Newark, NJ - N-400 Timeline

Interview Letter

Finally, I got Interview Letter today for the appointment at 1:33pm on 2/8/06.
I have no idea how this 1:33pm comes out, but my entire timeline is;

PD: 6/24/05
FP: 8/11/05
ID: 2/8/06

Approx. 7.5 months
 
luveks said:
Finally, I got Interview Letter today for the appointment at 1:33pm on 2/8/06.
I have no idea how this 1:33pm comes out, but my entire timeline is;

PD: 6/24/05
FP: 8/11/05
ID: 2/8/06

Approx. 7.5 months

Congratulations!!!

genesis1: did you receive your interview letter?

----------------
PD: 7/11/05
FP: 8/20/05
 
interview letter

Yes, I received the letter on 11/23/05. The interview is for 01/23/06 at 9:06AM.

PD 05/21/05
 
genesis1 said:
Yes, I received the letter on 11/23/05. The interview is for 01/23/06 at 9:06AM.

PD 05/21/05

Congratulations!! Genesis1... Hopefully I should get my interview letter in next couple of weeks too.
----------
PD: 7/11/05
FP: 8/20/05
 
paging...amyjar

amyjar,

If I remeber correclty, your interview is scheduled for tomorrow (Dec 1st). Can you post you experience when you get a chance after its over.

Mine is on Monday Dec 5th.Thanks a lot.
 
big day Dec 1

Yes tomorrow is the big day. Interview is at 10am. Will let you know the details once we get home. Wish me luck.
 
amyjar said:
Yes tomorrow is the big day. Interview is at 10am. Will let you know the details once we get home. Wish me luck.
Congratulations amyjar,
the next time we hear from you, which could be today, you will be a US citizen!

Wonderful,
sony
 
we got it!!!!

today we became naturalized citizen. Will post my detailed experience in the morning.
 
Details of the interview

My husband and i had differenct experience.
Our appointment was at 10:12am. We left home at to be at the building at 9:00am. There was a long line outside. Initially we were a little confused since the markings ask the citizenship candidates to go to gate B and all others to A. It turned out that everyone had to be in the same line. We were standing outside in the cold for 45 mins before going into the building so "DRESS WARM". Once inside the building we went through the security check and then we proceeded to the 15 floor. Once on the 15th floor the room was right in front, we took our appointment letter and put it in the bin on window 1. There a guy was time stamping the applications. We then started the waiting. My husband was called in first. He was out in 10 mins. Then I was called 15 minutes later by a different officer and was interviewd for a good 20 - 25 mins. He made me take an oath stating that i will tell all truth and then he began the process. He reviewd the whole application step by step and asked if anything had changed since filing the application. We had taken a trip abroad for 6 weeks and we had an addition of a baby girl to our family in october. He noted all that down. He then asked me for my driving license, Green card and asked me to verify my phone number, address, DOB, employer, lenght of employment asked me questions:
1. How many stars are there on the flag
2. How many stripes are on the flag
3. What are the two main political parties
4. Name of the ship that bought the pilgrims to the US
5. What is the introduction to the constitution called
6. Who did we fight the second war with (i answered this wrong)
7. Who did we get independance from.

He then made me write a sentence "the children bought the newspaper". After that he made me sign my photograph and a number of other papers the main thing to remember here is when they ask you to sign documents you have to write your name in cursive writing and not a signature they way we do on our checks. After all was done he gave me two sheets of paper, one had a box marked congratulations!, you have passed and gave the time of the oath ceremony. The other was a questionaire that i had to fill and answer "NO" to all questions. We then had to wait in the main room again for our name to be called. When our name was called we had to turn in our green card and the questionaire, sign the Naturalization certificate (again in cursive) and then wait for the oath ceremony. The morning session oath ceremony is held at 1:30pm. At 1:30pm we were led to the ceremony room. The officer give a short informational speech then told us to stand and take the oath (basically repeat after him) and then we were supposed to watch two short videos. The video system was not working so after trying for a little while the officer gave up and told us to clap. He then distributed the certificates by calling our names. 80 certificates were distributed in 10 mins so it was FAST. We were out of the building by 2:00pm.

Hope this gives all the details. If anyone still has questions please feel free to write.
Goodluck Lonelydove it should be smooth sailing for you too!
 
Congrats! amyjar and thanks for sharing the experience.

Did you have any traffic tickets and did the officer asked for any proofs etc. for the tickets?
 
Thanks amyjar

Thanks for details. Couple os questions.

1. Hope parking is available at back somewhere.. Right?

2. I did not understand when you mentioned signature thing. Did theye specifically tell you to write full name instead of signature? Does that signature go on you photo? I hope that does not become your new signature..or does it? :).

Yes, if name check is not an issue for me, it should be a smooth sailing. but again you never know with INS. :)

Thanks again.
 
parking

Yes both me and my husband had tickets but we never mentioned. Traffic tickets are not considered in N400 filing. We had consulted a lawyer for that. Parking is ample atleast if you get there early. One suggestion is that go a day or so before to see the place etc this way you will save a lot of time since driving in Newark on a monday would be quite a problem. On route 21 N from turnpike take a left on Kinney Street East it is the left turn after the McDonalds and then a right on Orchard street. this takes you straight to the parking lot of INS and the building is right there.

The signature is only for Natralization purposes only. yes you have to sign your photo in front of the officer and then the same on your Naturalization certificate.
 
amyjar said:
My husband and i had differenct experience.
Our appointment was at 10:12am. We left home at to be at the building at 9:00am. There was a long line outside. Initially we were a little confused since the markings ask the citizenship candidates to go to gate B and all others to A. It turned out that everyone had to be in the same line. We were standing outside in the cold for 45 mins before going into the building so "DRESS WARM". Once inside the building we went through the security check and then we proceeded to the 15 floor. Once on the 15th floor the room was right in front, we took our appointment letter and put it in the bin on window 1. There a guy was time stamping the applications. We then started the waiting. My husband was called in first. He was out in 10 mins. Then I was called 15 minutes later by a different officer and was interviewd for a good 20 - 25 mins. He made me take an oath stating that i will tell all truth and then he began the process. He reviewd the whole application step by step and asked if anything had changed since filing the application. We had taken a trip abroad for 6 weeks and we had an addition of a baby girl to our family in october. He noted all that down. He then asked me for my driving license, Green card and asked me to verify my phone number, address, DOB, employer, lenght of employment asked me questions:
1. How many stars are there on the flag
2. How many stripes are on the flag
3. What are the two main political parties
4. Name of the ship that bought the pilgrims to the US
5. What is the introduction to the constitution called
6. Who did we fight the second war with (i answered this wrong)
7. Who did we get independance from.

He then made me write a sentence "the children bought the newspaper". After that he made me sign my photograph and a number of other papers the main thing to remember here is when they ask you to sign documents you have to write your name in cursive writing and not a signature they way we do on our checks. After all was done he gave me two sheets of paper, one had a box marked congratulations!, you have passed and gave the time of the oath ceremony. The other was a questionaire that i had to fill and answer "NO" to all questions. We then had to wait in the main room again for our name to be called. When our name was called we had to turn in our green card and the questionaire, sign the Naturalization certificate (again in cursive) and then wait for the oath ceremony. The morning session oath ceremony is held at 1:30pm. At 1:30pm we were led to the ceremony room. The officer give a short informational speech then told us to stand and take the oath (basically repeat after him) and then we were supposed to watch two short videos. The video system was not working so after trying for a little while the officer gave up and told us to clap. He then distributed the certificates by calling our names. 80 certificates were distributed in 10 mins so it was FAST. We were out of the building by 2:00pm.

Hope this gives all the details. If anyone still has questions please feel free to write.
Goodluck Lonelydove it should be smooth sailing for you too!

Congratulations to both of you!! Mine is 12/15/05 and I am hoping thqat it will be smoot like yours!

Best Regards
 
Thanks guys..especially amyjar

Friends,

I became citizen today and here is my experience at, Newark NJ.. I arrived around 9:45 directly at the back of the building for parking (prefect directions given by amyjar in her previous post in this thread and I had done a trial run as per her advise, which takes the stress out on the same day).

Again, amyjar was right about line confusion, bur stay on "A" not on "B". B is only for forms and I-90 stuff. There is only one big line for all kinds of appointments so be in that. I had to wait around 20 minutes in line before my turn came to get in for X-ray check. Then I went to 15th floor and entered around 10:10. The interview time was 10:12 but that does not really matter much since in FIFO and there are around 100 people who are called at 10:12 am. :)

I put my letter on Window 1 tray and they timestamp it or something later and then wait starts. Different officers keep calling different people at different doors for interview. My turn came at 11:31 am and I was all done at 11:39 am with the interview.

Officer was nice and courteous. In the interview, he just asked me to swear and then went thru application. verfying address, dob, marital status etc etc. then he starts to ask questions. Simple one's
How many states, how many senators, what makes congress, what's state executive called, what is change in constition called, list one requirement to become us citizen. That's pretty much it. Then he told me to sign at a few place. Again as amyjar told, full name to be signed all day long.

Then he tells you to wait outside to sign your certificate and hands over two papers. One interview result the other oath ceremony appt. You are supposed to fill in some info in oath letter and then wait for ur trun, They call you one one of the windows after some time (I was called around 12:40 or so) and you handover ur GC, oath letter and they make u sign two certificates and then u wait for oath to begin. They finally begin it around 1:30 pm and as with amyjar, TV was not wroking so it was quicker. I was out at 1:48pm and home at 2:15pm.

Hope it helps. Amyjar was very helpful in her information and I especially need to thank her for that.

And one more thing. I think its not really needed to dress very formally. I ended up wearing suit but I guess I was the only one. Everyone else was in casual jackets and t-shirts. So don't worry about getting dressed up very formally.

Best of luck to all who are next. I am sure it except for wait wait and wait nothing else is complicated in most case. So relax friends.

Chao...
 
congratulations lonelydove

as per adivce of the officer we have already applied for the passport.
 
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