Laxmi
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Posts posted by Laxmi
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Today, 08/25/2008, (priority date April 28, 2008), I had my naturalization interview at the St. Paul Office. My interview time was 9:40 AM. I arrived at 9:20. There were many folks either waiting for the interview or for some kind of letter. Initially I wasn't sure what it was about. I have a good news for St. Paul folks! Read further to find out
My name was called closer to 10:00 but it wasn't a bad wait as I observed many folks come and go. One interview officer seemed really upset because when he called the name of a person he/she did not respond immediately. Thing was that the officer completely butchered the person's name. I wouldn't have understood if my name were called that badly. I hope the officer chills out. One of the waiting persons commented that the officer should take a retirement. No kidding! Fortunately he was not my interview officer. OK back to my own experience.
A female officer called my name and she greeted me very politely. She was very nice. She took me to her room through two doors and offices in between filled with files. She asked me to stay standing and raise my right hand to take the oath; which I did. She asked me to sit down. She had my file open and started off with my full name. I told her my full name (first, middle, and last). She also asked me my date of birth, and address. I told her that we had moved to a new address and I gave her the new N-400 form that I had brought with me. She told me that she will correct them on the form that was already in file. She returned my revised form back. However, she thanked me for being up-to-date. She changed the address in the form. She asked me what my birth date was and where I was born. She also asked me my wife's name (I applied based on the marriage to the U.S. citizen).
She then asked me, if I am working for the same employer as listed and I said yes; it's the same employer. Also asked me if I had membership/s to any new organizations. I told her that there was an error in the name of one of the organizations that I had listed in the original form but no new ones. She corrected that. She then asked me if I had a copy of my son's birth certificate because she couldn't find it in the file. I gave her a copy and as she was about to put it in the file she found the one that I had submitted originally. She returned the copy to me and apologized. I said, it's easier to miss things in a big file with all these papers. She commented that if we have a baby then we definitely were married. I told her that our son started the day care today. She was sympathetic as well as happy to know that we cared for our son.
She then went through the yes/no statements/questions but skipped a lot of them. Out of 37-38 statements, she only asked about 10 of them to verify. She then asked me the final statements/questions about bearing arms etc. You know the answers to these statements.
She then asked to to verify all the changes that she had made in N-400. She asked me to sign (full name). To all those who are not yet interviewed: Just write your name in cursive or whatever way you write normally. Do not try to sign it like you do with your check or credit card bills.
After that she told me that I will be tested in U.S. civics and history, writing, and reading. She first asked me the civics and history questions:
What does stars on the U.S. flag represent? Who is the president of the U.S. now? Who wrote the declaration of independence? Who becomes the president if the president and vice-president die? who was Martin Luther Kind Jr.? what is one privilege that you get as a U.S. citizen? I answered all the questions correctly.
The officer told me that since I answered all 6 questions correctly, there is no need to ask further civic questions. She then asked me to write "I have a very clean house." at the bottom of the N-400 application as a written test. Then in a separate sheet she asked me to read a pre-printed statement "I have .... (forgot the words here) to do."
The officer then told me that I passed the tests. She then said that she is recommending me for the citizenship and Congratulations! She gave me the notice that I passed the tests there and then. It's just a plain sheet that's printed off the computer.
She then told me that I should wait outside to get the Oath Letter as the Oath ceremony is taking place on the 9th of Sept. Because it's so close they are giving the oath letter right after the interview. She told me that sending the oath letter by mail for 9th Sept. is too risky as the letter may not arrive on time. I said that's very good. I will wait then. She told me that that was why there were people waiting in the waiting room and getting the letters. I mentioned to her that I was about to request for earlier oath, if possible, so that I could vote in November. Now no need to do that. Now I understand why there were folks who were being called to collect the oath letter but not something else.
I hope more folks are being interviewed at St. Paul before 9th so they can get the citizenship. Good luck.
After about 5 minutes of wait, I got the oath letter for the oath ceremony to be held at the Minneapolis Convention Center at 11:00 on the 9th of Sept. It took me about four months from application to oath. Good luck all the folks who are waiting!
Total interview time 10-12 minutes.
Can only wonder what your impression of the St. Paul office would be if you happened to get my wife's interviewer instead of yours. Wife's lied to her and gave false information, got a bit teed off and called my senator two days ago, yesterday had the oath letter e-mailed to us with apologies. So our impression isn't quite as good as yours. Shouldn't be that way, I didn't bring copies of our documents, but the originals, her interviewer demanded that my wife turn off the originals, she did on out tax forms, but thank God not on the documents that literally cost us thousands to get. But they were all there in her stack, just too damned lazy to look. Left a bitter impression, but have to bury that and smile this Wednesday, will wear proper attire, and bring my camera. Bet a zillion bucks, if I didn't call, would be waiting for months or years for that oath letter. But that has been our consistent luck with the USCIS, same office lost all the paper work for our daughter that also screwed things up for us.
I'm really sorry about the experience you have had with the USCIS and I understand your gripe with them. I would have too. I just hope that everybody gets to have good experience in this process. Government agencies are like that all over but it doesn't mean that we should accept such incompetencies. Wish you and your family all the best.
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Sorry about your wait. I had my interview yesterday at the St. Paul Office, and go my oath letter right after the interview for 9th Sept. ceremony at the Minneapolis Convention Center. They handed in the Oath letters because mail delay may cause folks to miss the ceremony. You can find my experience in the April filers' thread. Good luck.
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Today, 08/25/2008, (priority date April 28, 2008), I had my naturalization interview at the St. Paul Office. My interview time was 9:40 AM. I arrived at 9:20. There were many folks either waiting for the interview or for some kind of letter. Initially I wasn't sure what it was about. I have a good news for St. Paul folks! Read further to find out
My name was called closer to 10:00 but it wasn't a bad wait as I observed many folks come and go. One interview officer seemed really upset because when he called the name of a person he/she did not respond immediately. Thing was that the officer completely butchered the person's name. I wouldn't have understood if my name were called that badly. I hope the officer chills out. One of the waiting persons commented that the officer should take a retirement. No kidding! Fortunately he was not my interview officer. OK back to my own experience.
A female officer called my name and she greeted me very politely. She was very nice. She took me to her room through two doors and offices in between filled with files. She asked me to stay standing and raise my right hand to take the oath; which I did. She asked me to sit down. She had my file open and started off with my full name. I told her my full name (first, middle, and last). She also asked me my date of birth, and address. I told her that we had moved to a new address and I gave her the new N-400 form that I had brought with me. She told me that she will correct them on the form that was already in file. She returned my revised form back. However, she thanked me for being up-to-date. She changed the address in the form. She asked me what my birth date was and where I was born. She also asked me my wife's name (I applied based on the marriage to the U.S. citizen).
She then asked me, if I am working for the same employer as listed and I said yes; it's the same employer. Also asked me if I had membership/s to any new organizations. I told her that there was an error in the name of one of the organizations that I had listed in the original form but no new ones. She corrected that. She then asked me if I had a copy of my son's birth certificate because she couldn't find it in the file. I gave her a copy and as she was about to put it in the file she found the one that I had submitted originally. She returned the copy to me and apologized. I said, it's easier to miss things in a big file with all these papers. She commented that if we have a baby then we definitely were married. I told her that our son started the day care today. She was sympathetic as well as happy to know that we cared for our son.
She then went through the yes/no statements/questions but skipped a lot of them. Out of 37-38 statements, she only asked about 10 of them to verify. She then asked me the final statements/questions about bearing arms etc. You know the answers to these statements.
She then asked to to verify all the changes that she had made in N-400. She asked me to sign (full name). To all those who are not yet interviewed: Just write your name in cursive or whatever way you write normally. Do not try to sign it like you do with your check or credit card bills.
After that she told me that I will be tested in U.S. civics and history, writing, and reading. She first asked me the civics and history questions:
What does stars on the U.S. flag represent? Who is the president of the U.S. now? Who wrote the declaration of independence? Who becomes the president if the president and vice-president die? who was Martin Luther Kind Jr.? what is one privilege that you get as a U.S. citizen? I answered all the questions correctly.
The officer told me that since I answered all 6 questions correctly, there is no need to ask further civic questions. She then asked me to write "I have a very clean house." at the bottom of the N-400 application as a written test. Then in a separate sheet she asked me to read a pre-printed statement "I have .... (forgot the words here) to do."
The officer then told me that I passed the tests. She then said that she is recommending me for the citizenship and Congratulations! She gave me the notice that I passed the tests there and then. It's just a plain sheet that's printed off the computer.
She then told me that I should wait outside to get the Oath Letter as the Oath ceremony is taking place on the 9th of Sept. Because it's so close they are giving the oath letter right after the interview. She told me that sending the oath letter by mail for 9th Sept. is too risky as the letter may not arrive on time. I said that's very good. I will wait then. She told me that that was why there were people waiting in the waiting room and getting the letters. I mentioned to her that I was about to request for earlier oath, if possible, so that I could vote in November. Now no need to do that. Now I understand why there were folks who were being called to collect the oath letter but not something else.
I hope more folks are being interviewed at St. Paul before 9th so they can get the citizenship. Good luck.
After about 5 minutes of wait, I got the oath letter for the oath ceremony to be held at the Minneapolis Convention Center at 11:00 on the 9th of Sept. It took me about four months from application to oath. Good luck all the folks who are waiting!
Total interview time 10-12 minutes.
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Got our interview date too...
UserName........Sent.........NOA1.......Biometrics.....Interview......Oath
completely.......03/07/08.....04/15/08.....--/--/08.....06/10/08.....--/--/--....TSC
klanecky.........04/02/08.....04/10/08.....04/10/08..... 07/11/08.....07/11/08....VSC, Washington DC
saby.............04/05/08.....04/??/08.....04/29/08.....07/29/08.....--/--/--....VSC - Newark
licianne.........04/07/08.....04/15/08.....04/29/08.....--/--/--.....--/--/--....TSC
lumoy115.........04/09/08.....04/16/08.....05/05/08.....--/--/--.....--/--/--....NSC
gatorlink........04/10/08.....04/21/08.....05/06/08.....--/--/--.....--/--/--....TSC - Tampa
Pascal07.........04/12/08.....04/29/08.....05/14/08.....--/--/--.....--/--/--....CSC - San Jose
pry2008..........04/14/08.....04/26/08.....05/07/08.....07/14/08.....--/--/--....NSC
sam75............04/21/08.....04/28/08.....05/13/08.....08/18/08.....--/--/--....TSC - Memphis
stef and kel.....04/22/08.....05/06/08.....05/22/08.....--/--/--.....--/--/--....VSC - Buffalo
zyggy............04/26/08.....05/05/08.....05/30/08.....08/12/08.....--/--/--....CSC - Phoenix
lespoir fait.....04/26/08.....05/02/08.....05/28/08.....08/06/08.....--/--/--....NSC - Chicago
followmydreams...04/27/08.....05/08/08.....--/--/--.....--/--/--.....--/--/--....VSC
Laxmi............04/28/08.....05/09/08.....05/12/08.....07/14/08.....--/--/--....NSC
F1Belle..........04/28/08.....05/15/08.....05/30/08.....06/21/08.....--/--/--....NSC - Atlanta
nfytoknow........04/29/08.....05/06/08.....05/29/08.....07/17/08.....--/--/--....NSC - Cincinnati
MGM..............04/29/08.....05/16/08.....05/29/08.....--/--/--.....--/--/--....NSC
jsouthwick.......04/30/08.....--/--/--.....--/--/--.....--/--/--.....--/--/--....TSC
Tong Yan.........04/30/08.....05/16/08.....05/29/08.....--/--/--.....--/--/--....TSC
I got my N-400 interview notice dated 7/14/08 at my new address pretty quick despite address change that happened two weeks ago.
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I filed on April 28 and received NOA1 Yesterday.
N-400 April 2008 filers
in US Citizenship General Discussion
Posted
I had my Oath ceremony yesterday at the Minneapolis Convention Center along with over 1100 folks from 110 different countries. The auditorium was packed. The line was quite long as the USCIS officers were going through the Yes/No questions from the back of the Oath letter that you need to answer before you're allowed to seated in the Oath ceremony. I suggest that you fill that form before you come for oath and sign the form with the date of the oath ceremony. This will help all the folks. A federal judge presides the ceremony and basically you hear the president welcome you, the star spangled banner, god bless the America song, and some speeches. THey also call your countries name and you stay standing until all the names are called. Judge Rosenbaum (sp?) was great, I loved him. In addition, there were folks from the voter registration drives to help you fill in the voter registration forms. I did not vote in yesterday's primary but I could have. I will vote in the big one in November.
The ceremony ended in about 45 minutes. The citizenship certificates are handed out with the instructions for how to sign the certificate. Also, US postal office folks were there to help you fill out the US passport applications after the ceremony. That was that.
I'm now a U.S. citizen and I'm very glad that it's done in just 4-months. Filed N-400 April 28 (priority date) - May 18 biometric - August 25 interview - September 09 Oath.
Good luck to all of you who are still waiting.