eckoin

Just had my N400 interview at the Portland OR field office. Appointment at 9am, they let me bring my coffee inside, started at 9:20am.
 
Got the six questions including the Federalist Papers one that I don't think a single American knows the answer to. Went through the rest of the form. I did end up mentioning my red light camera ticket I got after I applied, got a chuckle, we moved on. 
 
Got to see the entirety of my USCIS history and it was like four inches tall. I'm sure some of yours will be even higher. Jarring. 
 
At the end, I was asked if I wanted to do the oath right then and there. I said of course. The officer reminded me that I'll have to surrender my green card so I better not have any immediate travel booked. No ma'am. Took the oath in the same interview room, told to go downstairs and wait for my certificate. 20 minutes later, got my certificate and I'm now a US citizen! 
 
Super easy and no games. Everyone was super nice. Within an hour literally the whole process was completed and you're done with USCIS! 
 
Good luck everyone! 

Just had my N400 interview at the Portland OR field office. Appointment at 9am, they let me bring my coffee inside, started at 9:20am.
 
Got the six questions including the Federalist Papers one that I don't think a single American knows the answer to. Went through the rest of the form. I did end up mentioning my red light camera ticket I got after I applied, got a chuckle, we moved on. 
 
Got to see the entirety of my USCIS history and it was like four inches tall. I'm sure some of yours will be even higher. Jarring. 
 
At the end, I was asked if I wanted to do the oath right then and there. I said of course. The officer reminded me that I'll have to surrender my green card so I better not have any immediate travel booked. No ma'am. Took the oath in the same interview room, told to go downstairs and wait for my certificate. 20 minutes later, got my certificate and I'm now a US citizen! 
 
Super easy and no games. Everyone was super nice. Within an hour literally the whole process was completed and you're done with USCIS! 
 
Good luck everyone! 

Just had my N400 interview at the Portland OR field office. Appointment at 9am, they let me bring my coffee inside, started at 9:20am.
 
Got the six questions including the Federalist Papers one that I don't think a single American knows the answer to. Went through the rest of the form. I did end up mentioning my red light camera ticket I got after I applied, got a chuckle, we moved on. 
 
Got to see the entirety of my USCIS history and it was like four inches tall. I'm sure some of yours will be even higher. Jarring. 
 
At the end, I was asked if I wanted to do the oath right then and there. I said of course. The officer reminded me that I'll have to surrender my green card so I better not have any immediate travel booked. No ma'am. Took the oath in the same interview room, told to go downstairs and wait for my certificate. 20 minutes later, got my certificate and I'm now a US citizen! 
 
Super easy and no games. Everyone was super nice. Within an hour literally the whole process was completed and you're done with USCIS! 
 
Good luck everyone! 

Just had my N400 interview at the Portland OR field office. Appointment at 9am, they let me bring my coffee inside, started at 9:20am.
 
Got the six questions including the Federalist Papers one that I don't think a single American knows the answer to. Went through the rest of the form. I did end up mentioning my red light camera ticket I got after I applied, got a chuckle, we moved on. 
 
Got to see the entirety of my USCIS history and it was like four inches tall. I'm sure some of yours will be even higher. Jarring. 
 
At the end, I was asked if I wanted to do the oath right then and there. I said of course. The officer reminded me that I'll have to surrender my green card so I better not have any immediate travel booked. No ma'am. Took the oath in the same interview room, told to go downstairs and wait for my certificate. 20 minutes later, got my certificate and I'm now a US citizen! 
 
Super easy and no games. Everyone was super nice. Within an hour literally the whole process was completed and you're done with USCIS! 
 
Good luck everyone! 

Wow! Congrats, talk about smooth sailing!
I have a ways to go with waiting on my interview, but fingers crossed I have as little trouble as possible!

Just had my N400 interview at the Portland OR field office. Appointment at 9am, they let me bring my coffee inside, started at 9:20am.
 
Got the six questions including the Federalist Papers one that I don't think a single American knows the answer to. Went through the rest of the form. I did end up mentioning my red light camera ticket I got after I applied, got a chuckle, we moved on. 
 
Got to see the entirety of my USCIS history and it was like four inches tall. I'm sure some of yours will be even higher. Jarring. 
 
At the end, I was asked if I wanted to do the oath right then and there. I said of course. The officer reminded me that I'll have to surrender my green card so I better not have any immediate travel booked. No ma'am. Took the oath in the same interview room, told to go downstairs and wait for my certificate. 20 minutes later, got my certificate and I'm now a US citizen! 
 
Super easy and no games. Everyone was super nice. Within an hour literally the whole process was completed and you're done with USCIS! 
 
Good luck everyone! 

Just had my N400 interview at the Portland OR field office. Appointment at 9am, they let me bring my coffee inside, started at 9:20am.
 
Got the six questions including the Federalist Papers one that I don't think a single American knows the answer to. Went through the rest of the form. I did end up mentioning my red light camera ticket I got after I applied, got a chuckle, we moved on. 
 
Got to see the entirety of my USCIS history and it was like four inches tall. I'm sure some of yours will be even higher. Jarring. 
 
At the end, I was asked if I wanted to do the oath right then and there. I said of course. The officer reminded me that I'll have to surrender my green card so I better not have any immediate travel booked. No ma'am. Took the oath in the same interview room, told to go downstairs and wait for my certificate. 20 minutes later, got my certificate and I'm now a US citizen! 
 
Super easy and no games. Everyone was super nice. Within an hour literally the whole process was completed and you're done with USCIS! 
 
Good luck everyone! 

Apparently not true. My best friends husband had his last year under the 3 year rule and I swore to her that she absolutely she needed to go with him and I was convinced that it was mandatory.
 
Well after he went alone and came with an approval, I had to eat crow and accept I was wrong. I don’t know if it’s because of Covid (and social distancing) however apparently they dropped that requirement if it ever existed.
 
Regarding the OP’s questions about what documents to bring, my response is compiling all those documents won’t take an hour and carrying them won’t weigh a quarter of a pound, so what do you lose by taking them along? Nothing. What could happen by not taking them along? An RFE (although unlikely) which could delay your process. So out of an abundance of caution just carry them along!
 
Cheers

We recently did a naturalization in Boston. Read your letter that you get. If it says to bring him then do it. If Not leave him and the dogs at home. Bring everything you submitted when you filed. Chances are they wont ask for it but if you need it you have it. Bring all the originals and his proof of citicenship and marriage Cert should be there if you do that. Study your questions and relax. If you had no issues with anything else you should breeze through this. Same day oath depends on office.Boston does same day Oaths but while we were approved that same day Oath was 8 weeks later. Depends which way the wind is blowing apparently. God Speed!

You are absolutely correct in NOT being required to bring  hubby to N-400 ( w previously approved I-751). 
 
Bring your passport/ id , green card , marriage certificate.
 
Physical copies of 3 years of taxes ( but you can create IRS account and print out the  IRS Transcript for each year instead, a LOT LESS paper and they prefer it anyway) Nothing else required .
 
This Traffic ticket NOT REQUIRED 
 
The only way to know if your particular Field Office is doing same day oath ceremony is to contact USCIS, post the name of Field Office here and hope someone who recently attended an interview responds. 
 
I wish you a fabulous experience and even wish the location was closer/ circumstances different… so your family ( husband and children ) could share it with you. Congratulations 
 
 

How do you think people apply for H1B and TN visas? Of course some recruiters will skip your application, and plenty won't. What dumb advice.
 
Go ahead and apply for jobs, answer truthfully that you don't currently have work authorization. If you interview and get an offer, you would use that offer letter to expedite the EAD and let the company know you can't start until 3-4 weeks after they give you an offer. 
 
Contrary to silly stuff in this thread, there is a plethora of people doing just this and employers who don't need you immediately have no issues with this. You don't even require sponsorship, which is the biggest turnoff for employees due to costs and waiting times. 

Here's the main thread: 
You call USCIS, ask them to please submit a request to expedite your EAD. They will ask you on which criterium, you select severe financial loss. They will ask you to explain. Make sure to explain properly--you have a job offer and you want to accept this job offer because X, where X is, bills to pay, to advance your career, benefits you need, etc. Be thorough yet succinct. The rep on the phone will write this down, give you an SR number the status of which you can check online under your I-765 status (old site). Within a week or so, an officer will review these notes and either email or mail you a request for information. When you receive this (1-10 days, depending on whether the officer chooses to mail or email), you will fax your evidence to the specified number/ATTN. You will include a cover letter from yourself explaining the situation, the job offer letter, and any other supporting evidence you wish to include (if any). Then you wait. 
 
It seems that most people who get approved, get approved at about the 3-week mark, plus one week to get the card in the mail. Some may take longer. 
 
Those who get denied, tend to be denied before USCIS asks for additional evidence. I therefore believe it's because they did not provide enough information on the phone that the officer considers valid. A job offer, so far, has been very much valid, for many people. So the trick must be in what you say on the phone and how you say it. You need to provide the reason for financial loss, as well as the fact that you do have a solution (job offer). 

The best thing that can come of out of OP's extremely unfortunate--and in my opinion unfair but laws are laws etc--experience, is that it can be referred to when people throw out "overstays are forgiven for spouses!" spiel. 
 
Sure, but the major caveat is that you cannot come into contact with police or immigration officers. And many people think that translates to, "don't break any laws," which means they've never been in a car accident in the US, at fault or not. Let alone just being asked for identification in general--just coming into contact with any representative of the law can put your status in question. This is why some people refuse to act as witnesses. 
 
OP - thank you for posting your horrible experience, and I do think people can learn from it. I hope it gets sorted out sooner than later. 

Probably am. Never have been the type for not overthinking this stuff, and it's certainly proving true so far, to at least my spouse's chagrin. I think I have a plan now. Thanks! 

I also decided to be honest about my administrative ticket I went to court for in 2003 (never arrested). Had no records or disposition. USCIS agent told me it did not come up on their background check. Yet, since i mentioned it, they demanded paperwork and disposition before making decision. Went to Circuit Court and they pretty much said i was an idiot, like why did you even bring it up to them ? Had to file FOIR request to lookup any records under my name, none was found (got emailed letter). So, yeah, be prepared for something like that. I am pretty sure they will make me run around hoops to obtain more proof this time as well when n400 interview comes up.

I’m all for being honest! It’s the way to go…I even added a ticket from 2003 and then in 2020 I requested & received the evidence from the court that the ticket had been paid. No issues at all after the application submission and was not even discussed during my interview. So what is there to lose by being honest? 
 
I just don’t think this is what they mean with that particular question. Why?
 
“or offense for which you were NOT arrested”. Is what you did an offense worthy of arrest but you got away with it? Now if you had robbed a bank and was not arrested then you should say “yes” and add details 🤟

@DJClaire not every piece of evidence needs to be joint. For example, even if the gas bill is only on your name and the electric bill is on your spouse's name, both bills will naturally display the same address, which in turn serves as evidence of cohabitation. If you pay both bills from your joint account, point that out on your cover letter. If you pay them out of your personal accounts, then present personal bank statements and explain how you pay for joint responsibilities. 

Fyi my daughter’s n400 was processed by a different FO but she had her actual interview at the one our zip code falls under. 
 
If you haven’t submitted yet I’d recommend online filing.

You can look up your FO by zip code, scroll down to the end of this page https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-a-uscis-office/field-offices
 
No, there is no form for this. You can add a cover letter if you file by mail, or upload under additional documents if you file online. If you’ve already filed, then yes a letter to the FO once you have your interview date would probably be the way to do it.
 
 

The FO would need to have the arrangements in advance for same day interviews (you’ll need a time slot and someone to administer the oath, the ability for the FO to print a naturalization certificate the same day, etc). If the FO does not normally do same day then you certainly must request in advance- still no guarantee, but a better chance than if you just ask at interview. 

I think you are referring to combo interviews. When you file N400 and your ROC is pending, if by the time your N400 interview is scheduled, If ROC is still pending, then is very likely they conduct a combo interview where first they interview both spouses for the ROC part and for Naturalization they only interview the petitioner. No matter what I have never heard a naturalization interview where the spouse is required to attend.

Haven't yet seen a single case where the US spouse was required to be at the N-400 interview unless there was also a pending i-751.
 
Have however seen several cases where the US spouse did show up and was turned away at the door. My own husband too, he was sent down from the 6th floor to wait in the lobby on the first floor, wasn't even allowed in the USCIS waiting room.

And yet some people sent quarterly bank statements and USCIS sent RFEs for a full collection of dead trees. 
 
I personally would send absolutely everything, including the marriage certificate and the bio passport pages (we did); with that said, I sent: 
 
* Every single joint account statement since Sept. 2019 because we didn't have one before that - married in 2017.  I included a one-sentence explanation that we joined accounts when purchasing our home together. 
* Almost nothing related to us living together prior to Sept. 2019, because my spouse also owned his home outright and we never bothered with adding me to the deed or utility bills.  Similar situation during AOS, where we just had half the bills in his name, and half the bills in my name. 
* Included the homeowners/auto/health/dental/etc. insurance current as of the submission date only.  Did include the title documents together for the new home, obviously, but the data goes back to two years into our marriage is my point, but I explained why. 
* The first bill for utilities (2019), and the last bill for utilities, which were in both names.  Not printing every bill even if I could get each one.  Some companies show the last X bills only, or you have to request them and no one has time for that. 
 
So I say, if you have it, include it; if you don't have it, explain why and move on.  But don't just skip things without clarifying why.  My interview was waived and I was approved without issues, but everyone's mileage will vary, clearly. 

You haven't had anything good to say about your ex who is long gone and it's still eating at you.  Doesn't seem like you're having a happy life.

While I am sympathic to your plight, you are blaming everyone else for your problems and your hurt.

It's the US Government's fault for giving you what you asked for - a visa and green card for your spouse.  They should have denied him a visa.  If they had denied his visa, you would have sued because it's not right to keep a husband from his wife.  

There's no winning with some people.  It's always someone else's fault.  
 
Take responsibility that you when through the entire immigration process asserting to the US Government that your relationship was legitimate.  You pursued the case.  No one forced you to do it.

So the basis of the case would be that USCIS, DOS etc. have a duty of care to a petitioner to make sure they are not duped.
 
And that in processing a visa they were not diligent in ensuring that did not happen somehow.
 
An interesting argument and one that I could see apply in other areas. For example could you sue the DMV for issuing a drivers license to someone who was then involved in an accident in which you were injured?