Interview Experience

paracha3

Registered Users (C)
So after security checks i got into the building (7:00AM), dropped my interview letter in the tray on Window#2 as i was told and sat down in the waiting area. Soon after i saw that the tray with all the interview letters was emptied. So i knew it will be any moment now that my name will be called. It looked like all the early birds were citizenship interview candidates because i could see some of them reading the 100 questions while in the waiting area.
Then i heard some female voice calling my name, i look and she was mid size,skinny with Asian look. She said follow me. She took me through two doors into her full glass window office with nice street view. She first asked me to raise my hand and affirm that i will say the truth and nothing but the truth. I did.
She then told me that this is her first day at the job at that office and that she had moved after working at the same position from another state and i was her first candidate. ok!:rolleyes:

She asked for my green card and all of my passports (old + current). She ended up just checking my green card and not passports. She checked all birth certificates of my family including myself. She asked me what do i do and where i work. Then she went line by line in detail over my N400 application, correcting with red pen, many things like address, phone no, employer, no of children, phone no etc since all that has changed in 2.5 years since i filed N400. Asked briefly for my traffic citation and my past affiliations with religious institutions parties etc.

She then counted the number of days i had stayed abroad since becoming the perm resident. Towards the end of N400, she asked me to repeat after her some allegiance sentences.I did. Then she asked me to sign the N400 at two spots and then she signed after me and stamped the date.

She then asked me to read one of the questions out of 100 questions. After i read the question from the booklet, she asked me to write a sentence on paper. The sentence was "she cooks very well" :) Then she asked me 6-7 questions, i answered them all right, i could see her check boxes after every question/answer.
She then make me sign a paper that said that i showed her my green card today. I did not understand the purpose of that paper. I showed her GC, so what?:confused:

Towards the end, she took out a big stamp from table drawer and stamped big red "APPROVED" on the first page of N400. I was glad to see that, but wait will i not be signing my certificate of citizenship today?, i kept thinking inside me. I was under the impression that they do ask you to sign after the interview. I could not stop myself and finally asked her, she said "no that is done at the second hearing".huh? I do not know what that meant?:confused: Is she talking about the oath? i did not ask further. She then gave me another paper that stated the result of my interview and it said that i passed the test and interview. Thats it. I was then escorted to the Exit door. Overall it was smooth, took 50minutes, she was very nice, polite with smiling face.

On my way home i kept thinking about the questions like what is second hearing mean? and how soon can the oath be?

Since i always felt hope after reading someone's interview experience and specially the fact that some experiences are bitter, I thought i should share my smooth experience to give hope to others. Now waiting for oath letter.

For those of you stuck in name check, i have one advice for you, just forget about it, it will come. The more your think, the more panic you will get. I know some cases are different and urgent but in my case i was in no hurry so the the last one year i just chilled out.

Good luck all!
 
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Wow, that is about as detailed a description of the interview experience as I've seen on this board - "She took me through two doors into her full glass window office with nice street view." :)
 
I have just received the 2nd interview letter. I have already passed US history and English tests(3 years ago). Do I have to take tose tests again? Also is this an indication tht my name check is compete, becauase I have gone thru this before. Is there any way to know about name check status.
Thanks,
 
Wow, that is about as detailed a description of the interview experience as I've seen on this board - "She took me through two doors into her full glass window office with nice street view." :)

However, he forgot to give picturesque developement of how she walked, sat and looked at him... what she was wearing and distractions....
 
However, he forgot to give picturesque developement of how she walked, sat and looked at him... what she was wearing and distractions....
if i tell you more i have to kill you :D
No seriously i tend to write my personal blogs in very detail so i just copy-pasted from my blog into this thread.

By the way my N-652 has only one check mark next to "You pass the tests of English and US history and govt", but there is no check mark next to "Congratulations, Your application has been recommended for approval" or "the decision is pending" So i am thinking did she make the decision or not? Should i be expecting oath letter or another interview again? Anyone with experience?
 
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if i tell you more i have to kill you :D
No seriously i tend to write my personal blogs in very detail so i just copy-pasted from my blog into this thread.

By the way my N-652 has only one check mark next to "You pass the tests of English and US history and govt", but there is no check mark next to "Congratulations, Your application has been recommended for approval" or "the decision is pending" So i am thinking did she make the decision or not? Should i be expecting oath letter or another interview again? Anyone with experience?

Congratulations on your passing your exams. didn't you say she stamp "approval" on your N-400 file? then she gave you N-652 that didn't check "your application has been recommended for approval" instead of "recommended for approval" or "the decision is pending." You should have asked the officer if you are approved or not and if you are taking a final step to take oath. She told you that it will be done at the second hearing, but she didn't say final hearing because we know final hearing meaning oath. I haven't heard of "second" hearing.

initial hearing == interview
final hearing == oath

I hope you get an oath letter soon. Congratulations for passing your interview!
 
didn't you say she stamp "approval" on your N-400 file? then she gave you N-652 that didn't check "your application has been recommended for approval" instead of "recommended for approval" or "the decision is pending." You should have asked the officer if you are approved or not and if you are taking a final step to take oath.interview!

Thanks
Yeah thats whats odd. i see her stamp "APPROVED" on the first page of my N400 but no decision indication on N-652. I should have asked! I have already waited 2.5 years, don't mind waiting more. :) Lets see what happens. Will post here with updates.
 
amazing!! you analyzed that to the maximum. felt like i was reading a novel or some sort of story book. so many details so many descriptions. reminded me of my English essay tutor who went psycho on me cuz she wanted me to describe how the teachers in high school wrote with chalk on the board. she insisted i detail that.
 
I hope you hear some good news. I don't think you mention anything about the IO asking you to sign your photo. Did you sign your photo? If you didn't, that might indicate that they are really going to give you a second interview. Anyway, this would be the first time I see something like that in this forum, as far as I can remember. Let's hope everything means that she was new at the office and it is still learning the ropes there and just needs supervisor approval.
 
I hope you hear some good news. I don't think you mention anything about the IO asking you to sign your photo. Did you sign your photo? If you didn't, that might indicate that they are really going to give you a second interview. Anyway, this would be the first time I see something like that in this forum, as far as I can remember. Let's hope everything means that she was new at the office and it is still learning the ropes there and just needs supervisor approval.

No she did not ask me to sign the photos. Instead i did see her writing my name on the back of my photos. I found that strange based on my reading here in this forum, but didn't want to ask questions like "why are you writing my name on the back of my photos" or "shouldn't i be signing the back of photos"? etc.

I was hopeful yesterday but not so much today! My only hope is the approved stamp :) lets see we will find out a month or so.
 
paracha3, do keep us updated, but I have to say it doesn't sound good for some reason. I think it looks like they really want to give you a second interview, I don't know why. I also don't understand why they made you sign that you showed your Green Card, but that doesn't sound particularly good either. The only time I remember reading a post in which the applicant was made to sign a statement was actually to deny the application. Don't worry too much, it was a completely different issue and the person was denied on the spot as far as I remember. They made her sign something to the effect that she had lied on the application. Your thing of signing that you showed the GC doesn't sound that ominous. Perhaps it just means that if you go to a second interview then you don't actually have to show the GC because you already did. Don't be too worried, perhaps it means she is new at the job in the new place and for whatever reason she cannot approve applications and there is a need for a second interview in which you won't have to do the civics test and hopefully you will be approved. As you haven't signed the photos I am pretty sure there will be a real second interview.
 
if i tell you more i have to kill you :D
No seriously i tend to write my personal blogs in very detail so i just copy-pasted from my blog into this thread.

By the way my N-652 has only one check mark next to "You pass the tests of English and US history and govt", but there is no check mark next to "Congratulations, Your application has been recommended for approval" or "the decision is pending" So i am thinking did she make the decision or not? Should i be expecting oath letter or another interview again? Anyone with experience?

May be she needs to get the approval from a senior IO... I guess she is a junior IO and she could not approve without the aproval of her seniors. Give us some statistics of her body structure... we will try to guess if she was a Junior or Senior IO :)
 
Congrats!!. I wonder why you were asked for Birth certs. for your interview. Please clarify. I have my interviw on 7/26 and i am not planning on taking Birth certs.

Thanks
 
Congrats!!. I wonder why you were asked for Birth certs. for your interview. Please clarify. I have my interviw on 7/26 and i am not planning on taking Birth certs.
Thanks
Thanks.
My understanding is that the officer wanted to match my name on GC with birth certificate. Good luck to all of you!
 
Congrats!!. I wonder why you were asked for Birth certs. for your interview. Please clarify. I have my interviw on 7/26 and i am not planning on taking Birth certs.

Thanks

Good luck on your interview, onleewords!

Congratulations, Paracha3!!
 
Today i took the oath and i am a US citizen. Finally the end of a long journey. I came out of court hall, filed for social security card status change and registered to vote right there.

Ahhhh....No need to carry GC with me all the time and no need for AR-11. Will apply for passport next week.

Once again, i wish you all good luck!
 
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