Chicago IL - N-400 Timeline
- Thread starter Bulls-Fan
- Start date
R V said:
Funny that you should mention this, because I logged onto the forum to explicitly ask the same thing. I have not received my oath letter as yet neither. When I spoke with them last week they said it was mailed on Tuesday. If I still don't have it by tomorrow I'll call them back and post back whatever info I get from them. But in the meantime, as R V asked, does anyone know if we need that letter to gain admission into the building or the ceremony, or will other documentation/identification (such as greencard, passport, other correspondence from USCIS) suffice?
Thanks much. And thanks Rakish for your info, I actually meant a domestic flight. Flying to New Jersey on the same day actually; I'll be going to the New York City passport office this Friday for same-day passport service and then flying to my waiting fiancee next week
I wanted to fly out from my parents' house as this is a pretty big thing.Chi-guy
Here's what I know from my husband's experience (oath in July) and the 2 calls I made to USCIS last week:
1. My husband says I need not worry as, if he remembers correctly, they call out for people who do not have an appointment letter. So additional forms of id are must.
2. I spoke with a USCIS officer who says I have two options: 1) get an infopass appointment that will let you in the building, however, infopass did not show up appointments for oath location. Only 101 W. COngress location apptt. was available and the earliest availability was 03 Nov. Long story short, no luck for me on this option. 2) Explain to the person at oath building about not having recd an appointment letter but know from phone that I have an oath appointment here. Additional forms of id are must for them to verify. She didnt think there would be any problem but was not sure.
I am not sure at this time if I should be worried or not. I am almost thinking of making a trip to chicago downtown on Nov 1 and verifying it a day before.
Let me know what you find out.
RV
Here's what I know from my husband's experience (oath in July) and the 2 calls I made to USCIS last week:
1. My husband says I need not worry as, if he remembers correctly, they call out for people who do not have an appointment letter. So additional forms of id are must.
2. I spoke with a USCIS officer who says I have two options: 1) get an infopass appointment that will let you in the building, however, infopass did not show up appointments for oath location. Only 101 W. COngress location apptt. was available and the earliest availability was 03 Nov. Long story short, no luck for me on this option. 2) Explain to the person at oath building about not having recd an appointment letter but know from phone that I have an oath appointment here. Additional forms of id are must for them to verify. She didnt think there would be any problem but was not sure.
I am not sure at this time if I should be worried or not. I am almost thinking of making a trip to chicago downtown on Nov 1 and verifying it a day before.
Let me know what you find out.
RV
Hi again R V..
A'ight, i did some googling, and based on what I've read, here's what I'm going to do IF I haven't received the oath letter before Thursday. Not certain it's going to work but it's better than nothing. I will still be calling USCIS tomorrow to see what they recommend.
Apparently, with the oath ceremony letter there is a form attached, the N-445, which is basically a questionnaire on what you've done since your interview. You can read about this on their site: http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/n-445.htm
I'm going to print out that form, and then fill it in prior to the going to the oath ceremony. The link to download the form from their website's not working (at least for me), but you can download the n-445 from here:
www.ilw.com/forms/N445.pdf
Good luck and I'll keep you posted on what i learn tomorrow.
A'ight, i did some googling, and based on what I've read, here's what I'm going to do IF I haven't received the oath letter before Thursday. Not certain it's going to work but it's better than nothing. I will still be calling USCIS tomorrow to see what they recommend.
Apparently, with the oath ceremony letter there is a form attached, the N-445, which is basically a questionnaire on what you've done since your interview. You can read about this on their site: http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/n-445.htm
I'm going to print out that form, and then fill it in prior to the going to the oath ceremony. The link to download the form from their website's not working (at least for me), but you can download the n-445 from here:
www.ilw.com/forms/N445.pdf
Good luck and I'll keep you posted on what i learn tomorrow.
waiting oath ceremony letter
it is now 30 days past since my interview 10.04.06 and still no oath..i'm wondering what cause the delay and how long it takes...the problem is their no time frame for oath letter after interview, some got it few weeks others few months..please post your time line if recently interviewed this month so we can keep track..i now didn't read anyone got interview this month october except me !!!
it is now 30 days past since my interview 10.04.06 and still no oath..i'm wondering what cause the delay and how long it takes...the problem is their no time frame for oath letter after interview, some got it few weeks others few months..please post your time line if recently interviewed this month so we can keep track..i now didn't read anyone got interview this month october except me !!!
Hey R V .... a'ight, as of yet, I still haven't received my oath letter for tomorrow (thursday) but I spoke with USCIS at their 800 number yesterday and the officer on the phone indicated that it would NOT be a problem to go without that letter. My ceremony's for 12, so I'm gonna go there around 1130 to make sure everything's cool. He said to make sure to bring a photo ID (which I was already going to bring anyway - the green card, which is surrendered at this ceremony), but additionally, I'm going to also bring my driver's license, my passport, and my social security card, just to guarantee there won't be any problems. Additionally, I'm also going to bring all my correspondence from USCIS as a further safeguard. I asked him if it was a good idea to print out and bring the N-445 as well and he said that definitely wouldn't hurt, so I'll be bringing that as well.
Well, good luck to you tomorrow.
-vj
Well, good luck to you tomorrow.
-vj
After 18 years of having to put up with the INS/USCIS, I am finally a US citizen! I completed my oath ceremony yesterday Oct 31. It was Halloween day and I was disappointed to see that neither the judge nor USCIS staff had made any attempt to dress in costume. After all, Halloween is one of our big national celebrations like Christmas, Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July.
The oath letter I received indicated that I should get to the Dirksen building at noon. I got there just after noon and it took another half an hour from that point to get into the court room, where the oath is administered. I would not advise killing oneself to get there early. They let people in without fuss until 1pm. The line itself disappeared at quarter to one; but the last person to check probably came in at five to one.
The Dirksen building is at the intersection of Adams and Dearborn. There were no lines at security like at the USCIS facility. I got through security in less than a minute and was on my way to the 25th floor. When I got to the 25th floor five minutes past noon, there was a long line waiting outside the courtroom to check-in. I joined the line and soon had others behind me. Intermittently, one of the organizers would pop out of the courtroom and address everyone in the line, asking us not to crowd the corridors, to fill out and sign our forms and to make sure we had our green cards or similar documents.
Check-in consisted of a portable table inside the room staffed by two USCIS bureaucrats. The first took my oath letter, looked at my answers and signature; plus, checked that I had my green card with me. The second looked through a pile of naturalization certificates to find mine and put it in the order that I checked in. Then they asked me to sit down on the court benches in the order that I arrived (they get very upset if one does not do this because this is the way that they ensure they can hand out certificates efficiently at the end of the ceremony).
If you have visitors accompanying you they are asked to remain standing inside the courtroom until all the citizens-to-be have been seated. Then, they are allowed to sit down in any remaining benches or in the plush seats where the jurors normally sit. They cannot sit down next to you because that would disrupt the check-in order. The benches for citizens-to-be are bare wood, without any cushions, and not particularly comfortable (another reason not to get there especially early).
After my entire row was seated, the second bureaucrat came by and gave each citizen-to-be a packet of papers that included the oath to be recited; guidance on how to sign one's full name in cursive (rather than one's normal signature) on the naturalization certificate; plus, information on voter registration, getting passports, etc. Then, it was an opportunity to chat with the neighbors and take in the courtroom ambience until the judge arrived at five past one.
Everyone was asked to stand when the judge came in, and then was allowed to sit down again. Bureaucrat One then rose to the podium and addressed the judge saying that the USCIS had found all present to be fit for citizenship and that there were 170+ people from 58 countries for this ceremony, etc. The judge acknowledged this, asked everyone to stand and then asked everyone to repeat the oath after him, while holding their right hand up, palm facing forward just like the president does when being sworn into office. While this is going on, the visitors were free to roam the room and take pictures of their citizen/s-to-be taking the oath.
After the oath was completed, everyone was asked to sit again and the judge shared some remarks about the duties and privileges of citizenship. I have heard from others that many judges complete this in five minutes but ours was a bit long-winded and went on for 20 minutes until the many babies throughout the room began wailing making the remarks increasingly difficult to hear.
Once the judge was done, we were asked to stand up again and the judge left the scene. Bureaucrat One then went up to the podium again and asked everyone to remain seated in place, so that the naturalization certificates could be given out. Then, Bureaucrat Two plus some assistants walked systematically through the rows collecting green cards and exchanging them for naturalization certificates. As soon as one had one's certificate, one could leave the room.
Immediately upon leaving the room, new citizens were accosted by staffers from Senator Obama's office who pressed upon them a generic, but personally signed, note of congratulations from the famous Illinois senator introducing himself and the services his office offers constituents.
Today morning, I went to the San Francisco Passport Agency at 10am and had my new passport at 3pm. I was relieved to see that it was one of the old-style ones not the new-style ones with the implanted RFID data chip. Many people have concerns about the security of personal data on the new-style "biometric" passports; which unbeknownst to you could potentially be read by an unauthorized person with a radio scanner.
The reason I got my passport in San Francisco is that I am here for a few days on a business trip before heading overseas. By the way, those of you needing a quick passport from the Chicago Passport Agency should be aware that it does not offer same day service, only next day service. Total cost for the passport was a staggering $157!
The oath letter I received indicated that I should get to the Dirksen building at noon. I got there just after noon and it took another half an hour from that point to get into the court room, where the oath is administered. I would not advise killing oneself to get there early. They let people in without fuss until 1pm. The line itself disappeared at quarter to one; but the last person to check probably came in at five to one.
The Dirksen building is at the intersection of Adams and Dearborn. There were no lines at security like at the USCIS facility. I got through security in less than a minute and was on my way to the 25th floor. When I got to the 25th floor five minutes past noon, there was a long line waiting outside the courtroom to check-in. I joined the line and soon had others behind me. Intermittently, one of the organizers would pop out of the courtroom and address everyone in the line, asking us not to crowd the corridors, to fill out and sign our forms and to make sure we had our green cards or similar documents.
Check-in consisted of a portable table inside the room staffed by two USCIS bureaucrats. The first took my oath letter, looked at my answers and signature; plus, checked that I had my green card with me. The second looked through a pile of naturalization certificates to find mine and put it in the order that I checked in. Then they asked me to sit down on the court benches in the order that I arrived (they get very upset if one does not do this because this is the way that they ensure they can hand out certificates efficiently at the end of the ceremony).
If you have visitors accompanying you they are asked to remain standing inside the courtroom until all the citizens-to-be have been seated. Then, they are allowed to sit down in any remaining benches or in the plush seats where the jurors normally sit. They cannot sit down next to you because that would disrupt the check-in order. The benches for citizens-to-be are bare wood, without any cushions, and not particularly comfortable (another reason not to get there especially early).
After my entire row was seated, the second bureaucrat came by and gave each citizen-to-be a packet of papers that included the oath to be recited; guidance on how to sign one's full name in cursive (rather than one's normal signature) on the naturalization certificate; plus, information on voter registration, getting passports, etc. Then, it was an opportunity to chat with the neighbors and take in the courtroom ambience until the judge arrived at five past one.
Everyone was asked to stand when the judge came in, and then was allowed to sit down again. Bureaucrat One then rose to the podium and addressed the judge saying that the USCIS had found all present to be fit for citizenship and that there were 170+ people from 58 countries for this ceremony, etc. The judge acknowledged this, asked everyone to stand and then asked everyone to repeat the oath after him, while holding their right hand up, palm facing forward just like the president does when being sworn into office. While this is going on, the visitors were free to roam the room and take pictures of their citizen/s-to-be taking the oath.
After the oath was completed, everyone was asked to sit again and the judge shared some remarks about the duties and privileges of citizenship. I have heard from others that many judges complete this in five minutes but ours was a bit long-winded and went on for 20 minutes until the many babies throughout the room began wailing making the remarks increasingly difficult to hear.
Once the judge was done, we were asked to stand up again and the judge left the scene. Bureaucrat One then went up to the podium again and asked everyone to remain seated in place, so that the naturalization certificates could be given out. Then, Bureaucrat Two plus some assistants walked systematically through the rows collecting green cards and exchanging them for naturalization certificates. As soon as one had one's certificate, one could leave the room.
Immediately upon leaving the room, new citizens were accosted by staffers from Senator Obama's office who pressed upon them a generic, but personally signed, note of congratulations from the famous Illinois senator introducing himself and the services his office offers constituents.
Today morning, I went to the San Francisco Passport Agency at 10am and had my new passport at 3pm. I was relieved to see that it was one of the old-style ones not the new-style ones with the implanted RFID data chip. Many people have concerns about the security of personal data on the new-style "biometric" passports; which unbeknownst to you could potentially be read by an unauthorized person with a radio scanner.
The reason I got my passport in San Francisco is that I am here for a few days on a business trip before heading overseas. By the way, those of you needing a quick passport from the Chicago Passport Agency should be aware that it does not offer same day service, only next day service. Total cost for the passport was a staggering $157!
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My N-400 Timeline -- 5.5 months from application to citizenship
----
05/23/06 Application recd by USCIS; priority date established
06/03/06 Fingerprint appt notice recd in US mail
06/05/06 Application receipt recd in US mail
06/13/06 Fingerprinting done at USCIS - Broadway Ctr
07/24/06 Interview notice recd in US mail
09/06/06 Interview at USCIS - Congress Pkwy
10/20/06 Oath letter recd in US mail
10/31/06 Oath at US District Court of Northern Illinois - Dirksen Bldg, Dearborn St
11/01/06 Passport applied for and recd (same day) at San Francisco Passport Agency, Hawthorne St
----
05/23/06 Application recd by USCIS; priority date established
06/03/06 Fingerprint appt notice recd in US mail
06/05/06 Application receipt recd in US mail
06/13/06 Fingerprinting done at USCIS - Broadway Ctr
07/24/06 Interview notice recd in US mail
09/06/06 Interview at USCIS - Congress Pkwy
10/20/06 Oath letter recd in US mail
10/31/06 Oath at US District Court of Northern Illinois - Dirksen Bldg, Dearborn St
11/01/06 Passport applied for and recd (same day) at San Francisco Passport Agency, Hawthorne St
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RakishS said:My N-400 Timeline -- 5.5 months from application to citizenship
----
05/23/06 Application recd by USCIS; priority date established
06/03/06 Fingerprint appt notice recd in US mail
06/05/06 Application receipt recd in US mail
06/13/06 Fingerprinting done at USCIS - Broadway Ctr
07/24/06 Interview notice recd in US mail
09/06/06 Interview at USCIS - Congress Pkwy
10/20/06 Oath letter recd in US mail
10/31/06 Oath at US District Court of Northern Illinois - Dirksen Bldg, Dearborn St
11/01/06 Passport applied for and recd (same day) at San Francisco Passport Agency, Hawthorne St
Um, no offense but are you seriously complaining? I've lived in the United States for 25 years, have a clean criminal record and currently work for two different police departments..................... AND, I'm going on 11 months since I initially applied. My lack of citizenship is threatening my future employment in law enforcement since I have two departments that want to hire me but they can't, because I am not a citizen.
Unless your frown is a joke, please turn that frown upside-down
hey all ... rakish ... congrats bro ... you're all good now ... looking forward to joining you in a few hours now ... R V i'll hopefully find you in the crowd ... i'll be wearing a light blue button shirt with a blue/dark blue/white tie and dark gray pants .... regardless if i meet you or not, good luck to you, and everyone else here. as rakish has done, i too will post my experience from tomorrow.. to all who're waiting, don't despair until you've exhausted all your options, e.g. calling USCIS, contacting the Senator, contacting the FBI, etc. If attaining US citizenship was a simple process, no one would not be one from the people i've been in communication with on this forum ... anyways, i'm babbling, i'm drunk ... good luck all.
... good luck all.invest2bfree
Registered Users (C)
PG,
You need to sue. Dont waste any more time. You were lucky to be done with the interview.
You need to sue. Dont waste any more time. You were lucky to be done with the interview.
PG8104 - Sorry to hear that you have been going at this 11 months. I would not suggest sitting patiently and hoping for the best. The USCIS is an inefficient, idiosyncratic and inept agency. I am sure you have done so already, but if not, immediately get our Illinois senators Obama and Durbin involved -- you can submit a help request on their websites -- and put a lawyer onto the case to turn up the heat on the slowpokes at USCIS. Also, since you are in law enforcement, get the powerful and influential police unions involved.
I believe that once a permanent resident becomes eligible for citizenship, the USCIS should be compelled to make a decision on citizenship within two weeks of the resident's application for citizenship. It is truly baffling to me why the simple tasks of searching the FBI's criminal database, conducting an interview that is largely a formality and completing an oath ceremony that is truly gratuitious takes the USCIS such an unbelievable amount of time. Any private company would be able to do this in a single day! Indeed, would go out of business if it couldn't. It is terrible crime of conscience for a republic to hold its future citizens in administrative thrall for the extended periods that the USCIS does. It denies them the right to vote on a timely basis. And, it denies them the immediate security of citizenship when traveling abroad.
If the delays are caused because of inadequate staffing or funding of the USCIS, then I would like to see more, if not all, of the very large tax amounts I have been paying for the last 18 years directed specifically to solving this bottleneck before it is spent on other areas of lesser priority to me like foreign military adventures, agricultural subsidies, etc. Taxation without representation was the rallying cry for our nation's independence from Britain, yet now we inflict the same inequity on our non-citizen residents. Every taxpayer, citizen or not, has the right to expect prompt service (within a month maximum) from any agency directly funded by his or her taxes.
I believe that once a permanent resident becomes eligible for citizenship, the USCIS should be compelled to make a decision on citizenship within two weeks of the resident's application for citizenship. It is truly baffling to me why the simple tasks of searching the FBI's criminal database, conducting an interview that is largely a formality and completing an oath ceremony that is truly gratuitious takes the USCIS such an unbelievable amount of time. Any private company would be able to do this in a single day! Indeed, would go out of business if it couldn't. It is terrible crime of conscience for a republic to hold its future citizens in administrative thrall for the extended periods that the USCIS does. It denies them the right to vote on a timely basis. And, it denies them the immediate security of citizenship when traveling abroad.
If the delays are caused because of inadequate staffing or funding of the USCIS, then I would like to see more, if not all, of the very large tax amounts I have been paying for the last 18 years directed specifically to solving this bottleneck before it is spent on other areas of lesser priority to me like foreign military adventures, agricultural subsidies, etc. Taxation without representation was the rallying cry for our nation's independence from Britain, yet now we inflict the same inequity on our non-citizen residents. Every taxpayer, citizen or not, has the right to expect prompt service (within a month maximum) from any agency directly funded by his or her taxes.
pg8104 said:Um, no offense but are you seriously complaining? I've lived in the United States for 25 years, have a clean criminal record and currently work for two different police departments..................... AND, I'm going on 11 months since I initially applied. My lack of citizenship is threatening my future employment in law enforcement since I have two departments that want to hire me but they can't, because I am not a citizen.
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You're almost there, man! We'll have to have a virtual party on this board when you and RV get back from the ceremony.
chi-guy said:hey all ... rakish ... congrats bro ... you're all good now ... looking forward to joining you in a few hours now ... R V i'll hopefully find you in the crowd ... i'll be wearing a light blue button shirt with a blue/dark blue/white tie and dark gray pants .... regardless if i meet you or not, good luck to you, and everyone else here. as rakish has done, i too will post my experience from tomorrow.. to all who're waiting, don't despair until you've exhausted all your options, e.g. calling USCIS, contacting the Senator, contacting the FBI, etc. If attaining US citizenship was a simple process, no one would not be one from the people i've been in communication with on this forum ... anyways, i'm babbling, i'm drunk
RakishS said:
Amen!
RakishS said:
I live in MN though... I tried contacting my senators and they didn't do anything for me... I just got letters explaining the name check process to me
Not that I needed more explanation. How much time and money is consumed by suing? Thanks for the info, Rakish!
scarlethawk
Registered Users (C)
Any recent Chicago interview experience?
Chicago time line " october interview"
Application Sent - 07/01/2006
Received - 07/03/2006
Check Encashed - 7/08/2006.
Receipt date -07/10/2006
Fingerprint Notification -7/17/06
Finger Appointment - 07/27/06
Interview Date - 10/04
Oath letter send - XXXX
oath date - XXXX
I have never cared for my mail box before and this days i think about it more than anything ...sometimes the mail man think i'm watching him
Application Sent - 07/01/2006
Received - 07/03/2006
Check Encashed - 7/08/2006.
Receipt date -07/10/2006
Fingerprint Notification -7/17/06
Finger Appointment - 07/27/06
Interview Date - 10/04
Oath letter send - XXXX
oath date - XXXX
I have never cared for my mail box before and this days i think about it more than anything
...sometimes the mail man think i'm watching him detroiter116
Registered Users (C)
Mo-wonder said:Application Sent - 07/01/2006
Received - 07/03/2006
Check Encashed - 7/08/2006.
Receipt date -07/10/2006
Fingerprint Notification -7/17/06
Finger Appointment - 07/27/06
Interview Date - 10/04
Oath letter send - XXXX
oath date - XXXX
I have never cared for my mail box before and this days i think about it more than anything
I know what you mean! I am kinda in the same boat myself! I interviewed in Detroit on 10/19, waiting for the Oath Letter...
Atleast the Chicago forum is fairly active, the Detroit timeline forum is really quiet, no one to share info with...
Did you call the 800 number or schedule a Infopass yet?
detroiter116 said:
Yes I did, pretty much the usual answers..it takes 120 days and u should call us back by January in the meanwhile he says keep checking your mail box...very funny..some people here did not receive the letter and likely called the 800..to find they were scheduled for oath ceremony...how weird is that!!! what if they didn't call and were still waiting for the letter they would missed it...well I don't know ...it's kinda playing the lotto..you don't know when u will get that letter