jasminelily

My first NOA (notice of receipt) has the different case numbers. Top one with the * and bottom one with the $. When I check the bottom number with the case status online, it said invalid so I'm not worrying about that.

My second NOA (FP letter) has the same case number, one on top and one on bottom. I guess this time they realized their mistake and corrected itself.

My interview letter only has one case number. My interview is in less than two weeks, makes a good point of asking the IO why the two numbers on the first NOA.

Very good idea... however, USCIS does not accept P.O Box as a physical address, so finding a friend is important...

Agreed. Find somebody that you can trust, friend or relative.

Yea! Everytime USCIS sent e-mail/text msg to me, it's either 2 something am or 3 something am. I don't think that they're working late hours though, I think it's more of a automatic system.

Congrats!

This is a repeated discussion, if you can do a search, you will find them brought up here on VJ pretty often.

Now I'm going to say what I've done, before anyone else try to argue what should or shouldn't have done, I want to say that's just what I've done because I did what I felt that's right and I'm not asking anybody else to do the same. To all those people who wants to call me a paranoid, please feel free to. So what if I am?

I've one parking ticket and one traffic ticket, non-alcohol related and under $500 fine. I've answered yes to all of those questions. I've attached copies of related documents and evidence of how I took care of those tickets plus an extra sheet of paper describing the tickets in detail. I personally think that it proves of my good morality because I've done my due diligence. Disclosing the tickets won't hurt the application so I don't see any harm in disclosing them. I'm sure they can dig up whatever they want during the background check so they would have already known about the tickets before the interview; so you might as well disclosing them to avoid an excuse of "hiding related evidence that MIGHT hinder the IO's decision". Now I'm going to bring the originals to the interview in case the IO wants to look at them, by then the IO can decide if those tickets are related to the decision or not.

Knowing myself, I won't be able to sleep if I don't disclose them on the application. Many may argue that is not necessary because you can mention to the IO during interview, well I want to say that there's not going to be any tape recording of the interview and how do you know the IO is documenting or writing down what you said or better yet "exactly what you said or the meaning of what you said"?! Disclose them and submit what's need with your application will prevent any "you say I say" situation in the future. In a not so pretty description, I call that a "CYA". I can assure you that different IO, different people who answer the mis-information line, different people working at your local info-pass can advise you many different ways and you will never get a same consistent answer until they fix the instruction, but at the end, the application is "yours" so it's your own decision that you have to make about disclosing them or not, not any one else. One last thing I want to say is that I wish the wording of the questions and the instructions could have been much concise and clear about what they really want.

Mine had moved to the "Testing and Interview" bubble. Here's what it said:

Testing and Interview

Your case has been transferred to a local office and an interview will be scheduled. You will be sent a notice advising you of the date and time of your interview. If you move while this case is pending, please use our Change of Address online tool to update your case with your new address or call our customer service center at 1-800-375-5283.

I didn't get the yellow letter. Probably because I sent in copies of bank statements, electricity bills, etc etc on top of what they already asked for; treated it like proof of marriage since I'm applying base on the 3 years rule. On the interview appointment letter, it said I should bring originals of what I've submitted in copies with the application initially. I'm going to bring originals like driver license, marriage license and passports etc; plus bank statements and electricity bills for the period after I submitted my application to prove that we're still together.

P.S. They didn't ask for the bank statements and electricity bills or anything like that, I sent them in because I predicted that they will ask for it in the interview anyways so to save them some troubles. Just wanted to say that they're not required so no one needs to panic if they didn't.

Congratulations!

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***Fprints and Int Ltr: Please put the date of those appointments, not the day that you receive the letter.

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N-400 May 2010 Applicants

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USCIS Arizona Lockbox

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UserName..........Sent......ChkCashd....NOA.....Fprints...Int Ltr...Intview...Oath.......Office

meizwatin........05/06/10...05/18/10..05/18/10..06/02/10..06/25/10..08/16/10..--/--/--...Santa Ana, CA

ace13............05/11/10...05/25/10..05/28/10..06/22/10..07/24/10..08/26/10..--/--/--...Indianapolis, IN

shimmy...........05/18/10...06/02/10..06/01/10..07/22/10..--/--/--..--/--/--..--/--/--...Detroit, MI

*cinch*..........05/22/10...06/03/10..06/07/10..07/23/10..07/16/10..08/18/10..--/--/--...San Francisco, CA

csoul............05/24/10...06/04/10..06/10/10..07/08/10..--/--/--..--/--/--..--/--/--...Denver, CO

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USCIS Texas Lockbox

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UserName..........Sent......ChkCashd....NOA.....Fprints...Int Ltr...Intview...Oath.......Office

lucas_34.........05/03/10...05/14/10..05/15/10..06/23/10..07/10/10..08/05/10..--/--/--...Houston, TX

scooby06.........05/04/10...05/14/10..05/18/10..06/14/10..07/13/10..08/11/10..--/--/--...Memphis, TN

lawrencetoland...05/04/10...CashrChk..05/13/10..07/01/10..07/16/10..08/25/10..--/--/--...Orlando, FL

sparklecat.......05/06/10...05/18/10..05/19/10..06/28/10..07/24/10..08/25/10..--/--/--...Tampa, FL

bazboy63.........05/11/10...05/21/10..05/24/10..06/17/10..06/22/10..07/28/10..--/--/--...Lawrence, MA

venusfire503.....05/14/10...05/27/10..05/29/10..07/07/10..--/--/--..--/--/--..--/--/--...Philadelphia, PA

Ken&Barbie.......05/14/10...05/24/10..05/26/10..07/01/10..--/--/--..--/--/--..--/--/--...Atlanta, GA

karakmitchell....05/17/10...05/20/10..05/25/10..06/16/10..--/--/--..--/--/--..--/--/--...Harlingen, TX

DaFlava..........05/17/10...05/28/10..05/21/10..07/09/10..07/19/10..08/23/10..--/--/--...Baltimore, MD

malvika..........05/17/10...--/--/--..06/08/10..06/24/10..--/--/--..--/--/--..--/--/--...NY, NY

gwickes..........05/20/10...05/27/10..05/27/10..06/25/10..07/17/10..08/23/10..--/--/--...Dallas, TX

May_N400.........05/28/10...06/03/10..06/03/10..07/21/10..--/--/--..--/--/--..--/--/--...Buffalo, NY

jasminelily......05/29/10...06/09/10..06/11/10..08/02/10..07/27/10..08/23/10..--/--/--...Houston, TX (walk in FP)

SweetApple08.....05/29/10...06/07/10..06/11/10..07/07/10..--/--/--..--/--/--..--/--/--...NYC, NY

AsH83............05/30/10...06/07/10..06/11/10..08/05/10..--/--/--..--/--/--..--/--/--...Miami, FL

Jasminelily look the last April 2010 applicants table again. "Dabu" completed the biometrics appointment on 05/11/2010 and he received the Interview letter on 07/03/10. That is not even close to three months as you wrote. Is just 1 month and 3 weeks. The normal wait between the biometrics and interview letter is 3-4 weeks. I would start calling USCIS two months after the biometrics appointment.

Oh! Sorry! Thank you for correcting! I must have looked at the interview date instead of the interview letter received date. So I agreed, if no interview letter two months after biometrics appointment for NYC, start calling the mis-information line. I don't think you can use normal wait time anymore after biometrics, because after that depends on the speed of the local office, so using timeline of other people that has the same local office would be more accurate.

Congratulations on coming to the end of a long journey!

Thanks for the regular update guys !

As you can see I filed my N-400 on May 17 and had my biometrics on 06/24, but then after nothing...Is that normal? Or should I buzz USCIS to inquire about my interview appointment?

Also want to check how many are here from NYC?

What say guys?

Hi malvika,

Looking at the April 2010 applicants thread, there's one from NYC, looks like it took "Dabu" almost three months to get the interview letter, so no need to panic just yet.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/253160-n-400-april-2010-applicants/page__st__135

I know, waiting is never fun and most of us had waited long enough. Just know that we're on the same waiting boat, hang in there!

jasminelily

Congratulations! Now you just have to wait for the oath!

Thank you for such detail experience and congratulations! I wish they do same day oath at my city but chance is pretty slim!

Congratulations! Don't forget to come back here every now and then to visit us!

Congratulations!

I'm almost embarrassed to write this but my desire for no one to go through what I have endured in the past year overrides any concerns about looking stupid. The bottom line to this story is that if you are unsure of when to apply for naturalization, get an Infopass appointment, get a lawyer's opinion, or call the un-helpful line not once but a number of times to get a consensus. Be 100% sure or risk losing $675 like I did.

Here's my story.....after having my conditions removed, I called the un-helpful line, gave my dates and asked when I could apply for naturalization. The agent told me the date and I went ahead. In case you are curious, here is my timeline:

Married--Sept. 28, 2006

CR-1 visa--Oct. 15, 2006

Conditions removed--May 5, 2009

N-400 rec'd at SC--July 26, 2009

Naturalization interview--Oct. 5, 2009

When I finally went for the interview, the IO told me I wasn't eligible until Septemeber 28, 2009, the third anniversary of my wedding. I very nicely asked to speak with her manager who actually sided with me (she said the regulations are in opposition with the statutes). Unfortunately, Legal Counsel for Homeland Security agreed with the IO because statutes always override regulations. To make matters even more confusing, a Special Agent from my regional office called me out of the blue one day and told me who to complain to in Washington (he told me it was 'off the record'). He had also married a foreigner and had the exact same situation. How my case ever crossed his desk remains a mystery. I have followed his advice and the Field Operations Directorate in Washington has acknowledged my case and is looking into it. The final wild thing in all of this is that the Special Agent who advised me said the IO who interviewed me was "let go". Not sure what to make of this.

This could drag on for years. What I really want out of this is twofold: I want my initial $675 returned (yeah good luck, right?); and I want better training of the agents who answer questions at the Helpline and to be held accountable for faulty advice. (Hell, I want immigration reform while I'm at it!) I don't want to wait years for this to be resolved so reluctantly I applied again and my naturalization interview is next month.

Again, be sure of your dates before you apply. In my haste to be done with this Draconian process, I have paid a very dear price.

J

I'm very sorry to hear about your situation! And please don't feel embarrassed, lots of immigrants make different kind of mistakes everyday! So what the IO saying was "based on the status, you won't be eligible until Oct. 15, 2009"? If your interview date was Oct. 5, 2009, could they just arrange a second interview like 10 days later? That's just really harsh! A bit of luck wasn't siding with you either, if they could have somehow delay your interview or if you realized this and re-arrange your interview for whatever reason to 10 days later, then you could have been approved. I hope your application this time will go smooth!

Congratulations!

Congratulations and thanks for sharing your experience!

Congratulations!

Thanks for sharing! Congratulations!

(1) Definitely call the 1800 number, ask them to fax or e-mail a copy. (2) Try your best to remember where have you last seen it, back trace your steps. (3) Advice to other VJ folks, scan a copy and save it in your computer now.

Good Luck!

Congratulations!

Congratulations!