Olga&Jared

That sound like one very unprofessional officer. I'm very sorry you had to deal with it! My guess is that the other person in line set her off but I'm sure they deal with it on a regular basis, and it shouldn't be used as an excuse to use someone as a punch bag. Especially in such unequal power dynamics. 

Regardless of the <deleted> experience, congratulations for making it through! 

I had my oath on November 15th.

Passport application submitted on November 17th.

Received my passport yesterday December 7th. 

I didn't pay for expedited processing, and I was told the wait would be 7-10 weeks. It ended up being much faster than that. 

I had my interview on October 25th, and I was given a "Decision can't be made" result even though an officer started my interview with going through I-751. There were no issues either, just them needing more time to review all my paperwork. It's very annoying but unfortunately it's common and the wait time differs depending on your local office and even depending on an officer. My status changed to approved/oath scheduled a week later. At the same time, I know a few other folks who passed I-751 + N-400 interviews at my local office, and they waited for 2,5 weeks and 4 weeks till status change. I think you'll hear from them within a month. 

Done with my oath. Sayonara USCIS 👋

Btw, laptops were allowed in the building. You'd just need to take them out at the security check. 

Got it! not going to risk it then @OldUser @Pbl  It's just going to be me so I'll just take a book. 

Does anyone know if laptops are allowed to oath ceremony? My oath is tomorrow, and I would like to work from a nearby coffee shop before I go in. Downtown SF is crazy these days and feels like a military base because of APEC, Biden and Xi are meeting tomorrow around the time of my oath 😅 So I want to make sure I make it there in advance but it's not my day off so I still need to do some work. Obviously, it's not end of the world if I can't, but just wondering. 

3 hours ago, Crazy Cat said:

I uploaded a request letter for combo interview in the additional evidence area of wife's USCIS N-400 document.  

Same. I don't know if it helped but I saw multiple cases here (mine included) that if you uploaded that letter then they schedule interview for both cases and status changes on both cases, too. Sometimes nothing changes for I-751 when they schedule your N-400 interview, so I think uploading this letter helps to speed things up, even in terms of having your I-751 relocate to your local office before the interview and not having to wait till they request it after passing it. 

4 hours ago, PaulaMarie said:

for my I-751, it says it was transferred to a different jurisdiction. I am assuming they just canceled my I-751 case since I applied for N-400 case. Yesterday, my case timeline said “case running late”. Now it’s back to 26 days.

 

Was it transferred right after you filed N-400 or recently? If it was transferred recently then it's a good sign. They can't cancel a case without making a decision on it so they will either approve it before you N-400 interview (it happens sometimes) or like @Crazy Cat was saying you'll have a combo interview. I had a combo interview as well. Also, do you have a 48 months extension letter?

18 hours ago, PaulaMarie said:

 

Yes I tried if I can ask them questions but this is what I got. I was thinking to get an infopass but thinking they will just ignore since the website says my case is processing normally.

 

I also had to wait for a while to be able to file a complaint about I-751 taking forever to process but they scheduled my N-400 + I-751 interview on the first day of when I could file this complaint. I don't know if it was a coincidence. I just checked your timeline and I see that you filed I-751 a few weeks after I did. If they didn't change the processing times in the last 2 months you should be able to send a complaint regarding that one. You can also call and ask which office currently has your I-751. If it's already in San Jose then they might schedule you very soon.

1 hour ago, OldUser said:

+1 @Olga&Jared I'd recommend applying for large passport book. It's not larger in size, but has more pages. It doesn't cost any more than regular passport book.

Also, passport card is a nice bonus if money isn't an issue. It serves as additional proof of US citizenship and identity. Could be used as a backup if something happens to the passport, though cannot be used for international air travel.

 

And lastly - you can pay a visit to SSA and update citizenship status. And register to vote.

 

Have fun!

That's a good idea regarding a larger book and a card! I'm so used to having my current passport stamped all over that getting a thin book is kinda scary 😅 

They approved my I-751 6 hours later. Phew! 

@OldUser @Crazy Cat Thank you, guys! I still can't believe it's almost over. I got so used to my bureaucratic abuser at this point, but I won't miss them! 😆

My Oath was scheduled for November 15th. Finally! The only thing is that the status on I-751 didn't change from "Interview was cancelled". Is it normal for them to schedule oath without approving the green card first? 

5 minutes ago, PaulaMarie said:

Just checking in again. Still no interview schedule from San Jose Field Office. I was looking at other timelines here in Visa Journey looks like it’s been 2 months since they last schedule an interview. Been away from my family for 5 years, wanna visit my home country them so bad. But I am stuck waiting for interview 🥲

I just checked that official processing time for N-400 at San Jose is at 7 months. Can you see if you can file a complaint about case being outside normal processing times at this point? I know how excruciatingly frustrating this wait is. Really hope they schedule you soon!

I have some movement on my cases. It's been a week since my combo interview. I-751 status changed to "Interview Cancelled And Notice Ordered", and N-400 changed to "Oath Ceremony Will Be Scheduled". 

4 minutes ago, Bryle said:

Wow that’s slooooow. Didn’t know it takes forever in SF. Basing on this timeline I should have my interview scheduled on April lol. Oh well.

If you only have one case pending (no I-751) they can schedule you sooner

44 minutes ago, Bryle said:

Has anyone here filed in San Francisco as well? Not scheduled yet. 😕

I filed in February this year and just had my interview last week. San Francisco office. 

15 hours ago, Mia99 said:

Hi, my understanding is that a single N-400 case outside the 120 days after the interview, this course of action might actually work. However when there is a pending I-751, in general a person can apply for N-400 but it will not be approved until I-751 is approved, and right now it takes around 2+ years to be approved. I don't think someone can apply for I-751 and then apply for N-400 to force I-751 to be resolved. Maybe consulting with an experienced lawyer might be helpful.

Well, people apply for N-400 not necessarily to speed things up but because they become eligible. Just because USCIS can't process things in some adequate amounts of time (I think anything over  18 months is inadequate) it doesn't mean people shouldn't go for it. It's true that local offices end up having more pressure to deal with I-751 cases but again, it's a beast of their own creation. There're already very minimal actions applicants can do to influence their case destiny, so not being able to sue them in situations like author is facing is ridiculous. 

I'm currently in this 120 wait post N-400 + I-751 interview, and my I-751 has been pending for 2 years. If I don't hear anything within this timeframe, Mandamus it is. Because what else? 

31 minutes ago, choeychoco said:

This morning I got an update in my USCIS account. They have scheduled my oath ceremony for Nov. 14. I am so excited I can’t wait. I’m finally one step closer to becoming a US citizen. God luck to everyone of us. 

Congratulations for successfully getting over with this quest! I also had an interview at SF office last Wednesday, but I'm still waiting for any status update from "Interview was scheduled". I wish they were more efficient. 

33 minutes ago, KenandBina said:

Did they give your foreign passport back? 

Yes, they didn't keep any documents. 

54 minutes ago, OldUser said:

Can you wait on renewing your passport until after the interview?

Some countries make it much more difficult to renew a passport if you decide to update it after an expiration date. For Russian passports, for example, you need to prove your citizenship first before being able to proceed with a new passport application. It just complicates things. I hope it's not the case for the author and he can wait. I agree with you that it would be the easiest option. 

16 minutes ago, mark08 said:

Hi, I have a question to those of you who have had your interviews yet. Did you need to bring your foreign passport to the interview or ceremony? Or was the green card + state ID / driver license enough? I will be renewing my passport soon so for a few weeks I won't have it, and if they schedule my interview during that time, what am I supposed to do? Reschedule it for later? 

I just had my interview this week, and I brought two passports. The one that I used to first enter the US 4 years ago that is now expired, and the new one that I just got earlier this year. An officer took both, scanned them, and then gave them back. In your case, maybe you can request a paper from your embassy saying that your new passport is in the works and they took your old one? For Russian passport renewals they never take away an actual passport that's why I don't know how common it is not to have it during renewal. In any case, would be good to have some sort of paper that you can show if your interview and passport renewal overlap. 

2 hours ago, KenandBina said:

Hi Everyone 

 

after a very long story which included having to contact my senator to get things unstuck, my oath ceremony has been scheduled for the 17 of Nov! 
 

I travelled to Jamaica and Canada between my interview which was May 4 and my scheduled oath ceremony, it says to bring travel documents with me… what documents do they want? Anyone know? 

Jesus that's a long wait! I'm so glad it's over for you. Hope time flies before November 17th. 

1 hour ago, Crazy Cat said:

For an I-751, the Green Card holder is the petitioner (and beneficiary).  The USC spouse signs the spouse area.  I think you will be fine.  Sometimes, they just like to look back over the case.  Keep checking the status.  You should see "Oath ceremony will be scheduled" (or something similar) for the N-400 soon.

Thank you for your positive perspective! I hope it will be over soon. 

I had my combo interview this morning in San Francisco office. It lasted 25 minutes or less. We were invited by an officer in time, no delays. At first, she went through our I-751 form asking questions about everything that we put there, no additional questions about our relationship. She also didn't ask for any documents. At the end of the application she told us that we signed it wrong. I originally signed it as a petitioner and my husband signed it as a beneficiary but she said it's not the right away and gave us a red pen to resign it next to our original signatures and put a new date on it. Then, she asked for my husband to leave and started a citizenship interview which I passed. She let me sign docs on a tablet regarding how my information is going to be displayed on a naturalization certificate. At the end though she said Congratulations, and gave me a paper saying that 'Decision can't be made' instead of 'Recommended for approval'. She said it's because of I-751, and that next steps will probably be scheduling an Oath ceremony. 

I'm a little confused because I double checked after the interview and it looks like we originally signed it correctly, that I am a petitioner for I-751. Or did I get it wrong? I'm a little nervous because of 'Decision can't be made' thing, especially given that she didn't ask me to provide any docs out of a 10-pounder that I printed and brought with me. My statuses still show "Interview was scheduled" for both N-400 and I-751.