Los Angeles, CA - N-400 Timeline

[Bobsmyth]

- What's the best place to sit in the convention center for access to the passport line?

- can you bring your own passport photos?

- How long does it take to get your passport once you apply there?
(They don't give it to you on the spot, do they?)
- Is it worth it to wait 45 minutes vs. going to a post office?

The people at the passport kiosk at the oath ceremonies are USPS employees. You can just as easily go to the local post office and apply if the line up is long at the oath. There's no processing advantage either way since it takes a few days to have your passport sent to you. If you need you a passport the same day you can apply at passport offices that specialize in same day service.

 

[ftm]

Calling Alect...

I know you are more than frustrated. have you tried an info pass or calling USCIS. I was expecting your IL before mine. If it makes you feel better this is my second time through this shit process.

 

[caliSun]

800 customer service is really unreliable

I have heard so many people saying that how unreliable the 800 customer service is, now I have my own experience.

I just wanted to save a trip to drive to downtown LA since I live quite far from there. so I called the 800 number for several times and tried to get a consistent answer. Each time I got to talk the second level customer service people, who are supposed to be the "real" IO. But each time I got different answer:

First Time: Application is pending, name check is not cleared, and USCIS sent your name check to FBI on 12/07/2007

Second Time: Application is pending, name check is CLEARED (she confirmed it when I asked her a second time), and USCIS are waiting for your A-File.

Third Time: Application is pending, name check is not cleared, and USCIS sent your name chack to FBI on 11/29/2007.

BTW, they all seem very sincere, polite, nice, are they lying?

 

[Feliz-LA]

First Time: Application is pending, name check is not cleared, and USCIS sent your name check to FBI on 12/07/2007
Second Time: Application is pending, name check is CLEARED (she confirmed it when I asked her a second time), and USCIS are waiting for your A-File.
Third Time: Application is pending, name check is not cleared, and USCIS sent your name chack to FBI on 11/29/2007.

that proves my theory that nobody knows anything in USCIS and they make up new stories every time. caliSun, time to gather documents for WOM.

 

[Feliz-LA]

LA Court posted Oath schedule for August

June - total 2 775
June 5, 2008 (Thu.) U.S.D.C. (L.A.) 75 1:30 p.m. - 75
June 19, 2008 (Thu.) Quiet Cannon* 900 9:00 a.m. - 2700
June 19, 2008 (Thu.) Quiet Cannon* 900 11:30 a.m.
June 19, 2008 (Thu.) Quiet Cannon* 900 2:00 p.m.

July - total 12 150
July 3, 2008 (Thu.) U.S.D.C. (L.A.) 75 1:30 p.m. - 75
July 11, 2008 (Fri.) LACC*** 6,000 9:00 a.m. - 12 000
July 11, 2008 (Fri.) LACC*** 6,000 2:00 p.m.
July 24, 2008 (Thu.) U.S.D.C. (L.A.) 75 1:30 p.m. - 75

August - total 8100
August 13, 2008 (Wed.) Quiet Cannon* 900 9:00 a.m. - 2700
August 13, 2008 (Wed.) Quiet Cannon* 900 11:30 a.m.
August 13, 2008 (Wed.) Quiet Cannon* 900 2:00 p.m.
August 14, 2008 (Thu.) Quiet Cannon* 900 9:00 a.m. - 2700
August 14, 2008 (Thu.) Quiet Cannon* 900 11:30 a.m.
August 14, 2008 (Thu.) Quiet Cannon* 900 2:00 p.m.
August 20, 2008 (Wed.) Quiet Cannon* 900 9:00 a.m. - 2700
August 20, 2008 (Wed.) Quiet Cannon* 900 11:30 a.m.
August 20, 2008 (Wed.) Quiet Cannon* 900 2:00 p.m.

Oath pattern: Oath schedules>> possible PDs>>>actual PDs
in February 19 075 ->>>Mar-Apr 2007>>> forums ODs of PD March 07, April 10, April 17, July 19, 07
in March 12 075 >>>Apr 2007>>> forum OD for PD April 07, 07
in April 7 075>>>> Apr -May 2007 >>> forum OD for PD Apr 19, 07 and May 30,07
in May 18 075 ->>> May-June 2007 (IL Jan, ID Mar = 4m. IL-OD)>>> forum OD for
SoCalDude(S. Ber.) --PD Apr 19,07 --- FP Jun 20, 07 --- IL Jan 23, 08 -(+2m) ID Mar 15,08 - OL-_________- (+2m) OD May 22, 08 (2/9/11/x/13)
arashijing ------------ PD May 24,07 --- FP Jul 06, 07 ---IL Jan 22, 08 - (+2m) ID Mar 18, 08 - OL- Apr 21,08 - OD -(+2m) May 22, 08(1,5/8/10/12)
in June 2 775 -> June 2007 (IL Feb, ID Apr = 4m IL-OD )> forum OD for:
KeenGolfer (S.Ana)-- PD Jul 23,07 --- FP Sep 19, 07 --- IL Feb 21, 08 --- (+2m) ID Apr 21, 08 - OL May 20, 08 -- (+2m) OD June 19, 08 (2/7/9/10/11)
in July 12 150 -> July 2007
in Aug 8 100-> July 2007 (IL Mar, ID May = 5m. IL-OD )> forum OD for:
century city ------------- PD Jul 05, 07 --- FP Aug 31, 07 ---IL Mar 20, 08 -(+2m) ID May 19, 08 - OL May 19 (verbal)- (+3m) OD Aug 13,08 (3m)(2/8/10/10/13)

i think next Oath letters for Jedi.Knight and Cafitas will come for Aug 13, 14 or 20

 

[Feliz-LA]

I can't believe San Diego is interviewing Nov 07 and San Francisco interviewing Jan 08 PDs...

Continuing Oath analysis:
ESTIMATE 1 - if 127K pending cases means - waiting for OATH
total 79 325 oaths will be complete from Feb-Aug (+ about 8000 rejected) = 87 325

127 533 LA+22,000 OC (pending Jan 31, 07) = 149 533 - 87 325 = 62 208 of January level left on Sep 1 - that's 41% of cases pending in January .

if about 6000 -8000 new cases were received total in 7 months Feb-Aug, 08
then that's about 68 000 - 70 000 cases left pending on Sep 1.

LA times also mentioned 180 000 cases pending in SoCal, but not sure if besides 150 000 cases of LA+OC it includes 30 000 cases of San Diego that seems to be moving much faster then LA and OC, it could also be 127,5K LA, 22K OC and 10-20 K San Bernardino (this 3 share bottleneck of LA Court Oaths), leaving 10-20 to San Diego.

ESTIMATE 2 - if 127K pending means - waiting for IL
OC register reports 236,000 people applied for citizenship in the greater Los Angeles area in 2007

considering that in Jan 08 LA was having OD for Jan-Feb 07 (and sending ILs to April) - it doesnt make sense if they just started having Oaths for Jan 2007 in Jan 2008 how come out of all 2007's - 236K cases only 127,5K were total left pending?

unless "pending" meant waiting for IL? then in Jan they were done with April ILs, it is possible to have 109K of Jan-Apr 07 cases and 100K in May-Aug 07 (suppose then 25K May+ 25K June +45K July+ 5K Aug) and 27 in Sep-Dec 07 (6.7/m)?

ESTIMATE 3 - based on FACT that 40% of 2007 cases were received Jan-May 07

in this article OC Register shows a table that sais : 24 320 cases were received by LA DO in May 2007 alone,

PAST: in April 2005 it was 10K/month, Dec 2005 - 5K, June 2006 10K/month, Oct 2006 - 8K,
2007: in Jan fee increase was announced and it jumped to 17K/month, then 16K Feb, 22K March, 15K April = 70K, + 24 320 in May = total 92 320 = 40% of total 236K of 2007 cases

so it took them
Sep-Dec 07- ILs to March 07, 4 month for 22K of Mar 07 cases
Dec 07 to send April 07 ILs, --1 month for 15K of Apr 07
Jan-Feb08 - May-June 07 ILs --1,5 months for 24K of May 07
March 08 - June- July 07 IL - 1,5 month for estim. 25K of June 07
April-May 08 - July 07 ILs- 2,5-3 month for estim. 45K of July 07
June 08 - Aug-Sep 07 IL - 1 month for 5-10K Aug+5K Sep
July 08 - Oct -Dec 07 ILs - 1 month for 3x5K

so at speed of 15K/month 127,5 K of pending in Jan cases would have received ILs in 8.4 month, i e by Aug

 

[Feliz-LA]

according to NYC thread theory every DO gets % of new officer according to % of DO in national back log,

I've wondered about this too. It is possible that LAT has its sources. Just because USCIS doesn't publish numbers for individual DOs doesn't mean they don't keep track of statistics at the DO level for internal purposes. Problem is, each DO may have different practices in this respect (eg. a different way of defining "backlog").

The LAT number (59,348) suggests that the backlog at NYC accounts for 5.6% of the backlog, since the nationwide statistics released by USCIS for the same period as the LAT data (Jan 31, 2008) show the total cases pending at 1,051,186.

Is 5.6% a realistic percentage for NYC? Interestingly, the percent of recent adjudicator hires (22/442, or 5%) assigned to NYC is very close to this.

On the other hand... Although USCIS doesn't release DO statistics, the "Yearbook of Immigration Statistics" released by DHS breaks down naturalization statistics by "Core Based Statistical Area." This data suggests that the LAT figure for NYC is too low. In 2006 (the most recent yearbook), the largest CBSA in the country for naturalizations was "New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island," accounting for 19% of the total. The second largest was "Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana," accounting for 9% of the total. Assuming that the percentage of applications in these areas is relatively close to the percentage of approved applications, these numbers are at odds with the LAT numbers. Even taking into account that the CBSAs comprise multiple DOs, per the LAT numbers Los Angeles + Santa Ana would constitute 14% of the total backlog whereas NYC + Newark would constitute only 9%.

There are a couple of ways to explain this. One is the fact that prior to the fee hike, many Spanish-speaking media outlets participated in a campaign to encourage Latino and other Spanish-speaking LPRs to naturalize. The campaign was considered a success, as approximately 1,000,000 eligible Hispanic LPRs applied for naturalization. Statistically speaking, the Southwest has the largest Hispanic population in the U.S. L.A. is the largest Southwestern city, which would explain why it has the largest backlog. The other possible explanation could be the fact that NYC has the most staffed DO in the country (as well as 2 separate offices - 26 Federal Plaza and Garden City), which allows it to process application at a faster rate, despite the fact that it may have received more applications than L.A.

Honestly, who really knows what's really going on?

LA's January 08's - 127K is 12% of 1,051,186 national Jan 08,

so 12% of 442 - is 53 - hopefully will finish training and start in Aug 08

besides in LA Times April 08

Arellano said the Los Angeles district plans to hire 100 workers by the fall to speed up processing of immigration applications.

 

[nyc_naturalizer]

according to NYC thread theory every DO gets % of new officer according to % of DO in national back log,

Idle speculation on our part! Don't believe everything you've read in the NYC thread. Like Vorpal says, nobody really knows what's going on.

I've since learned that things are much more complicated than this. Ideally AOs would be apportioned according to need at the DO, but apparently individual DOs and Service Centers have budget constraints that prevent them from hiring only according to need. VSC has apparently been the most cash-strapped Service Center. You'd think that USCIS could find away around this, but hey, it's USCIS.

 

[Feliz-LA]

Idle speculation on our part! Don't believe everything you've read in the NYC thread. Like Vorpal says, nobody really knows what's going on

oh I never meant anything more then "idle speculation", I am just sick of waiting and once in a while I have this unstoppable urge to belive there is logic in USCIS

 

[alect]

Calling Alect...

I know you are more than frustrated. have you tried an info pass or calling USCIS. I was expecting your IL before mine. If it makes you feel better this is my second time through this shit process.

Don't even get me started!! I am travelling at the moment so Infopass is not an option. I have called several times and every time been told to wait and my name check had cleared and was just waiting to be scheduled.

I guess I will be calling again on Monday

 

[iluvfra]

What has been the fasted naturalization process listed in this thread? I mean, is there a huge variance (i.e. 6 months vs. 10 months)? Who crossed the finish line the quickest?

 

[Manlika2004]

Don't even get me started!! I am travelling at the moment so Infopass is not an option. I have called several times and every time been told to wait and my name check had cleared and was just waiting to be scheduled.

I guess I will be calling again on Monday

How did you find out your name check had cleared? We called and got no information.

 

[Feliz-LA]

What has been the fasted naturalization process listed in this thread? I mean, is there a huge variance (i.e. 6 months vs. 10 months)? Who crossed the finish line the quickest?

shortest was total 7 month a July 07 case - nothing else near that time

even March 07 was already 10-11 month average, and it got only longer towards end of July - 13 month.

 

[iluvfra]

Thank you.

 

[iluvfra]

So, currently 10-12 months is a realistic time frame? I just filed my application recently... YIKES!

 

[Bobsmyth]

So, currently 10-12 months is a realistic time frame? I just filed my application recently... YIKES!

It's really difficult to predict what processing will be like for people who recently filed. If the last few months are any indication, processing times have gone down considerably for recent applicants. Remember, the 12-13 month time frame USCIS has posted is for last summer's applicants only, not current applicants.

 

[iluvfra]

It's really difficult to predict what processing will be like for people who recently filed. If the last few months are any indication, processing times have gone down considerably for recent applicants. Remember, the 12-13 month time frame USCIS has posted is for last summer's applicants only, not current applicants.

I find that strange that those who applied in July 07 have to wait 12-13 while those, incl. myself, who applied later may have the benefit of significantly shorter processing times...

Is this a USCIS thing or what?

 

[Bobsmyth]

I find that strange that those who applied in July 07 have to wait 12-13 while those, incl. myself, who applied later may have the benefit of significantly shorter processing times...

Is this a USCIS thing or what?

It's the way USCIS has decided to work on the backlog without delaying more recent applications since they haven't dedicated all their resources to tackle the backlog from last summer. That way they can claim that processing times have decreased for more recent applicants, but in reality there still remains the backlog from last summer.

 

[pwa]

Parking at LA field office

Hi,

I have my interview next month at LA Field Office at 300 N Los Angeles St. I wanted to know what parking facility is available near that office and for how much ?

Thanks.

 

[Feliz-LA]

Hi,

I have my interview next month at LA Field Office at 300 N Los Angeles St. I wanted to know what parking facility is available near that office and for how much ?

Thanks.

search word "parking" in this thread - there was a lot of suggestions,
i think everything near that building is 8-12$ so my opinion is park on metro rail's free parking stations 2-4 miles away and take metro from there ( metro.net)

could you please tell us what is your Priority date, Fingerprint date, your Interview Letter date and Interview date?