Chicago IL - N-400 Timeline

Tried to do a FP walk-in in Chicago today but I was told to return on the date of my appointment even though there were only 2 people waiting in line for FPs...guess I will have to wait until 3/4 a few more days!
 
Mr Vertigo said:
I guess it's my turn to report the good news.

I had my citizenship interview today at the Congress Parkway in Chicago. It was at 8:15AM, and I was there at 7:40. It was in the third floor, where a bunch of people were waiting for their interview. There was a huge line to submit interview letters and get in queue, but I got called immediately after I got there by a young Hispanic lady. I was led in the room, and asked to raise my right arm and swear to tell the truth, which I did.

Immediately she opened my file and began asking me question from the test. She asked me six question, and after getting them all right, she stopped. She asked me to write a sentence ("We have one hundred senators") and then proceeded to ask me questions from the application. She went through the whole thing, and asked me every single one. When it came to my trips outside the US, she just noted that my last trip was in 2008 for 5 months and then moved on. I had provided her with my passport(s) and copies of them, and she seemed satisfied. After completing all the questions, she asked me if I wanted to take my oath on March 5th. I said Yes and she told me that she needs me to wait for around 30 minutes outside until all is done. I gathered my documents, and after signing the application and photos, was led to the waiting room. I thanked her, and started waiting.

After about 30 minutes or so, my name was called on the intercom, and my oath letter was handed to me. It is on March 5th, 2009 at 8:00 AM at the Dirksen Federal Building on Dearborn. I must say, I was impressed by their punctuality and professionalism. And the entire process took less than 5 months, which is another plus for them. Quite naturally, I am happy to have my oath in a week! :)

If anyone has any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.
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Mr Vertigo!! Congratulations from the fellow Chicago D/O.

I did my Oath on Feb 18th at Dirksen Building.

A word of Advice:Make sure you get there early at least 45 mins. prior to the Oath time. Otherwise you'll be standing in a long long que if you get thier 15 min. before and you'll have to wait extra 20 mintues before you are seated in the court room 2525.

Good Luck!!

aero
 
aero_ir said:
Mr Vertigo!! Congratulations from the fellow Chicago D/O.

I did my Oath on Feb 18th at Dirksen Building.

A word of Advice:Make sure you get there early at least 45 mins. prior to the Oath time. Otherwise you'll be standing in a long long que if you get thier 15 min. before and you'll have to wait extra 20 mintues before you are seated in the court room 2525.

Good Luck!!

aero
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Thanks for the advice aero! My oath letter say report promptly at 8:00, but I can see in that link baikal posted that the oath ceremony is actually at 9:00AM. So if I'm there around 8:00AM that should be fine then, I assume.

Thanks again. :)
 
Mr Vertigo said:
Thanks for the advice aero! My oath letter say report promptly at 8:00, but I can see in that link baikal posted that the oath ceremony is actually at 9:00AM. So if I'm there around 8:00AM that should be fine then, I assume.

Thanks again. :)
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It says 8:00 so everyone gets their 15 minus prior to 8:00. You should plan to be there at 7:15 just to stay ahead in the queue.

Actual oath do start at 9:00 but its all over by 9:20 or so.
 
Notice for more documents before the interview date

Hello Friends - I have my Naturalization interview in April 1st week and my wife's in April 3rd week. Our Naturaliation application is based upon 5 yrs GC (Employment based).
My wife received a notice today to bring some extra documents (Childs Birth cert if born in US as a minor and the Drivers license) and I didnt receive any notices so far.

1. Can any one please advice why this notice with extra documents is for for my wife? Is it normal?
2. I didnt receive any notices till now after the interview notice. DId any one of you received any notices like this.

Any advice is appreciated.
 
Mr Vertigo said:
I guess it's my turn to report the good news.

I had my citizenship interview today at the Congress Parkway in Chicago. It was at 8:15AM, and I was there at 7:40. It was in the third floor, where a bunch of people were waiting for their interview. There was a huge line to submit interview letters and get in queue, but I got called immediately after I got there by a young Hispanic lady. I was led in the room, and asked to raise my right arm and swear to tell the truth, which I did.

Immediately she opened my file and began asking me question from the test. She asked me six question, and after getting them all right, she stopped. She asked me to write a sentence ("We have one hundred senators") and then proceeded to ask me questions from the application. She went through the whole thing, and asked me every single one. When it came to my trips outside the US, she just noted that my last trip was in 2008 for 5 months and then moved on. I had provided her with my passport(s) and copies of them, and she seemed satisfied. After completing all the questions, she asked me if I wanted to take my oath on March 5th. I said Yes and she told me that she needs me to wait for around 30 minutes outside until all is done. I gathered my documents, and after signing the application and photos, was led to the waiting room. I thanked her, and started waiting.

After about 30 minutes or so, my name was called on the intercom, and my oath letter was handed to me. It is on March 5th, 2009 at 8:00 AM at the Dirksen Federal Building on Dearborn. I must say, I was impressed by their punctuality and professionalism. And the entire process took less than 5 months, which is another plus for them. Quite naturally, I am happy to have my oath in a week! :)

If anyone has any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.
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Congrats, Mr. Vertigo. Could you share with us what additional documents the immigration officer asked you to show? Were you asked to show the tax returns in particular? Thanks.
 
jackyyu113 said:
Congrats, Mr. Vertigo. Could you share with us what additional documents the immigration officer asked you to show? Were you asked to show the tax returns in particular? Thanks.
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Thank you. I was asked to produce: passports, Green Card, photo ID and the interview letter. I was also asked to provide copies of my passports and a copy of my selective service registration. I was not asked to produce my tax transcripts, though I was asked if I pay my taxes.
 
Mr Vertigo said:
Thank you. I was asked to produce: passports, Green Card, photo ID and the interview letter. I was also asked to provide copies of my passports and a copy of my selective service registration. I was not asked to produce my tax transcripts, though I was asked if I pay my taxes.
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Thanks for the fast response. Your answer makes a lot of sense because everything that you mentioned are shown in the interview letter.
Last week, I saw another post in the forum - "Documents and preparation for Naturalization Interview" (http://forums.immigration.com/showthread.php?t=288288) which includes a long list of the items that you should bring with you to the interview and it did mention the 5 year tax return transcript in particular. But on the other hand, I was thinking if they really want to see the tax return, they should've included that in the interview letter.
 
rohitshenai said:
Timeline Updated.
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Congratulations on today's successful interview and thank you for posting your info here!

Could you please provide a bit more detail about your interview experience?
E.g. how long it took, if the I/O wanted to see any kind of documents (such as tax returns etc), if the issue of traffic tickets came up, and so on?

Thanks and congratulations again!
 
baikal3 said:
Congratulations on today's successful interview and thank you for posting your info here!

Could you please provide a bit more detail about your interview experience?
E.g. how long it took, if the I/O wanted to see any kind of documents (such as tax returns etc), if the issue of traffic tickets came up, and so on?

Thanks and congratulations again!
Click to expand...

Had my interview for 8:45am... Got there early (parked at lot near intersection of Polk and Clarke) and was called by 8:30am... It all got over in 15mins... The IO told me to wait outside, and I would get my oath letter (which took slightly more than an hour).

My case was slightly different in that for the first 7 months of my green card, I was out of the country, completing the remaining year of my undergraduate engineering program. I applied for naturalization as soon as the sum total of 5 years got over. So, I was unsure if the first 7 months would count or not. I had written a letter with my application, explaining why I believed it counted, and that I always had the intention of returning to the US. Still, I went to the interview, knowing fully well, that I may be rejected. (I even got a reply on this board that my case would not be accepted).

Surprisingly, the IO did not even question me about the 7 month absence. He had the letter I had written, looked it over, but didnt ask me anything about it (which I was thrilled about).

My 6 questions were:
1) How many years do we elect a Senator?
2) How many justices are in the Supreme Court?
3) When is Independance Day?
4) Name one branch of the goverment?
5) What does the presidents cabinet do?
6) Who takes over, if the president and vice president are unable?

Apart from green card, no documents were asked for... Not even passport, or SSS proof.

When I was asked about the traffic violations question, I mentioned that I had not written my 3 speeding offenses on the application, as they were less than $500. I told him I had brought a signed document, stating the 3 violation details. He didnt want to see it.
 
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Tomorrow at 9:00 AM, I have my oath at the Dirksen Federal Building. Ironically, it's only a couple of blocks away from my alma matter, DePaul University. :) I know that area by heart. I will be applying for my passport later in the day, but not before I make some copies of my Certificate of Citizenship. Hopefully it won't take 3-4 hours to get out of there! :)
 
mr vertigo said:
tomorrow at 9:00 am, i have my oath at the dirksen federal building. Ironically, it's only a couple of blocks away from my alma matter, depaul university. :) i know that area by heart. I will be applying for my passport later in the day, but not before i make some copies of my certificate of citizenship. Hopefully it won't take 3-4 hours to get out of there! :)
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good luck mr vertigo!!!!!
 
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