AZKira

Thanks Warlord. I don't do much travelling so I guess I just keeping the U.S. passport up-to-date should be enough.

Thanks Flames9_RN. No plans to go anywhere other than Canada so it seems that the American passport is all I need.

_{Thanks, Ontarkie. That's what I was hoping to be able to do.}

I got my U.S. citizenship and U.S. passport a few years ago and I live in the U.S. My Canadian passport is now expired. Is there any reason to renew my Canadian passport?

If I want to visit Canada, can't I just use my U.S. passport, which has on it "place of birth: Canada"?

Thanks, Mae! It sure looks good in red, doesn't it.

Thanks, Dolphin1. There really isn't much information specifically for the Phoenix office. I posted mine as a way of saying thank you to everyone at VisaJourney, and to leave something that might be helpful for future VJ members.

I hope that your experience goes as smoothly as mine.

The only documentation they want to see is the oath letter, the most recent Green Card, and a driver’s license as photo ID to get through Security when you first enter the building.

They keep the oath letter and the Green Card.

I'm done! My oath ceremony was today in Phoenix.

April 19 2011 - USCIS received my N-400 application.

May 18 2011 - Biometrics. The preferred walk-in day for Phoenix is Wednesday.

August 04 2011 - Interview

August 19 2011 - Naturalization ceremony

When I went to my Adjustment of Status meeting a few years ago at 2035 North Central Avenue in Phoenix, I was re-directed to another location.

This time, the address was correct. I was kept waiting about fifteen minutes past the appointment time and the citizenship interview itself

took fifteen minutes. There were no surprises. The building has its own parking lot and there's a flat $5.00 charge.

Actually, there was one surprise. Two days later I got the oath ceremony letter. It was scheduled for exactly two weeks after the interview.

Phoenix doesn't do same-day oath ceremonies.

I had some questions about the procedure and some ambiguity about times in the oath letter and was able to get them answered by calling the courthouse at 602-322-7200.

Phoenix holds two naturalization ceremonies every Friday at the U.S. District Courthouse, 401 West Washington, 2nd floor, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, with approximately

one hundred new citizens sworn in at each ceremony.

My ceremony started at 10:00 but they wanted all new citizens to be in the courtroom an hour before that, for the preamble.

Representatives from Social Security, the Passport office, and voter registration were there to explain their forms, and were there after the ceremony to receive filled-out forms.

After this introductory material, we were given a short break and were allowed to leave the courtroom but were warned to be back promptly.

Once everyone was back, our guests were let inside and the ceremony began right on time at 10.

My ceremony took about 45 minutes. Cameras are welcome. They permit cell phones but ask that they be muted.

The most convenient parking is across the street at the 305 West Washington parking garage. We were there for about an hour and a half and paid $10.

There is some metered parking along West Washington and there are other parking lots nearby.

The Sandra Day O'Connor courthouse is a beautiful glass structure, very modern and open. And HOT in August. The courtroom itself was comfortably air conditioned.

Acoustics are fine when the person speaking faces the audience and speaks into the microphone.

After the judge's introduction, the oath, the pledge, the videos, some volunteer new immigrant stories, and more from the judge, we were asked to stand up one row at a time

to accept our naturalization certificates. At first I wondered how they had them in the correct order and then I realized that each certificate has a photo on it

and while we were watching the videos and listening to the speeches, the people up front had plenty of time to match each certificate to the faces in front of them and organize the piles of paper.

The picture on my certificate was the one I had supplied with the N-400 application, not the one taken at Biometrics.

After we had our certificates and everyone had left the courtroom, we were allowed back inside to take pictures.

All in all, it was pretty efficiently handled and far less painful an experience than some I've read about.

I'm done! Oath ceremony was today, in Phoenix.

Here's my timeline. Please would someone add me to the chart for April filers.

April 17 2011 - application sent to Phoenix lockbox

April 28 2011 - check cashed

April 28 2011 - NOA1

May 18 2011 - Biometrics

June 28 2011 - Interview letter

August 04 2011 - Interview

August 19 2011 - Oath

Field office - Phoenix

I'll detail my experience in another post.

Thank you!

My husband can't stand or walk for more than a few minutes and uses a wheelchair when we know that there might be a problem.

What will happen at the oath ceremony? I'll already be inside so won't be able to help him get seated in the audience.

Will there be anyone at the oath ceremony to help him? Will I be able to request help ahead of time?

My oath ceremony will be in Phoenix.

Does anyone know if Phoenix offers same-day oath ceremony?

Yes. The orphan's benefit will continue to be paid to you while he's under 18, and to him from 18 to 25 as long as he's a full-time student.

You will continue to collect your CPP survivor benefit even if you remarry, and your son will collect his even if he gets married before age 26 as long as he is a full-time student.

There's a form that he'll have to send in every year confirming that he's still enrolled in school.

see http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/isp/pub/factsheets/studben.shtml

4. Am I eligible for benefits if I attend school outside Canada?

Yes – if the CPP recognizes the school, and you continue to meet all other conditions of eligibility.

I'll be applying for citizenship after three years of marriage and we have been filing taxes jointly since 2007. I'm guessing that all they want to do is verify that nothing in our living/financial arrangements has changed. Will one joint bank statement (the most current one at the time of the interview), one joint credit card bill, originals (plus a copy of each) of our driver's licences, birth certificates, marriage license, and so on, be enough? Surely they don't want that whole pile of ROC evidence all over again!

Thank you for your responses. It sounds like preparing for Removal of Conditions all over again only a little less paper.

I'm glad I asked. Better to have too much than too little.

Yohino, that's what I thought too. Part 4, A or B or C. What I'm finding confusing is what people have reported that they were asked to show at the interview.

A few people lately have said that during their interview the IO asked to see relationship evidence. None of them said whether or not they submitted joint tax transcripts with the N-400 application.

Those of you who have just completed your citizenship interview, did you submit joint tax transcripts with the application, and were you asked to show any other proof of relationship during the interview?

You say you sent mortgage and vehicle deeds with the application, and the IO wanted to see utility bills and bank statements as well.

Did you send tax transcripts too? Or just the above documents, which sounds like Removal of Conditions again.

That's confusing! I thought for the N-400 based on marriage you had to provide tax transcripts OR other evidence of being still married. Didn't we just provide all that for the Removal of Conditions???

I think I've found the answers to my own questions.

Once source I found says NOT to include the check for the fees because if you do they'll automatically cash it. If the request for fee waiver is denied the package will be returned to you and you can then re-submit it and include the check.

For other petitions they match 125% of FPL to line 22 (total income) of the 1040. It's probably safe to assume that the request for fee waiver will match 150% of FPL to line 22 of the 1040 as well.

And, they are aiming at processing fee waiver requests within 5 days, so if they decide in favor, it should only add a week at most to the package.

I've searched the USCIS website and am not seeing answers to my questions - perhaps someone knows?

- It says to attach the I-912 request for fee waiver to the application being submitted. Would you include the check for the fees, hoping that they'll return it if they approve the I-912? Or would you leave the check out and only send it if they do not approve the I-912?

- To what number in the 1040 tax return are they matching the 150% of FPL? Total income? Adjusted gross income? Something else?

- How much extra time is the fee waiver request likely to add to the process?

Thanks!

I agree - NelsonA and the Serbinski forum are great resources, and another good one is David Ingram at www.centa.com.

NelsonA also answers questions at http://forum.keatsconnelly.com/.

By the way - everyone with money in Canada in RRSP, locked or unlocked, or money in a savings account, or any other type of account - there are extra forms that have to be filled in when you do your U.S. taxes.

See TDF 90-22.1 for any non-U.S. account for which you have signing authority, AND 8891 for RRSP, AND the last two questions of Schedule B of the 1040. Big penalties possible if these are not done.

Once the RRSP has been unlocked and the money has been cashed out, it is no different than if it had been sitting in a savings account. Best way is to have the bank do a wire transfer to you at your U.S. bank.

Is this a GIC within a locked-in RRSP or is it just a GIC that hasn't come due yet? If it is just a GIC, once it has come due you can withdraw the money. If it is a GIC within a locked-in RRSP - big difference.

I went through this about a year ago with a locked-in RRSP at TD Canada Trust. It is complicated and time consuming and frustrating.

First of all, is it a federally-regulated or provincially-regulated RRSP, and if provincial, which province. Rules are different.

You have to have been a Canadian non-resident for two years (dated from when you did your "Departing Canada" tax return) and you have to apply for and receive your NR-73 statement of non-residency from CRA. The bank will need it to unlock the funds.

If you unlock and withdraw the money the bank will withhold 25% (Canadian income tax). If you unlock but leave the money as a "normal" RRSP there is no withholding until you cash it out.

I had to go to the bank (any branch in Canada) in person to do the unlocking and to set up the new RRSP, and it could not be mutual funds, only GICs. The Canadian bank can't sell you mutual funds once you are a non-resident.

As far as converting to an IRA - that's completely separate and unrelated. You can sell the RRSP and buy the IRA but cannot transfer directly from one to the other.

I hope this helps. It is not an easy process. Good luck!

August 21 2010 - my card arrived in today's mail.

Thank you, everyone, for all your help and encouragement, and I'll see you next year in the Citizenship forum.

Good luck to everyone still waiting!