Philadelphia PA - N-400 Timeline

Wow phillycitizen, I didn't know there was anyone left who interviewed before me that is still waiting for the oath letter. Did the IO say during the interview that you were being recommended for approval ? Did you request a name change ? Did you have any special requests for the oath ? Do you live in DE or close to Harrisburg (in which case the IO may have decided to assign you a different location for the oath other than Philly) ? If it is not any of these things I have no idea what may be causing the delay in your case. It doesn't make sense that you didn't make it to the June 14 ceremony. But then again when it comes to USCIS don't expect everything to make a lot of sense. Good luck and I hope you get the oath letter soon.

-KM
 
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Hello KM,
None of it applies to me. IO did hand over N-652 letter with 'approval...' sentence checked. I live in chester county.
After closely examining N-652, I noticed that alongwith a check mark next to 'approval...', the words 'if final approval is granted' is circled. I wonder if that means anything.
Is there anyone who was interviewed in philly in the similar situation?
 
For those who have done the interview

If applying on the basis of marriage, they have you bring copies of several documents, do they actually ask and keep these documents or not really, example 3 years tax return, bank stuff

btw, i checked my online status, while i have received my interview letter, i still it online as it appears regularly, should i begin to think something is going on here? makes me a little worried as i understand, this is really not the norm and i have read some 2007 postings here that have people go for interview, pass their english and civics test and yet were told their application is incomplete yet in terms of processing. anybody can please shed some light on this?

appreciate anybody's opinion. thanks.
 
For those who have done the interview

If applying on the basis of marriage, they have you bring copies of several documents, do they actually ask and keep these documents or not really, example 3 years tax return, bank stuff
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I think they will make copies and return the originals to you. Maybe someone else can chime in cause I wouldn't know for sure (I applied on the basis of 5 year rule and they didn't ask for anything except driver's license, passport and GC).

btw, i checked my online status, while i have received my interview letter, i still it online as it appears regularly, should i begin to think something is going on here? makes me a little worried as i understand, this is really not the norm and i have read some 2007 postings here that have people go for interview, pass their english and civics test and yet were told their application is incomplete yet in terms of processing. anybody can please shed some light on this?

appreciate anybody's opinion. thanks.
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The online status by itself doesn't mean anything and so don't worry about it. A lot of people have gone through the whole process from start to finish (including oath) and their cases never showed up online or continued to say "pending". I haven't heard of any recent cases where the applicant was invited to the interview before the background/name checks were completed and so you don't need to worry in that regard. Of course there are exceptions where the interview may be descheduled or the IO may be unable to make a decision at the interview because either your file hasn't made it to the local DO or they found a duplicate file that needs to be reconciled but such instances are rare. I think it is very unlikely that something will go wrong and so hopefully everything will go smoothly for you at the interview (like they have for most of us here). Good luck !

-KM
 
phillycitizen said:
Hello KM,
None of it applies to me. IO did hand over N-652 letter with 'approval...' sentence checked. I live in chester county.
After closely examining N-652, I noticed that alongwith a check mark next to 'approval...', the words 'if final approval is granted' is circled. I wonder if that means anything.
Is there anyone who was interviewed in philly in the similar situation?
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I believe "if final approval is granted" language is common, since they do not approve anything on a spot anylonger. It is just a CYA statement.

As for your timing, it does seem that you either should be getting Oath letter for July or you are falling behind Phily's schedule. When I last talked to Customer Service, they told me I was in an Oath Scheduling Queue, which to me sounded like all the formalities were over, and it is just matter of timing (which for DE residents is different than Phily). Based on your Infopass, it is difficult to say if they still fidgeting with something or you are just waiting for a slot in their schedule? What was your impression? and if it was not clear, I would go to these guys again and ask this specific quesiton.
 
As for your timing, it does seem that you either should be getting Oath letter for July or you are falling behind Phily's schedule. When I last talked to Customer Service, they told me I was in an Oath Scheduling Queue, which to me sounded like all the formalities were over, and it is just matter of timing (which for DE residents is different than Phily). Based on your Infopass, it is difficult to say if they still fidgeting with something or you are just waiting for a slot in their schedule? What was your impression? and if it was not clear, I would go to these guys again and ask this specific quesiton.
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In my InfoPass they did confirm that nothing was pending in my case and it was just a matter of scheduling the oath. Also since my interview date (May 15) was later than that of everyone else who made it to the June 14 oath I figured that they had set some kind of a cut-off date between May 9 and May 15 (fire2china who had his/her interview on May 9 made it to the June 14 oath).

But in phillycitizen's case if he/she had their interview on April 4, there must be something else holding up the oath scheduling. I would agree with MichaelDE. Call the customer service number and try to talk to an IO. If that doesn't work I would do an InfoPass and try to get more information.

One last possibility is that maybe phillycitizen's PD to ID interval is very short and they schedule people for oaths in the order of their priority dates instead of interview dates (which would make some sense).

-KM
 
KM,
My priority date is around towards the end of October 2006 and FP was done in late November.
I guess I should do Infopass. But, they give out so little information during infopass.
Is there anyone else scheduled for July2nd oath?
 
My priority date is around towards the end of October 2006 and FP was done in late November.
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In that case I don't see anything that would delay your case unless there is something still pending (not necessarily name/background checks).

I guess I should do Infopass. But, they give out so little information during infopass.
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I would say hold off until after July 4 and if you hear nothing by then, call the customer service number. When I called them they said they would transfer you to an IO if 90 days had passed since your interview date and you hadn't received your oath letter (which was not true for me when I called and so they refused to give me any information). The IO should be able to give you the same information as an InfoPass and save you the trip. You may even be ask them why your oath hasn't been scheduled yet when others with PDs and IDs later than yours finished their oath.

Is there anyone else scheduled for July2nd oath?
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The June 14 oath ceremony was a big one with nearly 2000 people and we had only about 4 or 5 people who made it to that one posting here. The July 2 one from what I can tell is a small ceremony with about 50 people and so the chances that you will hear from one of the others on this forum are quite slim.

-KM
 
phillycitizen said:
KM,
My priority date is around towards the end of October 2006 and FP was done in late November.
I guess I should do Infopass. But, they give out so little information during infopass.
Is there anyone else scheduled for July2nd oath?
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I would suggest calling Customer Service (it is relatively painless and you do not waste your time going to Inforpass). Explain your facts and tell them that you know people who interviewed significantly after you and already got their oath letters. The trick is to get through the first level of Customer Service and to an IO. If at the end of the call you only spoke to one person, you would have not gotten any information other than what you can read on a USCIS website (which is at this stage is not helpful). If this happens, I think some people immediately dial again hoping that a different person transfers them to an IO.

If you got transferred!!! you can ask a specific question, i.e. "is anything pending in my case or am I in an Oath Queue?". If you get an answer to that, at least you know where you stand. You can further try your luck by inquiring when is the next Oath Ceremony and how likely you can get to it.

Good luck.
 
KM and MichaelDE,
Thanks for your suggestion.
I followed your suggestion and called customer service. She said that my case
is waiting for additional review and followup can only be requested after 90 days have passed from the interview date. So, I plan to call back after July 4.
I am puzled why my case is sent for additional review when in N-652 letter,
approval is checked. What kind of additional review they are going to do when my FP was clear, I passed the tests and there are no pending tickets etc. My interviewer happened to be of the same country origin as me.
 
I am sure they don't mean FP or name/background checks because those are supposed to be done by the time you have your interview. They do warn you at the interview that although you are being recommended for approval there are additional checks that need to be completed before the oath letter can be mailed out. They never tell you what kind of checks (maybe IBIS checks ?) but apparently they can be completed relatively quickly because people at other DOs get their oath letters on the spot and many complete their oath on the same day. So I can't really think of anything that could hold up your case for nearly 3 months unless you have one of those duplicate A# or file not transferred situations and the IO didn't tell you about it at your interview.

In any case I hope you hear something positive soon (although I am not sure when the next oath might be) and if you don't, I hope you get more specific information on what is going on with your case after July 4 (when your 90 days are completed).

-KM
 
Not much of an update but I took my oath this morning at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia and am now officially a US citizen :cool: The ceremony did have a few glitches but it got over rather quickly (in less than an hour). I was naturalized with about 90 other people from 39 different countries (including mine - India). I went ahead and applied for my US passport and also registered to vote.

My sincere thanks to everyone on this forum for their help and support. While I may be at the end of the immigration journey myself (can't say I am totally done until I get my passport and OCI), but I will be going through it again (should be quicker and more straight-forward though) for my parents and future spouse. Needless to say I will be hanging around on these forums for a while and whenever I can I will contribute to the Citizenship section as well (I would be more than happy to share whatever knowledge I have gained by having gone through the whole process myself - from F1 to H1 to GC to citizenship over a period of 13 years).

-KM
 
Thank you Kagemusha, congratulations on your citizenship. I have had the same trajectory as you. F1 since 1991, H1, GC and now N-400 applicant. Hope to see you around for a while.
 
kagemusha said:
Not much of an update but I took my oath this morning at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia and am now officially a US citizen :cool: The ceremony did have a few glitches but it got over rather quickly (in less than an hour). I was naturalized with about 90 other people from 39 different countries (including mine - India). I went ahead and applied for my US passport and also registered to vote.

My sincere thanks to everyone on this forum for their help and support. While I may be at the end of the immigration journey myself (can't say I am totally done until I get my passport and OCI), but I will be going through it again (should be quicker and more straight-forward though) for my parents and future spouse. Needless to say I will be hanging around on these forums for a while and whenever I can I will contribute to the Citizenship section as well (I would be more than happy to share whatever knowledge I have gained by having gone through the whole process myself - from F1 to H1 to GC to citizenship over a period of 13 years).

-KM
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Congratulations KM! I am sure it is a big relief. Good luck with your parents and spouse. I am sure it will be a lot of fun as well.
 
kagemusha,

Congratulations! Thank you for your contribution to the forum too.

Did you apply for the passport at the oath ceremony?

Also, any idea when the next oath may be?
 
Did you apply for the passport at the oath ceremony?
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I applied for it at the local post office after I got home from the ceremony (I live about an hour away). I did go for the expedited option. I made copies of my certificate of naturalization because I had to hand over the original along with my passport application.

Also, any idea when the next oath may be?
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They do have small ceremonies every so often (at least one each month) but I am sure they will have the next big one at the Convention Center around September (based on the oath schedules for the previous years).

Good luck with your interview !

-KM
 
kagemusha said:
....I made copies of my certificate of naturalization because I had to hand over the original along with my passport application....
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I suppose, the passport office sends you the original Naturalization Certificate along with your passport?

Now that you do not have the GC card, no Nat. certificate and no passports, I am assuming you are out of luck if any emergency international travel comes up?
 
I suppose, the passport office sends you the original Naturalization Certificate along with your passport?
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Yes, that is correct.

Now that you do not have the GC card, no Nat. certificate and no passports, I am assuming you are out of luck if any emergency international travel comes up?
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Yeah there is indeed a limbo period of a few weeks between the oath and the receipt of the passport. If an emergency does arise in the meantime, you can go to the nearest passport agency (there is one in Philly) and get a passport in a matter of days (even same day is possible) as long as you can furnish proof of your travel plans (tickets).

-KM
 
When is the next oath ceremony planned in philly? Please post if you get oath letter for the same.
I was interviewed on April 4th (approved ) and waiting for oath. I called up the CIS nbr and was told to follow up only after 120 days from interview date. I am thinking of taking infopass for the philly office? Will that help to get better information for my case?
 
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