Baltimore N-400 Timeline

vlorak said:
based on marriage to US citizen :)
alright guys, someone help: selective service thing, does that apply to women too?
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Vlorak,

The selective service thing DOES NOT apply to women, since you have to be a male, aged 26 or less by the time you become a permanent resident to register. Although, in one forum I did read one of the adjudicating officers hassling an petitioner for a SIL (Status Information Letter) when the petitioner was a woman. I think that's certainly the exception to the rule, but since the letter is free, you could probably just request one to be safe -- It's not something you need to worry about because it's ridiculous to ask for selective service registration from a woman.
 
I went to Baltimore for my interview and everything went well. I passed all the questions. I was told I would get a letter in the mail for my oath date because from my first visa entry into the USA working in another state and from my green card I have now, I have two file numbers. they said they will get my other file and need to merge the two and then I will get my letter for my oath. So I am now just waiting for that. Thanks to all for your guidance.
 
koolvik7 said:
According to the Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/02/AR2008050203537.html) Baltimore DO has been conducting Interviews on Saturdays and DC DO is to start doing the same this Month.

I was wondering if anyone has seen any Satureday Interview Experience being posted here?
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Koolvik7,

Both myself and several others had saturday interviews in Baltimore. Our experiences are posted in the previous page of this thread. Basically it's the same as the regular interview dates, with the exception that no same-day oath ceremonies are held in Baltimore. Saturday interviewees get to schedule their oath at the end of the interview at a date convenient for them, though.
 
Baltimore DO

My PD is 01/30/2007. I have read some posts of fellow applicants who applied later than me and completed their citizenship journey. I was thinking to take infopass late this month to find of what’s going on my application. My name is very unique and these should not be any issues in name check since I have clean record except couple of speeding tickets. Guess what I got interview letter yesterday (05/05/2008). Interview scheduled to Wednesday June 25th 2008 at 1.40 PM. Since it is after noon interview, I am not excepting same day oath. I believe Baltimore DO is moving fast enough to catch-up with other DOs.
I hope I will get a chance to vote in this November elections.

Good luck to everybody.
 
Received Interview letter

Hi all,
We received our interview letter yesterday. The interview is at 11 AM on 6/12. I have just two quesions now
  • Do you guys think that we might get a same day oath?
  • We also have applied for a name change. How long does it take to get the oath if i decide to proceed with name change ?
Thanks in advance for your response
 
I am happy to let you know that I received my interview letter this morning. When I got out of the house for work, the postman came to deliver mails to my mailbox. One of the mails is from USCIS! I am scheduled for June 12th, Thursday at 11.20 am at the Baltimore DO.

Weird thing is that they didn't update the computer system about interview notice when I called the USCIS customer service yesterday (yesterday in this thread, I posted what customer service told me). Level 1 officer said that my case was being opened and reviewed on April 25, 2008. That was probably when officer sent out the interview notice to me.

Good luck to everybody! I believe Baltimore DO is moving fast.

--------------------------
N-400 mailed: 12/15/07
N-400 received by VSC: 12/18/07
NOA received: 01/08/08
FP done: 01/26/08
IL letter received: 05/06/08
Interview at Baltimore DO: 06/12/08
 
Congratulations to USGC485 and others.

By the way, you might find the Notice date is several days ago and the letter mailed from Baltimore area. (In my case, I received the letter on 4/17/08 with Notice date of 3/30/08 and posted day of 4/16/08)
 
For those of you wondering about whether you're going to get same-day oaths in Baltimore, here's what I know.

Right now, Baltimore conducts legislative oath ceremonies in the district office, Monday through Friday -- I think they skip Wednesday, but I maybe mistaken.

There are at least 2-3 oath ceremonies per day. They're all in the evening. So even if you got a 1:20pm interview, there's a very good possibility that you maybe scheduled for a same day oath.

There are two exceptions - those who have Saturday oaths don't get same-day oath (at least for now, although some DOs like Atlanta have started saturday oath ceremonies), but they get to schedule their oath ceremony.

Those have problems in their N-400 don't get to schedule the oath until their application is revised by the USCIS or until they have rectified any anomaly.

Finally, those who have requested a name change do not get same-day oath. This is because name changes have to be done by the US district court, and these applicants will be scheduled for a judicial oath ceremony, which are few and far in between.

Hope that helps,
 
Rwickra said:
Koolvik7,

Both myself and several others had saturday interviews in Baltimore. Our experiences are posted in the previous page of this thread. Basically it's the same as the regular interview dates, with the exception that no same-day oath ceremonies are held in Baltimore. Saturday interviewees get to schedule their oath at the end of the interview at a date convenient for them, though.
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Thanks Rwickra, I had originally read your interview experience without realizing that it was for the Saturday.

Congraulations to you.
 
rwickra
thanks for posting the note about the oaths in baltimore. mine, as some of you, is for june 12th at 1:20. huh, let's all wait for one another and go get coffee :)
on another note, is there a way to ask the IO who will interview me to speed up my oath date? granted, if i pass :)
has anyone explained about upcoming trips and got an understanding IO who then helped them get an oath date? i doubt i will get a same day oath and i fear i will end up waiting for weeks to have an oath letter.
thanks
ps. how's studying going for you with upcoming ID? i learned first 15 questions from the booklet. then i go back and realize i have missed a couple
 
Vlorak -

I had an issue similar to yours, and I tried with my adjudicating officer(AO) to plead for an earlier oath date. Really, they don't have control over oath scheduling because once the AO decides that you're through with the interview, your file gets hand-delivered to the front desk where an Information Officer (IO) will schedule you. The IOs automatically do offer the earliest date available. In my case, the next available oath date was 1 week from the interview date, but when I asked my IO if I could get an earlier oath because of my travel, she offered to give me a later oath date instead. Otherwise, you can assume that they will give you the earliest oath date.

Also, you do not have to wait to get an oath letter in the mail. In Baltimore at least, you will get your oath letter right after your interview. The letter will contain your oath date and time, and will have a hand-written number at on the bottom left -- this number is to keep track of how many people get oath letters for a particular oath ceremony. Mine is 50 something, so I'm guessing there's at least 50 other people taking their oaths with me. The letter will also contain the same series of questions on your N-400 to update them if you've traveled, or have been arrested, convicted etc, since your interview.

For most DOs I'm beginning to see a pattern in the questions asked during the civics test. I was asked 6 questions, and remarkably several other people in other threads on this forum reported being asked the EXACT SAME 6 QUESTIONS... Here they are. I think these are the first six appearing on the question sheets of most AOs.

1. What do we celebrate on 4th of July?
2. Who is the US vice president?
3. What is the constitution?
4. Can the constitution be changed?
5. How many senators are there?
6. What is the national anthem of the United States?
 
thanks rwickra,
it's really appreciated. you kind of gave me hope i won't get stuck for months waiting on the oath date. you're really good!
thanks a lot
 
hey guys with ILs in hands or the ones who have completed the interview...one question: is the interview letter sent from Vermont service center or from Baltimore DO? mine is from VSC and interview is june 12th. i am wondering where my file is, and if the chance is it's still in VSC what do i do to get it sent to baltimore?
thanks
 
That's interesting. My IL was sent from Baltimore DO, and not from VSC. I do remember that the fingerprint notice was sent from VSC. Don't worry about it though... Chances are, that by the time of your interview, you'll probably have your file transferred to Baltimore.
I remember that my interview letter had a notice date of March 20, 2008 and it was only mailed out (USPS stamp from Baltimore) on April 16 -- so it basically sat for nearly a month in Baltimore before finally being mailed out.
 
rwickra
alright
i won't worry :) though wish it had come from baltimore. i called the 1800 but the guy wouldn't transfer my call to see if my file has been transfered. he just said there's plenty of time for it to be transfered considering it's on june 12th.
 
I have found this forum helpful so thought I'd add some thoughts based on my experience yesterday in Baltimore (successful interview and same-day ceremony).

- saw the huge crowd when i arrived half an hour before my late morning interview time and was concerned. Turns out that each AO has a schedule for the morning and the afternoon (looked like approx. 20-30 min per interview) and they call you in as they get through the list. So I only waited about 20 mins beyond the scheduled time.
- AO only asked for Maryland Drivers License, greencard, selective service docs, and passport.
- interview consisted mostly of checking off items and ensuring accuracy of application; no surprises
- everyone in the office was unfailingly pleasant and curteous.
- civics test:

For most DOs I'm beginning to see a pattern in the questions asked during the civics test. I was asked 6 questions, and remarkably several other people in other threads on this forum reported being asked the EXACT SAME 6 QUESTIONS... Here they are. I think these are the first six appearing on the question sheets of most AOs.

1. What do we celebrate on 4th of July?
2. Who is the US vice president?
3. What is the constitution?
4. Can the constitution be changed?
5. How many senators are there?
6. What is the national anthem of the United States?
Click to expand...

My six questions were completely different, so (obviously) memorize them all.

- ceremony: some people pushed and shoved to get to the front of various queues. Don't bother. We all start the process and end at the same time (i.e., we all wait for the last person to be processed, then for the last person to get his or her certificate). We had 72 people and it took about 45-50 mins in total.

For what it is worth, I had a late July '07 priority date and was naturalized yesterday, May 8 '08.

Good luck to you all.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi Suthree,
Do you remember what civic question they asking you? Is it oral question?
My appointment is next week (05/15) early morning 9.40 am.
I'm kinda nervous. Since i'm a girl, is it required to register with selective service? Gosh I really don't know about that until I read my IL letter today. I guess I just didn't pay enough attention.
Please share more your experiences. TIA

suthree said:
I have found this forum helpful so thought I'd add some thoughts based on my experience yesterday in Baltimore (successful interview and same-day ceremony).

- saw the huge crowd when i arrived half an hour before my late morning interview time and was concerned. Turns out that each AO has a schedule for the morning and the afternoon (looked like approx. 20-30 min per interview) and they call you in as they get through the list. So I only waited about 20 mins beyond the scheduled time.
- AO only asked for Maryland Drivers License, greencard, selective service docs, and passport.
- interview consisted mostly of checking off items and ensuring accuracy of application; no surprises
- everyone in the office was unfailingly pleasant and curteous.
- civics test:



My six questions were completely different, so (obviously) memorize them all.

- ceremony: some people pushed and shoved to get to the front of various queues. Don't bother. We all start the process and end at the same time (i.e., we all wait for the last person to be processed, then for the last person to get his or her certificate). We had 72 people and it took about 45-50 mins in total.

For what it is worth, I had a late July '07 priority date and was naturalized yesterday, May 8 '08.

Good luck to you all.
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