Hello All,
First, let me take this opportunity to thank all of you who take the time to post precious information that is soooooooo helpful in sooooomany ways. I have to say that I have been a passive user of these forums and learnt a lot. Now I want to post my info here and the details:
1) Mailed mine and my wife's N-400 on 11/04/2006;
2) Priority Date for both = 11/08/2006;
3) FP Notice sent by USCIS on 11/17/2006
4) FP done on scheduled date 12/02/2006
5) Interview Notice sent by USCIS on 02/12/2007
6) Interview done on 04/24/2007
7) After interview got a Oath ceremeny letter for 05/01/2007
I went to the Charlotte Field Office at about 12:30 pm for a 1:20 pm on Tuesday 04/24/2007. The security guy respectfully told me to hang around outside and come back at 12:50 pm. No problems here. Came back and was sent into the waiting room with all others. There are multiple officers who have a predetermined list of about 15 applicants. They come in and call out the name of the next one in their list after they are done with the previous one.
I waited for almost about 1 hour (they were running a little late) and then one f the officers called out my wife's name. I walked upto him and told him that unfortunately my wife had been hospitalized the previous thursday due to an emergency and could not make it. I told him we were actually hoping that she would be discharged on monday or tuesday early morning so she could make it because she was very well prepared for the interview but it did not happen. He was nice and said he would take my word for it and reschedule - he asked me when she can make it - I said maybe next friday or the following. He said not possible so soon since the schedules are set for the next 2-3 months and was polite
After another 20 minutes I was called in by a really nice officer - she was a young girl who was very energetic and polite - in short a very nice person. She really made the interview process very comfortable - it lasted about 30 minutes.
Some highlights:
1) She said if I change my name (which I wanted to) I would have to wait until June 08, 2007 for Oath. If not then she could fit me on May 01, 2007. I chose May 1, 2007.
2) She asked me 10 questions out of the 96 - Current US president, colors of the US flag, who becomes president if both the president and vicepresident die, one benefit of becomeing a US citizen, the amendments pertaining to voting rights, when was the US constitution wrtten, what makes up the congress, How many chief justices are there - I do not rememer the other 2 questions - I am sorry guys. Ohh..yes - what form is used to apply for citizenship was another question.
3) She went thru' the entire submitted N-400 form verifying with me the answers to the questions I had writen in my N-400.
4) She also asked me why I wanted to become a US citizen - I was not expecting this one but answered that I want to work for the federal governement. The answer sparked off ahumorous conversation about jobs, etc.
5) She also asked me what is my current occupation?
6) She learnt about my wife not being able to come in and noted her details and casully inquired about her health which was nice.
7) She went thru' all submitted documents and noticed that my Marriage certificate and my birth certificate from my original country had my name different than what is in the passport and all US legal documents (eg: If my name in the marriage and birth certificate is Anne (hypothetical), my name on all US documents including my Original Country's Passport shows my name as AnneMarie (hypothetical). She asked me about it and I explained. The name change I talked about in 1) above was from AnneMarie to Anne. She went out for a minute and came back and said that we have enough documentation to allow you to continue to use only "Anne" on Naturalization certificate even though my US SS no., Original country's passport, etc. show AnneMarie and you do not have to wait till June 08,2007 but can still take oath on 05/01/2007.
8) She also answered any questions/clarifications I asked her.
9) I forgot to mention this earlier - when she was going thru the form N-400 and asking me to answer each of those YES/NO questions. I answered No to the question about citations but interruped to clarify that I had said NO but I have had two traffic violations - one for child not putting seat belt in car seat in 2003 and the other was in 2004 for speeding. She said that it does not matter as long as it was not a DUI. I was very much relieved. I want to mention this because I saw some posts here saying you need to get a record from the DMV, etc. I do not think it is necessary ecause I had also confirmed this elsewhere before.
All in All - it was a very pleasant experience - I am sure this specific officer was a nice person and was a major reason for the same. I told her and complemented er while leaving and she was happy to receive the positive comments. I am eagerly waiting for the Oath on next tuesday.
Good Luck to all! Thanks to all of you for aking these forums really useful.
Don