Newark, NJ - N-400 Timeline

How long does it take for receiving Oath appt. ?

My wife and I passed our interviews on Jan 12th.
We had decided to postpone the oath since we had to travel in an emergency.
I was curious as to how long it takes to receive the oath appointments under these
circumstances. i.e. when the oath was not administered on the same day.

We went to Newark for the interview.

Thanks.

-PunetoNJ.
 
At 8 O'Clock. Good luck

If I show up before 8:30. What do you think my chances are of making the 11:00 am oath ceremony. Case is pretty clean. Only thing in my case that might take time is ~30 or so short trips outside the US with lots of passport pages to go through.
 
Make an INFOPass and see if they will let you do the oath that day. Your files are probably sitting somewhere in the Rodino Building in Newark and so they just have to pull them.
 
Interview experience at Newark
I am a USC now. Here are the details:
Appt was at 9.40am. Reached to 15th floor at 8.30am and gave IL at window #1. At least 100 people sitting there. Was called at 10.10am.
Interview was simple formality. Didnot check absolutely any document, neither passport, GC, DL at all. Rapid 6 question, writing test. IO was funny, he said his boss is a strict person and wished if he had a good boss. Overall he was prompt, to the point, was not rude at all. Almost all the IO i saw were smily, funny, courteous. Only one guy and a lady seemed strict but those who were getting interviewed by them came out smiling. When i was in the sitting area actually i didnot see a single person having a frown or anger on his face after coming out of interview room...just my obervation.
Oath ceremony was fun they really make you emotional about the whole incidence of becoming USC. After the ceremony they address question without any hesitation or reluctance. Newark has really improved since GC days.
I feel like giving few tips which probably are not covered anywhere else.
1. In the big sitting hall on floor 15, if you sit on the right side (while facing service windows), you can hear the names announced better.
2. People at windows #1 where they accept IL are smart. For a 11am appt, if you reach at 8 am, still you will be called at 10.30am and not before which means it is not last in first out. So going early, actually dont gain you much.
3. Use rest room before giving your IL at window #1. They dont seem to repeat your name if you miss it due to restroom break. (Drink less, have solid food breakfast).
4. You can carry cookies in your bag. They dont throw those or dont have any objections on those.
5. During oath please ensure that you move your lips and are loud enough. They are watching you and discourage it if someone is not doing it appropriately.

Last but very important, have patience, take deep breath. Those IO are not sitting there to put you in trouble. Remember those days of H1 interview at Mumbai or Chennai etc? it is exactly opposite to that. Here they encourage you for everything. Being honest is extremely important.

I would personally thank Bobsmyth for his help. This guy really know immigration matters (sometimes I thought he is Mr. Rajeev Khanna himself, but wiped out that thought after looking at his signature :) ). He is worth being a moderator for his forum.
I am planning for rapid one day passport at NY regional office and would soon post that experience here or under passport section.
Thanks all and wish you a great luck and a great USC.

-Newjersey_Dude
 
I am planning for rapid one day passport at NY regional office and would soon post that experience here or under passport section.
Thanks all and wish you a great luck and a great USC.

-Newjersey_Dude

Newjersey_Dude,

How was your one day passport experience at NY regional office? I need to travel immediately after my interview/oath and need to apply for one as well.

Split
 
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Case status updated today

Case status was updated today, Your case has been transferred to a local office and an interview will be scheduled. You will be sent a notice advising you of the date and time of your interview. If you move while this case is pending, please use our Change of Address online tool to update your case with your new address or call our customer service center at 1-800-375-5283.

GC: 2/2005
DO: Newark, NJ
Sent N400: 11/26/2009
Received : 11/30/2009
Check Cached: 12/4/2009
NOA recd: 12/8/09
FP Notice:recd 12/15/2009
FP Date: 12/31/2009
case status updated - transfer to local office - 2/3/09
YL:
IL:
ID:
OD:
 
Here is my time line

DO: Newark
1-Dec-09 N-400 mailed
7-Dec-09 Priority date
24-Dec-09 Finger Printing Walk-in(Scheduled 1/5/2010)
in Jan 2010 Yellow Letters for Self and spouse
3-Feb-10 Trf to Field Office notification email
xx-xx-xx Interview& Oath day
 
Newjersey_Dude,

How was your one day passport experience at NY regional office? I need to travel immediately after my interview/oath and need to apply for one as well.

Split

Split, I got my passport on Monday. Was applied on Fri. I got the passport card too.
 
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Became US Citizen on Feb 2nd

Reached Broad Street Newark at 7:30 AM for my 8:20 AM appointment.
Parked behind the building and entered through the side entrance.
Deposited my appointment letter at Window 1 on Floor 15 at 8:00 AM.
My name was called at 8:30 AM. Interview officer was an Asian guy.
He quickly went through my application, asked whether I still worked for the same company as mentioned in N-400 (Yes i still have my Job in this economy!)
Asked all the yes or no questions.
Then gave me the test and answered all the questions correctly.
Had to read "How many senators are there" and write down "There are One hundred senators".
After this he told me that I passed the test.
He gave me 2 papers, one was for the Oath ceremony and the other was acknowledgment that I passed the test.
Was out of his office at 8:41 AM.
I did not have to mention about my 1 speeding ticket.
Just asked if I have paid all the Taxes.
The whole interview process lasted about 11 minutes, with no unnecessary chit-chat.
Did not ask for anything other than my GC and Passport.
Now feeling a little dumb that I collected a whole bunch of documents with almost my complete History here in US and back home.

Had to wait till 10 AM to get the "Citizenship handbook" and review the Naturalization certificate for any errors.
Then waited till 11 AM to be herded into the Oath ceremony room.
Then had to go wait till 11:30 AM, to fill up the oath taking seats, to close the doors and then had to sit through a video presentation.
Then took the Oath. They are very particular that everybody is moving their lips, someone will be walking around just to check this.
Then some friendly talk by the speaker about "this being ur second birthday, 1st one back in birth place and 2nd today on US citizenship" blah-blah-blah.

Gave the certificate at 11:45 AM, took some photos and was out of the building by 12:10 PM.

Generally the whole process was good and straightforward.
Almost all the people there passed the interview and did not see anyone leaving on a sad note except for a lady who was pissed off about USCIS loosing her documents.

Got photocopies of the certificate. Looks like this is very important because if you loose it then it can take quite some time to get the certificate back.

Used my new Citizenship powers to wait in a small room for 2 hours, filled with people asking for social security benefits, to update my Citizenship status !

Made an appointment with the local Post office in south brunswick for applying for a passport.

Applied for passport on Feb 3rd. Did not expedite it. Hope I do not have to regret this decision.
Now begins the wait for Passport and applying for OCI.

Thanks to everyone on this forum for sharing their experience during this process.
 
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Guys, I have scheduled for 2/10/2010 at 9:30am interview time.

Thank you all of you for posting experience..will post after my turn..
 
Split, I got my passport on Monday. Was applied on Fri. I got the passport card too.

Hi Newjersey_dude,

Could you please eloborate your experince. I am in the same situation. Have you applied/expedited for PIO card as well?Pleasepost your experience.

Thanks
Bharani
 
Hi Newjersey_dude,

Could you please eloborate your experince. I am in the same situation. Have you applied/expedited for PIO card as well?Pleasepost your experience.

Thanks
Bharani
Hi Beekay09, the whole process was very simple. All you need to do is have a travel itinerary printout (which shows you are flying in next 14 days), filled-up passport application form, ctzenship certificate and 4 photographs. You need to take appointment at your nearest passport agency , the website link is travel.state.gov. Go reach at the appointment time and pay (they charge $20 extra for expedite). Usually they give back passport and card in one day, but it depends on the agency workload. Let know if you need more info.
I applied for PIO already and should be getting in a couple of days.
 
Hi Beekay09, the whole process was very simple. All you need to do is have a travel itinerary printout (which shows you are flying in next 14 days), filled-up passport application form, ctzenship certificate and 4 photographs. You need to take appointment at your nearest passport agency , the website link is travel.state.gov. Go reach at the appointment time and pay (they charge $20 extra for expedite). Usually they give back passport and card in one day, but it depends on the agency workload. Let know if you need more info.
I applied for PIO already and should be getting in a couple of days.
Thanks NJ_dude ! How many days did it take for you to recive your PP after you applied? I am applying for myself,spouse and my kid. I was debating between going to this agency myself or apply through some private agencies, like Rushpassport.com. They charge 350 per PP approx. but gaurantee the PP in max 2 days. Are these guys polite or behave like a typical govt agency?
Have you applied just for yourself or your family? An kids? Also was wondering the process for applying PP for kids . My boy is 14 yrs and has GC. Only my spouse and myself go thru' the naturalization process but not him. Any advice would be great.

Also, I understand it takes 4-5 days for getting PIO card after you apply.When did you apply yours?
Thanks
BK
 
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Hi all,
Need to get some clarification if there is a bad weather on interview day.I have my interview at Newark office on 02/10 (wednesday), and weather report says that there would be a snow storm from Tuesday evening thru wednesday evening.Would like to know if office is closed on that day,will the reschedule the inverview immdeiately or has to wait long.Anyone experienced this siutation, any sugesstions will help a lot.

Thanks
dkagc
 
Here is my time line
DO:Newark NJ

1-Dec-09--> N-400 mailed
5-Dec-09--> Priority date
24-Dec-09--> Finger Printing walk -in (Scheduled1/5)
5-Feb-10--> Interview notice received
11-Mar-10--> Interview date
 
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dkagc,

I am also with you on same day 2/10 interview, please post response if anything regarding bad weather and cancelation.

otherwise planning to reach there around 8-8:30 for 9 am interview time.
 
FingerPrint Notification - Walkin Clarification:

Hi, I just received Fingerprint Notification with 03/03/2010 as scheduled appointment. The letter also states the following:
"If you are unable to appear at this time, you may go on any following Wednesday at the same time noted below, as long as you appear before 05/26/2010"

Question I have is ... Can I do walkin finger print prior to scheduled 03/03/2010. I am confused as the notice stressed that If I cannot make this date do it on following wednesday

My ASC is USCIS Elizabeth, Newark, NJ 07208

I am thinking of going on 02/17/2010, Please advise if this will be an issue

Thx
 
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