nikgon

Ah, another update to provide a data point, in case anyone is in the same situation. Since I didn't listen to the wise people of Visjourney and changed my name _after_ naturalization, I had to get the first passport in the old name (a USPS employee told me they can't submit the original application with the court order in the new name, but maybe they didn't know what they were talking about, so inquire at your office if you doubt this it true). And right after I got it, I submitted an application for passport correction (it's free if you want standard service and $70 for expedited).

The timeline for (expedited) passport renewal:

- Mailed on 5/27

- Processing started on 6/19

- Approved and shipped on 6/21

- Received on 6/22 

- Card received on 6/25 (or something like that)

11 hours ago, MGMA said:

Did you have to submit original naturalization certificate? 

Yeah, that's the scary part! Unlike the State Department, that at least somewhat allows some sort of tracking of what's going on and has a central mailing address, the SSA is a complete black box: you just send originals of everything in to a local office (!) and just hope that it doesn't get lost in there. No way to track, no way to ask about the status, nothing. I just got lucky, I guess, haha! 

Bonus content:

• How do I change or correct my name on my Social Security number card?
• Application for Social Security Card

An update to the earlier topic about changing names and citizenship status with the SSA (and on the SSN card, without which you can’t get a new drivers license).

Sent documents over mail on 5/27 to the Seattle address. Got everything (and the new card) back in about a month. The processing date was 6/21 and that’s when they (looks like) did everything in one day and sent two mails back.

So looks like actual processing is very quick, but there’s a four week backlog in Seattle.

Now, the DOL for downtown Seattle is booked up for like the next three months. Was somehow able to get a spot in west Seattle in two weeks.

On 5/21/2021 at 7:31 PM, MGMA said:

My thoughts. I changed name and waiting for interview. And not willing to give GC or naturalization certificate until I have passport in hand. If anyone know an urgency, please share with us. 

You should definitely wait for your passport and cert of naturalization to arrive back. Part of the process of naturalization is updating your immigration status with the SSA to be listed as a citizen (it's on the same form as the card replacement). So no reason (and no way, actually) to submit the request before you get your interview and passport. So, you'll only receive your new SSA card in 3 months after your interview, at best.

On 5/21/2021 at 6:22 PM, TheyLoveMe said:

What if you just don't change it until they open? Unless you are changing jobs and they ask you for the new SSN card,  however even when I got my green card I switched jobs and still didn't have my SSN card updated, my employer just took the one I already had. So not sure if there is a rush to get the new one, I'd just wait until they re-open, unless it's absolutely necessary go get it updated.

I don't think there's anything "urgent" about it. But, for example:

• WA DOL won't give you a drivers license in your new name before you get a new SSN card
• Most banks won't update your credit card or account info into your new name without a new name on your drivers license
• Just recently tried applying for a zoned parking permit and the city made it a big deal that names didn't line up (pretty clear they didn't design the process assuming people change names)

And all sorts of "paper cuts" like this.

So, is there urgency in the sense that you won't be able to live your life at all? No. Is it annoying as phuck because it's so dumb and slow for no reason? Yes.

Traveling is another potential issue. I know, you can theoretically travel on either name as long as you have all of the supporting documents on you. But even before the name change, I'd get searched by the TSA every other time I'd travel. I can only imagine it getting worse now.

Plus, not a single airline now allows me to link my trips to my mileage accounts because names do not match.

Are these all solvable problems? Yes. Do I want to deal with this nonsense? Hell, no!

On 5/15/2021 at 9:03 AM, abccba said:

Has anyone changed legal name as part of naturalization and updated the name on social security card during the pandemic? Could you share your experience? Thanks!

 Yes, browse through my few recent comments in the history about the name change.

SSN card update is tricky. https://faq.ssa.gov/en-us/Topic/article/KA-01981

TL;DR: it's a pain in the elbow. Offices are not yet open, so you'll have to do it over mail. To submit the documents, you need to send them originals of everything: ID, naturalization certificate (or passport) etc. And they don't say how long they take (which means they take forever). So it's another way your documents are potentially going to get locked up somewhere for months with a possibility of loosing them.

Good luck!

Curious to hear experiences of others as well. 

On 5/12/2021 at 8:57 PM, nikgon said:

Anyone else seeing delayed expedited passport processing times as well?

 

Applied for expedited passport processing on 4/1, it got accepted on 4/14. No news since then. It says the current timeline is "4-6 weeks",  but I'm already past 6.

 

I guess, it's not like I'm very surprised, but just wanted to see what others here are experiencing. 

Ok, finally received my passport.

Here's the full expedited processing timeline:

-- post office appointment (in Redmond, WA) on 4/1

-- accepted on 4/14

-- approved (and printed) on 5/17

-- shipped (from Little Rock, AR) on 5/18

-- delivered on 5/19

So, 7 weeks all in. Not so expedient! 

BTW, does anyone know whether if you want to make a correction, is there a chance it will get processed sooner than a new passport? Or is there no indication that new and existing passport get processed in different queues and which ones are shorter/faster?

Anyone else seeing delayed expedited passport processing times as well?

Applied for expedited passport processing on 4/1, it got accepted on 4/14. No news since then. It says the current timeline is "4-6 weeks",  but I'm already past 6.

I guess, it's not like I'm very surprised, but just wanted to see what others here are experiencing. 

3 hours ago, MGMA said:

Reach out to you representative with a proof or an air fare that you need to travel, you will get the passport the next day. This is what I am hearing. They will ask you to fill a privacy form to be able to speak on behalf of you. Find this form, and sign it and send it with your request, otherwise they will send it to you if you can not find it 

Whoa, thank you! I wish I knew this was an option back then. The unfortunate nature of these circumstances is that it was absolutely necessary back then and it's not anymore. But I'm glad you mentioned it. Perhaps it will help someone else out in the future.

19 minutes ago, MGMA said:

Welcome back Mr/Ms citizen lol. They called yesterday, and they can do nothing. Same response you get, you are in the line for interview scheduling and we can not tell any estimates.

 

By the way, can I ask how long did you expedited passport took? Do you have it yet?  

Haha, thank you! Everyone here was so helpful when I had difficulties, just want to give back when I can.

I submitted my passport application two hours after the oath (a kind soul from here passed their appointment to me, very sweet) on 4/1.

It got accepted on 4/14.

Never heard anything since then.

As you probably all know, the official word is that even "expedited" is 4-6 weeks these days. So I'm already 5. Not holding my breath, honestly.

A bonus rant. I had a legitimate qualifying emergency recently. Tried getting an emergency appointment at the Seattle Passport Agency and after literally a dozen attempts just gave up. What a bunch of unempathetic monsters. I don't want to go into the details, but it was a legitimate urgent need to travel. And they just said "too bad for you, deal with it". Anyway, hope no-one would find themselves in such circumstances in the first place. 

On 5/3/2021 at 7:36 AM, Kam🇺🇸 said:

can I ask to change my name same day as interview ? 
Not making  delay my case for oath ? 
 

or how long take change name at court ? 

The Seattle branch doesn't do name changes, period. You can't "ask" them. Even if you request a name change on the application, they won't do it unless you do it yourself in court and then bring the order with you to the interview. That's the only way.

If you go through court, it has no impact on the oath. No delays.

Name change in the court (in Seattle) is nearly instant. Show up to the Seattle Municipal Court at 9 am to submit your application and pay in cash, they will schedule the hearing for the same day. You'll have your court order in the afternoon. Very easy.

On 4/30/2021 at 12:05 PM, MGMA said:

Hi guys, who have luck to reach out to a Tier 2 officer. I need help please, when you ask for a tier 2 officer, do you get transferred directly? Or do they tell you we will schedule a time for you and call you back?

 

I was told they will call me back within 14 days. Has this been always the case? 

If your request is urgent (and you can justify it), you can ask to upgrade the Tier 2 case priority. Then they will get back to you within 3 days. In my case, I had less than a week till the appointment and I didn't have the invitation letter. So they opened an urgent case and called me within a day.

I'll warn you:

1) They don't tell you when they are going to call. So make sure you're ALWAYS at your phone and it's on and you don't have unknown caller silencing in the settings

2) If they miss you, they just close the case. You'll have to reopen it and wait another 1-3 days.

3) Make sure you tell them which time zone you're in. They are calling from ET and by default use your application's time zone to contact you. If you happen to be somewhere else, you need to let them know. Otherwise, they might call you at 5 am and you'll miss it.

Good luck.

7 minutes ago, BoyNgor said:

Overall it will 2 Months and 26 days from Applying to Oath  Ceremony

 

Oh, wait, your profile says you're in Florida. Maybe that's why. Though, I'm not sure if your experience reflects the Seattle field office (what this thread is about) or what's going on in Florida.

Regardless -- congratulations! 

5 minutes ago, BoyNgor said:

Overall it will 2 Months and 26 days from Applying to Oath  Ceremony

 

Congratulations -- very exciting! 

How is it possible to be so quick? Is this after they raised the fees and did optimizations? I freaking waited for like 1.5 years after I applied in Nov 2019!

18 hours ago, MGMA said:

How long does the expedited service take? Did you get your passport yet?

People say expedited processing currently takes 4-6 weeks. (It's possible that they don't even differentiate between the two anymore, but who knows. I paid for the expedited anyway with the express shipping.)

19 hours ago, abccba said:

Thanks for the information! How long does it usually take to get the name change certificate? Would it impact the interview if I apply for name change now and the certificate doesn't arrive before the interview? When you said "upload the certificate to the USCIS account", does it mean the account where I applied for N-400 online? If the name change does complete before the interview, do I need to notify USCIS in any way other than uploading the certificate (e.g. like going to the USCIS web site for address change)?

A few thoughts, just remember that we're all random people from the internet cracking anecdotes. So triple check everything before you act on it.

If you show up to the Seattle Municipal Court early in the day (before 10am people say) and pay in cash, you're going to get the same day hearing and will get the certificate of name change right there.

I went in at 8:45 AM with the form filled in and $220 in cash (fees and 3 copies) and got a hearing scheduled for 1:15 PM. Both the morning and afternoon ones took <10 minutes total. Super easy. Got the certificate printed out right there and 3 copies I requested.

"Upload to the account" means log into your myUSCIS account, go to the Documents tab and click the Upload button. My officer asked for some supporting documents during the interview and was very pleased by the fact that I uploaded a bunch of things beforehand so she didn't have to deal with it.

I don't think the USCIS cares about your name as long as you fully disclose what the situation is. But there should not be such thing as "if something doesn't arrive by a certain date" because name change is effectively instant if you live in King County and go to the Seattle Court.

10 hours ago, abccba said:

I applied for N-400 on 11/24/2019 and got the notice for interview on 03/31/2021. The interview is scheduled at the end of April.

 

I'm considering name change but didn't request for it as part of the original N-400 application. What would be the best option? I seem to have two options, go to a district court before the interview or after. I haven't followed the discussion about name change closely in this forum. Could someone help summarize the steps? Thanks!

Yeah, the Seattle office doesn’t do name changes at all, even if you request it. So just go to the district court and do your name change there. Then upload the certificate to the USCIS account and bring it to the interview. 

Btw, I have a usps passport appointment on 4/2 at 10 am in Blaine I’m not going to anymore. if anyone can use it — Dm me for details, you’re welcome to have it. 

Had the rescheduled interview today and got my certificate, yay! Thanks everyone on the thread for your help — very much appreciate it.

few notes:

— the Seattle filed office DOES NOT DO NAME CHANGES, PERIOD. Covid or not — they just don’t do that. So you ALWAYS need to do name change through the county court. Why this information is not publicly available is beyond my freaking belief. 
— they had technical issues with administering the oath as others reported. But I politely asked my officer to try again and said I have the time to wait if necessary. She agreed and after a while was able to make it work. So I don’t have to come back. 
 

thanks again everyone!

11 hours ago, ayshak said:

i have a passport appointment at usps redmond tomorrow that i dont need anymore. Before I cancel I would like to see if anyone else need that slot. Happy to provide details. Thanks 

I’d love to have it if it’s in the afternoon. Would really appreciate. DMed you. 

Any updates on whether the Seattle office currently does the judicial ceremony or not? Still hesitating whether it's worth doing the name change through the court prior to the oath or not.

Also, does anyone know if you could bring a naturalization certificate to the Post Office in your old name with a county court name change certificate to the new name and request the passport in the new name?

Has anyone used the online passport form filler? https://pptform.state.gov/PassportWizardMain.aspx

Any gotchas?

2 hours ago, AlienLife said:

@nikgon I am glad you were able to get confirmation and proof about your interview date! and thanks for the tips.

 

Did the officer give you any reason for moving up the date by 15 days?

Thank you! I didn’t ask about the reasons, honestly, because i thought it was more important to figure out how to get in in the first place. 
 

Do you think it’d matter? I hope it’s nothing bad, though. 

On 3/22/2021 at 9:04 AM, nikgon said:

I might be in trouble here. My interview got rescheduled from 3/15 to 3/1, but there is no notice neither on the account nor in the mail. 
 

Tried calling the USCIS four times. Their response, predictably, is “if you haven’t received the notice, wait 14 days”. But I don’t have 14 days!

 

What do I do?!

 

Is the notice really necessary on the day of the interview? Has someone been able to show proof that you know you have an appointment and proof that there has been no notice? 
 

I’m lost, could really use some help if anyone’s aware of a similar situation. 

Ok, an update. After 7 calls and 3 service requests, a tier two agent reached out to me and emailed my updated notice as a PDF to print out. Still no snail mail and no notice on the web. It’s crazy to think that I would have never found out that they moved my interview to an earlier date had I not spotted the cancellation notice by accident. 
 

Tips:

- once you receive your original interview notice, check on the website every day if there’s a cancellation notice

- if you see a cancellation notice, call the USCIS immediately and request a tier 2 agent to reach out to you so that you can request a copy in case the rea one doesn’t arrive 

- the first tier agents are very reluctant to engage second tier. If you run into that, politely say thank you, hang up, and call again to talk to a different agent

3 hours ago, MGMA said:

Did you find out when is your interview? Did they move it to 04/1?

Yep, moved to 4/1. I'm away from home, but will write up an update soon about my situation in case someone runs into it.