Had my n400 interview today in Holtsville (Long Island)

nextonline

New Member
It went extremely smooth.Was scheduled for 9:30am, got there half an hour early and my wait time was approximately an hour.
Really polite lady called my name and we went into her office, for the interview process. She had me rise my right hand and swore me in, after than she went through every single thing on my application within minutes with me, I guess to check for consistency. She didn't request my selective service registration proof, she also didn't request tax transcripts (I was very nervous about this part, since NY state doesn't send those out until 60 days AFTER you made a request, on top of that you need to pay? Really? I thought I already pay them every year).
Next step was the literacy test, she asked me to write one sentence, i think it was "People elect the congress" or something similar. Fast and easy step.
Finally the last step was the civics test. Approximately 6 questions were given (I answered all of them correct), few that I do recall were:
1) who wrote the constitution
2) name one state that borders Mexico
3) name 3 original states
4) who is in charge of the military
Then she looked at me, smiled and said, we all done here, do you want us to mail you an Oath ceremony schedule or would you like to wait and schedule it today, within an hour or so. I obviously opted to schedule on the spot and within an hour I had a schedule letter. My ceremony is next week, on November 30th! Wow! And this is during the holiday season! In other countries government officials take 3 month off during this time, just because feel like it.

To sum it all up, the process, including wait time, took approximately 2.5 hours, the officer was extremely nice (I would honestly hug her if that wouldn't look weird) and the interview itself was a breeze!!!

Q: Can anyone tell me how long does the ceremony last, on average? Mine is scheduled for 8:30am, but it's during a normal business day, so I'm trying to estimate my make up time at work.
 
It went extremely smooth.Was scheduled for 9:30am, got there half an hour early and my wait time was approximately an hour.
Really polite lady called my name and we went into her office, for the interview process. She had me rise my right hand and swore me in, after than she went through every single thing on my application within minutes with me, I guess to check for consistency. She didn't request my selective service registration proof, she also didn't request tax transcripts (I was very nervous about this part, since NY state doesn't send those out until 60 days AFTER you made a request, on top of that you need to pay? Really? I thought I already pay them every year).
Next step was the literacy test, she asked me to write one sentence, i think it was "People elect the congress" or something similar. Fast and easy step.
Finally the last step was the civics test. Approximately 6 questions were given (I answered all of them correct), few that I do recall were:
1) who wrote the constitution
2) name one state that borders Mexico
3) name 3 original states
4) who is in charge of the military
Then she looked at me, smiled and said, we all done here, do you want us to mail you an Oath ceremony schedule or would you like to wait and schedule it today, within an hour or so. I obviously opted to schedule on the spot and within an hour I had a schedule letter. My ceremony is next week, on November 30th! Wow! And this is during the holiday season! In other countries government officials take 3 month off during this time, just because feel like it.

To sum it all up, the process, including wait time, took approximately 2.5 hours, the officer was extremely nice (I would honestly hug her if that wouldn't look weird) and the interview itself was a breeze!!!

Q: Can anyone tell me how long does the ceremony last, on average? Mine is scheduled for 8:30am, but it's during a normal business day, so I'm trying to estimate my make up time at work.

Is the ceremony at the same office or elsewhere? Maybe someone can tell how it went for them at that location. Administrative ceremonies are usually much smaller and faster than judicial ceremonies.

Here is what USCIS offices have been instructed to do:
http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Laws/Memoranda/2011/Oct/Model_Plan_Admin_Natz_Ceremonies_PM.pdf
 
Let me start by saying congrats!!! Your interview experince sounds a lot like how mine went at the Orlando office, she was very kind and seemed very sincere! I would have liked to given her a BIG hug too but a handshake and a heartfelt thank you sufficed. My interview was on a Monday and the oath ceremony was that Friday. It was scheduled for 8:00am, once they got everyone checked in it didn't start till almost 9am and we were all done by 10:30-11am. I sat in one of the last rows so it took about 30 mins to get called up for my certificate and pictures. It started with a few speeches from different public officials and then they called out each of the 40 countries that were represented; we had about 105 people so it went pretty quick. Once you were standing you remained that way for the oath, pledge to the flag and singing of the national anthem. All in all it was a very moving ceremony and something I will never forget! So like BigJoe said this varies from office to office but I would guess at no more then two to three hours based on how many people are there.
 
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