PedroDaGr8

Wow, over a month since the last post. Seems like Seattle is on their game and not many are having issues.

Updated my PNW tracker with the most recent data: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YeRoAOAtGsInGRjNgkNw1RrWbAtEDIysrs_lNcTRT7M/edit?usp=sharing The pending cases in Seattle are down to 9,400 cases a number not seen since 2016! This is down HEAVILY from the 25,480 pending cases a year ago and even more so from the all time high of 28,901 two years previous. Overall, across the entire PNW (SEA, SPO, YAK, POR) the number of pending cases is 14,678. The last time we were below this number was 2015! Before that time, while the backlog was lower, so was the number of received cases. Basically, they are running a backlog of approximately 6 months worth of cases (based on the number received per quarter). Clearly, the massive backlog reduction measures done by USCIS have been paying huge dividends for the area. While we might see the number of pending cases drop a bit more, I don't expect it to be a lot. At some point, the hard to adjucate cases and load balancing of officers to other forms (AoS, RoC, etc.) and field offices should impose a limit on how much improvement is achievable.

Sorry to hear that. At least you are in the home stretch! Also, examples like yours are why I tell people that same day oaths are never guaranteed. You can do everything right but things can go wrong on the officers end and same day oaths won't happen.

Yes they do. When you enter you will hand them your green card and you will leave with your naturalization certificate.

Possible yes, even very likely. That being said, not guaranteed.

I somehow missed that the 2022Q4 (which goes from 01JUL2022-30SEP2022) processing data came out last month. I updated the PNW - N-400 Naturalization Historical Case Load Data Spreadsheet and the increased processing, which was ramping up in Q3, is clearly now in full swing! The number of cases decided in Seattle increased DRAMATICALLY from 6,900 cases to 11,737 decided this quarter. Unlike Q3, which saw 1,700 transferred cases, in Q4 only 851 cases transferred elsewhere. To give an idea of how impressive 11,737 decided cases is, Seattle decided 14,492 cases in the previous THREE quarters. This is by far the highest number of cases decided for the period in which I have data (starting 2013Q4). There was a slight uptick in received cases at 4,698 received during Q4 but this is well within historical trends. Overall, pending cases in Seattle dropped 7,890 to a low of 13,043; a level not seen since the beginning of 2017! Looking at the Pacific Northwest as a whole, we see historically high rates of decided cases in Portland and Yakima as well at 5,209 and 994 respectively. Around 701 cases aren’t accounted for as decided (likely transferred out of the area). Received cases held steady at 7,157, a number which is within the usual for the past 4-5 years. In the end, the total pending cases in the region has dropped MASSIVELY by 11,965 to 18,946 (which like Seattle, was last seen in 2017Q1). Based on recent trends, I don't expect 2023Q1 (01OCT2022-31DEC2022) to be historically high but I do expect the levels to remain well above historical averages resulting in an even lower backlog.

Likely a combination of the thanksgiving holiday, the excel sheet finally catching up to the reality of the current scenario (no longer underestimating the times), and Seattle being fully caught up. The later means the officers can be used to help other FO catch-up as they roll out the remote interview systems. Also, it is possible they have pivoted to clearing the backlog for I-485 (which Seattle has a lot as well).

Yes, my wife was able to get hers in a week, for our flight 17 days out. If you are within 14 days of your trip, I would call and schedule the appointment as close to her interview date as possible (obviously after and not before). Can always cancel if she doesn't get same day naturalization.

So make one!

I updated the PNW - N-400 Naturalization Historical Case Load Data Spreadsheet with the new 2022 Q3 (which goes from 01APR2022-30JUN2022). For the first time, we start to see the ramp up that is obvious in the Seattle Tracking Spreadsheet. Total pending cases in Seattle dropped by over 4,400 despite receiving over 4,200 cases. That's a change of 8,600 cases! Considering that 6,900 cases were decided in Seattle, that leaves 1,700 cases which were either withdrawn (VERY rare) or transferred to another location. Looking at Yakima, it is clear that they received some of those transferred cases as there are around 1,000 excess cases beyond what they received. As for the entire PNW, we see 833 cases which aren't accounted for (either withdrawn or transferred). My hunch is we are starting to see the impact of remote interviews with the 833 cases being cases which were transferred out of the region for remote interviews and the increase at Yakima also representing transferred cases. Basically, we are starting to see them actually load balance between FOs!

Check the Google Sheets document (also put your data in there). Looks like it is running around 4-5months at this point. Sorry if it came across that I implied you were lying. I was said that because you are the first that I have heard to be told that. I have heard people at 2:45PM being told their case wouldn't be done before the last oath ceremony but not that they ran out of slots. It is a new wrinkle that has to be taken into consideration.

I don't think anyone knows for certain. I've never heard someone told "all of the slots were full". Historically,I would say that your times were just fine provided there were no issues with biometrics and the officer had your case file.

For my wife, it was a matter of minutes. Before she could even call me to say she passed, the egov.usvis.gov site sent me a series of messages saying she was approved, that her oath ceremony would be scheduled, and that her oath ceremony was scheduled (it was a same day oath).

You should be able to get a passport in that amount of time, my wife was able to get hers in less than a week. After you have done your oath, call 1-877-487-2778 which is the scheduling line for Urgent Travel Service Passport Service. The hours for the line are 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. ET, Mondays through Fridays. My wife called on a Wed evening and was able to get an appointment for Friday morning. At the appointment, they will determine, based on your travel details, if you need same day service or can wait two business days to receive your passport. Make sure you bring all of the necessary stuff with you (passport photos, proof of travel, payment, etc.). From there, you will return to the office either later in the day or two days later to pick up your passport.

Benefits: The passport card is cheap and, in some scenarios, you can leave the full passport at home. Downsides: None

Congratulations! Also, that is amazing news that your spouse could attend. I was not allowed to attend when my wife had her ceremony, so that changed recently!

To be clear it was my wife's biometrics and yes hers were waived. Also, neither of us are close to senior citizen in age. At the time she applied, they were waiving the vast majority of biometrics. Waiving biometrics means your dad doesn't have to go in to get his fingerprints taken again, they will reuse the prints taken in a previous case to perform the background checks. They do not waive the fee because most of that goes for the aforementioned background checks. That being said, when you dad goes for his interview, they will take his biometrics again and confirm they match the ones previously on file.

Let's keep it here so it can potentially help others. The number she called is 1-877-487-2778; the hours for that number are 8am to 10pm Eastern time. It is a national scheduling line, not a direct line to the local office. If you call and don't get the phone tree, then something is wrong.

My wife was able to get an Urgent Travel Service appointment at a local facility for two days after her oath. She had her passport in two business days after that. She called the appointment line, the same evening she took her oath and was able to schedule said appointment. You have to be traveling with 14 days or 28 days if you need a visa. Travel within 14 days or 28 days if a visa is needed. This is correct. The price is the exact same as an expedited passport application. It seems like appointments are starting to get easier to find (that or my wife got insanely lucky). My wife called the same day she had her oath (in the evening), got an appointment for two days later and had her passport two business days after that.

It is extremely common for them to do a combo interview, but not 100% guaranteed. The general rule is come prepared for one, including bring your spouse (even though they won't be allowed in until the officer requests them).

Same day oath depends on several factors: First and foremost, your field office. Some field offices do same-day oaths and some do not. If your field office does same-day oaths and some do not. The time of your interview. For field offices that do same day oath, there is usually a cut-off time, after which, they will stop doing same day oaths and will schedule you for another day. How long the various final processing for you case taking to complete. For example, when you go in, you may have to refresh/verify your biometrics. If there is a problem with verifying your biometrics it may have to be done manually which can take some time. ALL of the processing on your case has to be complete by the aforementioned cut-off time or they will schedule your oath to another day. Are you changing your name? If I remember correctly, name changes require a judicial oath ceremony which are not typically done same day. Does the officer have your case file? This applies more for the new video interviews where sometimes the officer doesn't have the original copy of your case file yet (they only have the digital versions). Without the full case file, they cannot finalize your approval and schedule your oath. Long story short, if you have a morning or lunchtime interview at a field office that does same day oaths and your case is pretty straightforward then it is very likely that you will have a same day oath. For my wife, at the Seattle FO, after her video interview was complete and she was approved, the assistant came in and direct her down to queue up for her oath ceremony. The ceremony consisted of 10-15 people and it seemed that they were doing them every 30min to 1h. When she went in, they took her green cards (current and expired) and other things like that and gave her the New Citizen packet of info. When it was done, as she walked out, there were already 5 more people queued up for the next ceremony.

Yeah, for my wife's case, they didn't ask to see a single piece of evidence about me, they didn't even ask for our marriage certificate. They mainly asked for evidence showing we were still married (bank account, lease, tax returns) and the rest was all about her. That being said, all of the evidence about me is within scope and the CAN ask for it, if they want.

Correct, the Seattle Passport Agency. To clarify, this was the Urgent Travel Service (international travel within 14 days of the appointment or within 28 days if a visa is needed) and not the Life-Or-Death Emergency Service. To provide proof of travel within 28 days (since she needs a visa), she just had to provide a copy of our already booked flight itinerary. I had heard the same thing and honestly thought there was zero chance of getting an appointment that late in the day but figured why not try. As I mentioned, despite the phone tree warning that hold times were over 60 minutes, a rep answered right away (literally immediately after that warning, in fact). Once my wife clarified that she needed a visa, which means you can get an appointment up to 28 days out, the rep offered her several appointment times with the first being 9am two days later (the appointment she took). Surprisingly, no different than an expedited passport, $225 in total: $130 Application Fee + $35 Execution Fee + $60 Expedite Fee

To clarify, she called at around 5:30-6:00pm in the evening (Pacific Time).

Yep, she picked it up yesterday. Since we are travelling at the end of the month, she called to get an appointment that evening after getting her citizenship. I was absolutely stunned that she was able to get a passport appointment so easily. The phone tree said waits were over an hour, but then immediately an agent picked right up and she had an appointment for two days later (last Friday). Since we weren't traveling in the next couple days, she got her passport in two business days. Otherwise, she would have gotten it the same day.