers here on VJ who have given public and private messages of support. It has been very much appreciated during what has not been a stellar couple of weeks up to now.

My interview has been scheduled! I'll update later in the week when I get my interview letter.
 
I applied March 1, 2018. My estimated completion date was February NEXT year. Stoked that it's not going to take that long!
 

I didn't find a lot of posts about what to expect and the length of the ceremony, so I'd like to share my experience here. IT'S FINALLY DONE! So glad that now I'm part of this great country. Houstonians beware: it will be crowded. And come early so that you can leave early. Good luck everyone!
 
5:30 am - woke up
6:25 am - arrived at the MO Campbell Center. There was already a line... I was assigned to section 9 and fortunately reported to the correct side (5-9 on the left). Your form would be inspected by 2 USCIS officials who would guide you to the correct line.
6:35 am - already in the hallway, handed in my GC and received a color paper. It will be useful later.
before 7 am - found a seat in the middle. Got my welcoming package.
7 - 9:15 am - checking in people. The door was officially closed by ~9:20 ish today.
9:40 am - USCIS supervisor gave a speech
10:00 am - the judge arrived, the official hearing process started.
We were asked to stand up to show our respects to the TX and the national flags. Then the judge interacted with the representative from USCIS, confirming that each applicant was eligible. (We had 2,300 people becoming citizens today) Then we took the oath, had two invited guest speakers, and sang two songs (the national anthem and God Bless the USA). The judge was really nice, he shared his inspiring stories and stayed really late to take photos with new citizens.
around 10:45 am - the official part of the oath ceremony was done, people were called out to collect their certificates by color. The first one was green, then pink, then yellow. I was definitely not the earliest as I stayed until my color, yellow, was called. I picked up my certificate at my previous section and briefly reviewed all details, ensuring that all information is correct.
11:07 am - I was out.
There were a lot of people, but it's structured. USCIS checked in people really fast. The ceremony started exactly at 10, which was good (I had an appointment in Bryan at 1 pm and was able to make it). Basically it's like a one-stop shop - you can register to vote, apply for passports, renew SSA information all in one place (reminder: a lot of people around though). So I would say come in early, sit back and enjoy. They offered coffee & donuts but I didn't get one
Good luck everybody! Hopefully you'd find this post helpful.
 
TL;DR: For Houstonians, the oath ceremony will take at least half a day.