N 400 process taking too long

I

ItsoFototo

Registered Users (C)
Hi everyone,

I used this forum 5-6 years ago, when I was applying for the green card, and it was very helpful. I also tried to be helpful to others. I hope I can find answers to my questions this time again.

I filed N 400 form for naturalization at the end of April, 2014. It was about 3 months before the 5 year period of having a green card. Two weeks later, I received a FP appointment for the end of May. I did that, on the scheduled day, and haven't heard from them since. It's been 5 months since I filed and still haven't received an interview appointment. My field office is in New York City. I called the national customer service several times and went to my field office once. They told me my case is still in security check and that the average process time for NYC is 7.5 months. I'm not sure if that means 7.5 months for the whole process, from filing to citizenship certificate, or just until interview.

What actually made me worried is that I have a friend, who lives in my neighborhood, and she filed her N 400 a month after me. She just received her interview appointment for the beginning of November.

What are your thoughts, guys? What should I do? I feel stuck. I need to get this done and be able to travel again for work. I can't be just sitting, waiting and checking the mail box every day….

I appreciate your help.
 
I understand your concern (and impatience) but since you've already had your FP done, you can go ahead and plan trips abroad, albeit it can't be a long one. Even if your status changed, miraculously, today, you won't be interviewed until a month from the change the status.

In my own case, after my FP, it changed to "placed in line" on Aug 1 and 3 days later, it changed to "scheduled for interview". Typically, people receive their interview notice within 7-10 days from the day it changes to "scheduled for interview". Since I didn't receive anything in 30 days, I called them and then scheduled an infopass. I was then advised that they were gonna schedule me for October (this happened in early September). Turns out she was right as the interview takes place in the same building in San Francisco.

A week later, my status changed to "additional documents required" with the email/online status reading something along the lines "your application is on hold and won't resume until you've sent in all the required documents listed". Surprisingly, I received my interview notice 3 days later.

As you can see, everyone's case is different. But if traveling abroad is your concern, again, you should go ahead and plan it. Just give yourself enough time to be able to fly back from the trip abroad to make sure you're here during your interview and Oath.
 
Thanks for your reply, Miss_chang. I'm afraid my travel plans are not as easy. I need to travel for work and be away for a few months. That means also I have to move out of my current place.

Where do you see status updates "placed in line" and "scheduled for interview"? I only see "Initial review", which is my current status, and the next one says "Testing and Interview".

Is your advise just to wait? What does it mean 7.5 months processing time for NYC office, from filing to citizenship certificate or from filing to interview? When should I start worrying and what should I do?

Thanks again
 
ItsoFototo said:
They told me my case is still in security check and that the average process time for NYC is 7.5 months. I'm not sure if that means 7.5 months for the whole process, from filing to citizenship certificate, or just until interview.
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It's 7.5 months from filing to oath. But that is an AVERAGE, not a maximum. So half the people will take longer than that time, half less than that. You're only at the 5 month mark now, so it's too early to get concerned.
 
Thanks, Jackolantern. When can I do a service request and would that help? What else can I do to speed up the process?
 
Just came back from my second InfoPass appointment at our local Seattle Office. I had submitted my N-400 application in November, finger prints done in December and nothing since. I have called 4 times for service requests and had 2 InfoPasses.

The officer at the window said 10.5 months is a long time and went to inquire about my case from another officer. She returned after 10 minutes and said that I need to wait a bit longer. The office is awaiting something which they have not received as yet but otherwise everything else looks good. She said she could not give me any definite time frame but if I do not hear back in 2 months, I should inquire again. I am sure they are awaiting some kind of security check results but it's already been so long.

I plan on sending letters to local congressmen, senators etc. next and hope that in the meantime there is some kind of progress.
 
ItsoFototo said:
I need to travel for work and be away for a few months. That means also I have to move out of my current place.
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I think you (and perhaps your employer/housing situation) may need to be a bit more creative when considering possible options. There is nothing preventing you from spending most of the next few months out of the country on work, but keeping your residence legally in the USA and returning for interview/oath.
 
What options do I have with my N-400 case? Next week will be a year since I submitted applications for both my wife and myself and we have not heard anything so far. I have already been to 2 Infopass appointments, made several phone calls and have a third Infopass scheduled 10 days from now. I have also written to local congressmen etc.

I was looking at the thread on filing a lawsuit but that seems to be for folks who have already had their interview and have not received a decision as yet. Are there other folks out there who have had to wait for an interview call past one year? Thanks for any suggestions.
 
jwdkhan said:
What options do I have with my N-400 case? Next week will be a year since I submitted applications for both my wife and myself and we have not heard anything so far.
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Did you have the fingerprinting yet?

I was looking at the thread on filing a lawsuit but that seems to be for folks who have already had their interview and have not received a decision as yet.
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There are two different kind of lawsuits commonly associated with the naturalization process. The 1447(b) is only for people who are still waiting for a decision 120 days after the interview, and Writ of Mandamus (WoM) can be filed by people who have not yet been interviewed after a long wait.

1447(b) is simpler and brings better results because the 120-day limit is written into law, whereas the WoM doesn't have a fixed deadline like that and it requires you to wait long enough to convince the court that the delay is excessive (generally that means at least a year). WoM also requires that you already have pursued multiple other avenues for assistance such as Congressman, Senator, the USCIS Ombudsman etc.
 
Thanks Jackolantern.

We had our fingerprints taken 3 weeks after submitting our N400 applications. My wife received a yellow letter a month later to bring her driver's license to whenever we get called for an interview. But that was more than 10 months ago. At my last Infopass appointment even the IO seemed concerned and thought our case was quite past due. She went to talk to someone and came back after a few minutes and said that everything looks good but I needed to wait. I have another Infopass appointment for next week, but not sure if there'll be any progress from that.
 
jwdkhan, I'm not sure where you are located but infopass isn't really required. You could just do walk-ins (at least that was the case in San Francisco for me).

I can tell how annoying and impatient you guys must be, though. I've been placed in Oath scheduling que for over a week and its really testing my patience already!

Good luck1
 
Hi - I have been reading this thread and although our case hasn't been going on for as long as @jwdkhan, my partner placed in line for interview scheduling over 2 months ago and has not heard anything since - local office is in NYC and I heard that there delays there but I am wondering if it is possible for us to call and maybe find out what is causing the wait? He has been a green card holder for over 20 years and doesn't have a popular surname or anything that could cause background checks to go on for a long time - I have read so many cases of people being in line for interview and then getting their interview notice a few days later, and we are getting worried now. Is there anything you guys can advise us to do?
 
ndubs, from my understanding, NYC office is severely backlogged (based on other sites/forums). Did you try trackitt? It will give you an idea, too.
 
Thanks Miss_chang, I hadn't thought of that! Good suggestion, I was able to find a tracker and narrowed it down to NYC office just for 2014, seems like the average is 82 days from fingerprint to receiving interview letter for those who filed at Dallas..so for now I guess we will just have to continue to wait.
 
That's the downside of living in bigger cities, it appears, ndubs. After my interview, I've been placed on oath scheduling que and over the past 11 days or so, I bet I've checked my email/case status more than 200 times.

Would've been really nice if I could've been sworn in and allowed to naturalize on the very day.
 
Oh I didn't even realise there would be a wait for the oath too, I assumed they would tell you what day to come for the oath right after the interview.

Yes it's definitely the price to be paid for living in big cities, I read one person's timeline based in Arkansas, they received the interview I think 2 days after the fingerprinting and oath ceremony very fast after that.

Let's hope our wait will be over soon too!
 
i applied for the n-400 on May 15, 2013 and went for my interview on january 22nd. Eleven months after the interview and numerous infopasses and calls, i still havent heard anything about my case. Very frustrating to say the least. i am confused on what line of action to take. any suggestions on here
 
It's been just over an year since I mailed my N-400 application and I went in for my 3rd Infopass appointment today to request an interview notice. I'd also written to my local Congress woman's office a few weeks back and her office received a reply from USCIS saying mine was one of those rare cases that warranted an extended name check and I needed to wait. I already had an idea that I would not be provided with any new information at today's appointment but still went so that my case did not fall way side completely.

While there I was told I could submit a Freedom of Information Act application to find out about my case. Does anyone know if submitting a FOIA request would help in any way? I had missed out one short entry/exit to Canada from my original N-400 application, was wondering if I should send an amendment to my application along with the FOIA request. Thanks for any advice.
 
sanileo said:
i applied for the n-400 on May 15, 2013 and went for my interview on january 22nd. Eleven months after the interview and numerous infopasses and calls, i still havent heard anything about my case. Very frustrating to say the least. i am confused on what line of action to take. any suggestions on here
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You are long past the 120-day deadline after the interview, so file 1447(b).
 
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