Duggu

No restriction in San Jose, CA 

37 minutes ago, minivatreni said:

But the interview officer said they didn’t look at the documents that I uploaded digitally

I think I can just take it to interview only then. 

1 hour ago, minivatreni said:

Hi everyone, I had my interview today at the Chicago FO. I arrived 20 mins early and it was not very crowded. I waited about an hour to be called up. The IO was professional. No small talk and got straight to the interview but she was nice. I applied under the 5-yr rule and got a green card through my mother who is a US citizen. I took my residential lease and my tax transcripts, driver's license, passport and GC. 

 

She asked to see 5 years worth of my IRS tax transcripts before recommending for approval so I am happy I uploaded to the portal and also took it to the interview. The questions I was asked (got all 6 right so we moved on): 

1. What are the two major political parties in the United States?
2. Who lived in America before the Europeans arrived?
3. What is the name of the Vice President of the United States now?
4. How many amendments does the Constitution have?
5. When was the Declaration of Independence adopted?
6. I forget the 6th question! 

She had me read a sentence off the tablet and then had me write "Mexico is south of the United States" on a tablet. She asked me the yes/no questions and confirmed the name change on my application. She told me she will recommend me for approval, and that now my case is going to final quality review. If everything looks good, they will schedule and oath and I should be notified of the location for the judicial oath within 6 weeks. 

 

Back in 2022 my N-400 got denied because my Green Card printed the wrong residence since date and so I applied too early. She asked me a little bit about this denial and said I should have gotten my money back since it wasn't my fault. I said I cut my losses on that one because the IO during my denial told me I would not get they money back even though it wasn't my fault. Overall, I was in and out of there within 20 minutes or so! As soon as I left I got an update on the portal. 

 

 

Is it normal for it to say: "Your Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, was placed in line for oath ceremony scheduling." and then after that say "Case Was Submitted For Quality Review Based On An Approval Recommendation" because I would think it's the other way around?? Can anyone weigh in on this?

Congrats,  My wife was the same case. placed in ceremony came first then quality . 

1 hour ago, minivatreni said:

Don't you have to legally apply for a new GC now? I read that you have to file an I-90 which costs like $600 before going to the interview, so that's why I didn't change my name beforehand because I'd have to replace my GC. At least that's what I was notified when I inquired. 

Based on this, I dont think so. 

Hi, I read somewhere that CA  ( North California )  doesn't do name change for naturalization, so I got the name change done at local county court. I have the court order for name change , should I upload to my account portal or just take it directly to my interview ?    

5 hours ago, dcdc90006 said:

 

Just received an update that my case is being actively reviewed!! Upon receiving an update, I went to documents tab and was able to see the biometric reuse notification. Interesting note is that my last biometrics was done almost 10 years ago and they were still able to reuse it!

How about entering US at border ? you give fingerprints there also. 

On 5/25/2024 at 8:10 PM, crm2822 said:

Question for folks who already had their interview or got their interview notice: 

 

Was interview notice mailed by (came from) National Benefits Center, Missouri or by local field office? Can you please tell who sends the notices out?

1 hour ago, ctrlplm said:

Just chatted with a live agent on Emma and was told this about my spouse's case:

 

> You are currently in the queue for an interview to be scheduled. USCIS will mail a notice when the date is scheduled.

 

I asked them how long it'll take and they gave me a generic timeline estimate via the tool

they told me the same thing , a long time back as well. 

21 hours ago, Ichaa said:

Also taking the receipts of 2 parking violation tickets(1. parking in front of an entry of another house, 2. parking on left side of the road) for which we already paid few years back, around $45 each. I made these mistakes when I was a new driver and school area is always crowded to find a proper parking. Unfortunately that car is under my husband’s name so he is going to mention that during his interview. We forgot to mention that in the N400 application. Wondering you have any suggestion to bring this up during the interview or not.

 

If officer asks the yes/no question of citation / arrest , then you can mention it otherwise no need to bring it up.   I downloaded my driving history from California DMV site which I am taking with myself ( I think 2$ or something for immediately download ) which can show what you have on your record or not. 

 https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/customer-service/request-vehicle-or-driver-records/online-driver-record-request/

I dont think your husband needs to mention anything if he was not involved in any way. why complicate matter. Others can pitch in. 

18 hours ago, Ichaa said:

 

Hi,

 I am planning to take the below mentioned docs to my N400 interview. Please check and let me know if I miss anything important. Appreciate your help! Thanks🙏

 

Filed under 5 year rule(Employment based)

• Interview notice
• Driving License 
• Green card
• Passports 
• SSN
• Birth certificate 
• Marriage Certificate 
• Child’s birth certificate 
• Federal Tax transcripts
• Leasing agreements 
• Bank joint a/c statement 
• W2s for work history 
• Marriage Photo 

I am planning to take VOE ( verification of employment) letter as well in lieu of W2s.  It details the start date,designation, salary etc for your current company (for me, I could just simply download from my company portal, just check for you)

Based on below , take couple of passport photos also, if your biometrics were reused.

20 hours ago, Ichaa said:

Hi, Do we need to carry only the last 5 years federal tax return transcripts from the IRS website to interview or do we need to take state tax return transcripts too? Need some clarification. Thank you. 

just federal returns. I downloaded it last year as well when I could access the last 5th year one. for my wife's case , immigration officer only asked for GC and DL . Not even passport. 

1 minute ago, minivatreni said:

How long did you get an interview in? 3 months?
 

That’s perfectly normal. Implying that it might not be is giving people false information or misconstrued ideas about when they should be hearing back about their cases which causes people to worry for no reason about their application. 

when did i give the false information . I never said it was not under normal processing time. You repeated the same thing i just wrote trying to be know it all . 

10 hours ago, minivatreni said:

Because it still was within normal processing times 

Thanks for your expert opinion 

2 hours ago, crm2822 said:

Did u ever called them or had a chat with uscis asking why your case was taking longer?

Yes ,  I did. They always say case is within normal processing times 

37 minutes ago, ctrlplm said:

to be fair, drive through is one of the most American experience 😂. First time I came across drive through ATMs was in the States 😅😅

 I meant for many people who had a long immigration journey , it would have been definitely be an emotional moment and so we thought. for us, it was so rushed it didnt even settle in.  I see many oath ceremonies taking place at historic locations, guest speakers , biden speech etc but San Jose was like totally bland but even this is okay if we are getting the naturalization certificate. 

17 minutes ago, Laure&Colin said:

Your oath ceremony sounds a bit like mine was. Quick and to-the-point but not very ceremonial.

 

I would say San Jose CA had the most ceremonial, Based on my spouse's oath ceremony. It was in Parking lot of the office and kind of drive through.  They come take your GC first from car itself and give naturalization certificate in car only. You only step out for taking oath under a costco tent with 30 people standing at an inch distance.  No place to take photo. No speech nothing... nada. Whole thing done in 15 mins. 

47 minutes ago, crm2822 said:

Ok thank you for sharing information. So it means field office pick the cases and schedules the interviews themselves versus NBC sending the cases to them and scheduling? Like pull vs push?

Could be. Not sure. 

2 hours ago, crm2822 said:

Best of luck. In one of your previous posts u said your case was stuck in background checks. How did u know this? Did they tell u that?

My spouse who filed with me, She was done with the entire process in first week of May ( interview/oath/passport).

She asked the IO why my interview is not scheduled yet (during her naturalization interview).  The IO told her my background checks are pending at NBC. There is no issue from San Jose field office. 

Field office can only schedule interview once background checks are done at NBC and they get a go ahead from NBC.  

Same Case with me. My case is stuck in background checks ( spouse is already done with entire process in 3 months ) 

11 minutes ago, Ichaa said:

My husband and I applied on the same day(3/16) and both of our interviews got scheduled for June 21 st. Got the interview notification today. How often the oath ceremony happens at San Jose? We have already booked flights tickets for our india trip on July 23 rd. Just wondering whether we will be able to attend the oath ceremony before our trip. Please guide us based on your wife’s interview and oath ceremony timeline. Thanks in advance.

San Jose have oath ceremonies every other friday.  My wife's interview was on 6th May. They approved the application on the spot and gave her the oath letter for 10th May.  

So I expect future San Jose oath ceremonies will be like 24th May, 7th June , 21st June, 5th July and so on.   You might get same day oath or 5th july. 

Passport takes 1-2 days and India e visa take 1-2 days. So I believe you should have ample amout of margin if you are traveling on July 23rd

2 hours ago, gogogo786 said:

Alright, so after what seems like ages my interview has been finally scheduled for July 1st. Now to start brushing up on the civics test. Excitedly nervous 😬 

Congrats .. How was total time it took for you ?  Was your GC employment based or marriage based ? 

2 hours ago, Fredgz said:

have you tried "Ask Emma" option and spoke with agent?

Yes I did . they said case is within expected processing time. Nothing is required from my side. 

2 minutes ago, Fredgz said:

I applied on 03/05 my wife applied on 03/07. Today she got notice that  her interview scheduled in June. 

Should I contacts USCIS and ask if there any issues with my application?

Same for me , I applied 02/07. My wife is even done with the entire process

3 hours ago, BlackPearl9 said:

Where is your local USCIS office?

San Jose/Santa Clara California