Chicago IL - N-400 Timeline

Oath ceremony in court at Dearborn

Had my oath. Official letter says to arrive promptly at noon, but this is actually check in time. Oath started at 1 PM. But I strongly suggest to arrive promptly, since seats are assigned on first come-first serve basis, and you want to have the best seats. There were 144 people scheduled, and capacity of the court room is very close to this number. So they had relatives to take jury seats, because only those chairs were available. The best spot to watch and take pictures!

Check in procedure took about an hour, and by 12:50 PM everything and everyone was ready. IO gave us very informative and educational speech about rights and legal standings of our soon-to-be-acquired status. Well, if you read this forum, you already know all of it.

Judge arrived, administered the Oath of Allegiance and to the Flag, gave a speech, and in about 20 min. official part was done. Received certificate, shook hands with an IO, took pictures. Very warm and welcoming atmosphere.

Voter registration forms were distributed in the hallway, and many newly minted citizens filled them out.

The beauty of Chicago downtown is that everything is within the walking distance. SSA office is across the street, and I expected all 144 new citizen to rush right there, but guess what? I was the only one to update my information at that time. :) Post office is on the same plaza, and I applied for passport without any delays.

Had dinner in the Signature Room at 95 floor. What the heck. Special place to celebrate special occasion. Fine dining, best view of the city and the lake! Highly recommend it; if you're not afraid of heights, of course. Sky is the limit.
 
Received Oath letter

Hi Per my request, the IO has scheduled OATH on 09/04 just got the OL. My wife also finished Interview today and she got oath on 09/04 per my wife request.

Will update next week
 
Name check delays

Hello folks,

I am not the regular here. But my N400 timeline is as follows

PD 08/08/2006
FP 09/27/2006

Nothing since then
Recently received a letter for second FP stating that first are expired

Second FP 08/13/2008

Any advice on what should be done? Any similar experience

I have called the USCIS ph # 6 months ago and asked them for the reasons of delay. They acknowledged that the application is out side normal processing time and send an inquiry. I recieved a letter few weeks later that they are waiting for FBI response (thanks!:))
 
Finally after waiting for almost 4 months, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We have received N445 notice for Oath today 9/3/2008 from USCIS, Lincoln, NE.

Since May 8, we went for 2 infopass appointments to talk to immigration officer without much luck. First time we were told that my case was in re-verification (no idea why) and wife's case was pending oath scheduling. Second time, I was told, its only 60 days since the interview and I was asked to wait for another 60 days before they escalate matters to next level. Officer also said, such cases as mine are handled/addressed on once a week basis. Several of my friends, who applied after us also got their US passports by now. We stopped following the mail and immigration websites, and finally we received our oath notice out of the blue.

Our oath is scheduled for 9:30 AM at US district court in Wheaton, IL.

Alright, guys in similar situations, just ignore the fact that you have applied for the citizenship and carry on your life. One day you will get a surprise in the mail from USCIS.

Thank you Mr. Khanna and all the people that host this website and all the people that post their information and reply to others' questions.

Our case details
N400
Received Date - October 25, 2007
Priortiy Date - October 25, 2007
Notice Date - November 28, 2007

Fingerprint Notification
Fingerprint Notification Date - December 07, 2007
Fingerprint Date - January 2, 2008

Naturalization Initial Interview in Chicago DO
Notice Date - February 12, 2008
Interview Date - May 8, 2008

N445
Oath Letter Received - September 3, 2008
Oath Date - September 15, 2008
 
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Anyone eslse applied through Nebraska for Chicago recently and have/had an interview date? How long did you wait?"

I don't know if this is relevant enough for your case, but my husband applied in late May (28 or 29 sent the package). Check was cashed in about 4 days, and his fingerprint appointment was scheduled for 06/16/2008.

About 2 weeks ago (65 days of waiting for the interview letter) he got it, with a September 22 interview date.

Chicago DO is among the DOs with the lowest processing times, and with the current trend of interviewing and oath, most probably he will get his Oath date early October.
 
Just finished Oath.

Here is my exp in Oath.

Oath Time at 12.00 Noon. Reached at 11.45 AM, were in line. The verification and seating process took an hour. Oath started at 1.00 PM. Took 30 minutes to get certificate.

Enrolled in voters list out side the court room. Went to Social Security office and update the status. This took around 1hr 30 minutes.

Here is the time line start to end

N400 sent on 02/11/08
Receipt date 02/11/08
Check Cashed on 02/14/08
Fingure Prints on 02/29/08
Interview on 06/24/08
Oath on 09/04/08 This is based my request to schedule Oath in Sept.

Thank You very much for SRI IL and others for the support
 
2nd Fingerprinting Notice

All,

I received a notice for 2nd Fingerprint. My case has been pending since Dec 5th, 2006. Is the 2nd Fingerprint notice is a good sign?

Thanks
 
My Details

Application Mailed 8/21/2008
Received 8/23/2008
Received notice fron NSC 8/28/2009
Priority Date 8/25/2008
FP Notice 9/10/2008:)
FP Date 9/16/2008:)
Interview Letter?
Interview Date?
Oath Date?
 
I got done with my Oath ceremony today. There were 141 people who took Oath. The whole procedure took about 1 1/2 hr. First hour was just seating us in the courtroom and verifying all the douments. The judge was there was 20 minutes. We were handed the Naturalization certificate. We could also register to vote just outside the courtroom. I had a name change so went o SSA office and it was 2 1/2 hrs before I was called. But it was done. We can take kids to Oath ceremony.
 
UPDATES
Application Mailed 8/21/2008
Received 8/23/2008
Received notice fron NSC 8/28/2009
Priority Date 8/25/2008
FP Notice 9/10/2008
FP Date 9/16/2008
Interview Letter received 9/25/2008 :)
Interview Date 11/06/2008 :)
Oath Date?
 
Does Chicago allow same day Oath. Can we request an earlier Oath date. My wife is travelling to India on Nov 21st. We would like to get our Oath earliest by Nov 13th. Please let me know.
 
I believe it's usually 3 weeks. My friend's was 2 days after his though! They seem to be pushing things through at the moment
 
Folks,

I had an appointment for my 2nd printing yesterday and it was done successfully and took only 15min in the office. Hopefully soon I will receive an interview letter.
 
Chicago Folks,

Please post your timeline.


My timeline is fairly similar to yours and not particularly encouraging. So far no interview letter. I did a couple of INFOPASS appointments and several inquiries through the local congressman and confirmed that I have been stuck in the FBI namecheck.
 
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My timeline is fairly similar to yours and not particularly encouraging. So far no interview letter. I did a couple of INFOPASS appointments and several inquiries through the local congressman and confirmed that I have been stuck in the FBI namecheck.

Your second fingerprint notice may be a positive sign that you will get your interview letter soon. That's what happened to many who waited a long time whose first fingerprints expired.

Keep an eye on your mailbox. You may see your much-anticipated IL letter in a few days.
 
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