Jay&Jo

I had my interview yesterday, my case was approved.
I had to wait about 45 minutes for my name to be called.
My interviewer first asked me to remain standing and pledge to tell the truth.
She then informed me that although I had applied under the 3 years of marriage rule, I qualified for the 5 years rule - therefore she was going to update my application, so I didn't need to show any proof of marriage (fine by me!!). She asked if I had travelled outside the country in the last year (I had not).
I showed my ID and passports.
We quickly moved onto the test. I was asked the following questions:
* Who is the president?
* What is the rule of law?
* What are two ways Americans can participate in their democracy?
* What are 3 of the original colonies?
* Where is the statue of liberty located?
* How many justices are there on the Supreme Court?
After answering those 6 she moved onto the reading/writing portion. I was relieved she didn't ask anymore questions, as I knew then that I had passed that section!
I was asked to read the following question from the iPad: "Who lived here first?" And was told to write the answer: "American Indians lived here first."
 
She then asked me all the Yes/No questions from the end of the N400 application. And told me that I had passed, and would probably need to wait up to 3 months for my oath ceremony, which will probably be there at the Norfolk office.
 
It was extremely quick and painless. I was secretly disappointed she didn't want to look through all my documents that I had spent weeks compiling (just kidding!!)- 5 years of tax transcripts, birth certificates for all my family members, including myself, my marriage certificate, proof of travel over the last 5 years etc...
So glad its over!!!!!!! Woohoo!!!!

I had my interview yesterday, my case was approved.
I had to wait about 45 minutes for my name to be called.
My interviewer first asked me to remain standing and pledge to tell the truth.
She then informed me that although I had applied under the 3 years of marriage rule, I qualified for the 5 years rule - therefore she was going to update my application, so I didn't need to show any proof of marriage (fine by me!!). She asked if I had travelled outside the country in the last year (I had not).
I showed my ID and passports.
We quickly moved onto the test. I was asked the following questions:
* Who is the president?
* What is the rule of law?
* What are two ways Americans can participate in their democracy?
* What are 3 of the original colonies?
* Where is the statue of liberty located?
* How many justices are there on the Supreme Court?
After answering those 6 she moved onto the reading/writing portion. I was relieved she didn't ask anymore questions, as I knew then that I had passed that section!
I was asked to read the following question from the iPad: "Who lived here first?" And was told to write the answer: "American Indians lived here first."
 
She then asked me all the Yes/No questions from the end of the N400 application. And told me that I had passed, and would probably need to wait up to 3 months for my oath ceremony, which will probably be there at the Norfolk office.
 
It was extremely quick and painless. I was secretly disappointed she didn't want to look through all my documents that I had spent weeks compiling (just kidding!!)- 5 years of tax transcripts, birth certificates for all my family members, including myself, my marriage certificate, proof of travel over the last 5 years etc...
So glad its over!!!!!!! Woohoo!!!!

Interview done earlier in the day on 6th January at the Norfolk USCIS office.
 
Arrived at 11.30 am for an interview at 11.45 am.
 
Showed my interview letter and driver's id to be let in.
 
Asked to wait in the 2nd floor. At around 11.55 am I was welcomed in by a lady officer.  While she called out my name I noticed she was struggling to pronounce my last name and I said "It's okay officer, even after 7 years of marriage my wife struggles with it till today" and she burst out laughing and I thought that immediately broke the ice. She led me into a room and a screen separated the officer from me.
 
The officer first asked  to see my passport, green card and driver's id.
 
The officer made me stand up, raise my hand and essentially made me  say that whatever I am about  to say in the interview is all going to be true.
 
Then she said she is now going to administer the English test. She asked me to write down "How many senators do we have? on the electronic pad which I did and then she made me write something to the effect that we have 100 senators. She announced that I passed my English test.
 
She then proceeded to ask questions for my civics test - she exactly asked me 6 questions which I got them all correct.
 
1) What did the Emancipation Declaration do?
 
2) What are the two main political parties in the US?
 
3) Who signs the Bills so that they become laws? ( I am paraphrasing her question here)
 
4) What ocean lies to the east of the US East Coast?
 
5) Name one of the two longest rivers in the USA?
 
I cannot remember the 6th question.
 
She proceeded to announce that I passed the civics test.
 
She then told me that she would go through my application. All she did was basically repeat what I filled out in my application and all I had to do was to say yes or no to them.
 
When the question about any Federal taxes owed was asked -  I replied "Owed at the time of filing application - fully paid as of today". She asked to see the relevant documents and I produced the IRS installment agreement, the 4 installments that I paid - and the final full amount that I chose to pay in advance to fully settle the amount. The officer made copies of the documents I gave her and returned the originals.
 
Then came the question of my speeding ticket and she did not ask to see any documents as she said "I saw the speeding ticket you uploaded online".
 
Before she proceeded to the next question - I politely interjected and said that I have something to tell you as I was not quite sure how to fill this out at the time of original filing of the application.
 
I mentioned to the officer that I was involved in a single vehicle incident - where my vehicle slipped on the ramp in heavy rain conditions and rammed into the guard rail. The cop gave me summons to appear in the court - I went to the court - paid the court fees and nothing ever appeared in my driving record and that was the end of that.
 
The officer actually commended me that I revealed this information to her- because she told me that she never did find anything in my driver's record but it was good that I told her about this incident. She asked for and made copies of the relevant documents that I brought.
 
She also made some minor corrections for some errors I made in the application.
 
She made me go through the corrections she made on my behalf and sign them all on the electronic pad.
 
At the end she gave me a paper which said  to the effect "Congratulations, Your application is recommended for approval".  "If final approval is granted you will be notified when and where to report for the Oath Ceremony".
 
Does anyone know what "If Final Approval is granted" means -  what else could they be checking at this point?
 
Overall it was such an incredibly painless experience - given my initial worries about some issues I had with my application.
 
I wish everyone all the very best in their N400 journey.
 

No, I've been married for 10 years now! I'm super late in applying for my citizenship!!!

I just submitted a speeding citation with proof of payment and it being on my driving record, as I had mentioned it earlier in the application.
 
I thought about sending in tax forms, but I'll bring those to the interview. 
Just uploaded the copies of my GC and our marriage certificate.

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VJ Moderation

Just a question for Brits enrolled or graduated from college programs in the states.
Im thinking of applying to go to school here, to get my Associate in Arts Degree. The only qualifications i have with me from England are 3 A levels. Does anyone know if these can count towards college credit?? I've been told foreign degrees can be transcribed to be counted as college credit, but i wasnt sure if the same was true of A levels.
Second question... on my visa application, I stated i had no intentions of studying over here. Will it matter that i've changed my mind?
Thanks! Jo