Baltimore N-400 Timeline

Wheaton Service Center

Just wanted to find out if anyone from the forum has taken the fingerprints at Wheaton Service Center prior to their scheduled appointment date. Is it possible to walk in without any problems.

Thanks

alex
 
alexjames said:
Just wanted to find out if anyone from the forum has taken the fingerprints at Wheaton Service Center prior to their scheduled appointment date. Is it possible to walk in without any problems.

Thanks

alex
Click to expand...

I had attempted once but was not allowed. The guy at the front desk didn't allow me to do a walk-in. He said he can reschedule it for a web/sat but didn't let me in.
 
Successful interview and oath

We'd a pretty straightforward experience for interview and oath today, here's a synopsis.


  • Scheduled time was 9 for wife and 9:40 for self.
  • Reached at 8:30
  • The waiting area was packed, but it appeared that 10-12 officers were calling people regularly.
  • Wife was called at 9:10, and came back around 9:25, passed, besides standard stuff she was asked how did she get her GC.
  • I was called by the same IO who interviewed my wife @ 9:30
  • She conducted the civic, reading and writing test first, congratulated me on passing and then went through the N-400 app.
  • She spent some time on the company that sponsored my GC and then one question got me confused for few minutes - how many children do we have and do they live with my wife, when I answered that they live with us, she kept repeating the question till I realized that she wanted to know if I've been ever married to someone else and have children from prior marriages.
  • Other than this question, rest was straightforward, she didn't verify my 12 trips with passport stamps, just wanted me to confirm that none was over 180 days.
  • For one traffic ticket, she wanted to know if I'd paid the fine.
  • Other than GC, passports and DL, she didn't look at any other doc.
  • Offered a 3 p.m. oath the same day and I took it!!
  • Overall, she was very courteous and professional and a very pleasant experience -- I was out by 9:55!

They are doing oath @ 3 p.m. daily, except on Fridays where they are apparently doing 2. There's not much to do in that part of Baltimore unless you want to sit at the Barnes and Noble or see the Aquarium (about 15 minutes walk) so killing 5 hours was difficult!!

The oath process was not very efficient, here's the gist of it:
  • We waited in Room 101 and @ 3:10 they lined us up to go in groups to 7th floor conference room.
  • An officer explained the process and then waited for 20 minutes for colleagues to arrive so that they could collect the oath invite and green cards.
  • 10 minutes after finishing the GC collection, a Supervisor arrived who started the oath and pledge processing.
  • After that the officers handed over the certs individually.
  • We were done close to 4:30+, could have been an hour process but they claimed that they were really busy.
  • 68 people took oath today.

Well good luck to everyone else in the pipeline and wish you all a similar uneventful experience!!!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Congrats RJain2. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Do you know what was the cut off time to be allowed for interview? My interview is at 2 pm and wondering if they would let me do the same day oath.

Thanks.
 
Don't know, met one or two people @ the oath who had 11:30 ish interviews but seeing how they had to scramble for the 3 p.m. oath would not be very optimistic that could squeeze an interview that finishes @ 2:30 ish.


cpzinga said:
Congrats RJain2. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Do you know what was the cut off time to be allowed for interview? My interview is at 2 pm and wondering if they would let me do the same day oath.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
 
Rjain2 said:
We'd a pretty straightforward experience for interview and oath today, here's a synopsis.


  • Scheduled time was 9 for wife and 9:40 for self.
  • Reached at 8:30
  • The waiting area was packed, but it appeared that 10-12 officers were calling people regularly.
  • Wife was called at 9:10, and came back around 9:25, passed, besides standard stuff she was asked how did she get her GC.
  • I was called by the same IO who interviewed my wife @ 9:30
  • She conducted the civic, reading and writing test first, congratulated me on passing and then went through the N-400 app.
  • She spent some time on the company that sponsored my GC and then one question got me confused for few minutes - how many children do we have and do they live with my wife, when I answered that they live with us, she kept repeating the question till I realized that she wanted to know if I've been ever married to someone else and have children from prior marriages.
  • Other than this question, rest was straightforward, she didn't verify my 12 trips with passport stamps, just wanted me to confirm that none was over 180 days.
  • For one traffic ticket, she wanted to know if I'd paid the fine.
  • Other than GC, passports and DL, she didn't look at any other doc.
  • Offered a 3 p.m. oath the same day and I took it!!
  • Overall, she was very courteous and professional and a very pleasant experience -- I was out by 9:55!

They are doing oath @ 3 p.m. daily, except on Fridays where they are apparently doing 2. There's not much to do in that part of Baltimore unless you want to sit at the Barnes and Noble or see the Aquarium (about 15 minutes walk) so killing 5 hours was difficult!!

The oath process was not very efficient, here's the gist of it:
  • We waited in Room 101 and @ 3:10 they lined us up to go in groups to 7th floor conference room.
  • An officer explained the process and then waited for 20 minutes for colleagues to arrive so that they could collect the oath invite and green cards.
  • 10 minutes after finishing the GC collection, a Supervisor arrived who started the oath and pledge processing.
  • After that the officers handed over the certs individually.
  • We were done close to 4:30+, could have been an hour process but they claimed that they were really busy.
  • 68 people took oath today.

Well good luck to everyone else in the pipeline and wish you all a similar uneventful experience!!!
Click to expand...

Congratulations!!!!!!
 
Rjain2 said:
Don't know, met one or two people @ the oath who had 11:30 ish interviews but seeing how they had to scramble for the 3 p.m. oath would not be very optimistic that could squeeze an interview that finishes @ 2:30 ish.
Click to expand...


Oh, I think that's not good..:mad:
I don't want to go to Baltimore again - especially we don't want give 10 months old kid to baby sitter twice ...

Thanks RJain2.
 
You'll not need to give the kid twice to a baby sitter .. for the oath there were families with young kids, etc. My IO suggested that I may want to go home and bring my daughters over for the oath ceremony.

Just keep your fingers crossed that you do squeeze through for the same- day oath otherwise you don't have much choice...



cpzinga said:
Oh, I think that's not good..:mad:
I don't want to go to Baltimore again - especially we don't want give 10 months old kid to baby sitter twice ...

Thanks RJain2.
Click to expand...
 
Rjain2 said:
You'll not need to give the kid twice to a baby sitter .. for the oath there were families with young kids, etc. My IO suggested that I may want to go home and bring my daughters over for the oath ceremony.

Just keep your fingers crossed that you do squeeze through for the same- day oath otherwise you don't have much choice...
Click to expand...

Thanks, I will do. Even if they don't allow same day oath - I think it will be done within within a month.

So did you apply for passports yet? I think we need to update the social security office with citizenship status info. too.
 
Update
FP done at Baltimore
DO: Baltimore, MD
07/27/09: N-400 for self and wife mailed to Texas by certified first class mail.
07/30/09: N-400 Received
07/30/09: Priority Date
07/31/09: Checks cashed
08/06/09: NOA received
08/06/09: FP Notice Date
08/11/09: FP Notice (self and wife) received
08/21/09: FP done (self and wife)
XX/XX/XX: IL Notice Date
XX/XX/XX: Interview Letter received
XX/XX/XX: Interview Date
 
I applied for the passport last Saturday -- will wait till I get the certs back and then go over to the Social Security Office -- I gather that there is not much difference in benefits as USC vs. GC... anyway for me the passport was more urgent so chose that one.

Thx.



cpzinga said:
Thanks, I will do. Even if they don't allow same day oath - I think it will be done within within a month.

So did you apply for passports yet? I think we need to update the social security office with citizenship status info. too.
Click to expand...
 
Congrats, Man!

Rjain2 said:
We'd a pretty straightforward experience for interview and oath today, here's a synopsis.


  • Scheduled time was 9 for wife and 9:40 for self.
  • Reached at 8:30
  • The waiting area was packed, but it appeared that 10-12 officers were calling people regularly.
  • Wife was called at 9:10, and came back around 9:25, passed, besides standard stuff she was asked how did she get her GC.
  • I was called by the same IO who interviewed my wife @ 9:30
  • She conducted the civic, reading and writing test first, congratulated me on passing and then went through the N-400 app.
  • She spent some time on the company that sponsored my GC and then one question got me confused for few minutes - how many children do we have and do they live with my wife, when I answered that they live with us, she kept repeating the question till I realized that she wanted to know if I've been ever married to someone else and have children from prior marriages.
  • Other than this question, rest was straightforward, she didn't verify my 12 trips with passport stamps, just wanted me to confirm that none was over 180 days.
  • For one traffic ticket, she wanted to know if I'd paid the fine.
  • Other than GC, passports and DL, she didn't look at any other doc.
  • Offered a 3 p.m. oath the same day and I took it!!
  • Overall, she was very courteous and professional and a very pleasant experience -- I was out by 9:55!

They are doing oath @ 3 p.m. daily, except on Fridays where they are apparently doing 2. There's not much to do in that part of Baltimore unless you want to sit at the Barnes and Noble or see the Aquarium (about 15 minutes walk) so killing 5 hours was difficult!!

The oath process was not very efficient, here's the gist of it:
  • We waited in Room 101 and @ 3:10 they lined us up to go in groups to 7th floor conference room.
  • An officer explained the process and then waited for 20 minutes for colleagues to arrive so that they could collect the oath invite and green cards.
  • 10 minutes after finishing the GC collection, a Supervisor arrived who started the oath and pledge processing.
  • After that the officers handed over the certs individually.
  • We were done close to 4:30+, could have been an hour process but they claimed that they were really busy.
  • 68 people took oath today.

Well good luck to everyone else in the pipeline and wish you all a similar uneventful experience!!!
Click to expand...
 
I got approved and took the oath the same day itself. The interview lasted less than 10 mins, nothing unusual was asked. I had to wait for close to 2 hrs before being called for the interview, other than that everything else was fine. Below is the time line.

D/O : Baltimore, MD
-------------------
05/18/09 : N-400 Mailed to TX Express mail
05/19/09 : Priority Date
05/19/09 : Receipt Date
05/25/09 : Check Cashed
05/21/09 : NOA Date (I-797C)
06/05/09 : FP Notice Date
06/16/09 : FP Date (done)
06/27/09 : Interview Letter Received for Spouse
08/20/09 : Interview Date for Spouse
07/06/09 : Interview Letter Received for Self
08/26/09 : Interview Date for Self
08/26/09 : Oath Letter
08/26/09 : Oath Date
 
Congrats SG_VA!!!

SG_VA said:
I got approved and took the oath the same day itself. The interview lasted less than 10 mins, nothing unusual was asked. I had to wait for close to 2 hrs before being called for the interview, other than that everything else was fine. Below is the time line.

D/O : Baltimore, MD
-------------------
05/18/09 : N-400 Mailed to TX Express mail
05/19/09 : Priority Date
05/19/09 : Receipt Date
05/25/09 : Check Cashed
05/21/09 : NOA Date (I-797C)
06/05/09 : FP Notice Date
06/16/09 : FP Date (done)
06/27/09 : Interview Letter Received for Spouse
08/20/09 : Interview Date for Spouse
07/06/09 : Interview Letter Received for Self
08/26/09 : Interview Date for Self
08/26/09 : Oath Letter
08/26/09 : Oath Date
Click to expand...
 
Friends,

Do you know if they are allowing to the interview rooms? I heard some DOs are allowing, how about Baltimore?
 
Redundant Notice for Oath Ceremony

USCIS never surprises us -- I successfully finished my interview and oath on 20th August.... last Friday, I received a oath ceremony letter dated 25th August to appear for the oath ceremony on August 20th @ 3:00 p.m.

I'm going to thrash this letter as it's obviously redundant, just like the online messages are meaningless.
 
Rjain2 said:
USCIS never surprises us -- I successfully finished my interview and oath on 20th August.... last Friday, I received a oath ceremony letter dated 25th August to appear for the oath ceremony on August 20th @ 3:00 p.m.

I'm going to thrash this letter as it's obviously redundant, just like the online messages are meaningless.
Click to expand...

Oh, it's a surprise. But do you want to call USCIS or Baltimore office before you trash it? Just to be on safe side...:)
 
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