itscarly

On 1/9/2024 at 3:04 PM, ds2 said:

I had my N400 interview today at Newark, NJ and passed. It was a combo interview even though the officer said we dont usually do combo interviews which sounded incorrect and he also didnt have the I751 which he said he will request to be transferred from another office. He gave me the letter saying I passed the N400 interview and told me to wait for a letter in the mail but nothing has been updated online so I am a little concerned. Fingers crossed.

@ds2 congrats!!!! 🎊 

that’s exactly what happened to me, it took a few days for all the online updates!

14 hours ago, ds2 said:

This is very useful! Thank you for sharing your experience. Has your status changed yet? Do you have a date for your oath ceremony? Did you ever receive confirmation that the interview is going to be a combo interview?

@ds2 yes, a few days later I got my oath ceremony date for January 26th! (All the dates are in my timeline!) I got notified online about naturalization interview and I received a letter in the mail about the ROC that said I had to bring my husband! If I were you I’ll assume if you’re doing a combo interview! 

7 hours ago, ds2 said:

Hello! 

 

I have my N-400 Interview (probably a combo interview due to pending I-751) on Jan 9th, 2024 and was wondering if anyone has a document checklist they used to compile all documents outside of the documents mentioned on the interview letter. Any additional tips are also welcome Excited but also nervous for the last step of the process. Thank you all for all your guidance throughout this entire journey!

@ds2 I don’t have a checklist but this was my experience a couple of weeks ago doing a combo interview

what I took with me was a print version of everything I sent in the online application and 2 forms of ID for my husband and 2 forms for me

I applied for N-400, and had a combo interview on December 13 and passed.

My I-751 was approved on December 20th, and my naturalization oath ceremony is on January 26th. 

The whole naturalization process took 3 months, if you want to expedite papers I would go straight to citizenship!

11 hours ago, mark08 said:

@itscarly Great to hear. What were your status updates on N400 after the interview? These are mine (and still waiting to be scheduled for ceremony), but I have noticed some people also get one more update, something like "you application was placed in line for oath ceremony...". Did you get that update as well? 

 

@mark08

this is mine, all the updates happened on the same day, I didn't get the "oath ceremony will be scheduled" one 

On 12/13/2023 at 6:33 PM, itscarly said:

I had my interview today and I passed!!

It was a combo interview I-751 and N-400. It went smoothly but it was very long, about an hour to an hour and 15mins.

 

Husband 2 form of ID

 

I-751 Part:

Our case was very straightforward but we still got split, my husband (us citizen) went first and I went second. What I noticed is that the office was doing 4 combo interviews at the same time and we were all split up. Tbh it seems like their standard method. My husband and I are both ramblers and like to tell stories so I think that's why it took so long haha, their questions were:

- How did you meet?

- When did you meet?

- What do you two have in common?

- What type of visa did you have when you came to America?

- In what city did you live when you came to America?

- Why did you choose that city?

- Who pays for bills?

- Do you have children?

- Do you have pets? What are their names? How did you get them?

- What do you like more cats or dogs?

- Have you met each other's families?

- What did your family think about your spouse?

- What car do you drive/and your spouse drive?

- How did you get your/spouse's car?

- What's each other's job?

- What's your degree in?

- Does your spouse work in an office or from home?

- Do you rent?

- How many bedrooms and bathrooms does your apt have?

- My spouse was asked: from the time he started dating me until the present if he has ever thought I was using him for immigration benefits.

 

He told me I passed the I-751 part, he took a new picture for my green card renewal and took my fingerprints. While he was looking for the N-400 we had a small talk about my country, the new president, covid, the difference between accents in Latin America, astrology (LOL), if it's mandatory in my country to learn English, and how and why I learned, we talked about how I found my passion for art in my childhood, irrelevant(I think) but it was entertaining!

 

Then we started N-400 part

Civic test questions:

- Who's your U.S. representative?

- How many justices are in the Supreme Court?

- What's the capital of your State?

- Who's in charge of the executive branch?

- We elect a president for how many years?

- Name one war fought in the 1800s

Reading:

Who elects Congress?

Writing:

The people elect congress

I passed that and he went through the yes/no questions and we were done! 

 

He gave me the paper with a confirmation that I passed and he recommended me for naturalization.

He told me it was going to take about 2 weeks to change my I-751 status and afterward they'll move on to the naturalization paperwork, that I might be doing the Oath by February, and congratulations!

 

It was a very unexpected interview because for the I-485 it took 15 mins and it was so easy. But yeah wanted to share the full experience while it's still fresh. My online status hasn't changed!

I received my Oath Ceremony Notice! This was 5 days after the interview, and it's for January 26! 

On my I-751 case status, I got an update today that my case was approved.

On 11/15/2023 at 9:24 AM, Kupitr said:

Just got my interview scheduled for January 4th. 

on the notice it doesn’t say anything about spouse presence even though I’m using the 3 year rule… 

 

did people ask for same day oath adding a doc after the interview is scheduled? 

My interview is on December 13th also under the 3-year rule.

It didn't say anything about bringing my spouse in the online notice but I received a letter in the mail that said that my interview is a combo interview and I must bring my spouse (they used a yellow highlighter to make it very clear haha). Make sure to check the mail or just bring your spouse to be safe  

Just got my interview notice today!

permanent residency turned 3 on September 19 2023

applied: September 1

interview notice: November 3

interview: December 13

reno field office 

the funny thing is that my estimated time is still at 9 months!

The trend seems to be that people with a residency of 5+ years are getting their interviews first! Congrats ❤️ 

Hi,

This is a very hypothetical question (!!!) but if I were to file for my brother to get a Green Card would he be able to visit America during those 15-20 years it takes to go through?

I want to offer it to him as a possibility but I don't want him to have to deal with the burden of not being able to come to America, as he travels between South America and Europe a lot and most of the layovers go through the US.

Also, he's married with no children, I don't know if that affects anything.

Thank you for your help!

Mine also changed to 8 months!

14 hours ago, JOY1994 said:

Did you apply online ? 

Yes!

September 1st: I applied!

September 11th: Got a Notice for "Case Is Being Actively Reviewed By USCIS" + "Biometrics being reused"

It says it's going to take about 9 months, I'm hoping it goes faster, maybe a Christmas gift? 🙏

Field Office is Reno, NV

Hi,

I don't know if anybody has experience this before but I wanted to ask! 

In my I485 paperwork I forgot to write about being part of an organization (I was part of a nonprofit - volunteering, all good), then in my interview I told the Field Officer to add the non profit to that part.

Now, I'm starting to fill out the N400 and in part 12 question 9, they ask the same question. I don't remember telling the officer any particular date of "membership" and I'm worried that what he put in the paperwork in my interview is not the same that I'm going to write here now. 

- I might be overthinking it but, do you think I should write an additional letter explaining the original file/interview change situation?

Thank you

On 7/26/2022 at 10:45 AM, itscarly said:

Hi

 

Sent my package 06/28

Text notification 07/01

Extension Letter 07/11

and nothing...

 

1. Should I be worried?

2. Does anybody know what are WAC processing times? 

3. If I miss my biometrics appointment can I go to my USCIS local office and get those biometrics taken?

 

Update:

09/16 biometrics waived

Hi

Sent my package 06/28

Text notification 07/01

Extension Letter 07/11

and nothing...

1. Should I be worried?

2. Does anybody know what are WAC processing times? 

3. If I miss my biometrics appointment can I go to my USCIS local office and get those biometrics taken?

35 minutes ago, chancecody said:

 

This whole thread gave me hope back in April when I first started my research in this long journey. The whole VJ community has been really helpful. I was a “lurker” and read as much as I could from April to July when I finally filed.

 

I feel your frustration and hopefully you will get yours soon. It feels like this whole thing is based on luck. For example, I felt that I won the “lottery” when they sent my I-130 and I-131 to the service center that has the shortest processing time. However, my work permit went to the SC that has one of the longest processing times not to mention my AOS is at Reno with 13.5 to 27.5 months wait. I just feel fortunate that I can still work for my Canadian employer while in the US. I just need my I-131 as I need to attend meetings back home so I still feel “lucky” that my I-131 went to the SC that has the fastest processing time.

 

Good luck to all!

3 of my friends and me did our AOS in Reno and got our green cards in 3-8 months, 2 of them even received RFEs. I wish you the best luck, I really think this field office is overall pretty fast!

27 minutes ago, poohdakz said:

Hi! Your post was really helpful. I'm almost ready to file I-130 and I-485. I do have a question. When you filed yours, did out the I-130 and I-485 in a separate envelope?  

Yes, all the forms were in different envelopes. I followed this blog  https://www.sweetbeginningusa.com/2019/02/diy-i-485-adjustment-of-status-2019.html?m=1

then FedEx put it all in a bag and sent it

In my interview the questions were:

to me:

my name

my date of birth

my address

my previous address

my current employment status

my parents names

how many times I’ve been married

what’s my marriage date 

to my husband:

his name

his current employment status

how many times he’s been married

to both:

if we live with anybody else

if we have any other type of document to add to the application with both of our names and the address in them
 

Then he went through the yes/no questions, probably asked me 10 of those. And that’s all! 
 

One of my friends got asked how they met and where was the wedding, also some questions about her joint sponsor, but nothing else

6 hours ago, TheAmelie said:

Hi OP! 
I was also an au pair and I’m currently filling my aos, the form I-944 is kinda tricky and I wanted to ask if you sent your Tax Transcripts or your tax returns (the form we fill and then you can print it with the payment proof). Which one did you put in your package? As far as I remember au pair don’t get W2s 

I sent tax returns and w2s. I wasn’t an au pair though 

4 hours ago, SBML said:

Congratulations to you and your husband! I'm glad it was so quick for you and everything went well!

 

Can I ask you something about your english studies? Did you evaluate your First Certificate diploma or did you send it as it is? I have the same one and I'm going to send the rest of my stuff to evaluate now and I was doubting if I should send that one too. 

Thank you! I didn’t evaluate it, I just sent a copy of the certificate and a copy of what my result meant (it came with the certificate)

16 minutes ago, Beyance said:

Congrats to you and husband!! Did you put N/A in spaces that didn’t apply to you or left it blank?

Thank you! It was very intuitive honestly, I left blanks sometimes. I’ll leave some examples:

AoS from J1 to marriage based green card is the same as the other AoS from tourist, student and work visas, so you should be able to find most of the information in this website.
 

I did Aos from J1 visa and posted my journey here: 

21 hours ago, Paula&Johnny said:

They will not give you a tracking number. This is not amazon package.

You need to have your address updated ALAWAYS, and this is it.

They do give tracking numbers