Baltimore N-400 Timeline

Congrats mozelack. It sounds like a straight-forward interview for you. Anything odd in your interview or were there any oddities in your case?

Congrats again. Now you can move on to something else !
 
Finally over (almost)

I got my interview and oath done last week. The interview went smoothly - just the usual going thru' the application and out in 3-4 minutes (or maybe even less than that !!!) I already had taken the civics test earlier, which she asked for. No questions on SSS or anything. The officer was professional and was very fast. At the end of the interview congratulated me and asked if I wanted to attend the oath at 3pm.

Oath was standard as well - 29 candidates from 19 countries.

Same experience for my wife, although the officer was a "trainee" (only few weeks into his joining that position.) and so he has to submit her application to his supervisor for approval and they will send a mail regarding their decision. Although, he said she is most likely to get approved, you never know with these things. Will keep our fingers crossed. Anyone else have such an experience?

Thanks to this forum. Good luck to all.

PD - End of April/Beginning of May
FP - 6/10
Interview/Oath - 9/15
 
Finally interview/oath over!!!

My interview and same day oath was successfully over today. Experience was same as what others have written and overall a pleasant experience. Few highlights below:

Interview was at Baltimore downtown and I parked under federal building($16 per day). Got called 30min before scheduled appointment. Lady officer was serious but nice and was super fast and efficient unlike typical USCIS folks. Went through the interview within 10min. Asked 6 questions out of the standard 96 questions. She went over the n-400 items and confirmed each entry. I had sent corrected pages of the n-400 at a later time indicating some parking tickets I missed in the original n-400. Luckily those pages were attached to my file and she asked me about those and had me initial those pages. I think it was good I sent those corrections as she was interested in how I got those tickets. Then she concluded the interview and gave me oath letter for same day.

Oath ceremony was at 3pm and there were 42 people from 28 countries. Afterwards went to the Inner Harbor had some drinks and enjoyed the nice sunny day and harbor views.

My online status never changed and still says that it will take 300-360 days to process :confused: .

This forum has been a great help and there are a bunch of great guys here.

-g:)
----------------------------------------
Timeline:VSC->Baltimore
----------------------------------------
05/13/05: Priority Date :)
05/23/05: Notice Date :)
06/03/05: FP Notice :)
06/21/05: FP Appointment :)
08/04/05: Interview Letter received :)
09/27/05: Interview Date :)
09/27/05: Oath :eek:
-----------------------------------------
 
Interview/oath done

We had our interview/Oath today. Everything went smoothly. One officers was very nice while the other was more 'official'. Some of the highlights were:
1. I got my GC subsequent to my wife's NIW. The officer asked me what she is doing? My wife being a full time housewife at present (new mom) didn't bother the officer.
2. The cutoff time was 2.15 for the same day oath submission. The officer who interviewed my wife had to rush through in order to make the deadline. He was extremely nice enough to do that. She was actually called for the interview at 2.13pm.
3. When I said I don't have a single traffic ticket the officer acted v. surprised and amended the question to "not even a single parking ticket". It was more rhetorical than a actual question. I did answer yes though..
4. The officer who interviewed me, didn't even acknowledge my greetings at the very start. But she turned out to be very methodical but stern. She did congratulate me at the end.

Other details that might interest others (through some past questions)
1. You can take babies for the interview. I saw several people going in with the babies even with newborns. I didn't think it bothered the officers. They were there even for the oath ceremony and one made sure to let others know of her presence during the oath.
2. I did go for my fingerprinting interview earlier than scheduled and they didn't have a problem with it.
3. I was in full-suit. But there were lot of people with jeans and other very casual dress. If I were to do it all over again I would still go in a full-suit. It is just me but I don't think it matters. It is just a 'respect' thing for me.
4. Once you submit the interview notice to the front desk, it is a FIFO thing. Hence the earlier you go it would be better specially if you are scheduled for an afternoon interview.

All the very best and thanks for the past posters (Rahul,JC,Ocworker,wouldbecitizen etc.) from whom I learned a lot.

Here are our details:
PD:May 26th (I think)
FP:Aug 1 (went in July 12)
IL: Sept. first week
ID: today
Oath : today :D

If someone care to comment: Do I need to keep our F1/H1/NIW/GC papers any longer? It is taking quite a space :confused:
 
Congratulations!
I'm glad the interview went so smoothly. I'm from Baltimore, too, and only in the beginning of the whole process (I sent the application yesterday :)
As far as papers, I would go over all of the papers and throw away something that is clearly not important, but I'd leave all NOA's and all correspondance from INS. Just in case. After all, how much room it takes, a medium sized box, not more I think. Just keep 'em.
 
new to this forum

hello everyone!

i am new to this forum and found it very helpful and informative. to all those that have taken oath and became US Citizens, congratulations!!!

looks like the Baltimore DO is very consistent and has an average of 4-5 months to process naturalization. that is good news.

i just have a few questions of my own:

- when one goes for their fingerprinting, do you take the civics and history test at the same place (glenmont plaza) at the same day?
- i also noticed some people have namecheck clearance issues. what is it? i mean, what can it mean when one has a pending namecheck clearance? why would someone have that issue?

i just filed for my N-400 and received a Priority Date of October 12, 2005. i will post and update my timeline for everyone. thanks in advance!!!
 
- You can do civic/history test at Glenmont if the computer is not down. In my case the computer was down and I did it on actual interview date later.

- Name check depends upon your luck, if you are unlucky then you may get caught in the FBI name check process if there is a similar name like yours in the FBI database. It could take anywhere form 6months to 2 yrs+. INS will not approve application unless name check is done. If you are lucky then name check will be done in few days.

-g:)
 
so if one is unlucky and get sidetracked due to name check process, it will take longer. the FBI name check, is it much like getting background checked for a new job (not for security clearance for some jobs)? while reading this thread, i noticed that there were 2, i think, that said that they 'joined the club' for not receiving their citizenship just yet due to name check clearance. how often does this happen?
 
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It seems that not a lot of people are applying in Baltimore any more. Well, I'll still update on my N400 progress. So, I got my FP notice today. The appointment is for Dec. 5 and it's going to be in their central office in Baltimore which is very convenient for me since I live in Baltimore :)
Interesting enough, my online status does not say that they sent me a FP notice. It only acknowledges their receipt of my application.
 
I have a quick question. Sometimes, I see that some folks actually track their fingerprints being sent to FBI and back to INS. How are you doing that?
 
Ha, I'm another with the Fingerprints on 12/05. Again in Baltimore. I live in Baltimore County, so it's still pretty convenient....
 
Hi there!
I did not realize that there is a separate timeline for Baltimore, so I am joining in now.
My timeline goes as follow:

VSC-Baltimore DO:
09/27/05: N-400 sent in
09/29/05: PD
10/18/05: FP Notice
11/25/05: FP done
11/25/05: FP cleared and sent to USCIS
IL: xxxxxx
ID: xxxxxx
Oath: xxxxxx
I'll keep my timeline updated!!!
Does anyone know how long it approx. takes to receive IL after FP done?
Thank you guys!!!!!!!
 
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judging by the previous posts, it takes about 2 months. Ateganda29 seems to be ahead of all us now, so let's see how soon he will get his interview. Hopefully, he will keep us updated :)
 
hi there le1228!
Thanx for your reply.
Answer to your question how to track FP results is that there is a number you can call, 304-625-5590 or 304-625-2406 (west virginia based), give them your name, A# and they can tell you if your FP have been cleared. Remember they can tell you about your FP results only. NAME CHECK results( if your name produced a "hit" or not) can not be obtained by calling this number.
Hope this helps you !
GOOD LUCK to all of you!!!!!!!!
keep each other updated!!!!
 
processing date for Baltimore

Hi,
The processing date for N-400 is Nov. 03 now. Does anyone know whether this date means anything or not? Does it mean rather than 6 months it's going to take more than 1 year to finish the whole thing?

N-400 Timeline:

Priority Date: 9/10/05
Fingerprints taken 10/19/05

Thanks,

Emily
 
Emily,
I'm not sure what to make out of their official timeline, but if you read the posts before, people who applied for citizenship earlier this year, have already had their oath ceremony. By the way, keep us updated on your process, too. Hopefully you will get your interview invitation soon. Good luck!
 
Hi Emily!!!!
I think that those dates are just some statistical average dates created by merging dates of pending (but currently under review) N-400 applications and already approved applications and then the average or something like that. I remember reading about it couple of years ago how those dates are being created by USCIS computers, but I do not for sure cause I forgot, but all in all, I personally do not go by them, for me they are just sort of "reference" and I think they are only "usefull" if you never received any response after FP and the date on your application is older than the date on their website, so you can call and find out about your status. But even then I would not wait for my PD to become current, I would make an Infopass appointment and go to find out about my case.
If you read people's experiences from this forum + a good friend of mine finished his ENTIRE process in 4.5 months (he applied in May this year) in Baltimore DO, they can not tell us that they are processing Nov 03 applications. Plus Baltimore is nationwide known for being consistant in "fast" processing and from my figures taken from this forum and on other forums it takes between 4.5 - 6 months to get done ( of course no pending name or other background checks).
From you dates I think you should be expecting your interview letter soon ( 1-2 months after FP) but you never know.
Lets see what happens and keep us updated please!!!!!
Thank you!!!!!!!
Good Luck guys!!!!!!

P.S. BTW, IL is mailed from where, DO or Service Center????
 
Waiting "supervisor approval"

Vic,
I went for an interview today and thr same thing happenned with me (as ur wife).. Everything went well, etc... at the end he said that the application has to be reviewed by somebody else also though everything is complete and looks OK... They also said that they will send the decision by mail and handed me a form N-652.. Which says that I passed the english and US history test... but also checked is a box " a decision cannot be yet made about ur application"... Was the case same in
ur wife's case and when did she hear from them and what did she hear??
Any information on this will be appreciated.. Anybody else with similar exp??

A_dude
vic said:
I got my interview and oath done last week. The interview went smoothly - just the usual going thru' the application and out in 3-4 minutes (or maybe even less than that !!!) I already had taken the civics test earlier, which she asked for. No questions on SSS or anything. The officer was professional and was very fast. At the end of the interview congratulated me and asked if I wanted to attend the oath at 3pm.

Oath was standard as well - 29 candidates from 19 countries.

Same experience for my wife, although the officer was a "trainee" (only few weeks into his joining that position.) and so he has to submit her application to his supervisor for approval and they will send a mail regarding their decision. Although, he said she is most likely to get approved, you never know with these things. Will keep our fingers crossed. Anyone else have such an experience?

Thanks to this forum. Good luck to all.

PD - End of April/Beginning of May
FP - 6/10
Interview/Oath - 9/15
 
Hi dude!!!!!!!
Did you ask the IO if your background checks have been cleared?
That could be a reason for delayes in decision making.
Or you just had "bad luck" and got one of those trainees who could not approve your application without supervisor's review.
Keep us updated when you hear from them again!!!!!!!
Thank you and GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!
 
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