My wife and I applied for Naturalization just over a year ago through the Mesquite (TX) service center. We were fingerprinted in Dallas last November and in March we were scheduled for a May 5th interview at the Dallas district office.
In late April, the Dallas DO found that my file had been misplaced or mis-routed. They "descheduled" my interview telling me they'd let me know when a new one would be scheduled. Luckily, my wife's interview proceeded and she was sworn in on June 1st.
Apparently there was quite a screw up that week. I’ve been told that dozens of interviews were “descheduled” (by the way, does anyone else find it ironic that when the USCIS indefinitely postpones your English test, it uses the made up verb “deschedule”).
After three InfoPass appointments, I found out that there was nothing wrong with my application (no fingerprint, name check, background check, etc problems). All that had happened was that my application had fallen into the “we’ll get around to that when we get around to it” pile. For the past year, USCIS offices have been working hard to reduce “backlog” – obviously my application did not count towards that backlog metric.
In August I asked my congressman’s office (Kenny Marchant) to look into my case. About two weeks later I got a polite phone call and an email letting me know that everything I had found out on my own was correct, that my application was “in line to be re-scheduled” but that “there are several thousand applicants that need to be scheduled or re-scheduled for interviews” and that no one can “tell me where in line your file is currently located, only that you are in that line.”
At least she was able to find out in a single phone call what it took me three InfoPass appointments to find out.
In early September I phoned the Dallas offices of Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and talked to the immigration person there. The day before my last (fourth) InfoPass appt, she contacted the USCIS. By the time I got to the counter the next day, my interview had been scheduled. When I phoned up the aid to thank her that afternoon she said “you haven’t gotten the interview letter yet, have you?”. It was obvious that it was the Senator’s office’s intervention that caused this.
Too bad I won’t be able to vote in November!
(I'll be cross posting this to the Dallas time line thread)
Detailed Chronology:
================
Priority Date: September 19, 2005
Biometrics Letter: September 29, 2005
Biometrics Appointment: November 5, 2005
Interview Letter: March 23, 2006
Interview Scheduled: May 5, 2006
Descheduling Letter: April 24, 2006
1st InfoPass Appointment: May 16, 2006
2nd InfoPass Appointment: June 30, 2006
3rd InfoPass Appointment: July 28, 2006
4th InfoPass Appointment: Sept 14, 2006
Senator's Office Intervention: Sept 13, 2006
Interview Finally Scheduled: Sept 13, 2006
Interview Letter Mailed: Sept 19, 2006
Interview Scheduled for: Oct 23, 2006
My Wife’s Interview: May 5, 2006
My Wife’s Oath: June 1, 2006
In late April, the Dallas DO found that my file had been misplaced or mis-routed. They "descheduled" my interview telling me they'd let me know when a new one would be scheduled. Luckily, my wife's interview proceeded and she was sworn in on June 1st.
Apparently there was quite a screw up that week. I’ve been told that dozens of interviews were “descheduled” (by the way, does anyone else find it ironic that when the USCIS indefinitely postpones your English test, it uses the made up verb “deschedule”).
After three InfoPass appointments, I found out that there was nothing wrong with my application (no fingerprint, name check, background check, etc problems). All that had happened was that my application had fallen into the “we’ll get around to that when we get around to it” pile. For the past year, USCIS offices have been working hard to reduce “backlog” – obviously my application did not count towards that backlog metric.
In August I asked my congressman’s office (Kenny Marchant) to look into my case. About two weeks later I got a polite phone call and an email letting me know that everything I had found out on my own was correct, that my application was “in line to be re-scheduled” but that “there are several thousand applicants that need to be scheduled or re-scheduled for interviews” and that no one can “tell me where in line your file is currently located, only that you are in that line.”
At least she was able to find out in a single phone call what it took me three InfoPass appointments to find out.
In early September I phoned the Dallas offices of Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and talked to the immigration person there. The day before my last (fourth) InfoPass appt, she contacted the USCIS. By the time I got to the counter the next day, my interview had been scheduled. When I phoned up the aid to thank her that afternoon she said “you haven’t gotten the interview letter yet, have you?”. It was obvious that it was the Senator’s office’s intervention that caused this.
Too bad I won’t be able to vote in November!
(I'll be cross posting this to the Dallas time line thread)
Detailed Chronology:
================
Priority Date: September 19, 2005
Biometrics Letter: September 29, 2005
Biometrics Appointment: November 5, 2005
Interview Letter: March 23, 2006
Interview Scheduled: May 5, 2006
Descheduling Letter: April 24, 2006
1st InfoPass Appointment: May 16, 2006
2nd InfoPass Appointment: June 30, 2006
3rd InfoPass Appointment: July 28, 2006
4th InfoPass Appointment: Sept 14, 2006
Senator's Office Intervention: Sept 13, 2006
Interview Finally Scheduled: Sept 13, 2006
Interview Letter Mailed: Sept 19, 2006
Interview Scheduled for: Oct 23, 2006
My Wife’s Interview: May 5, 2006
My Wife’s Oath: June 1, 2006