My interview was at 1pm and I walked into USCIS Houston office at 12.35pm. The line for check-in was long (20-30 people) but it moved relatively fast. Once checked in, it was about 12.50pm I sat and waited for my name to be called. While sitting and looking around at the most diverse group of people I likely had ever shared a room with, it struck me how amazing this country is that they open their door to so many each year and each of us in this room were hoping to be approved to chase our own "American Dream". My wife, who was with me got a little emotional as she was reminded that each of the immigrants waiting to be called back for interview have made significant sacrifices in leaving our home countries, our families, our cultures in order to happily become citizens of this great country.
At about 1.05pm I was called to door 1 and met a very friendly officer, she escorted me to her office and I swore my application was truthful and she confirmed ID. Greencard and Driver license.
We went right into the civic questions, I was asked:
Who is in charge of the executive branch?
What is one freedom form the First Amendment?
If the President can not longer serve who becomes President?
There are four amendments to the Constitution about who can vote. Describe on of them.
What is one reason colonists came to America?
During the Cold War, what was the main concern of the United States?
We next did the reading and the writing portion to show adequate English comprehension. On an iPad mounted to the table, I read allowed. "When is Columbus Day?"
Next she asked me to write in print letters on the iPad with a special pen the following; "Columbus day is in the month of October".
Simple right? Well...I started writing on the pad, C, O, L O, M, B.......I stopped and said to her I already messed it up. I spelled Columbus wrong! She looked at me and didn't say anything so I just finished writing the sentence. I told her I was done but that it is spelt wrong. She said no problem that it was clear that I understood what she wanted me to write and that she was able to understand the sentence so I passed the civic and English test portion. Feeling relieved and a little embarrassed we moved onto questions about my application.
She had me confirm a few things in my application, dates travelled outside of US, my kids details, my wife's citizenship status, how many times married for both of us. We went through the standard questions on illegal activity confirming No to each and the commitments I would be making to the US as a citizen, confirming Yes to each.
That was essentially it, she did some back office work on the computer for a minute or two and printed off my interview report, she said she was recommending me for approval and that another officer will be reviewing to confirm and do a quality check. She congratulated me and said I would possibly make the February Oath ceremony but certainly the March. She gave me instructions for the Oath ceremony, we talked about this for a moment and we were done.
In all I was back in her office for maybe 15 minutes! I was delighted but also felt bad for some of the folks that I know had been waiting for a number of hours, I was done and out in less than 50 minutes total.
So happy to have one more step to go, will update when I have a date of the oath ceremony. Sounds like they do once a month in the Houston area.
murfie got a reaction from Anabless in N-400 February Filers 2018
murfie got a reaction from Sukie in N-400 February Filers 2018