N-400 Newark Timeline

Congratulations Kenmw!

Congratulations Kenmw! Thank you for your detailed account of your interview/ ceremony experience. So, how does it feel to be a citizen? I'm sorry that you missed out on voter registration by less than 2 weeks.

I'm still waiting. I had to postpone my fingerprinting date so I don't expect my interview letter for another couple of months.
 
Good luck to all

Thank you all. Well, it does not borther me too much about missing my vote. Cause, I have not voted in my life yet. Has been away from my country for so many years. I will be sure to vote on the property tax issue and local/state election next year.

From now on, I will be active at another thread to adjust the status for my wife. Good luck to all.

Kenmw
 
Here is my experience in Newark office:
Today, I went to Newark office, my appointment was at 1:00 pm. I arrived there around 12:00 pm. I parked my car at the parking lot next the immigration building (plenty of space). After passing the security check, I headed to the 13 floor, where the interview was. After waiting about 15 min. The security officer let us in to the big waiting room and told us to drop our appointment letters in to the box in front of the window and wait. Wait..Wait... Wait... and Wait..
Although my appointment was at 1:00 pm, literally I waited more than 3 hours. Around 3:30 pm my name was called. I was guided in to office and sworn before take the seat.
Then she told me that she doesnt have my A-file folder but just my temprorary file (naturalization application folder), since I moved recently and just had my condition(I-751) removed. So she told me she can not approve my application at this time. But she said we can proceed with the interview and wait until we recieved your a-file from the center. I asked her how long it will take to recive the folder, she said not that long and if I hadnt heard anything within 60 days, I should write an inquiry about my status.
Anyways, then she proceed with naturalization questions, current job, marital status, nationality etc. She took my passport and check for the travelings, and she told me that I should get my passport stamped if I plan to travel outside. She continued with the questions form the application form (have you been cited, been part of communist party and etc.).
Then she asked me few questions about history from 100 sample questions. They were easy and straight forward. She asked me to write a sentence "Nothing matters more than peace". And read a sentence which was very easy that I cant remember.
I signed few papers and photos. And that was it.
She checked the box "Decison can not be made at this time" and told me one more time that we should wait until she recieved my A-file from the center.
As I was thinking no more waiting but I guess waiting is my destiny..
Thank you all and best of luck to all of you..

PS. please let me know if anyone has gone through the same experience.
=================================
Timeline:
POD: 30 January 2004
FP: 26 March 2004
Interview letter received : 23 July 2004
Interview date: 20 October 2004
 
Interview experience

My spouse and I had our interview yesterday (Oct. 21 2004) at Newark. Appointment was for 1 p.m.
By 12:30 p.m. a line had formed outside the office on the 13th floor. They let us into the room around 1 p.m. Dropped the letter in a box at the main window.
Around 1:50 p.m, they called my spouse's name and then after about 10 minutes I was called for the interview (interviews held separately in nicle little cubicles). The official went over my application to confirm the spelling of my name and address. Had me sign the photos that were submitted with the application. Asked me to write a simple sentence like "I went to the school". Then asked me 5 questions from the list of 100 standard questions. He informed me that I had cleared the exam. Gave a letter informing that the oath would be held at 3:30 pm. Came back to the same room at 3:30pm. In a few minutes the officials called our names and asked us to sign the Naturalization Certificates. The ceremony started around 4:15 and we were all done by 4:30 p.m. Best of luck to all of you!!!

Particulars:
PD Feb 4, 2004
Fingerprint: Mar 26, 2004
Interview Letter Received: July 31, 2004
Interview Held: 0ct 21. 2004
 
Congrats to gbhutani and waratah for completing their Nat process and the detailed descriptions.

I gather they take your GC away before the Oath. But when is the passport from your home country taken away? If your home country allows dual citizenship will they let you keep your passport? India is implemeting Dual Citizenship now so I was wondering if from next year they will let you keep your India passports.

Thanks
 
Besthi:

They don't take your passport away at all. In fact they don't ask for it after the interview. You get to keep it and do what you want with it.

kenmw
 
Kenmw,

I believe for residents of countries that do not support Dual C yet, the old passport gets stamped as Acquired US citizenship. Can somebody from India confirm their experience on this.b Rahul, others??

Many Thanks

kenmw said:
Besthi:

They don't take your passport away at all. In fact they don't ask for it after the interview. You get to keep it and do what you want with it.

kenmw
Click to expand...
 
waratah said:
Is anyone applying for citizenship through VSC and Newark DO?

I'm trying to find out some info on how long it takes. Everytime I try to find out the status of my case on the USCIS website I receive this message.



PD:April 5th, 2004
1st FD: 6/10 - I was unable to make that date. :(
2nd FD: 8/04.

How long does it typically take before I can see my status online?
Click to expand...

if you can not find the status of your case than your case is at your local INS office so you should hear something soon( about the date of your interview).
Although on a form I got from my local INS office it said that it normally take 16 month for N-400 to be processed, but you never know there are people in my state “Michigan” which works with Nebraska service center got an interview date a month after their finger print, so keep your fingers crossed and good luck
 
My online status finally showed up!

On a whim, I checked my online status and I was surprised that it actually showed up. I wonder what that means. The belief was that if it didn't show up or disappeared the file had been moved to the DO. My PD is April 5th. Apparently, my status was posted online on 10/30. Wonder how long I'll have to wait from now. Has anyone else found that their case has shown up online?
 
Yes, it shows up for me too...though it is the same old usual stuff that we recvd your application on date and it is taking between 370 and 385 days to process it. I am done with my fingerprinting but it doesn't say anything about that. Does it say the same thing for you?

How do you know that the status was posted on 10/30?

waratah said:
On a whim, I checked my online status and I was surprised that it actually showed up. I wonder what that means. The belief was that if it didn't show up or disappeared the file had been moved to the DO. My PD is April 5th. Apparently, my status was posted online on 10/30. Wonder how long I'll have to wait from now. Has anyone else found that their case has shown up online?
Click to expand...
 
Newark district office and cherry hill sub office

hi

I am new to this thread .
I got my GC in June 2001 and I believe i still have about year and a half before i can file for US citizenship. But there's something of concern that i need to address now and I would greatly appreciate any advice from you.

We currently live in the Middlesex county in NJ and looking to buy a house soon.. it could be in Mercer county also. I was checking the district offices in NJ where N-400 will be processed and it seems, people from mercer county come under Cherry Hill district office (and not Newark). Unfortunately i heard that Cherry Hill (CH) takes about 2 years (vs Newark which takes only 9-10 months).

My concern is should we not at all be looking to move to mercer county to avoid long waits in CH (but this is sad as we do want to explore that area ) ..
or how does it really work?

Are there any conditions on number of years/months you should have lived in a particular area before you become eligible under that district office. What if we buy a house in Mercer but don't actually move their until late and it's time to file N-400 at which point it would mean that since we haven't lived in mercer county for too long, i am still eligible under Newark DO
OR
do they just go by your 'current address' in the N-400 form.

So if that is the case (ie they just go by the current address in N-400), can we continue to rent the same apt. (even after having bought the new house) so that we don;t have to change our address on N-400 ...

Any advice from any of you would be of great help!

thanks
 
madhuri_dhar said:
hi

I am new to this thread .
I got my GC in June 2001 and I believe i still have about year and a half before i can file for US citizenship. But there's something of concern that i need to address now and I would greatly appreciate any advice from you.

We currently live in the Middlesex county in NJ and looking to buy a house soon.. it could be in Mercer county also. I was checking the district offices in NJ where N-400 will be processed and it seems, people from mercer county come under Cherry Hill district office (and not Newark). Unfortunately i heard that Cherry Hill (CH) takes about 2 years (vs Newark which takes only 9-10 months).

My concern is should we not at all be looking to move to mercer county to avoid long waits in CH (but this is sad as we do want to explore that area ) ..
or how does it really work?

Are there any conditions on number of years/months you should have lived in a particular area before you become eligible under that district office. What if we buy a house in Mercer but don't actually move their until late and it's time to file N-400 at which point it would mean that since we haven't lived in mercer county for too long, i am still eligible under Newark DO
OR
do they just go by your 'current address' in the N-400 form.

So if that is the case (ie they just go by the current address in N-400), can we continue to rent the same apt. (even after having bought the new house) so that we don;t have to change our address on N-400 ...

Any advice from any of you would be of great help!

thanks
Click to expand...

Why would anyone buy a house based on what may or may not happen 18 months from today is beyond my understanding.

--------------------------------------
A Great Nation chooses a Great Leader. Bush 51%. Kerry 48%.
 
madhuri_dhar said:
hi

I am new to this thread .
I got my GC in June 2001 and I believe i still have about year and a half before i can file for US citizenship. But there's something of concern that i need to address now and I would greatly appreciate any advice from you.

We currently live in the Middlesex county in NJ and looking to buy a house soon.. it could be in Mercer county also. I was checking the district offices in NJ where N-400 will be processed and it seems, people from mercer county come under Cherry Hill district office (and not Newark). Unfortunately i heard that Cherry Hill (CH) takes about 2 years (vs Newark which takes only 9-10 months).

My concern is should we not at all be looking to move to mercer county to avoid long waits in CH (but this is sad as we do want to explore that area ) ..
or how does it really work?

Are there any conditions on number of years/months you should have lived in a particular area before you become eligible under that district office. What if we buy a house in Mercer but don't actually move their until late and it's time to file N-400 at which point it would mean that since we haven't lived in mercer county for too long, i am still eligible under Newark DO
OR
do they just go by your 'current address' in the N-400 form.

So if that is the case (ie they just go by the current address in N-400), can we continue to rent the same apt. (even after having bought the new house) so that we don;t have to change our address on N-400 ...

Any advice from any of you would be of great help!

thanks
Click to expand...


Don't go by hear-say. If you look at USCIS website, Cherry Hill takes about a year (2 months slower than Newark). Also, bear in mind that USCIS plans on reducing this process to 6 months across the nation by end of 2006. I don't know if this will ever happen, but have noticed some improvements in other areas and I am optimistic about it.
 
Thanks Phillydude, Immg-Jock for replying.

Immg-jock. you are right.. why would someone plan on buying a house based on where would he/she apply for GC/citizenship. But ironically enough, immigration laws in the US are such that not only does it leave you frustrated and exhausted but adversely affects your future planning.. be it your personal life or professional career.. anyway..

Phillydude, thanks for generating some hopes here.. btw, do you or anyone else have any experience or know anyone who has experienced processing at CH.
 
Interview letter.

I received my interview letter yesterday. My interview is on January 13th at 2:06pm. I wonder how they came up with the time 2:06. I'm used to hearing 2pm, 2:10, 2:15pm etc. I just thought 6 minutes after the hour was a little odd. :rolleyes:

My timeline is:
PD: April 05, 2004.
FP: June 10, 2004.
2FP: Aug. 08, 2004.
Online status showed up: 10/30/04
Interview and oath: Jan 13, 2005.
 
Waratah .. congrats to u ... the timeline for Newark looks very good ..
seems like 8-9 months is what it usually takes from app to interview for Newark natz applicants ...
 
My details - VSC/ Newark - PD 10-14-2004

VSC/Newark DO
N400 Appication mailed to VSC 10-11-2004
Priority Date 10-14-2004
Fingerprint Date 11-13-2004
waiting for next step.....
Thanks to all for the info 7-8 months timeline seems great and maybe they will bring it down to their original target of 6-months :)
 
mhsN400, Your timeline so far is fast. It took me two months before doing my fingerprinting. I hope the rest continues to go as fast and that you are done in 6 months. Good luck!
 
Question about day of interview and oath.

I have a question about interview and oath in Newark. My N-400 application is based on marriage to a US citizen. My question is about family members wanting to attend the ceremony. The interview letter mentions that "waiting room capacity is limited." I assume this is just the interview waiting room. Is there enough room for family members in the area that the oath ceremony is held?
 
waratah said:
I have a question about interview and oath in Newark. My N-400 application is based on marriage to a US citizen. My question is about family members wanting to attend the ceremony. The interview letter mentions that "waiting room capacity is limited." I assume this is just the interview waiting room. Is there enough room for family members in the area that the oath ceremony is held?
Click to expand...
In our case the oath was held in the interview wating room.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top