Chicago IL - N-400 Timeline

sdd said:
I have my interview on Jan 21. Do I need to take photo copies of the Passport, GC & Driver's License? Does the officer take them from you at the time of interview?
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I have my interview on Jan 20th. I just made copies of everything just in case but I know that they will not accept copies of PP, DL & GC from us. They do it themselves even if we offer it. Make sure to make copy of interview letter for yourself though. Same with Oath letter when you reach that stage.
 
whew! finally back on this thread! looks like my application would take a year to be finally done with. at least i finally got my interview date set. it's still more than a month from now, but it's still better than having no response from them. ;-)
 
spiderman03 said:
I have my interview on Jan 20th. I just made copies of everything just in case but I know that they will not accept copies of PP, DL & GC from us. They do it themselves even if we offer it. Make sure to make copy of interview letter for yourself though. Same with Oath letter when you reach that stage.
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Actually they do accept copies from PP, DL and GC from you. In my case they said they will make copies. I gave them the copies I had and they accepted it. Few mins of less wait...
 
acidmmsp said:
whew! finally back on this thread! looks like my application would take a year to be finally done with. at least i finally got my interview date set. it's still more than a month from now, but it's still better than having no response from them. ;-)
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Congrats acidmmsp; looks like you are back on track. Good luck at the interview!
 
sdd said:
I have my interview on Jan 21. Do I need to take photo copies of the Passport, GC & Driver's License? Does the officer take them from you at the time of interview?
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It would not hurt to take photo copies of the docs. In my case, the interviewer did ask for GC, PP, DL originals. He checked it very closely against the application (on paper and his computer), asked a few questions like date and place of birth and last group of countries visited? And once he had done all the ticks, clicks & clacks; gave them back to me. He did not make any photocopies in my case.
 
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joejoy said:
Actually they do accept copies from PP, DL and GC from you. In my case they said they will make copies. I gave them the copies I had and they accepted it. Few mins of less wait...
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When you made copies of Passport, did you make copy of every page in it, including the one's that are empty? I just made copies of only those pages that have stamps on it, apart from the usual first 2 and last page.
 
My wife and I had our interview on Thu. The interviews followed the standard process - take a token, wait for your turn, take an oath to tell the truth, answer civics questions, answer the reading & writing test and go through the application. I won't get into details on the process unless someone has questions, but I wanted to bring up a couple of things that I found unique.

My interviewer just wanted to get it over with. He has no interest in making small talk, went through the questions as quickly as possible and gave me the approval letter. My wife's interviewer was jovial, went though the questions in the application form a lot more in detail and made some small talk. My interview was quick - maybe 7 minutes, my wife's was probably like 15.

My wife had to go twice to get fingerprinted as her prints didn't come out right the first time. During the interview she found they didn't come out right the second time either and it seems this happens with a small portion of the population. She cleared her tests but was asked to submit police clearance to get her approval letter. We went to our local police station in Chicago and they told us that police clearances were only given by the police HQ on 35th & Michigan. We went there and were given the clearance documents but needed to go to the City Clerk near Lake & LaSalle for attestation. We got that done too and will be submitting this on Mon for approval & oath letter.

We asked for the oath to be taken together, so should both get the oath letter on Mon. The interviewer said we should expect the oath date to be on or around the 29th of Jan.

I'll send out an update when we complete the formalities on Mon.

SDD
 
Received Oath letter today. Oath scheduled for 02/02/2010 @ US District Court, 219 South Dearborn, 25th Floor, Room 2525, Chicago
 
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guju said:
Took my oath today at the federal court on south dearborn st (I had requested a name change). We were asked to come at 12:00, I got there 5 mins to 12, the court room was packed (140 applicants + friends/family). Once everyone checked in, the IO told about N600, updating social security, etc... and then said the judge will come at 01:00 so we were let out. We all were reassembled at 01:00, took the oath, the judge gave a speech and handed out everyone their certificated. The whole ceremony was 25 minutes. The judge was kind enough to shake hands with everyone and let friends/family take pictures with her (My GF was having her citizenship interview at 101 congress pkw at the same time so no one to take my pic :().

Along with the Certificate of Naturalization, I also got another letter with a raised seal that indicated my name was changed to and from. This letter is the proof of name change.

I made some copies and applied for the passport today itself.
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Guju:
Were you allowed to take backpack, cellphone, water-bottles into the court house /building ??
 
joejoy said:
Guju:
Were you allowed to take backpack, cellphone, water-bottles into the court house /building ??
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Yes to all. However, we were asked to turn off the cell phone while in the court room. When you are in the lobby, you can talk on the phone.
 
Oath reschedule question.

Oath letter says

"If you cannot come to this ceremony, return this notice immediately ..............."

But there is no address in the letter on where to mail to reschedule the oath. Anyone has experience rescheduling the interview.

Thanks,
 
"I came to the US in 1998 with a student visa. I was married in 2003 and received my permanent Green Card. In July of 2007 I applied for N 400 and was called for an interview in September 2008. Unfortunately we divorced in May 2008, and I was denied citizenship based on marriage.
In July 2009 I filled out N 400 being 5 years permanent resident. I was called for an interview on November 4th. I passed the test and was under the impression that everything was going well. Before the interview ended, the officer told me that I am under investigation and that they didn’t believe my marriage was valid. ( I was approved permanent residence through interview without any objections) The officer called my ex wife and left a voice message to call her with regards to my case. I was told by the officer that I will receive a letter requesting additional documents that I need to submit with in a month. My ex wife called the officer back the same day and pretty much confirmed everything that I told the officer at the interview.
Now, about 85 days later I have not received any letters from the INS. I am worried and unsure what should I do.
Can they even ask me to prove my marriage given that I am applying based on having permanent residence of 5 years and not through marriage?
"
 
HopeAndHope said:
"I came to the US in 1998 with a student visa. I was married in 2003 and received my permanent Green Card. In July of 2007 I applied for N 400 and was called for an interview in September 2008. Unfortunately we divorced in May 2008, and I was denied citizenship based on marriage.
In July 2009 I filled out N 400 being 5 years permanent resident. I was called for an interview on November 4th. I passed the test and was under the impression that everything was going well. Before the interview ended, the officer told me that I am under investigation and that they didn’t believe my marriage was valid. ( I was approved permanent residence through interview without any objections) The officer called my ex wife and left a voice message to call her with regards to my case. I was told by the officer that I will receive a letter requesting additional documents that I need to submit with in a month. My ex wife called the officer back the same day and pretty much confirmed everything that I told the officer at the interview.
Now, about 85 days later I have not received any letters from the INS. I am worried and unsure what should I do.
Can they even ask me to prove my marriage given that I am applying based on having permanent residence of 5 years and not through marriage?
"
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Even though it is based on 5 yr. GC now, at the time you got the GC, it was marriage based and that marriage itself is under suspiccion by USCIS. The best thing to do now is go through a lawyer and make USCIS come to a decision immediately.
 
My mother's Interview experience - please help!

Hello All,

My mother is over 71 years old and she went for the N-400 interview yesterday at Chicago DO office. My brother-in-law went with her and requested if he could accompany her. The IO, a lady officer in her late 40's said 'No'. But, we saw many people accompanying with the candidates.
Anyways, my mother went in at 12:15 PM (She was scheduled at 11:05 AM) . It seems that initially, everything went on well - She had to do her oath and sat down and gave her GC and passport. Then the IO asked 6 questions - my mother answered them all.
1. What is supreme law of the land?
2. Who wrote constitution?
3. When was constitution written?
4. What is your state Capital?
5. Name 2 wars we fought in 1900's?
6. Who did US fight in World war II?

Then, IO said congratulations - you passed your US History and Civic test.

My mom said since her FP did not go through well, she had certificates from police department (from our town and county) and the IO said 'Oh that is good' and took them and put them in the file.

Then, she took her application and was going through the application. My mother said that she is came from a small village in India and did only little bit of schooling and never had to read English in school etc and also she has been so depressed as my father died about a few months back, so that the IO would be easy on those 'Yes/No' questions as my mom is not really comfortable but she knew answers well enough for those 'No' as she knew the meaning in our native language. She also knew 'Yes' for those questions like respect to flag, support US Govt etc. The IO went through first few pages, went through my dad's name, their wedding date, where and when he died etc. She was satisfied and finally went to these 'Yes/No' questions. She was asking all these one by one and asking the meaning for each one of them, asking my mom to explain as she was telling 'No' to these questions. I think, when she came to Q 15, she asked about violence and my mom said no. IO asked her to explain what is violence and what is crime and wanted a few examples. My mother said she is not involved in violence and in any crime and she is always like to be peaceful. But she insisted meanings and examples. Then, my mom said fighting, killing etc but she wanted more explanations and finally, she gave her N-652 where she checked the first box - You passed the Test of English and US History and Government. and 4th one on the form - You will be given another opportunity to be tested on your ability to speak and understand English. and finally a check box on B - A Decision cannot be made about your application

I waited for the officer and spoke with her to know what exactly happened. She said that my mom was able to communicate but not able to express properly some of the meanings and definitions etc. I couldn't understand what she was up to as she gave N-652 and mentioned that she passed the test of English and US History and Government and the again saying that she would be given another opportunity to be tested to speak and understand English, which is contradicting.
It seems that my mom would be called again for interview to test in English and these 'Yes/No' questions after 60 days.
Do you know anyone had this kind of experience? I do not understand what a 72 year old lady would do after mastering English - they expect her run for any federal office or work on important Govt projects?
Can we write to our senator and request him to look into this? What do you guys suggest? Please help us!

Thanks
 
Oath done

I took my Oath today at

US District Court - Northem District of Illinois
219 South Dearborn, 25th Floor, Room 2525
Chicago, IL 60604.

We were schedule for 12:00 PM. We reached there around 11:30 AM. There was a long line on 25th Floor to check in. They make us seated once we handover Oath letter and green card during at check-in (Note: You'll no longer going to see GC again !! ). Once everyone is seated they hand out some books on American History...etc and a print out of Oath. Then they go over some more info on applying to PP, SSN, DL...etc.

Judge arrived exactly at 1:00 PM. Administered Oath few mins after that. She spoke for few mins after the Oath and then we were done. The certificate and "court order for name change" was handed over to us on our way out of the court room. Outside there were people with forms asking to register to vote.
 
Hi All,

I appeared at Chicago office(101 WEST CONGRESS PARKWAY,CITIZENSHIP) before the mentioned time. I passed the interview and Immigration officer gave me “N-652” “A decision cannot be made” and he mentioned that “supervisor review” is required. He mentioned that it won’t be long before I would receive the oath letter.
Now the situation is that its been more then 2 months and I am yet to receive any oath date/oath letter.
I made 2 info pass appointments but every time I get the same answer that its not been 90 days. My concern is that does it normally take that long ?Any one can you please post your experience.

DO: Chicago, IL
08/21/2009: N400
06/04/2009: Priority Date..
12/01/2009: Interview Date – Passed (N-652 Issued with supervisor review as reason)
n/a : Oath Letter.
n/a : Oath Date.

Thanks!
 
What was the reason that a supervisor's review was required? Did the IO mention that? I know it is unfortunate, but right now you can't do anything but wait. After 120 days, you can file a lawsuite.
 
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