Interview Preparation

Interview completed - Fairfax
Time on letter: 9.40 am
Reported ...on dot at 9.40 am and handed over the letters to reception officer.
Partner called in before 10
I was called in around 10.15 by a pretty nice woman officer.

1. Hand-raised - oath.
2. Verified DOB/details etc
3. Passport/Lic/GC - verified.
4. Name change details - i was shortening my name - surprisingly she already had a print out with that change. No idea how.
5. Asked if I was still working at my 'current' job - said Yes. She was 'wow'ed
6. Went thru all Yes/Nos.
7. English test - california is biggest state - read and write
8. civics test:
a)if president cant function who becomes head
b)head of executive branch
c)why did colonists come
d)voting amendment - describe one
dont remember the rest 2.
9. signatures
10.signed name change forms and she gave me N-652. said oath letter will come in a couple of weeks or so.

pretty quick - in-n-out actually.
I did overhear some guys sitting behind in waiting hall cribbing that they have been waiting for almost 2 hrs now. So dont know how this works.

Partner's Oath on Jan 6.
I can now peacefully leave for India trip on 10th Dec with my GC

Thanks a lot to everyone here -
If anything - I would say, just dont sweat.
By the way, the A-file that was in front of my officer - man, that was humongous!

Timeline:
GC date: 12/1/04

Sent N-400 for wife and me: Sept 14
Packet received at Lewisville, TX: Sept 15
Check encashed: Sept 18
Fingerprint notice received: Sept 28
Fingerprint appt: Oct 14th
Completed FP: Oct 14 (Alexandria)
IL received: Oct 29th
Interview date: Dec 2 (completed with name change - awaiting Oath letter)
 
SEA400 said:
Taking oath in about 90 minutes.

Would post interview experience later.
I had not mentioned any traffic tickets. IO asked me to mention the tickets on the application and he took the court desposition.

BTW, his name is Joe.
He asked me who is vice president of US.
Then he said don't mess with Joe :)

TheFree, I know you are in the room. Just don't who are you.
I am the guy from India in Brown jacket.
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Hi Sea400,

I see that you had the chance to go online and post the message during the wait for the oath ceremony. I had attempted to go online during the break but could not do it because for some reason I kept getting a failed login -- my BlackBerry sucks!!!

I kinda knew before that you are from India but I could not identify you in the crowd in the waiting room simply because there were many people from India. At one point I thought about waving a sign "SEA400" hoping you would see it but then deemed the move silly!

Yes I saw one guy from India with a brown jacket seated on the left side of the auditorium 2nd or 3rd row. I am the guy from Algeria (the only one representing that country among the 27 country represented!!)

Oh well, didn't I tell you that it is possible that the oath ceremony would scheduled the same day.

More about the interview later.
 
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TheFree said:
Yes I saw one guy from India with a brown jacket seated on the left side of the auditorium 2nd or 3rd row. I am the guy from Algeria (the only one representing that country among the 27 country represented!!)
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I thinks that's me. I was in seat 36.
It was 2nd or 3rd row. On left side of audiotorium when facing the stage.

Thinking of next steps now. SSN office. Passport. Voters registration.
 
Updating my timeline...Please see the signature below.

Hey Johntlc, Looks like we may be at the oath together.
 
SEA400 said:
I thinks that's me. I was in seat 36.
It was 2nd or 3rd row. On left side of audiotorium when facing the stage.

Thinking of next steps now. SSN office. Passport. Voters registration.
Click to expand...

Here is a picture (attached) taken from my seating spot, behind you... Are you there? :)
 
Congrats to you SEA, Linux and Thefree. It's been a jolly ride towards becoming a USC for you both (SEA and Thefree). I hope Linux will join you guys soon. Mine is Dec 18th, about 1.4 million seconds to go!!!
 
wantmygcnow said:
Need your experience guys... Details
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My appointment was at 9:10 am
I reached there before 9 am but was called for interview after 10 am.

The IO took me to his office where a lady was already present.
He mentioned she is his boss and would be over seeing the interview.

He then asked me if I got a lawyer along.
I said no. I was surprised he asked this. I guess since his boss was there, he was nervous and wanted to go by the book.

His boss asked if I am from india. I confirmed.

Took oath.

He asked me my SSN, birth date, date I became PR, current address, wife's name, number of children.

Compared my each response with his computer. ( I could not see the screen)
My GC is employment based and I became PR in March 2003. Waited 6.5 years to apply for USC.

Went through N400. Asked almost each question in N400 to get my verbal response. Was probabily comparing my response with application and also making sure I have stated it verbally to an Immigration Officer.

Asked about trips outside US. I had 3 lasting a total of 112 days. Last being in 2008. My last trip was to India that lasted almost 3 months.
Asked if I have not taken any short trips to Canada since last India trip.

Then asked what was the purpose on my last trip to India for 3 months.
Told him my company wanted me to train engineers at off-shore software development office.

When he came to citiation/arrest question, I said I had mentioned nothing in N400, but I had some traffic citation. He said I should mention then in the application. They were minor traffic tickets (2 speeding, 1 improper lane change and 1 no child restraint - each under $125) He then made me write these on a peice of paper, including city, state were occurred and what was outcome. Couple were very old 2000. And couple were recent (this year for which I had court deposition). He took the court depsition and siad that all he needs. One of the desposition said the case is open even thought it was paid. He turned to his boss and said I need to refer this to you. what should I do.
She said I see this has been paid so I would not worry about the case beign open. They both agreed that sometime courts make mistakes.

The IO contunied with other questions. When it came to Military service, I mentioned that I have never been part of militrary but and joined Navy's delayed entry program. Have not been to any Navy trainning but am scheduled to go next year. That's when I realized, the IO was in Army before and his boss in Navy.
They looked at my temporary Navy id and we chatted briefly about it.
I mentioned my fater and brother are Army officers in Indian Army. Had a brief chat on that too.

Then back to software. He asked me if I still work for the company I mentioned last. I said no. I have chaged after filling N400. He made to write the details on a paper.

After that he said time for test. Questions asked (from standard 100. I am listing in brief).
What terrority was bought from France.
Name of vice President (my IO's name is Joe so he joked, don't mess with Joe)
which is highest court
who makes fedral law
what group of people were taken to America to be sold as slaves
why did colonist fight the British

even after 6 right he asked me some more (I forgot the questions).
His boss asked, which one did I get wrong, since we was asking more. He said he just wanted to ask all 10.

He then asked me if I have any questions for him.
Said don't get any traffic tickets till 2 pm today, and then gave me the blue slip to attend oath.
 
My Interview experience at Seattle DO

Interview done. Ooth done. Finally I am now a US citizen... free at last!

Apart from the minor bump due to the unexpectely slow arrival of the IL in the snail mail (3 weeks from notice date, giving me a bit of anxiety) as a whole the N400 application process was really a smooth sailing for me, if not a particularly remarkable one: ID and OD done on the same day, which surprisingly coincided with the anniversary of the GC, and moreover came exactly 89 days after the mailing of the application. And on top of that an IO like no other: a sweet and hospitable middle-age lady that made sure that I would have the interview on the scheduled time, and when she could not keep it she called me up to appologize that she was running behind and that she had to take another condidate at my time, insisting that it would be quick!!! Wow!!! Even the Oath ceremony time was as scheduled with no delay and it was all over in an hour or so!!! I can only thank God (Allah) for answering my prayers and making all this remarkable journey a pleasant one.

My joy and happiness are hard to describe and I really wish everyone the same success and experience.

I have been reading this forum for the last three years now and became one of its members right before I filed my N400 application. I have benefited tremendously from the contributions of many members who have been willing to share their knowledge and experience. Many thanks to thier generous and commendable dedication. It is now my turn to share my experience with this forum.

In the following points, I will summarize my interview experience.

To describe to you how nervous I was before the interview, I can tell you that while I was driving to the location of the DO I took the wrong exit from the freeway despite the fact that I am familiar with the area and drove through the same exit many times in the past. Because there was no way for me to make a U turn, I had to drive in reverse on a shoulder avoiding incoming traffic and watching for cops (lest I would be cited for a serious traffic violation thus possibly jeopardizing my chances in the interview and getting late for the interview...)

Luckily I made it to the building 30 minutes before the appointed time (10:50am). So I sat in the waiting room and waited. And when my time came, as I already mentioned above the IO came out smiling and called me along with another candidate to tell me that she was running behind and that she had that candidate to serve before me. She appologized for that and I smiled back and kindly said no problem. Her sweetness really wiped from me some earlier nervousness!

After 15 minutes, the candidate came out and then she showed up 5 minutes later, greeting me at the door with a warm smile, all the while asking about my well being apparently trying to make me comfortable.

Once inside her office, she kindly asked me to be seated and to put on her desk my passport, green card and ID, then she briefly walked me through the specifics of the interview (first the N400 application, then the english test, and finally the civic test.) Before she started going over the application she kindly asked me to tell her if anything has changed since I filed the application or if there are any amendments I need to make. She was a methodical IO in that she went through every item of the application in a quick fashion while updating the information in her computer and on the application. Great skills in multitasking!!!

I should mention that she made me so comfortble and less nervous that I answered some of the questions on the application with a sense of humor. She too used a sense of humor after asking me a question. Like, when she asked if I have ever helped someone enter the US illegally, I replied 'NO, I could not even help myself" to which she smiled. Like, when she asked if I have ever been to jail or prison, I said NO, so she jokingly insisted 'you have never been to jail', to which I replied that I have never seen a police officer!!! She even chatted with me about my job and the specialty I teach at the University.

I should add that I had two speeding tickets which I did not report on the application but I mentioned them to her when she asked me the question about arrests and citations. Once I gave her the dates of the tickets and mentioned that they were paid, she moved to the next question.
I also had a chance to mention my past and present membership in some organizations that I did not report on the application (IEEE, ACM, Computer Society, student chapters etc...). She just wrote them down with no comments even when I told her that I hope this should not be an issue.

Then came the time of the english test, which went so quick that I don't quite remember the exact wording of the question she asked me to read, something like: What was the first capital of the United States? Then she asked me to write the answer: New York City was the first capital.

Then came the turn of the civic test and believe it or not I choked on the first question which made her laugh because she thought that I started to show a bit of nervousness while in fact I was excited that I passed the N400 scrutiny with flying colors. I just jokingly told her that here I am about to fail these questions knowing that I am a professor!!! Of course, I crused through the questions because I knew them by heart, except for the first questions which I asked her to repeat.

Here are the questions:
1) When was the Declaration of Independence adopted?
2) What is the name of the Speaker of the House?
3) What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution?
4) Name one of the two longest rivers in the US?
5) Who lived in America before the European arrived?
6) We elect a President for how many years.

She then told me that I had passed the test and stamped the N400 application with approval and checked the appropriate field in N-652 and congratulated me.

She then made me verify the information on the oath letter and the template form containing the info that gets imprinted on the Certificate of Citizenship, and mentioned that I will take the oath later in the afternoon, to which I said GREAT!!! and commented that this is first of a kind for Seattle DO, to which she replied that they are constantly improving things locally.

When she finally handed me the forms (N-652 and oath letter) and asked me to come back at 2:00pm for the oath ceremony, she mentioned that she still has to run the application through the supervisor for final approval (a formality of course!!!)

Then she walked me to the door congratulating me and asking me to bring my family. I then thanked here for the help(?!) and wished her a nice day.

I would rather stop here since this is getting long and no need to bore you more with useless detail, as every case is different, and every DO is different as well as every IO is different!

Good luck to everybody still going through the process.
 
Oops, I forgot a crucial and nerve-racking moment! As soon as in the IO's office she asked me to raise my right hand and solemnly swear under penalty of perjury to say the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me God...
 
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SEA400 said:
Bob I would like to thank you too for the banana and nut suggestion :)

Had banana nut muffin before leaving for IO and it helped me carry through the day.
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SEA,

I am the originator of the banana nut bread solution for all immigration problems,:) so Bob has nothing to do with this issue. If the banana nut bread helped you to pacify the IO, then you did good and congratulations....:D

In future, add a little bit of craisins to the nuts, hmmmm...hmmmm...:)
 
Al Southner said:
If the banana nut bread helped you to pacify the IO, then you did good and congratulations....:D

In future, add a little bit of craisins to the nuts, hmmmm...hmmmm...:)
Click to expand...

:) Al, you are always funny. I remember your threads on hot wife, etc :)
 
Status Update

Here is my current Status Update:

Me and wife went for FP on 13rd Oct (Scheduled Date). Wife's staus updated on 24th Oct and IL received on 29th Oct for Interview on 30th Nov. My status finally changed on 4th Nov to Testing and Interview. But I did not get any IL. I started calling USCIS from 20th Nov but every time got to dumb Cust serv reps who kept on saying to wait for 30 days. Then came Thanks Giving Holidays. I decided to schedule infopass appointment for 30th Nov (the day my wife had Interview).

We reached DO at 9:30 for 10:30 interview of my wife as I have scheduled info pass at 9:45 AM for me. We could get hold of a good rep and good IO, who understood my situation and got hold of their counterpart at NBC. They informed me that my interview is scheduled on 9th Dec at 8:30 AM and I would be getting another IL in mail within next 3/4 days. They also said, if I do not get any thing by Monday (7th Dec), schedule another infopass for 8th Dec.

Now about my wife's interview, she was called at 10:20 and was done in 6 minutes. Showed GC and PP, civic questions asked, reading/writing and asked for any change in application (for which she said no) and then she was asked few yes/no questions from application at random (not all). She was given letter passed test and interview and wait for Oath Letter. We were out of DO by 10:30 AM. Now we are waiting for Oath letter for her. Oath in Kansas City is scheduled on 18th Dec and I hope she gets into that because I believe next oath is in Feb so that means 2 months wait, which will be very much painful.

Just now I got a call from my wife that my IL has been delivered in mail today and my Interview is scheduled for 9th Dec. So after going through rough time courtsey USCIS , I am back on track for ID on 9th Dec.

Good luck to all the friends.
 
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