Just wanted to quickly post my N400 experience.
First of all thanks to everyone for posting wealth of information on this site. I had only two concern regarding my application - whether to take the pain of contacting
SSC to obtain no registration required letter and second I have had two traffic tickets so far (under $100) and whether to declare that. Found out that in VA the IOs don’t bother that much about SSC registrations. As for tickets I decided to declare that on my form on checked "Yes" on "Have you ever been cited.." question.
Applied N400 for self and spouse mid March. Received NOA with 03/25 as Priority date.
Received FP notices within a week of that. Mines scheduled for 4/25 and spouse's scheduled for 4/28. We both walked in on 4/25 at Alexandria office.
No question asked. BTW I have extremely light FP with computer showing a score of just about 50 for my FP quality. Technician took my FP twice on two separate machines just to be sure. She asked me if I had received re-FP notice for my GC
.
Anyway my spouse received IL on 5/13 for a 6/22 appointment date. I wast very hopeful of my FP going through the first time but I was surprised to see my IL letter on 5/20 for a 6/29 appointment date. I also get a yellow letter asking me to bring my driver's license (?) .
Interview was scheduled at Fairfax office where interview and the oath are same day affair.
My spouse's interview went without any event. During my interview, under oath, I was asked the same set of questions as in the form. When I said "yes" on the citation question the IO wanted to see court papers. I explained her that the fines were all pre-payable and under $100. I had the last ticket with me that I had taken to the interview. I showed her the ticket and proof of payment (in VA atleast all case and payment information is online that you can view and print anytime) and we moved over to rest of the interview.
There is a big thread on whether you should declare ordinary traffic tickets or not. I'm of the opinion that if you can essentially "lie" under oath and have no issues with that then go for it. From what it looks if people have gotton through the process by not declaring tickets it implies that background check is not getting down to the regular traffic tickets which you may use it your advantage.
Rest of the interview went fine and I was naturalized the same day. At Fairfax, VA at least you don’t need to carry any documentation beyond what’s specified in the IL letter. I feel that this coupled with the same day oath makes Fairfax office the most desirable
Overall the experience was quite positive. Despite what you would read from various negative experiences, the system is not really dumb and the IOs are not "mandated" to jeopardize you application at the first chance. Any department dealing with such a huge no. of myriad applications is bound to slip on occasions. So keep faith and use common sense when under doubt. Saw some thread where folks were arguing whether to send multiple applications in same envelope for example. Do you really expect the system to fall apart the moment the packet is opened by someone at USCIS and they find two instead of one application? Well I sent ours in the same envelope using ordinary first class mail and I'm a living proof that common sense works !
So cheers and good luck to all.
First of all thanks to everyone for posting wealth of information on this site. I had only two concern regarding my application - whether to take the pain of contacting
SSC to obtain no registration required letter and second I have had two traffic tickets so far (under $100) and whether to declare that. Found out that in VA the IOs don’t bother that much about SSC registrations. As for tickets I decided to declare that on my form on checked "Yes" on "Have you ever been cited.." question.
Applied N400 for self and spouse mid March. Received NOA with 03/25 as Priority date.
Received FP notices within a week of that. Mines scheduled for 4/25 and spouse's scheduled for 4/28. We both walked in on 4/25 at Alexandria office.
No question asked. BTW I have extremely light FP with computer showing a score of just about 50 for my FP quality. Technician took my FP twice on two separate machines just to be sure. She asked me if I had received re-FP notice for my GC
.Anyway my spouse received IL on 5/13 for a 6/22 appointment date. I wast very hopeful of my FP going through the first time but I was surprised to see my IL letter on 5/20 for a 6/29 appointment date. I also get a yellow letter asking me to bring my driver's license (?) .
Interview was scheduled at Fairfax office where interview and the oath are same day affair.
My spouse's interview went without any event. During my interview, under oath, I was asked the same set of questions as in the form. When I said "yes" on the citation question the IO wanted to see court papers. I explained her that the fines were all pre-payable and under $100. I had the last ticket with me that I had taken to the interview. I showed her the ticket and proof of payment (in VA atleast all case and payment information is online that you can view and print anytime) and we moved over to rest of the interview.
There is a big thread on whether you should declare ordinary traffic tickets or not. I'm of the opinion that if you can essentially "lie" under oath and have no issues with that then go for it. From what it looks if people have gotton through the process by not declaring tickets it implies that background check is not getting down to the regular traffic tickets which you may use it your advantage.
Rest of the interview went fine and I was naturalized the same day. At Fairfax, VA at least you don’t need to carry any documentation beyond what’s specified in the IL letter. I feel that this coupled with the same day oath makes Fairfax office the most desirable
Overall the experience was quite positive. Despite what you would read from various negative experiences, the system is not really dumb and the IOs are not "mandated" to jeopardize you application at the first chance. Any department dealing with such a huge no. of myriad applications is bound to slip on occasions. So keep faith and use common sense when under doubt. Saw some thread where folks were arguing whether to send multiple applications in same envelope for example. Do you really expect the system to fall apart the moment the packet is opened by someone at USCIS and they find two instead of one application?
Well I sent ours in the same envelope using ordinary first class mail and I'm a living proof that common sense works !So cheers and good luck to all.