BR26

Just had my combo interview. Only had the interview notice for N-400 (submitted Feb 2019) but went into the interview expecting both. Luckily it was a combo. This was the Fort Smith AR office. 

I had my partner with me and the officer went through the details of the pending I-751 (pending since Feb 2018) first. She asked basic questions and asked us to verify identities. Got done this in less than 10 mins.

Then age asked my partner to step out and started with the N-400 interview. She dived right into the civics test. I was asked the following:

1. Name a native American tribe.

2. Who lived in the US before Europeans arrived.

3. How many US senators are there?

4. When do we vote for President?

5. If President or VP can't be President, who becomes President?

6. Who was President during World War 2?

After that the English test went smoothly. And then after the run down checklist of questions, she said she is recommending me for approval.

In my case, I have requested for a name change and at the interview asked how long it would take for a judicial ceremony. She said it should be done by October. Hopefully that is the case.

I hope everyone else on here has a smooth interview. Good luck!

So I was able to travel to India and come back just fine. Here is my experience:

I booked my tickets through Air India. They assured me that an expired GC with I-797 and an unexpired passport are perfectly fine to travel with. The comfort factor isn't great with air India but at least they confirmed that I would be able to travel back.

So I went to India and spent a week in Bangalore. While returning back, at the Bangalore airport, I had two small hiccups. The check in agent had never seen the I-797 before. So I did have to argue a bit. Finally his manager came over, looked at the form and my expired GC and told me to issue the boarding passes.

The second hiccup was when I went to the immigration agent at the Bangalore airport. He pretended like he wasn't sure that the form is valid. So he engaged in some theatrics and then went to speak to his manager. His manager took one look at my GC and the I-797 and told his to let me through. Later as we walked back he said he knew the form is perfectly valid but he always has to check with his manager. So much bureaucracy lol. Perhaps Mumbai and Delhi airports are better.

Anyway, so I boarded the plane just fine and reached Delhi where I had to board the plane to SFO. The final check happened there with Air India security agents. They were completely familiar with the documents and let me through.

Finally after a 16 hour journey, reached SFO. I went to the US immigration agent  directly, skipping the check in counters. Gave him all my documents. He returned the I-797 and said he didn't need it. Just used my passport and expired GC to validate. He let me through after about 15 seconds. So pretty smooth experience.

And then I proceeded to board my domestic flight. So all in all expect for the few theatrics at the Bangalore airport, everything went well.

1 hour ago, cj777 said:

I travelled to India through Lufthansa and had to pay double the money to Qatar to come back...

So Qatar gave you no trouble then?

19 minutes ago, cj777 said:

Do not travel through Lufthansa...you can reach India with the expired GC and extension letter, but they will not let you board the flight from India with the same documents. They say its not a valid document for them. We had to purchase another expensive ticket to reach US.

Which airline did you use? I am thinking of going by Cathay Pacific.

14 minutes ago, cd37 said:

You need to get i 551 stamp in your passport and you will be just fine.

But my GC expires the 17th of this month. And travel is from 21st. They probably won't give me a stamp just yet.

Does anyone have any experience with boarding a flight to the US from India by showing the expired GC and the extension letter? Which airlines generally don't give any hassle?