Today I was scheduled for my interview at 10:45 at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan.
I actually decided not to go to work in the morning (I would have had to leave at 10 anyways).
I live in Soho so Federal Plaza is a 20-minute walk away.
I left my apartment at around 10 and I was there at 10:20....by the time I cleared security and got to the 7th floor it was about 10:30.
I went to window 52 to give my interview letter and the lady told me to have a sit and wait. The huge room (with a nice view of the New York Supreme Court) was half full and there were two doors (door 1 and door 2) where officers would come out of and call the name of the applicant through a mic.
They were going pretty fast, a lady next to me had her appointment at 10:50 and was called at exactly 10:50 so I thought everything was gonna be fast and smooth. I was wrong, at least on the fast part.
There were only naturalization applicants in that room, a few with lawyers and very few with family members along (one with an infant, poor boy!).
Finally at 11:45 my name got called. The officer, in his 40s, greeted me at the door and I followed him to his office. He asked me the raise my right hand and I took the oath to tell the truth.
He asked for my passport and green card and I gave him my two passports (one cancelled and one current) and my current 10-yr green card.
He checks the A# and tells me that the test is very easy if I studied. LOL, I know. Even withouth studying, somebody living in the US for 7 years like me should know most of these questions anyways.
He asked me if I have ever been arrested or had problems with the law, I said no, and he said that then it should be very fast.
I thought he was a very senior cool officer, but not exactly.
He starts with the civic questions:
1-What does the cabinet do?
2-What did the declaration of independence do?
3-How many Supreme Court Justices are there?
4-How many years do we elect US Senators for?
5-If both Presidents and vice-presidents can no longer serve, who becomes in charge?
6-Name one branch or part of the Government
Got them right, and he made me sign that paper, that would be a recurring thing.
He made me read line 1: "When is Columbus Day?" and then said "You'd better remember how to spell Columbus". I told him that actually that's already mispelled and that his real last name is "Colombo". He said "true" and he laughed.
Then of course he made me write "Columbus Day is in October".
Again, I signed both pieces of paper.
He then checked the "Passed English and civic tests" on the N-652.
After that he asked me if I brought documents, otherwise I would have had to come back on Dec 21 (I guess that was the date already set on the N-14). I told him I brought plenty.
And here the nice cool officer starts becoming methodic, overzealous, and kind of annoying.
He asked for my marriage license. I gave it to him, he said he wanted a copy. "I don't have a copy, but I submitted one with my N-400 application, as well as my I-751 and I-485". He starts looking for it and then finally found it.
Then, surprisingly, he asked for my wife's birth certificate. I told him that my wife is a naturalized citizen and I can give him the original certificate of naturalization. He insisted on the birth certificate. Thank god the other night while putting all the docs together I found my wife's old USSR birth certificate with a translation. He took the translation and made a copy.
He asked me bank statements, two for each year since 2006, gave them to him. Same thing with credit card statements and utility bills (gave him Amex and Con Ed). He checked the application and saw that I submitted the tax transcripts and copy of the leases already. I had the originals with me anyways.
He asked me if we have health insurance and I gave him a few cards (two from my current job and one from my previous job with both names on). He made copies and gave those back to me.
We have been there for already 20 minutes and he didn't even start going over the application yet. No wonder I was called one hour late!
I thought he was done with papers but he dropped this: "I need a cancelled check". WOW! It was good that I printed a cancelled check for my federal income tax payment from last April (to show that I paid my tax, I would have never imagined that they would ask for a cancelled check). I gave it to him.
Finally he looked satisfied.
We go over the application and after the anagraphic session, he asked if I had any other trips since I applied. I had three international trips. Of course, he would not find the additional sheet that I attached to the application with all my trips (N-400 form just fits 10). He eventually found it and added those in red, with dates, # of days out and countries visited.
He then got a calculator and added up the days (he had to do it twice, wasn't so good with the machine). He counted all trips for the last 5 years and not 3 and when he added the last 3, the number came up to 41, but with just 192 days out.
He just commented that we like to go all over the world and I nodded.
He did not check any stamp, thank god, otherwise we would still be there, considering his speed.
He breezed through the rest of the application and when he asked "have you ever been arrested, detained, cited" I said no and he went on. No traffic ticket questions,
At the end he made me sign part 13 and 14 and the two pictures I brought. I didn't like the ones I submitted and he said: "Are you that vain?" I said that I'm Italian and we all care about our look. Plus, I will just get one certificate of naturalization in my life so I wanted a nice picture on.
He put the big red "approved" stamp on and checked "recommended for approval" box on the N-652.
He then asked if I wanted to wait for the Oath letter or not. I said yes and I asked him if we could plan the date. He very firmly said: "No, we don't do that. That's not how it works!".
I told him that I have a crazy travel schedule in the next month starting Nov 20 and he said that he would put a note in the file saying "leaving on Nov 20".
Well, I said bye and went to room 7-122 to wait for my oath letter. There are 15, maybe 20 people in there.
An officer comes out and calls a girl's name and gave her an OL for Nov 20, she said she's travelling that day and if she could get a same-day passport. He said no, it takes 4-6 weeks. I stepped in the conversation and told her that it's possible at the regional passport agency on Varick and Houston. He didn't even know.
Wait, I'm leaving on Nov 20 and frankly I don't want to take my chances with a same-day passport so I ask the lady if it's possible to get a date before tha tor after Dec 6 when I'm back. She says December is not open yet and I would get a letter in the mail, unless I'm willing to take the oath this Friday, Nov 13 on the Intrepid (a carrier anchored on the Hudson river at 46th St that serves as a museum now).
I said that Nov 13 would be perfect, so I will have an entire week to get my passport. Plus, I never really cared about the solemnity of the oath and stuff (becoming a citizen for me is merely another immigration status, the ultimate one), but that sounds nice and I always wanted to go to visit the Intrepid (I'm into history and aviation).
She takes my N-652, writes a note and disappears.
After a long 1.5 hours (everybody in the office went to lunch, I guess), somebody comes out and calls my name, hands me the oath letter for this Friday and a 2-sheet paper about the special ceremony at the Intrepid and how to get there.
After 4 hours, I finally get to leave the federal building with a reminder that the government should NOT run anything, my dog and cats would be more efficient. Hopefully they'll never run healthcare in this country, otherwise we're screwed....
I actually decided not to go to work in the morning (I would have had to leave at 10 anyways).
I live in Soho so Federal Plaza is a 20-minute walk away.
I left my apartment at around 10 and I was there at 10:20....by the time I cleared security and got to the 7th floor it was about 10:30.
I went to window 52 to give my interview letter and the lady told me to have a sit and wait. The huge room (with a nice view of the New York Supreme Court) was half full and there were two doors (door 1 and door 2) where officers would come out of and call the name of the applicant through a mic.
They were going pretty fast, a lady next to me had her appointment at 10:50 and was called at exactly 10:50 so I thought everything was gonna be fast and smooth. I was wrong, at least on the fast part.
There were only naturalization applicants in that room, a few with lawyers and very few with family members along (one with an infant, poor boy!).
Finally at 11:45 my name got called. The officer, in his 40s, greeted me at the door and I followed him to his office. He asked me the raise my right hand and I took the oath to tell the truth.
He asked for my passport and green card and I gave him my two passports (one cancelled and one current) and my current 10-yr green card.
He checks the A# and tells me that the test is very easy if I studied. LOL, I know. Even withouth studying, somebody living in the US for 7 years like me should know most of these questions anyways.
He asked me if I have ever been arrested or had problems with the law, I said no, and he said that then it should be very fast.
I thought he was a very senior cool officer, but not exactly.
He starts with the civic questions:
1-What does the cabinet do?
2-What did the declaration of independence do?
3-How many Supreme Court Justices are there?
4-How many years do we elect US Senators for?
5-If both Presidents and vice-presidents can no longer serve, who becomes in charge?
6-Name one branch or part of the Government
Got them right, and he made me sign that paper, that would be a recurring thing.
He made me read line 1: "When is Columbus Day?" and then said "You'd better remember how to spell Columbus". I told him that actually that's already mispelled and that his real last name is "Colombo". He said "true" and he laughed.
Then of course he made me write "Columbus Day is in October".
Again, I signed both pieces of paper.
He then checked the "Passed English and civic tests" on the N-652.
After that he asked me if I brought documents, otherwise I would have had to come back on Dec 21 (I guess that was the date already set on the N-14). I told him I brought plenty.
And here the nice cool officer starts becoming methodic, overzealous, and kind of annoying.
He asked for my marriage license. I gave it to him, he said he wanted a copy. "I don't have a copy, but I submitted one with my N-400 application, as well as my I-751 and I-485". He starts looking for it and then finally found it.
Then, surprisingly, he asked for my wife's birth certificate. I told him that my wife is a naturalized citizen and I can give him the original certificate of naturalization. He insisted on the birth certificate. Thank god the other night while putting all the docs together I found my wife's old USSR birth certificate with a translation. He took the translation and made a copy.
He asked me bank statements, two for each year since 2006, gave them to him. Same thing with credit card statements and utility bills (gave him Amex and Con Ed). He checked the application and saw that I submitted the tax transcripts and copy of the leases already. I had the originals with me anyways.
He asked me if we have health insurance and I gave him a few cards (two from my current job and one from my previous job with both names on). He made copies and gave those back to me.
We have been there for already 20 minutes and he didn't even start going over the application yet. No wonder I was called one hour late!
I thought he was done with papers but he dropped this: "I need a cancelled check". WOW! It was good that I printed a cancelled check for my federal income tax payment from last April (to show that I paid my tax, I would have never imagined that they would ask for a cancelled check). I gave it to him.
Finally he looked satisfied.
We go over the application and after the anagraphic session, he asked if I had any other trips since I applied. I had three international trips. Of course, he would not find the additional sheet that I attached to the application with all my trips (N-400 form just fits 10). He eventually found it and added those in red, with dates, # of days out and countries visited.
He then got a calculator and added up the days (he had to do it twice, wasn't so good with the machine). He counted all trips for the last 5 years and not 3 and when he added the last 3, the number came up to 41, but with just 192 days out.
He just commented that we like to go all over the world and I nodded.
He did not check any stamp, thank god, otherwise we would still be there, considering his speed.
He breezed through the rest of the application and when he asked "have you ever been arrested, detained, cited" I said no and he went on. No traffic ticket questions,
At the end he made me sign part 13 and 14 and the two pictures I brought. I didn't like the ones I submitted and he said: "Are you that vain?" I said that I'm Italian and we all care about our look. Plus, I will just get one certificate of naturalization in my life so I wanted a nice picture on.
He put the big red "approved" stamp on and checked "recommended for approval" box on the N-652.
He then asked if I wanted to wait for the Oath letter or not. I said yes and I asked him if we could plan the date. He very firmly said: "No, we don't do that. That's not how it works!".
I told him that I have a crazy travel schedule in the next month starting Nov 20 and he said that he would put a note in the file saying "leaving on Nov 20".
Well, I said bye and went to room 7-122 to wait for my oath letter. There are 15, maybe 20 people in there.
An officer comes out and calls a girl's name and gave her an OL for Nov 20, she said she's travelling that day and if she could get a same-day passport. He said no, it takes 4-6 weeks. I stepped in the conversation and told her that it's possible at the regional passport agency on Varick and Houston. He didn't even know.
Wait, I'm leaving on Nov 20 and frankly I don't want to take my chances with a same-day passport so I ask the lady if it's possible to get a date before tha tor after Dec 6 when I'm back. She says December is not open yet and I would get a letter in the mail, unless I'm willing to take the oath this Friday, Nov 13 on the Intrepid (a carrier anchored on the Hudson river at 46th St that serves as a museum now).
I said that Nov 13 would be perfect, so I will have an entire week to get my passport. Plus, I never really cared about the solemnity of the oath and stuff (becoming a citizen for me is merely another immigration status, the ultimate one), but that sounds nice and I always wanted to go to visit the Intrepid (I'm into history and aviation).
She takes my N-652, writes a note and disappears.
After a long 1.5 hours (everybody in the office went to lunch, I guess), somebody comes out and calls my name, hands me the oath letter for this Friday and a 2-sheet paper about the special ceremony at the Intrepid and how to get there.
After 4 hours, I finally get to leave the federal building with a reminder that the government should NOT run anything, my dog and cats would be more efficient. Hopefully they'll never run healthcare in this country, otherwise we're screwed....
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