yoda one for me

On 9/21/2023 at 3:13 PM, Malcolm said:

Hey folks!

Just got approved today! So excited so I'm just waiting for the Notice to come in the mail and let me know where my Oath Ceremony will be and when.

Had a quick question. I know the dress code recommended is "dress befitting of the Oath". With ceremonies (especially good ones like Marriages/Ceremonies etc) I usually wear my family kilt and dress shirt (obviously I will not bring decorative knives). But I was wondering if they would let me do that for the Oath ceremony or if they just want me to wear a suit. 

I saw in some Oath ceremony videos that folks from Ghana and Nigeria would wear their traditional clothing to their ceremonies but I have no idea what the expectations are (other than no flip flops and t-shirts etc).

Any guidance on this? 

Had my (administrative, not courthouse) oath this past Wednesday, there were men in 'casual suits' so no ties, and others wore a jacket over a collared shirt with nice jeans or non-matching trousers. No one was dressed super formally, and there was not much in the way of traditional dress iirc. There were some ladies in modest Islamic attire, and I want to say there was a woman in a shalwar kameez behind me but I don't remember super well.

If you want to wear your kilt, absolutely wear it. You might be the best dressed of your group but you certainly won't be inappropriately dressed. If your oath is as a courthouse I guess there's a possibility it might lean more smartly dressed overall but a kilt would still be appropriate!

Oath completed this morning! It was very anticlimactic at the USCIS field office - they were doing what the officer called an "abbreviated" ceremony every half hour so it was just the oath in a big group and no other fluff. Got my certificate and now all I've got to do is the passport application, update SSA with my status, and register to vote.

Such a relief to be done with USCIS stuff now!  

Update: they rescheduled me for the following week - hopefully that one goes ahead!

On 8/25/2023 at 4:01 PM, yoda one for me said:

Status updated today - they scheduled my oath and sent a notice. Looks like I'm set for September 13th for the oath! Exciting!

Spoke too soon - just got a status update. My oath has been de-scheduled "due to unforeseen circumstances" so now I'm back to 'Oath will be scheduled'.

What a bummer. I'm so disappointed! Hope I don't have to wait too long I already scheduled other stuff around this appointment. Oh well.

3 hours ago, Rocio0010 said:

I just read this. Congrats! I have my interview tomorrow at 8:00 am at the Columbus Field Office!! I wanted to ask you, did they give you a paper after the interview? What did the paper say? And did you have any online status update after your interview?

As Marrienne said, they give you a sheet there and then saying that you passed your civics and are recommended for approval. (It's a series of empty checkboxes for different kinds of scenarios but ofc mine was just checked on passing civis and 'congrats you're recommended for approval!').

I am pretty sure my status updated the same day to say that I was in line for oath scheduling, too. I didn't get a questionnaire given to me, but it looks like that's attached to the oath schedule letter which is yet to arrive (but I could see the PDF online)

1 hour ago, Marrienne said:

Me too!!!! I wonder if the dates are fixed because I am in a different  state.

 

Yours is in WI right?

Yep, I'll be back in Milwaukee. Someone else in WI has theirs on the 14th iirc but that's at the courthouse - mine's at the USCIS field office. I was actually sat near the door to the naturalization ceremony room there while I was waiting for my interview lol.

Status updated today - they scheduled my oath and sent a notice. Looks like I'm set for September 13th for the oath! Exciting!

13 hours ago, futurecoloradogrl said:

Also wondered how much notice to typically expect for the interview? I'm planning on going home to the UK for a few weeks really soon, and would pay to change my return ticket if timing worked out really badly; hoping it won't come to that. I only had 10 days notice for my biometrics appointment so hoping it won't be quite so last-minute!

I got about 5 weeks between 'interview was scheduled' and the interview date. Based on what I remember seeing other posting, I'm under the impression 4-5 weeks is a pretty normal amount of time between the notice and the actual interview.

1 minute ago, Emw2290 said:

Just got our notice today. It’s for September 14th. But he’s shortening his name so he has to do his oath at the courthouse. We aren’t sure if that really makes a difference. 

Oh cool! That's not too bad of a wait to be done with all this!

On 8/2/2023 at 12:28 PM, Emw2290 said:

My husband passed the interview!!

We had thought it would take about 20 minutes once called back, but it actually took over an hour. The letter does say to allow up to 2 hours.
His appointment was scheduled at 2pm, the officer was running 25 minutes behind. Once started the civics questions were super fast, but then the officer had several questions about the application and my husband’s immigration history. It was very confusing for the officer to understand. Back story: my husband was illegal as a minor, returned to Brazil as a minor, never deported, never pretended to be a citizen. His father has since naturalized but never sponsored his son. The officer asked if he had a copy of his father’s naturalization certificate (we do not since it wasn’t related to any of our applications). We had submitted a letter explaining all of this in all our prior files so why it came up in the interview I don’t really understand, but whatever. 
Our finances were also scrutinized. My job confuses people. I travel for work and our taxes are complicated. But our permanent address and tax home is Wisconsin. 

It’s a good thing I sent him in with ALL our original documents going back to K1. 

I don’t remember if I ever posted that our ROC was approved about 3 weeks prior, so this was not a combo interview. 

Glad it’s over. Hoping to get our oath date soon!! 

Congrats! Did they give you an idea of how long the wait for the oath is at Milwaukee?

On 6/13/2023 at 12:56 AM, justmarriedusciti said:

I recently got my 10 year green card

58 minutes ago, justmarriedusciti said:

 I got a temporary removal of conditions (they gave me 4 years extension while doing due diligence)

You've contradicted yourself and don't have a timeline filled out which makes it hard to help you. Which is it?

If you got your 10 year green card - the actual plastic card - before you and your spouse separated (i.e while the marriage was still intact and you were actually together as a couple) then you're probably fine and can apply for Naturalization at 5 years without issue.

If you ONLY have your expired card and a temporary extension letter, you will need to contact USCIS and convert to a divorce waiver (and send them a copy of the divorce decree). You 100% need the decree for this and you 100% need to act on this so your ROC doesn't get approved while you wait.

It is critical that your conditions are removed correctly - if you were applying based on continuing marriage to a USC you now need a divorce waiver. If you sit quiet and let them approve it interview-free after the date the divorce has gone through, you will not be able to naturalize as your green card will have been issued wrongly!

Citizenship should no longer be on your radar until you can tidy up the Removal of Conditions process and ensure your 10 year card is issued correctly for your current status.

My ROC case just got approved so looks like I definitely won't be having a combo interview in a few weeks 😆 Nice to actually know!

I just updated my entry in the google sheet but here we go -

Applied for ROC at the end of March 2022, assigned to the dreaded LIN.

Biometrics were waived.

Applied for N400 January 2023. (Interview scheduled for late August.)

No update to the ROC until today Aug 1 2023 - New card being produced. No ROC or Combo interview!

I just received a notification from my status tracker app that New Card is Being Produced.

They approved my ROC without interview 🥲

23 hours ago, cocoVA said:

 

congrats!

 

On 07/11/2023 I received a notice that interview was scheduled for my N-400 as well.

 

When is your interview in August? 

Nice! Mine is Aug 22nd, so still a bit away

37 minutes ago, Rocio0010 said:

WOHOOOOO!!! My 751 got approved today!!!

Oh that's awesome news! Congrats! Hopefully your N400 interview isn't far off being scheduled! 🤞

(I'm hoping this means LIN might get around to looking at my ROC file too and approving it soon now too lol)

4 hours ago, jnmee said:

Congrts! 

 

Please let us know how it went after your interview  

I'm assuming you didnt do anything extra to expedite your N400 right? 

No special or extra actions, nope! Just been sitting and waiting and estimating I'd get something in August based on what other folks with the same local office got

No update to my ROC case but I just got a notice that my N400 interview is scheduled. No mention on the notice as to whether it is a combo or not, but we'll see. Fingers crossed this means the end is in sight

4 hours ago, Emw2290 said:

Did get notice online yesterday for interview in Milwaukee August 1st. 

That agent visit sounds like it was a really weird experience but congrats on the ROC approval and getting a citizenship interview date! I'm curious, did your ROC file ever get transferred out of LIN to the local office? Some people report a status change before anything happens. Both my ROC and N400 statuses are still the same as they were months ago, but I'm hoping someone looking at your file (and obviously deciding to send agents over to check up on you 🤯) means they'll get to mine at some point soon!

2 hours ago, coco3542 said:

 

hey, any updates?

I filed I751 in 02/2022 and then N400 on 05/2023 (since 3 years of LPR). I also got an immadiate notice that my biometrics are added to my N400 so no need for a new appointment. Was just curious about your case.

Nope, still nothing.

I'm assuming it'll be later in the summer if/when anything starts to wake up and move so in the meantime I'm just carrying on with life and checking status periodically.

1 hour ago, Michael Tomiak said:

Thanks @yoda one for me - this was really helpful, as I've had the exact same question (moving form UK>US this summer). Interesting to see all the less-than-helpful responses to your original questions above. 

 

Can you please confirm which airline you flew with (was it BA? That's who I am flying with), and where from. 
I will be coming from London Heathrow to Chicago O'Hare.

I've had customs broker/agent fees estimated at almost three times the cost of yours which sees very very very high - especially as I will be at the airport to pick pick up. 
It seems astonishing that the owners can't the customs clearance and pick up ourselves, given it should be paperwork for questions I will be able to answer. 

Do you think regulations may have changed post covid? Would really helpful to know a bit more about your experience. 

I flew separately from my dog, a week earlier, and left him with family until the shipping company collected him the day before his flight. The shipping company did fly him Heathrow to O'Hare and it was BA/British Airways.

The BA cargo area is quite a way from the main terminals, we drove straight there (from Wisconsin) as we weren't already at the airport. Are you renting a car? You may need to drive around the airport campus to the BA cargo area. There was a parking lot and a small indoor reception where you do the paperwork. It's not difficult, it's just a bit of a faff. There was nothing complex on the paperwork, I dont remember exactly as it was a few years ago now but I think it was all confirming ID, paperwork being correct, the ID of the dog, vaccinations docs, liability. Nothing you need to be an 'official' person to sign off on tbh. If you're on the same flight maybe they'll be accommodating and bring your pet to you? I'm not sure how that works. 

No idea about post-Covid changes unfortunately. The reception area wasn't busy when I picked my boy up, there were lots of people working in the office and in the back of the loading area. 

As a tip, bring some pet-safe sanitary wet-wipes. Doggo had (expectedly) peed on the journey and smelt a bit. There was a pee-pad in his crate but he still got some on him, bless him. We had a blanket down in the car for him anyway and then bathed him properly once we got home. Also, bring a collar and leash (sometimes they get lost if they were attached to your crate). There is green space where you can let your dog stretch their legs but it's very vehicle heavy so keep them safe on a leash.

On 4/20/2023 at 11:22 PM, Emw2290 said:

You’re not alone. We’re still waiting. No word on movement/transfer of ROC either.  @yoda one for me have you heard anything from Milwaukee? 

Not yet, looks like some folks who put in their N400 last October got their interview and this month and oath next month so I'm assuming I won't hear much on my case til sometime in late Summer.

13 hours ago, Vin&Vish said:

Hi All,

My wife came here in the US on K1 visa. We filed AOS(I-485) concurrently with EAD (I-765) and AP (I-131).

She was approved and received EAD couple months ago.

She got approved for AOS today.

But no updates on AP (Travel Permit)

 

My question is, do we even need AP anymore now that our AOS is approved. Does Green card supersede the AP?

Don't have to worry about AP or EAD at all once the green card is in hand.

She may receive an update on the AP saying "benefit received by other means" or something like that at some point (as i did when my AOS was approved in advance of EAD/AP) so don't panic. Just means they closed the case because it's not needed anymore. Green card is king. The 'conditional' part only means you have to apply to remove conditions, it still has the same "power" as a 10 year card with regards to travel & work permission.