New York City - N-400 Timeline - Naturalization Experiences

[kiev]

I had my interview. I got to 26 Federal Plaza about 25 minutes before my appointment and checked in. I had to sit in the waiting room on the seventh floor for about 2 hours before my name got called.

The officer first had me raise my right hand and promise to tell the truth. Then he asked how did I get my green card. I told him. Then the officer went over the N-400 application form pretty much question by question. At the end of this he made me sign my name on the last page of the form.

The officer then steped away and came back with a few sheets of paper. These were the test questions. I was asked to read a sentence and then write a sentence the officer dictated. Finally he asked me six civics questions. I got them all and he stopped.

Then I had to sign six or seven documents plus my photos.

The officer informed me that I passed the exam and he was recommending me for approval. I asked if I could get my oath letter then. He said it was not possible and I should expect the letter in a few weeks.

The interview took about 20 minutes.

 

[kiev]

What is your officer's name? If it's Brown or any other junior officers, then you should prepare to push the issue. They will let your file sit idle in the file room until you make a big deal out of it or close to 120 days. Read my posts.

My officer was not named Brown. But I am pretty sure he is a junior guy. I guess I have a long wait ahead of me.

 

[baraider]

congrats for not having my IO. It could save you months of agony.
Next step would be to keep them moving by doing infopass every 2 weeks if you don't have the oath letter after 30 days.

 

[jigesh]

I had my interview. I got to 26 Federal Plaza about 25 minutes before my appointment and checked in. I had to sit in the waiting room on the seventh floor for about 2 hours before my name got called.

The officer first had me raise my right hand and promise to tell the truth. Then he asked how did I get my green card. I told him. Then the officer went over the N-400 application form pretty much question by question. At the end of this he made me sign my name on the last page of the form.

The officer then steped away and came back with a few sheets of paper. These were the test questions. I was asked to read a sentence and then write a sentence the officer dictated. Finally he asked me six civics questions. I got them all and he stopped.

Then I had to sign six or seven documents plus my photos.

The officer informed me that I passed the exam and he was recommending me for approval. I asked if I could get my oath letter then. He said it was not possible and I should expect the letter in a few weeks.

The interview took about 20 minutes.

Thank you for sharing your experience. Hopefully, you will get your approval/oath letter in a couple of weeks.

You mentioned you had to sign six to seven documents other than photos. Is it a standard procedure for everone? Do you know what those other documents are? It seems he did not ask for any other documents; was your case employment based?

Thank you.

 

[ralluri]

There is some good luck charm with this forum

I post this last night about not receiving oath letter and vola ... this morning I get the oath letter. It is for June 5th in New City, NY
Now I need to apply for passport. How long do you think it will take before I receive the Naturalization Certificate. Is it couple of hours or do I need to wait till end of day. We are thinking my wife can apply for same day passport on June 8th. Which is better choice. New York City or Norwalk, CT.
Gurus .. please some suggestions

What's happening with oath letters in NYC DO. My Wife & I had interview on 3/2/2009 (separately) in Federal Plaza. Both of us passed the interviews. The interview officers told us that they will send us Oath letters in couple of weeks. Till now we haven't received any. My wife wants to go to India for a trip. What do we now? I am not sure why it is taking so much time.

N-400 DO NYC
Mailed: 10/28/2008
NOA: 10/30/2008
ID: 3/02/2009
Oath letter: ???

 

[sarrebal]

I post this last night about not receiving oath letter and vola ... this morning I get the oath letter. It is for June 5th in New City, NY
Now I need to apply for passport. How long do you think it will take before I receive the Naturalization Certificate. Is it couple of hours or do I need to wait till end of day. We are thinking my wife can apply for same day passport on June 8th. Which is better choice. New York City or Norwalk, CT.
Gurus .. please some suggestions

You receive the certificate the same day you take the oath, which is the day you become a US citizen.
Then you can apply for a US passport with your certificate.
Unless you travel within the next 14 days you have to go through a regular application or expedited, which saves you several days.

 

[Caramuru]

You receive the certificate the same day you take the oath, which is the day you become a US citizen.
Then you can apply for a US passport with your certificate.
Unless you travel within the next 14 days you have to go through a regular application or expedited, which saves you several days.

Just a hypothetical questions: Would it be possible if a newly naturalized american citizen leave the US using his old/other national passport and apply for the first time a US passport at any American consulate abroad using the certificate of naturalization as proof? Would there be any difficulties even if it seems technically possible?

 

[sarrebal]

Just a hypothetical questions: Would it be possible if a newly naturalized american citizen leave the US using his old/other national passport and apply for the first time a US passport at any American consulate abroad using the certificate of naturalization as proof? Would there be any difficulties even if it seems technically possible?

I know for a fact that one employee of my company based at the London office obtained her US citizenship while living in London (she flew back for her interview and then for her oath). I don't know how she went around the physical and continuous residence as she was and she is still living in London. Her husband was in the US Army (but a couple of years ago, not when she obtained citizenship).
Anyways, she flew back to Ohio for her oath and then she flew back right away to London using her brazilian passport and certificate of natz.
I know she was gonna fly back to the US and enter using that. I haven't spoken to her since I was last in London (March), now that you got me curious I'll email her and ask her.
I don't think they denied her entry as she is a US citizen, but I know she needed a US passport so I don't really know how she did it, maybe she got fined?

 

[Bobsmyth]

Just a hypothetical questions: Would it be possible if a newly naturalized american citizen leave the US using his old/other national passport and apply for the first time a US passport at any American consulate abroad using the certificate of naturalization as proof? Would there be any difficulties even if it seems technically possible?

Best to contact the US consulate to see if they can accommodate your request.

 

[kiev]

Thank you for sharing your experience. Hopefully, you will get your approval/oath letter in a couple of weeks.

You mentioned you had to sign six to seven documents other than photos. Is it a standard procedure for everone? Do you know what those other documents are? It seems he did not ask for any other documents; was your case employment based?

Thank you.

signing these papers is routine. No my case was NOT employment-based.

 

[Elplast]

Long Island Timeline for N400

Any one has an Idea for Long Island NY N400 timeline? And i heard they are very very tough there. I got my Assylem through there it was not so hard but Just would like to get some feed back.

 

[vdostoi1]

Any one has an Idea for Long Island NY N400 timeline? And i heard they are very very tough there. I got my Assylem through there it was not so hard but Just would like to get some feed back.

I am moving this thread to the NY Timeline thread since you will get better answers there.

 

[kiev]

I called the customer service line a number of times and got different answers. I was told that the case is still being reviewed by one person but another person said that case was approved. What is going on?

 

[kiev]

Thank you for sharing your experience. Hopefully, you will get your approval/oath letter in a couple of weeks.

You mentioned you had to sign six to seven documents other than photos. Is it a standard procedure for everone? Do you know what those other documents are? It seems he did not ask for any other documents; was your case employment based?

Thank you.

good luck to both of you tomorrow. Let us know what happens.

 

[jigesh]

Thank you, kieve. Will keep the forum updated. Based on recent trend, looks like they don't approve (and don't give oath letter) right away - junior officers instead give "recommended for approval" letters. Not a problem. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that they do interview us (and no "file not received yet, etc.").

 

[sh1996]

Just a hypothetical questions: Would it be possible if a newly naturalized american citizen leave the US using his old/other national passport and apply for the first time a US passport at any American consulate abroad using the certificate of naturalization as proof? Would there be any difficulties even if it seems technically possible?

I would guess not. I think unless you live in the foreign country as a permanent resident, consulates generally issue temporary travel documents to you so you can get back to the US, but you'll need to apply for and get the actual passport in the US. This is what happened to me when my passport and GC got stolen while I was on vacation. I had to get temporary travel documents from the US embassy in lieu of my GC and from my home country consulate in lieu of my passport (which looked just like a passport, but with like 6 pages in it). Home country consulate did not issue a full passport, even though they presumably had the capabilities to do so. In your case, I'm not sure what excuse/reason you'd use to even get the travel document.... (I showed them my police report.)

Oh and US embassy sucked (Madrid). The travel document window was open for about 2 hours a day and they wouldn't issue the GC-travel document without the passport-document, so I had to do it sequentially. Personally, I think shelling out for an expedited passport or even flying standby on a later flight has to be better than dealing with embassy/consulate.

 

[thankful]

Thank you, kieve. Will keep the forum updated. Based on recent trend, looks like they don't approve (and don't give oath letter) right away - junior officers instead give "recommended for approval" letters. Not a problem. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that they do interview us (and no "file not received yet, etc.").

My understanding is that they call you the day before if they do not have your files. hopefully you will not get a call from an "unknown number" today

The interview is a laidback affair. Enjoy.

BTW, Westchester is in upstate NY?

 

[thankful]

Just a hypothetical questions: Would it be possible if a newly naturalized american citizen leave the US using his old/other national passport and apply for the first time a US passport at any American consulate abroad using the certificate of naturalization as proof? Would there be any difficulties even if it seems technically possible?

You can apply for your first passport at a U.S. consulate. Just be aware that it will take a while because all passports are printed back home in the United States.

 

[jigesh]

...BTW, Westchester is in upstate NY?

No, it's "downstate NY" - I need to correct it (thank god, that question doesn't appear in the civics test!).

 

[thankful]

No, it's "downstate NY" - I need to correct it (thank god, that question doesn't appear in the civics test!).

Should I email the interviewing officer and tell her to deduct a point from you ?