Salt Lake City DO Interview Experience

slcexp

Registered Users (C)
First I want to thank everybody on this forum for the help they've been. I've been lurking the boards since last December, and it's been a major help in keeping my worries in check. I decided to post my husbands experience so it may help somebody else.

My husband applied for naturalization through 3 years being married to a U.S. Citizen last November. We had one issue come up where his Fingerprint Appointment letter didn't come until the day after his appointment date. We were very worried, and called USCIS's 1-800 number and were told he could do a walk in. We did that the next Wednesday.

This past Tuesday was his interview. His appointment time was 8:10 am. We arrived at 7:30 am. There weren't very many people there, which suprised us since we were used to it being full from our previous experiences.
He was called in at 7:55 am, and came out at 8:10 am.

Here's what happened from what he told me. First the interviewer told him to remain standing, raise his hand, and give his oath that he would tell the truth. Next it was straight into the civics questions. He was asked all 10 and got them all correct. According to him, none of them were "hard" questions. He had to read the sentence "The car does not work." Then he had to write "She really likes her house." Then it went into going over the application, which needed one change of date, but was otherwise fine.

The only paper he was asked for was his selective service status letter, even though we prepared with as many things as we thought he'd possibly need based on the interview letter and the recommended documents from this board.

He was congratulated and given a N-652 with checks next to "You've passed the tests of English and U.S. History and Government" and "Congratulations! Your application has been recommended for approval." He was told to expect an oath letter in the mail, but not really told any time frame.

I haven't really seen any posts from Salt Lake City, but it seems like the time frame coincides about the same with the information about the DO on the USCIS website.
 
Just wanted to post an update for timeline purposes. Today we received my husbands oath letter. It was dated 7/25/2007 and his oath ceremony is 8/15/2007.
 
So today was my husband's oath date, and I wanted to give everybody an update so it might possibly help somebody out.

The oath letter said to arrive at 9 am, we arrived at 8 am because we were worried about traffic. The oath information sheet (pink paper) he received after his interview said not to arrive before 8:30, so we walked around to pass the time. We got back at 8:15 and noticed people already heading in, so we went in. At 8:20 they started to process everybody and allow the family and friends into the theater.

The actual ceremony did not begin until 10 am. There were 285 people taking the oath from 51 different countries. The balcony where the friends and family members sit was filled. The ceremony lasted 45 minutes.

After the judge came out we receited the pledge of aligence, followed by a violinist playing the Star Spangled Banner and God Bless America. Then there was a former Utah State legislator who spoke, emphasizing voting and being informed voters. After that was the oath of alliegience. Next they asked for volunteers to express their feelings about becoming a US Citizen. Several people from different countries did, including two who had served in Iraq. Then the judge spoke for several minutes about his experience in leading these ceremonies, and what he has seen outside of the US that makes the freedom of this country so great. Last was the President's video welcoming all the new citizens.

For the people taking the oath, when you go in you give them your oath letter. Then they take your alien registration card and give you an envelope with a number on it, and various papers inside (passport application, important note about signing the naturalization certificate, etc.). Then when you leave you get the naturalization certificate. There were people in the lobby from the post office to help with passport applications, and people from the league of women voters to help with registering to vote.

Hopefully this might help someone out. Thanks again to everybody in the forum for their help!
 
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