dleen

And it's a wrap. My wife became a US. Citizen today. POE - Jan 10, 2020. Citizen - 03/09/2023.

And it's a wrap. My wife became a US. Citizen today. POE - Jan 10, 2020. Citizen - 03/09/2023.

And it's a wrap. My wife became a US. Citizen today. POE - Jan 10, 2020. Citizen - 03/09/2023.

And it's a wrap. My wife became a US. Citizen today. POE - Jan 10, 2020. Citizen - 03/09/2023.

And it's a wrap. My wife became a US. Citizen today. POE - Jan 10, 2020. Citizen - 03/09/2023.

And it's a wrap. My wife became a US. Citizen today. POE - Jan 10, 2020. Citizen - 03/09/2023.

Update:
N400 Case Status: Oath Ceremony was Mailed. Oath ceremony date: March 09, 2023. (Chicago Field Office)
I-751 Case Status: Changed today morning from "Case was Received" to "Case was approved".

****

Interview Experience:
Field Office: Chicago

Green card: CR1

N400 filed: Oct 2022

N400 Interview Date: 15 Feb 2023

Notes: I-751 pending since Oct 2021. (Case status: Case was Received) 


  My wife passed her Citizenship interview today. To our surprise, we had a combo I-751 interview, and the officer asked a lot of questions. The I-751 interview lasted almost 25 minutes.
 
Field Office Experience:
Both my wife and I were allowed to enter the building. We went to the 3rd floor to check in and told the agent that the N400 interview was scheduled and that we had a pending joint I-751 petition. Then the agent sent us to the 2nd Floor, and we were checked in again. The agent stamped the N400 interview letter suggesting pending I-751.


  I-751 Interview:

The immigration officer called both of us at 8.05 a.m. She said that she'll conduct the I-751 interview first. She asked my wife her DOB, current address, previous address, date of marriage, when was the green card issued, my wife's phone number. (My wife forgot her phone number and completely blanked out)

She then asked me my DOB and address, when we moved into the new home.

Once she checked our original Ids (passports, driving license and GC/extension letter), she asked us why we didn’t have any children yet. We told her about my wife's Cancer Diagnosis.


 
She then asked us for Marriage evidence that we'd bought to the interview:

She asked us for the current lease, bank statements, utility bills, tax transcripts and photographs. We luckily had everything ready.

We also provided her with our 2022 Tax return and 2022 W2s. We gave her letter from the Oncologist too.


 
She then asked me to wait in the waiting area while she conducted my wife's N400 interview.


 
N400 Interview.

Civics Test:

1. Who is your state senator?

2. What Ocean is on the East?

3. What Ocean is on the West?

4. When was the constitution Written?

5. Who was the first president?

6. How many senators are there?


 
While she uploaded the documents, she asked more about the Cancer Diagnosis -- Type, Stage etc.


 
Then she handed her the N652 and recommended her name for Approval.


 
Overall, the experience was good, but a lot of questions were asked in the I-751 interview.

I highly recommend carrying as much evidence as possible including Photographs, joint finances, and lease agreements.


 
****

I'm sorry that the interview portrayed was negative. The officer asked the questions in good faith after the interview was approved. Revealing the Cancer diagnosis was our choice, so wouldn't want to shift blame on the officer.

Thank you!
 
We were surprised because it was not explicitly mentioned as a Combo interview. Neither was our case transferred from NBC (or at least the case status didn't suggest so).
 
We were asked whether we'd like to waive our right for the attorney to be present. We said yes. More importantly, in our opinion, our case had ample proof and low risk. So our attorney didn't need to have been present there.
 
As mentioned above, the questions about my wife's health were asked in good faith after the approval of the interview and while the officer was uploading the documents. It was my wife's choice to reveal the diagnosis and it was the true reason for why we didn't have kids yet. There was more concern from the officer than interrogation -- Definitely in good faith.

Update:
N400 Case Status: Oath Ceremony was Mailed. Oath ceremony date: March 09, 2023. (Chicago Field Office)
I-751 Case Status: Changed today morning from "Case was Received" to "Case was approved".

Update:
N400 Case Status: Oath Ceremony was Mailed. Oath ceremony date: March 09, 2023. (Chicago Field Office)
I-751 Case Status: Changed today morning from "Case was Received" to "Case was approved".

Update:
N400 Case Status: Oath Ceremony was Mailed. Oath ceremony date: March 09, 2023. (Chicago Field Office)
I-751 Case Status: Changed today morning from "Case was Received" to "Case was approved".

Thank you!
 
We were surprised because it was not explicitly mentioned as a Combo interview. Neither was our case transferred from NBC (or at least the case status didn't suggest so).
 
We were asked whether we'd like to waive our right for the attorney to be present. We said yes. More importantly, in our opinion, our case had ample proof and low risk. So our attorney didn't need to have been present there.
 
As mentioned above, the questions about my wife's health were asked in good faith after the approval of the interview and while the officer was uploading the documents. It was my wife's choice to reveal the diagnosis and it was the true reason for why we didn't have kids yet. There was more concern from the officer than interrogation -- Definitely in good faith.

****

Interview Experience:
Field Office: Chicago

Green card: CR1

N400 filed: Oct 2022

N400 Interview Date: 15 Feb 2023

Notes: I-751 pending since Oct 2021. (Case status: Case was Received) 


  My wife passed her Citizenship interview today. To our surprise, we had a combo I-751 interview, and the officer asked a lot of questions. The I-751 interview lasted almost 25 minutes.
 
Field Office Experience:
Both my wife and I were allowed to enter the building. We went to the 3rd floor to check in and told the agent that the N400 interview was scheduled and that we had a pending joint I-751 petition. Then the agent sent us to the 2nd Floor, and we were checked in again. The agent stamped the N400 interview letter suggesting pending I-751.


  I-751 Interview:

The immigration officer called both of us at 8.05 a.m. She said that she'll conduct the I-751 interview first. She asked my wife her DOB, current address, previous address, date of marriage, when was the green card issued, my wife's phone number. (My wife forgot her phone number and completely blanked out)

She then asked me my DOB and address, when we moved into the new home.

Once she checked our original Ids (passports, driving license and GC/extension letter), she asked us why we didn’t have any children yet. We told her about my wife's Cancer Diagnosis.


 
She then asked us for Marriage evidence that we'd bought to the interview:

She asked us for the current lease, bank statements, utility bills, tax transcripts and photographs. We luckily had everything ready.

We also provided her with our 2022 Tax return and 2022 W2s. We gave her letter from the Oncologist too.


 
She then asked me to wait in the waiting area while she conducted my wife's N400 interview.


 
N400 Interview.

Civics Test:

1. Who is your state senator?

2. What Ocean is on the East?

3. What Ocean is on the West?

4. When was the constitution Written?

5. Who was the first president?

6. How many senators are there?


 
While she uploaded the documents, she asked more about the Cancer Diagnosis -- Type, Stage etc.


 
Then she handed her the N652 and recommended her name for Approval.


 
Overall, the experience was good, but a lot of questions were asked in the I-751 interview.

I highly recommend carrying as much evidence as possible including Photographs, joint finances, and lease agreements.


 
****

Thank you!
 
We were surprised because it was not explicitly mentioned as a Combo interview. Neither was our case transferred from NBC (or at least the case status didn't suggest so).
 
We were asked whether we'd like to waive our right for the attorney to be present. We said yes. More importantly, in our opinion, our case had ample proof and low risk. So our attorney didn't need to have been present there.
 
As mentioned above, the questions about my wife's health were asked in good faith after the approval of the interview and while the officer was uploading the documents. It was my wife's choice to reveal the diagnosis and it was the true reason for why we didn't have kids yet. There was more concern from the officer than interrogation -- Definitely in good faith.

Update: We received the new interview letter in mail yesterday. N400 interview tomorrow. Appreciate the help.

Update: We received the new interview letter in mail yesterday. N400 interview tomorrow. Appreciate the help.

Typically when the N400 is scheduled, the I-751 case is transferred to the local field office. In my case however, the status still says “ Case was received”. In my opinion, the field officer at Chicago may have looked into the N400 petition and see that the I-751 docs have not yet been transferred to the Chicago field office. In my opinion, this is why the N400 interview was descheduled in the first place. I assume that the officer may have rescheduled to the same date and time based on low risk. Let’s hope your interview is scheduled soon.

It is not common but I’ve seen it does happen to some people, especially recently. They will reschedule. Sorry it happened to you. 

My wife just got a status update stating that our interview at the Chicago Field office on Feb 15 for the N400 has been Cancelled/De-scheduled due to unforeseen circumstances. We have a pending I-751 petition too that has been at "Case was received" for the past 480 days.
 
Is the interview getting cancelled common?

Chicago Field Office:
Got interview letter online yesterday - Dec 27, 2022. I also have a pending I-751 but no update to that petition. Hopefully USCIS will adjudicate together.
 
N400 Timeline:
Case Status: "Interview was scheduled"
Service Center: NBC
Local Field Office: Chicago
Filed: Oct 18, 2022
NOA: Oct 21, 2022
Biometrics: Nov 15, 2022
Interview letter: Dec 27, 2022
Interview date: Feb 15, 2023
 
---------------------------------------------
 
I-751 Timeline:
Case Status: "Case was received"
Service Center: NBC
Local Field Office: Chicago
Filed: Oct 15, 2021
NOA: Oct 18, 2021
Biometrics: Nov 22, 2021
 
Immigrated to US on CR-1 visa through consular processing.
 

I'm not sure I follow. Are you saying that the average processing time for N400 at Chicago is 16 months? May I know where did you get these statistics from? I applied in Oct 2022 and have the interview in Feb 2023. My field office is Chicago.
 
I've seen people on this forum suggest to wait until the I-751 processing is complete and then apply for the N400. But in my opinion, if one becomes eligible to file for N400, why wait? In 90% of cases, USCIS will adjudicate both N400 and I-751 if the N400 interview is scheduled before the I-751. In 10% of the cases, the officer may not conduct the I-751 interview simultaneously.  In that scenario, one may have to wait until the I-751 interview is scheduled for a later date. But wouldn't one have had to wait anyway if one were to follow the chronological order of filing the N400 only after completion of I-751 process? If one has solid proof of a bona fide marriage, then there's nothing that one should be worried about.
 
The hope is that when you file for N400, there will be some movement on your I-751 petition.
It may happen that my petition may fall into the 10% of cases mentioned above i.e. N400 interview is conducted but the officer does not do a combo I-751 interview. I still think it's worth the risk of applying for N400 when one becomes eligible. (From what I've read here, you should wait 2-5 days after you become eligible because the system may not update exactly on the day you become eligible).
 

That's good to hear!
 
Unfortunately, Biometrics are almost never waived for CR1 visa applicants because CR1 applicants have never given fingerprints to USCIS for any other petition filed in the US (e.g. I-485). Biometrics were only taken by DoS during the CR1 interview in the applicant's home country and during Port of Entry. So it's highly unlikely for elisabettacarli19 to be waived.

No update to the case online. I saw the USPS informed delivery page and knew that USCIS sent me something. When I actually checked my mail, it was the ACS appointment letter. I have not opted for email/text notification - so I’m not sure. 
If you are lucky, you’ll receive the appointment letter before Dec 16. If not, your best bet is to ask someone to check your mail when you are away for the letter. Hopefully USCIS will reschedule.