New York City - N-400 Timeline - Naturalization Experiences

[sh1996]

They are different!?!?! Is there anyway to find out the name check is clear? I guess I should have asked the officer about my name check when I called earlier today. But all he said was my case was still at VSC, and he had no other information... I hope the letter from VSC will answer all my questions. I REALLY hope...

As Vorpal says, ask again. The second level IO should be able to tell. Fingerprints are cleared by the FBI, but your name and variations get checked by multiple agencies against lists of known terrorists etc. (Not too clear on the details, but obviously if you have a very common Arabic/Muslim name it'll take longer to check.) The IO may not know exactly what the status of the name check is, but should know if it's been cleared and if you've been placed in the interview queue (and your file is just with VSC waiting for an interview date to be scheduled). BTW don't wait the month for VSC to get back to you. Start writing to Congressmen, ombudsman etc. immediately. Nothing says you can only do follow up sequentially and those other people are going to take their sweet time getting back to you as well.

One other possibility, between the multiple fingerprinting and switch to lock box/NBC processing your application may have slipped through the cracks?

 

[robin2006]

I had my interview today at 26 Federal Plaza.

Appointment at 7:00 AM, arrived at 6:45 Am, had to get line. They start checking at 7:00 Am, after 15 minutes checking I came to 7th floor to submit my appointment letter at 7:15 Am.

My name was called at 8:00 Am. My interviewer was in bad mood, I think so. He is Hispanic and has accent (like most immigrants and me) but he speaks so fast and sometimes in incorrect grammar and incomplete sentences. Sometimes I did not understand and had to ask him to repeat. He asked me 6 questions about US history and Government and I answered correctly all of them so he stopped .

The he asked me to read a simple sentence and I did well.

When he asked me to write a sentence, I did exactly as what I heard but he did not agree (he said "Independence Day in July", there no "IS" in his sentence but he said I wrote incomplete sentence because it should be "Independence Day is in July", so I missed the first writing. He read a 2nd sentence in the same way before, so I asked him to repeat it and I did perfectly. He was annoyed when I asked him to repeat his sentence.

Then he asked me every question in my N400 form and I did well. Then he asked me " do you have the list of utility?". I said "what do you mean by the list of utility?, he said that gas, electricity. I was surprised but kept silent.

Finally I passed the interview test but "A decision cannot yet be made about your application". I asked him " what is the pending issue, Sir" he said "computer problem" and said I can go home now.

I have been living in English Speaking country for more than 5 years, TOEFL 600 six years ago, IELTS 7.0 six years ago (before going abroad), studying and working in the US, got master degree here, and underwent a lot of professional job interviews and now working in NYC but I never ask the interviewer for repeating many questions as this time. I have accent and so does he, but the way he speaks is very hard to understand. Another thing is that this guy is not professional at all (He did not introduce himself, got annoyed when I asked him, did not pay attention to my concern).

Anyway I will wait for N-14 or any letter from USCIS. If my case is not approved I will file a complaint.

ANYONE HAS IDEA ABOUT "COMPUTER PROBLEM"? IS THIS FBI CLEARANCE PROBLEM?

My N652 he checked 3 parts: "A decision cannot yet be made about your application", Please follow the instructions on form N-14, USCIS will send you a written decision about you application. He did not check that I passed the tests of English and US history and government.

 

[jigesh]

Hmmmm...This is strange. He should at least have checked "passed test." My interviewer also had accents so I needed to be extra alert in listening, but looks like not as bad accents as your interviewer had. Don't know about "computer problems." Anyway, hardly anything can be done now other than waiting for, say, 3-4 weeks and see if you get approval/Oath letter. Good luck.

 

[anabel]

When he asked me to write a sentence, I did exactly as what I heard but he did not agree (he said "Independence Day in July", there no "IS" in his sentence but he said I wrote incomplete sentence because it should be "Independence Day is in July", so I missed the first writing. He read a 2nd sentence in the same way before, so I asked him to repeat it and I did perfectly. He was annoyed when I asked him to repeat his sentence.

What was your second sentence? Please write it in the thread. Thank you.

 

[b0nd]

What's the name of your IO? May be I was also interviewed by the same guy. My Interviewer was also short tempered.

 

[thankful]

Luck plays a big role in the process. Some people get their oath notices at the end of the interview while others fall into a potential black hole. My advice is to Robin2006 is to make an INFOPASS appointment soon to find out what is going on. You have to be assertive.

 

[thankful]

What's the name of your IO? May be I was also interviewed by the same guy. My Interviewer was also short tempered.

do you think they will oath you immediately once your FP results come back?

 

[robin2006]

Thank you all.

My interviewer is not good in grammar, and he made more mistakes when he speaks rapidly.

To Anabel:

The second sentence he asked me to write is also incomplete, so I had to request a repeat:

He said " Washington is the capital". So I asked him "Washington" or "Washington D.C." He repeated
"Washington is the capital". So I did exactly. I did not write D.C in my sentence.

To Thankful: thank you for your advice, but I will wait for some weeks as per Jigesh.

To Bond: I don't want to tell the name of my interviewer now. If I did not get approved, I'd file a complaint and post his name here.

 

[b0nd]

Can't say anything. In the world of USCIS there's nothing is certain.

do you think they will oath you immediately once your FP results come back?

 

[b0nd]

I called the AUSA yesterday and left him a voicemail. I then again called him back in 1 hour and he answered. He told me that everything looks OK for my case and USCIS did not inform him of any abnormality. He said he will send an email to USCIS right away asking for a status update. He then called me back in the afternoon and read USCIS's email to me saying that the case has been approved and I am scheduled for an Oath on June 11, 2009. He congratulated me and asked me to wait for the letter in mail.
That was smooth considering a rough ride of 9 months after the interview. USCIS really needs someone to bully them to get things moving, don't know why.
Now that I am waiting for the letter (I hope it really shows up) I got two questions.
1. Is it possible I can request for an earlier Oath? Has anyone had luck with that and what's the procedure? I plan on travelling on June 3, 2009.
2. I have had 2 trips of 6 weeks each during the past 9 months since my 2 interviews, one after the first and the other after 2nd interview. My question is when I disclose this on the back of Oath letter, will the IO simply verify those trips from my passport stamps or will he pull me off the Oath and send another Oath date until they verify it in their system?

 

[Naijaland]

Congratulations!!! on your approval, I don't know why USCIS likes creating problems for themselves. They have to be bullied and threatened to do things in the proper way.

I just went through a similar experience and it was not until I sent an email to the NYC District Director asking her to explain how it took almost four months for my file to make it to her NYC office and a letter to the ombudsman did they actively start looking for my file.

Try calling someone to see if they could expedite the process for you, I am not sure, but you have nothing to loose at this point in trying. Congratulations once again.

I called the AUSA yesterday and left him a voicemail. I then again called him back in 1 hour and he answered. He told me that everything looks OK for my case and USCIS did not inform him of any abnormality. He said he will send an email to USCIS right away asking for a status update. He then called me back in the afternoon and read USCIS's email to me saying that the case has been approved and I am scheduled for an Oath on June 11, 2009. He congratulated me and asked me to wait for the letter in mail.
That was smooth considering a rough ride of 9 months after the interview. USCIS really needs someone to bully them to get things moving, don't know why.
Now that I am waiting for the letter (I hope it really shows up) I got two questions.
1. Is it possible I can request for an earlier Oath? Has anyone had luck with that and what's the procedure? I plan on travelling on June 3, 2009.
2. I have had 2 trips of 6 weeks each during the past 9 months since my 2 interviews, one after the first and the other after 2nd interview. My question is when I disclose this on the back of Oath letter, will the IO simply verify those trips from my passport stamps or will he pull me off the Oath and send another Oath date until they verify it in their system?

 

[Naijaland]

Got a call from the ombudsman's office about my inquiry into my missing file. She informed me that the file has been located and is in transit to the NYC office and asked me to patiently wait to receive my oath letter.

You sometimes have to literally "light a fire under their as@" to get any traction.

 

[thankful]

I called the AUSA yesterday and left him a voicemail. I then again called him back in 1 hour and he answered. He told me that everything looks OK for my case and USCIS did not inform him of any abnormality. He said he will send an email to USCIS right away asking for a status update. He then called me back in the afternoon and read USCIS's email to me saying that the case has been approved and I am scheduled for an Oath on June 11, 2009. He congratulated me and asked me to wait for the letter in mail.
That was smooth considering a rough ride of 9 months after the interview. USCIS really needs someone to bully them to get things moving, don't know why.
Now that I am waiting for the letter (I hope it really shows up) I got two questions.
1. Is it possible I can request for an earlier Oath? Has anyone had luck with that and what's the procedure? I plan on travelling on June 3, 2009.
2. I have had 2 trips of 6 weeks each during the past 9 months since my 2 interviews, one after the first and the other after 2nd interview. My question is when I disclose this on the back of Oath letter, will the IO simply verify those trips from my passport stamps or will he pull me off the Oath and send another Oath date until they verify it in their system?

congratulations on getting the approval.

As to your first question, you can ask. there will be no harm. Are you under EDNY or SDNY?

As to your second question, it is highly unlikely that they will pull you off the oath.

 

[b0nd]

I am in EDNY. Just received the Oath letter in mail as well. The Oath is at Cadman Plaza.
Do I make an infopass appointment to request for an early Oath or is there any other procedure?
I was also wondering about how will the IO verify the travel dates if they wanted? Just by looking at the stamps on passport?

congratulations on getting the approval.

As to your first question, you can ask. there will be no harm. Are you under EDNY or SDNY?

As to your second question, it is highly unlikely that they will pull you off the oath.

 

[JohnnyCash]

1. Is it possible I can request for an earlier Oath? Has anyone had luck with that and what's the procedure? I plan on travelling on June 3, 2009.

There is no way in this world USCIS will schedule you (or anyone else for that matter) for an early oath especially when you are in NYC area and when your oath date is only two weeks or so away. The only time they will accommodate such a request when it's in national interest; otherwise everyone will try to get their oath earlier if they could since everyone has their own pressing need to be naturalized soon.

 

[thankful]

I am in EDNY. Just received the Oath letter in mail as well. The Oath is at Cadman Plaza.
Do I make an infopass appointment to request for an early Oath or is there any other procedure?
I was also wondering about how will the IO verify the travel dates if they wanted? Just by looking at the stamps on passport?

make an infopass and see what happens. I think they will move it up only if there is genuine personal emergency.

did you mean you have to travel abroad in early June. Bring documents relating to that and see if the officer will bite. I wish you good luck.

 

[b0nd]

I have seen a couple of posts here where OP was able to successfully take the Oath earlier than he was scheduled to by going directly to the Court and talking to the IO. Sort of walk-in Oath. Can't seem to find that post right now.

There is no way in this world USCIS will schedule you (or anyone else for that matter) for an early oath especially when you are in NYC area and when your oath date is only two weeks or so away. The only time they will accommodate such a request when it's in national interest; otherwise everyone will try to get their oath earlier if they could since everyone has their own pressing need to be naturalized soon.

 

[thankful]

I have seen a couple of posts here where OP was able to successfully take the Oath earlier than he was scheduled to by going directly to the Court and talking to the IO. Sort of walk-in Oath. Can't seem to find that post right now.

I do not think this could be done. The naturalization certificates are processed in advance of a ceremony at a USCIS office and are then sent to court for distribution. If you just walk in they will not have a certificate to give to you. The USCIS has stringent security measures for its stock of blank certificates; the USCIS people at the court ceremony do not have a blanket certificate lying around that they can just fill in for you.

make an INFOPASS and make a trip to 26 Federal Plaza--if you have a good reason (besides simple impatience) to move up your ceremony.

 

[jigesh]

Done with the Oath...

My wife and I had our Oath ceremony today at New York Historical Society. It was a Memorial Day special ceremony. There were 140 oath-takers. The ceremony was very well organized. Special seating arrangement for guests of the oath-takers was there. Kids, strollers and photography were permitted. A group of students from the East Village school also witnessed this ceremony.

Upon entering, they took our green-cards and oath letters. The New York Historical Society distributed free of charge to all oath-takers these items: (1) free one-year membership of the society and its museums for the family (2) a hard-bound big-size book on "Treasures of American History" (3) 2009 Full Size 16-month Calendar of the American Revolution (4) A nice ball-point pen. The USCIS had also arranged for small American flags and two booklets titled "The Citizens' Almanac" and "The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the US" for every oath-taker.

The oath ceremony was conducted by the Field Office Director of the USCIS NY DO. The ceremony began with the national anthem. After the oath, President Obama's sepcial video message for this occasion welcoming all new citizens was shown on a big screen. They told this was the first time this message was ever played; may be this means, now onwards they'll play it in NY in all future ceremonies - I don't know. Then, Pledge of Allegiance took place before they distributed citizenship certifcates. After the distribution of certificates, a nice luncheon was arranged for all oath-takers and their guests courtesy NY Historical Society. After that, everyone disbursed.

I had our passport forms filled in with me, so we applied for our passports at a post office which was nearby (83rd Street/Columbus Ave; walking distance from the oath ceremony place). We don't have any international travel planned this summer so chose the regular processing. This completes our immigration process.

Good luck to all.

 

[bgnataliya]

Same boat

I had my interview today at 26 Federal Plaza.

Appointment at 7:00 AM, arrived at 6:45 Am, had to get line. They start checking at 7:00 Am, after 15 minutes checking I came to 7th floor to submit my appointment letter at 7:15 Am.

My name was called at 8:00 Am. My interviewer was in bad mood, I think so. He is Hispanic and has accent (like most immigrants and me) but he speaks so fast and sometimes in incorrect grammar and incomplete sentences. Sometimes I did not understand and had to ask him to repeat. He asked me 6 questions about US history and Government and I answered correctly all of them so he stopped .

The he asked me to read a simple sentence and I did well.

When he asked me to write a sentence, I did exactly as what I heard but he did not agree (he said "Independence Day in July", there no "IS" in his sentence but he said I wrote incomplete sentence because it should be "Independence Day is in July", so I missed the first writing. He read a 2nd sentence in the same way before, so I asked him to repeat it and I did perfectly. He was annoyed when I asked him to repeat his sentence.

Then he asked me every question in my N400 form and I did well. Then he asked me " do you have the list of utility?". I said "what do you mean by the list of utility?, he said that gas, electricity. I was surprised but kept silent.

Finally I passed the interview test but "A decision cannot yet be made about your application". I asked him " what is the pending issue, Sir" he said "computer problem" and said I can go home now.

I have been living in English Speaking country for more than 5 years, TOEFL 600 six years ago, IELTS 7.0 six years ago (before going abroad), studying and working in the US, got master degree here, and underwent a lot of professional job interviews and now working in NYC but I never ask the interviewer for repeating many questions as this time. I have accent and so does he, but the way he speaks is very hard to understand. Another thing is that this guy is not professional at all (He did not introduce himself, got annoyed when I asked him, did not pay attention to my concern).

Anyway I will wait for N-14 or any letter from USCIS. If my case is not approved I will file a complaint.

ANYONE HAS IDEA ABOUT "COMPUTER PROBLEM"? IS THIS FBI CLEARANCE PROBLEM?

My N652 he checked 3 parts: "A decision cannot yet be made about your application", Please follow the instructions on form N-14, USCIS will send you a written decision about you application. He did not check that I passed the tests of English and US history and government.

Hi robin2006,
I am so sorry for the way your interview went, but wait to hear my story and maybe it will make you feel better knowing you are not the only one.
My interview was at Federal Plaza on April 22, 2009. I went there with my husband; interview was scheduled for 9:30 am i went in at 10:30 am and the nightmares begun. As soon as i approached the door i saw the most angry face in the world. She did not smile, did not say a thing just took me in to her office, made me swear and started with the questions. Asked for my green card, passport and social security, which i gave to her and i also handed her my marriage license, and she told me in the most rude way : "I did not ask for this". Then i knew this will be a really bad experience. She went through the application first verifying everything and then asked 6 history questions which i got all right so she stopped and made me read and write one sentence, which i did correct. I forgot to mention that she had a very heavy Russian accent, and although i am Bulgarian and we have similar languages was difficult at times to understand her, so she also got upset when i had asked her to repeat certain words. For instance she asked if any of my relatives reside in City Hall? The way i understood this at first is if any of them live there, but it did not make sense so i thought she meant to say if anyone worked there? I answered No and she questioned me? Seriously my husband's family barely speaks English, neither my Mom, so i just wanted to scream at her. Then she said: "give me all the proof". I started looking at her really confused and she said she wanted lease agreements, credit card bills, statements, life insurance, everything me and my husband had together. And i told her i did not have it because the note i got from them did not ask for it. And there was no comment from her - i also asked her to use her computer and print our bills and statements, but she just ignored me. Luckily i had brought 2008 Tax Returns, also my husband took some recent bank statements and evidence of old health insurance, which i handed to her. She was really giving me hard time with the fact that i am unemployed (excuse me but we are in recession and i am unemployed with just another 7 million people ) and questioned how do we support each other, how long was i unemployed why? , why is my husband full time student etc. which i thought is very inappropriate for this type of interview. She asked for my husband Driving license and i am just wondering how would i have it if he did not come with me to the interview???? Then she made me go outside find him and get his license - although i have submitted copies just 4 months ago, along with everything else she was asking? Seriously 4 months is not that much - how many more new bills and credit cards we can get, especially that i am unemployed and my husband full time student. And i am sorry but our lease does not get renewed every for months. Then she took tho whole file - 20 lbs of paper, but i guess not enough, and went somewhere for about 5-10 minutes. My guess is to the supervisor to talk about my file. She then returned and said i could leave, handed a note saying i passed the history part, but decision can not be made and checked all underneath - to appear for oath, to send docs if asked etc. Made me write my name on my pictures and some other documents. As soon as i walked outside i was on the phone with USCIS sharing with them my experience after the interview and they advised to call DHS and file a complaint which i did right away - i gave them her name, my info etc. Well it has been five and a half weeks and i have not heard anything, although i call every other week to speak to an officer - they just tell me what i know already. The only thing is that they changed my name in the system - i wanted to go back to my maiden name - not sure good or bad sign.
So i am just waiting to get a letter or something, but nothing so far and will be more then happy to read your comments.