N-400 Timeline: Honolulu, HI

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celg

Registered Users (C)
N-400 Timeline: Honolulu, HI from start to Oath

I've looked and looked and I can't find any recent posts of other people that are applying for citizenship through the Honolulu DO. So I thought I should start a thread and in case there's a previous thread, then just let me know and ignore this one. Thanks :)

My timeline in my siggy below:
 
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I kept doing Case status search on the USCIS website and finally today there's something going on with my case. This is what came up, so now I'm just waiting for the notification through the mail that hasn't arrived. I'm curious to find out when it was or will be mailed.

Receipt Number: WSC*---------
Application Type: N400, APPLICATION FOR NATURALIZATION
Current Status: Case received and pending.
On July 18, 2007, we received this N400 APPLICATION FOR NATURALIZATION, and mailed you a notice describing how we will process your case. Please follow any instructions on this notice. We will notify you by mail when we make a decision or if we need something from you. If you move while this case is pending, call customer service. We process cases in the order we receive them. You can use our processing dates to estimate when yours will be done. This case is at our CALIFORNIA SERVICE CENTER location."
 
I am almost dancing from happiness :p I just got today both the Receipt and fingerprint notifications, they came in separete envelopes, but mailed the same day. They mailed them on 8/8 and I got them on 8/10.

The fingerprint appointment is scheduled for 8/24, that's 39 days from the time they received my application to the appointment date. I wonder if I can do a walk in before the 24th. Anyone knows? And if I were to do a walk in prior to the appointment date, does it speeds up the process a little?

I hope things keep moving along this fast as I am due to have a baby in mid/late September and it would be nice to have things done before the baby comes. (Yeah, wishful thinking, lol)
 
celg said:
Anyone knows? And if I were to do a walk in prior to the appointment date, does it speeds up the process a little?
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It is widely assumed that the timespan between Priority Date and Interview Letter matters more than between Fingerprinting Date and Interview Letter. This means that getting fingerprinted earlier than the scheduled date has practically no measurable effect on the processing time of the application.

celg said:
I hope things keep moving along this fast as I am due to have a baby in mid/late September and it would be nice to have things done before the baby comes. (Yeah, wishful thinking, lol)
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If it does not work (i.e. you get the interview after September), please do not forget to update the N-400 at the interview with the baby's name, date of birth etc. No matter what I wish you the best for the baby! :)
 
McMahon said:
This means that getting fingerprinted earlier than the scheduled date has practically no measurable effect on the processing time of the application.

If it does not work (i.e. you get the interview after September), please do not forget to update the N-400 at the interview with the baby's name, date of birth etc. No matter what I wish you the best for the baby! :)
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Thanks for your reply McMahon. I will surely update if the interview happens after baby is born. This is actually baby #2 for us, so there's already the first child in the N-400. As far as the walk in I may have to do it anyway just because I have no where to leave my toddler during the appointment for fingerprints. So we'll see what happens. Thanks again for the well wishes.
 
Fingerprints done on 8/24/07. Without a glitch expect that I made the assumption (my bad) that the fingerprints were done at the main immigration building (they used to do them there over 6 years ago when I did my residency stuff). There's lots of parking with meter nearby. So I parked right next to the main building. I arrived 30 minutes early. I got screened by the security guys and as soon as one of them saw me with my fingerprint appt. letter he said oh ma'm I'm sorry, the fingerprints are done at this other building. 2 blocks down the road.:mad: It was raining, I'm 8 months pregnant and with a toddler in a stroller. Oh well, so I walked rather than move my car. The fingerprint place is now located on the 1st floor of a business building on Ala Moana and Keawe St, almost across CompUSA. You could easily park at CompUSA and cross the street. The officer at the entrance will ask for your resident card and the letter. He'll ask you to fill a form and give it to him when you are done. Then sit and wait to be called. There were other people waiting, but I think from the time I arrived until I left only took like 15 minutes. The young guy doing my FP was friendly. then they stamp the same letter, gave me the booklet to study (has a CD inside) and that was it. Now just waiting for my interview letter.
 
Quick update:
I got my interview letter shy of the 3 month mark of my priority date. The interview appointment will be exactly 4 months from the time I mailed my package.
 
Thanks for asking about the baby! She's a doll, 15 days old today and taking a nap as I type this so giving me some free time while the "monster" my almost 2 year old is also napping :) and now I can go study for my interview.
 
Update: I had my interview on Nov 13. I brought my newborn baby with my and husband. Parking was a bit of a hassle because the meters just outside the building were being used by a gazillion taxis so we had to drive across and find a parking spot just over two (big) blocks away. I arrived exactly at 8:50am (my appointment time). You must stay in line outside the building (HOT) until some calls you in to booth #1 where you sign in, then they tell you to go back outside and someone will call you in a few. I waited outside maybe 10 minutes before being called back. I gave the IO my appt. letter and she asked me to leave my baby with my husband to which I said I could not do because she's a nursling and really what can my husband do if the baby gets hungry, right? The IO was somewhat hesitant to let me in with the baby, but finally agreed. When we arrived to the IO's office she told me that she was going to try to do things short and sweet. Just after being sworn in my baby screamed, hungry of course so I had to nurse her. IO had no problem with it and we just continued with the interview. I had no idea that she was going to have a huge folder with all my applications, probably about an inch tall from the time I requested residency. I got asked 5 questions, I wrote one and read one sentence from the test - super easy. I signed my name on the N-400, on both photos on the front and then she handed me the paper that I was approved and I should get my oath letter in about a month or so. The whole interview lasted maybe 10 minutes or less. No extra documents requested, copies or originals. The only thing that I presented were the letter and my "green card". Now I'm just waiting for the oath letter, hopefully it'll be here before Christmas, that would be a nice present, no? :)
 
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I just got the appointment letter for the oath. the oath will be 5 months from the date I sent my package. I can't believe it was this "painless" and "fast". My next update will be after I take the oath.
 
celg said:
I just got the appointment letter for the oath. the oath will be 5 months from the date I sent my package. I can't believe it was this "painless" and "fast". My next update will be after I take the oath.
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Congratulations!! 5 months procesing is amazing considering that USCIS just announced that it may take betenn 16-18 months to proces application filed after June 1, 2007.
 
Finally US Citizen!

I can now proudly say I'm a US citizen. I took the oath this morning. We arrived around 7:30am, the appointment letter said 8am, but they have a sign outside that they will open the doors at 8am. So really no need to rush, but it's good to arrive early to find parking.

We were screened before entering the courthouse, then went to the courtroom and we turned in the resident card and the appointment letter before entering the courtroom. This is when it finally hit me that it was for real. :p

We sat and there was a set of things on each chair, copy of the Constitution, a history book (haven't read it yet), letter from the President congratulating us and a copy of the Oath with instrucions on how to sign on the back.

The judge was late and came into the room until 8:51am! They allowed family and friends to enter the room to witness, no photos allowed, but there was a camera crew from the local news. (we'll be on TV tomorrow haha).

There were 64 applicants, one of them was a special one, as put by the USCIS secretary. A man from the Phillipines that came to the US when he was 60, he worked at a farm and sent 10 out of 11 of his children to college; 5 of them live in the US. He's now 74 and was so happy and proud to become a US Citizen. The entire room was getting choked up and I saw some tears running. The judge also shared how he comes from a family of immigrants from China, he was nice.

Well, we finally said the Oath, then the Pledge of Allegiance and the judge left the room. Total time 9 minutes.

Some of the people that work at the courthouse started handing out the Naturalization certificates and it was photo op. There was a couple of SSN employees taking applications to update the info on the SSN card, that saves me a trip to the SSN office. And passport forms were given out earlier, but I didn't see where to apply for those since I just took the forms and will do it a later time.

All in all it was a nice experience. I am so glad it's over and I do feel freeier (is that a word). Now I can go to the border and cross saying to the immigration officers "US Citizen" :)
 
Thank you! I just saw this. There's hope that it won't take that long. I do think that Hawaii is just fast if all your paperwork is in order. I had a similar experience when I became a resident in 2001.
 
I had my interview on July 18th. I arrived so early that the security guys told me to come back in 15min. After killing some time downstairs, I went back and got accepted to the waiting area. There were only two other folks in the room. After waiting 10 min or so, I was called by an immigration officer and taken to her room. The officer went through my application. Then she asked 6 questions and asked me to read an English sentence and write down what she told me. She once approved my case but I explained that i was having the interview a week before my 5 year anniversary. Then she checked when i submitted my application and told me that it's ok as it was submitted less than 90 days before the anniversary but she cannot approve it on that day. She gave me a form that says a decision cannot be made. She told me that everything else looks ok and that she will approve it when I meet the five-year requirement. the whole interview took about 15 min. it really went smooth. the officer was quite nice.

In the evening, I received an email notification from USCIS that says that they sent me a RFE. So I got scared. I waited for the letter but I did not receive anything. Instead, a week later, I received another email saying that they received what they requested from me. I did not send anything! Then a day after that, I received another email saying that they scheduled my oath and sent me a letter describing the location and date. My guess is that the officer used the RFE state just to keep my case pending until my five year anniversary comes. Anyways, everything seems to be in order now and I am waiting for the oath invitation letter. I am almost done!
 
Oath Ceremony

I always walked to the immigration office from my work (a few blocks). Since my wife was coming with me, we drove to the office and parked in the building (Restaurant Row). I got there approx 30 min before the ceremony but there was a line when i got out the elevator. The ceremony started a little late. There were 40+ people and their guests. It was a very casual ceremony but memorable. My friends somehow found out about the ceremony and showed up too. After 30 min, we became US citizens by taking an oath. MC played a video message from President Obama. Then the ceremony ended after we spoke our pledge of allegiance.

We stopped by a small cup cake store downstairs to buy some cup cakes for our daughter. They validated the parking ticket! So after all the parking was free.

I came to the US in 1997 as a student. It was a long journey but it's finally over!
 
I'll share my timeline here as well, since Honolulu is my DO. Waiting any day for the status update to "In line for interview"....
 
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