sanjoseaug20
Registered Users (C)
Lots of people. Search threads with keyword LUD, you will find tonnes.
Don't worry. Your file is being opened for various purposes.
San Jose, CA - N-400 Timeline
- Thread starter rahulrastogi
- Start date
Lots of people. Search threads with keyword LUD, you will find tonnes.
Don't worry. Your file is being opened for various purposes.
sanjoseaug20
Registered Users (C)
Wait for another 2 weeks. 1 week is too early to get an interview notice. Also note that there are holidays coming up so processing will be slower than normal if you are just counting calendar weeks.
5 year citizenship..
Yes. They gave us the form which said we had passed the interview but a decision cannot be made.
Yes. They gave us the form which said we had passed the interview but a decision cannot be made.
Oath Completed
My wife and myself were sworn in today as new citizens at Campbell Heritage Theater. We took our 5 year old with us, and he enjoyed the show. It was a very nice ceremony with singing (national anthem), couple of nice video montages and Pres. Obama giving us all a solemn speech.
Tomorrow, getting ready to apply for passport....
Timeline:
DO: San Jose, CA
Mailed N-400 to Phoenix: 07/31/09
PD: 08/03/09
FP: 09/08/09
Interview: 10/19/09
Oath Letter: Received on 11/02/09 for self; 11/06/09 for wife
Oath Completed: 11/19/09 for both of us at Campbell 1pm
My wife and myself were sworn in today as new citizens at Campbell Heritage Theater. We took our 5 year old with us, and he enjoyed the show. It was a very nice ceremony with singing (national anthem), couple of nice video montages and Pres. Obama giving us all a solemn speech.
Tomorrow, getting ready to apply for passport....
Timeline:
DO: San Jose, CA
Mailed N-400 to Phoenix: 07/31/09
PD: 08/03/09
FP: 09/08/09
Interview: 10/19/09
Oath Letter: Received on 11/02/09 for self; 11/06/09 for wife
Oath Completed: 11/19/09 for both of us at Campbell 1pm
The long wait is over!!!! ( the wait to Have a GC was crazy ) Finally a citizen!!!! not wasting time 
PP application today. Wow!!!
I am so thankful to all that posted on this site over the years to share info. it has been so helpful.
08/05/2009: N400 Mailed to Phoenix, AZ
08/07/2009: Receipt Date/Priority Date
08/11/2009: Notice Date
08/13/09 : Check Cashed
08/14/2009: NOA received
08/20/2009: FP notice date
09/01/2009: FP done(my appointment was for sep 12. But was able to do walk in on 1st sep since I was not going to be in town on the 12th)
09/09/2009 : got the standard interview update email on the case
09/22/2009: IL received
10/15/2009: ID done.
10/28/2009: Oath Letter
11/19/2009: Oath Date (done)
11/20/2009: Passport Application Date
XX/XX/2009: Received Passport
PP application today. Wow!!!I am so thankful to all that posted on this site over the years to share info. it has been so helpful.
08/05/2009: N400 Mailed to Phoenix, AZ
08/07/2009: Receipt Date/Priority Date
08/11/2009: Notice Date
08/13/09 : Check Cashed
08/14/2009: NOA received
08/20/2009: FP notice date
09/01/2009: FP done(my appointment was for sep 12. But was able to do walk in on 1st sep since I was not going to be in town on the 12th)
09/09/2009 : got the standard interview update email on the case
09/22/2009: IL received
10/15/2009: ID done.
10/28/2009: Oath Letter
11/19/2009: Oath Date (done)
11/20/2009: Passport Application Date
XX/XX/2009: Received Passport
Last edited by a moderator:
Applied for passport, expedited service, today
Timeline:
DO: San Jose, CA
Mailed N-400 to Phoenix: 07/31/09
PD: 08/03/09
FP: 09/08/09
Interview: 10/19/09
Oath Letter: Received on 11/02/09 for self; 11/06/09 for wife
Oath Completed: 11/19/09 for both of us
Passport applied at Post Office: 11/20/09
Timeline:
DO: San Jose, CA
Mailed N-400 to Phoenix: 07/31/09
PD: 08/03/09
FP: 09/08/09
Interview: 10/19/09
Oath Letter: Received on 11/02/09 for self; 11/06/09 for wife
Oath Completed: 11/19/09 for both of us
Passport applied at Post Office: 11/20/09
jam_tracker
Registered Users (C)
Interview passed - prep and experience
Interview passed
Experience:
Thank you, forum! Lot of advice was taken.
This forum helped me a lot.
Initially I read up lot of archives and gathered basic information. Asked some basic questions.
Then, I used to read the forum almost everyday, everyday I would think that there is nothing much to learn new, but something new always showed up!
Preparation:
Collected all documents as per the sticky in this forum.
Prepared myself and wife for special situations that applied to me and her. Like practice what answers we would give to some questions that may show up like: (Mostly based on experiences from the forum)
1.
Did you ever register to vote? Answer: No. (My wife was 99.99999% sure that she did not, but what if she made a mistake at while filling the application for DL at DMV?)
Are you sure? Answer Yes
But we see that you did? Explain that it was not the intention and did not vote anyway, etc.
2.
Did you make any other trips than the ones written here? Yes, to Canada. But it was less than 24 hours.
3.
Never volunteer un-necessary JUNK, like the lady who answered YES to the question "Did you ever claim yourself to be a US citizen" because she once told here friends that she was a US citizen!!!
4.
If asked "Are you traveling during thanks giving", make sure the answer does not make your OATH date later!!! Say yes (if you are traveling), but make sure you convey that it is not a problem for the oath.
5.
Get ready with some explanation for long travels, if any
6.
If you drove 10 miles above speed limit, don't say YES to "Have you ever committed a crime and not been arrested"!!!
7.
Special circumstance: We had answered No to the question: "Did you ever file tax as NonResident"? We had filed 540NR once, but 540NR is not just for NR, also for partial-resident. We had lived in CA for a month, spent rest of the year in Texas. We filed as partial. So we prepared like this:
Did you ever file as NR? No
Are you sure? (IO is trying to give you a clue that he may treat it as a lie): Explain your special circumstance
Basically, I am trying to say that it is better that you prepare for every small thing that may be special to your case.. Like above.
8.
If the IO asks a question second time, he is trying to give you a clue that he doubts your first answer. I told my wife that if he is asking a question second time, it is for a reason - he will surely not try to confuse you by asking second time! He is trying to make sure that you are given a chance to correct your answer!
9.
I have surely omitted some special circumstances that is very specific to my case, but I prepared for in detail. I will surely try to help others when questions come up similar to my circumstances. I would think one-two hours on these special circumstances and come up with an answer, surely drawing on answers from this forum.
10.
Prepare to never tell a LIE.
Went through N400 once and revised the answers already given on the form
Went through study material of test multiple times. Read up the USCIS booklet, answering every question. Then played the CD in RANDOM on computer/car and answered the questions.
Checked out the Monterey road USCIS office in advance. Me and my wife had interview on same day with a big wait in between. Had a kid to take care of too. For anybody in the same situation, there is a big shopping complex nearby with a Target, restaurants, etc. I left my wife and kid in the car near the target - so they can use restrooms, have food etc. The USCIS office itself has no restrooms for people who do not enter through security. They have a snack bar outside. (But later I realized that room 219 allows children and family inside. In fact they have books to keep children occupied)
Actual interview
I reached 15 minutes before scheduled interview time. It was morning, and there was a big line to enter. Luckily the guard asked if there were anybody for oral interview and let us in faster. Advice: If you are going in the morning, go atleast 30 minutes before scheduled time. My wife was in the afternoon, and she had no outside line.
Security: No cell phones, they confiscated my stapler!
After security go through back of waiting hall to a security guard in the next room. This security guard will send you to room 219. Go to room 219, drop appointment letter at window 1 and wait.
I had a bunch of docs, but did not take out anything except GC, DL, letter and Passport.
I was called in pretty much scheduled time. The officer was a ordinary sort of guy you would meet in your neighbourhood LION. He did not even get me to do the oath. He went through the application quickly, asking a few questions here and there. Gave me the six questions, reading/writing test, and CONGRATS! Very friendly, common man (the officer).
Same for my wife. No special docs. They told her that oath will be in three weeks.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DO: San Jose
My Status:
09/03/09 : N-400 Mailed to Phoenix
09/04/09 : N-400 recieved
09/11/09 : Check Cashed
09/14/09: NOA Received (RD=09/04/09, PD=09/04/09, ND=09/10/09)
09/24/09: RFE (probably for FP) email received @ 2:00AM. Email says ND=09/22/09
09/28/09 : FP Notice Received
??/??/?? : Walkin FP NOT done
10/13/09 : FP Date
10/20/09 : Email received - This case has been sent for a standard interview
??/??/?? : Yellow letter NOT received
10/24/09 : Interview Letter Received
11/20/09 : Interview Date (passed)
??/??/?? : oath letter mailed
??/??/?? : Oath Letter recieved
??/??/?? : Oath Date
My Spouse's Status:
09/03/09 : N-400 Mailed to Phoenix
09/04/09 : N-400 recieved
09/11/09 : Check Cashed
09/14/09: NOA Received (RD=09/04/09, PD=09/04/09, ND=09/10/09)
09/24/09: RFE (probably for FP) email received @ 2:00AM. Email says ND=09/22/09
09/28/09 : FP Notice Received
??/??/?? : Walkin FP NOT done
10/13/09 : FP Date
10/20/09 : Email received - This case has been sent for a standard interview
10/23/09 : Yellow letter received for DL
10/24/09 : Interview Letter Received
11/20/09 : Interview Date (passed)
??/??/?? : oath letter mailed
??/??/?? : Oath Letter recieved
??/??/?? : Oath Date
Interview passed
Experience:
Thank you, forum! Lot of advice was taken.
This forum helped me a lot.
Initially I read up lot of archives and gathered basic information. Asked some basic questions.
Then, I used to read the forum almost everyday, everyday I would think that there is nothing much to learn new, but something new always showed up!
Preparation:
Collected all documents as per the sticky in this forum.
Prepared myself and wife for special situations that applied to me and her. Like practice what answers we would give to some questions that may show up like: (Mostly based on experiences from the forum)
1.
Did you ever register to vote? Answer: No. (My wife was 99.99999% sure that she did not, but what if she made a mistake at while filling the application for DL at DMV?)
Are you sure? Answer Yes
But we see that you did? Explain that it was not the intention and did not vote anyway, etc.
2.
Did you make any other trips than the ones written here? Yes, to Canada. But it was less than 24 hours.
3.
Never volunteer un-necessary JUNK, like the lady who answered YES to the question "Did you ever claim yourself to be a US citizen" because she once told here friends that she was a US citizen!!!
4.
If asked "Are you traveling during thanks giving", make sure the answer does not make your OATH date later!!! Say yes (if you are traveling), but make sure you convey that it is not a problem for the oath.
5.
Get ready with some explanation for long travels, if any
6.
If you drove 10 miles above speed limit, don't say YES to "Have you ever committed a crime and not been arrested"!!!
7.
Special circumstance: We had answered No to the question: "Did you ever file tax as NonResident"? We had filed 540NR once, but 540NR is not just for NR, also for partial-resident. We had lived in CA for a month, spent rest of the year in Texas. We filed as partial. So we prepared like this:
Did you ever file as NR? No
Are you sure? (IO is trying to give you a clue that he may treat it as a lie): Explain your special circumstance
Basically, I am trying to say that it is better that you prepare for every small thing that may be special to your case.. Like above.
8.
If the IO asks a question second time, he is trying to give you a clue that he doubts your first answer. I told my wife that if he is asking a question second time, it is for a reason - he will surely not try to confuse you by asking second time! He is trying to make sure that you are given a chance to correct your answer!
9.
I have surely omitted some special circumstances that is very specific to my case, but I prepared for in detail. I will surely try to help others when questions come up similar to my circumstances. I would think one-two hours on these special circumstances and come up with an answer, surely drawing on answers from this forum.
10.
Prepare to never tell a LIE.
Went through N400 once and revised the answers already given on the form
Went through study material of test multiple times. Read up the USCIS booklet, answering every question. Then played the CD in RANDOM on computer/car and answered the questions.
Checked out the Monterey road USCIS office in advance. Me and my wife had interview on same day with a big wait in between. Had a kid to take care of too. For anybody in the same situation, there is a big shopping complex nearby with a Target, restaurants, etc. I left my wife and kid in the car near the target - so they can use restrooms, have food etc. The USCIS office itself has no restrooms for people who do not enter through security. They have a snack bar outside. (But later I realized that room 219 allows children and family inside. In fact they have books to keep children occupied)
Actual interview
I reached 15 minutes before scheduled interview time. It was morning, and there was a big line to enter. Luckily the guard asked if there were anybody for oral interview and let us in faster. Advice: If you are going in the morning, go atleast 30 minutes before scheduled time. My wife was in the afternoon, and she had no outside line.
Security: No cell phones, they confiscated my stapler!
After security go through back of waiting hall to a security guard in the next room. This security guard will send you to room 219. Go to room 219, drop appointment letter at window 1 and wait.
I had a bunch of docs, but did not take out anything except GC, DL, letter and Passport.
I was called in pretty much scheduled time. The officer was a ordinary sort of guy you would meet in your neighbourhood LION. He did not even get me to do the oath. He went through the application quickly, asking a few questions here and there. Gave me the six questions, reading/writing test, and CONGRATS! Very friendly, common man (the officer).
Same for my wife. No special docs. They told her that oath will be in three weeks.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DO: San Jose
My Status:
09/03/09 : N-400 Mailed to Phoenix
09/04/09 : N-400 recieved
09/11/09 : Check Cashed
09/14/09: NOA Received (RD=09/04/09, PD=09/04/09, ND=09/10/09)
09/24/09: RFE (probably for FP) email received @ 2:00AM. Email says ND=09/22/09
09/28/09 : FP Notice Received
??/??/?? : Walkin FP NOT done
10/13/09 : FP Date
10/20/09 : Email received - This case has been sent for a standard interview
??/??/?? : Yellow letter NOT received
10/24/09 : Interview Letter Received
11/20/09 : Interview Date (passed)
??/??/?? : oath letter mailed
??/??/?? : Oath Letter recieved
??/??/?? : Oath Date
My Spouse's Status:
09/03/09 : N-400 Mailed to Phoenix
09/04/09 : N-400 recieved
09/11/09 : Check Cashed
09/14/09: NOA Received (RD=09/04/09, PD=09/04/09, ND=09/10/09)
09/24/09: RFE (probably for FP) email received @ 2:00AM. Email says ND=09/22/09
09/28/09 : FP Notice Received
??/??/?? : Walkin FP NOT done
10/13/09 : FP Date
10/20/09 : Email received - This case has been sent for a standard interview
10/23/09 : Yellow letter received for DL
10/24/09 : Interview Letter Received
11/20/09 : Interview Date (passed)
??/??/?? : oath letter mailed
??/??/?? : Oath Letter recieved
??/??/?? : Oath Date
Last edited by a moderator:
chenkaiwen
Registered Users (C)
Got paasport on the same day
We had oath ceremony scheduled on Nov 19 in Campbell. My time is at 1:00 PM and my wife's is at 3:00 PM. But we went to the place at 9:00 AM and asked IO to let us in for 10:00 AM ceremony. The ceremony finished at 11:00 AM. With certificates in hand, we drove 1 hour to San Francisco passport agency. There were not many people at that time. Officer let us in again, we took the number and waited to be called. we submit our passport application at 1:00 PM. They told us to come back at 2:30 PM, which we did.
At 2:45 PM we have our passports in hand. We got 2 big dociuments in our life in less than 5 hours.
We had oath ceremony scheduled on Nov 19 in Campbell. My time is at 1:00 PM and my wife's is at 3:00 PM. But we went to the place at 9:00 AM and asked IO to let us in for 10:00 AM ceremony. The ceremony finished at 11:00 AM. With certificates in hand, we drove 1 hour to San Francisco passport agency. There were not many people at that time. Officer let us in again, we took the number and waited to be called. we submit our passport application at 1:00 PM. They told us to come back at 2:30 PM, which we did.
At 2:45 PM we have our passports in hand. We got 2 big dociuments in our life in less than 5 hours.
We had oath ceremony scheduled on Nov 19 in Campbell. My time is at 1:00 PM and my wife's is at 3:00 PM. But we went to the place at 9:00 AM and asked IO to let us in for 10:00 AM ceremony. The ceremony finished at 11:00 AM. With certificates in hand, we drove 1 hour to San Francisco passport agency. There were not many people at that time. Officer let us in again, we took the number and waited to be called. we submit our passport application at 1:00 PM. They told us to come back at 2:30 PM, which we did.
At 2:45 PM we have our passports in hand. We got 2 big dociuments in our life in less than 5 hours.
Wow... how did you manage to get the passports in 1:45 minutes? What was the cost?
Did you have to show ur tickets or reason for expedite passport ?
sanjoseaug20
Registered Users (C)
Seems like a slow day at the passport office. Looks like all folks traveling for Thanksgiving planned well.
I am surprised too. Usually if you get there after 1030 AM, it is next day.
Hi folks,
I got my interview letter today.
Priority date Oct 9
FP letter recieved Oct 30
FP date Nov 19
Early FP done Nov 4
Status change to "case being sent for standard review" Nov 14
Status changes with no message changes or text messages or emails Nov 15, 16, 17
Interview letter recieved Nov 23
Interview date Dec 17
I got my interview letter today.
Priority date Oct 9
FP letter recieved Oct 30
FP date Nov 19
Early FP done Nov 4
Status change to "case being sent for standard review" Nov 14
Status changes with no message changes or text messages or emails Nov 15, 16, 17
Interview letter recieved Nov 23
Interview date Dec 17
kaisersoesce
Registered Users (C)
Passports done
We got our passports done as well. Gotta say, the service is amazing. If it wasn't for the rude wanna be FBI agent security guys, the process was very smooth. Its $60 more per passport for expedited service plus your itinerary for leaving within 14 days.
We got our passports done as well. Gotta say, the service is amazing. If it wasn't for the rude wanna be FBI agent security guys, the process was very smooth. Its $60 more per passport for expedited service plus your itinerary for leaving within 14 days.
hello_world_bye
Registered Users (C)
Received oath letter
I had my interview on 11/4. I passed the tests, but got "A decision cannot be made at this time.." etc. The officer said that I had some security checks pending. Yesterday I received the oath letter (N-445) asking me to appear for the oath on 12/4 in SJ.
Nowhere does it say explicitly that my application has been approved. Do I assume the oath letter is it? Am I through or are there more bridges to cross?
I had my interview on 11/4. I passed the tests, but got "A decision cannot be made at this time.." etc. The officer said that I had some security checks pending. Yesterday I received the oath letter (N-445) asking me to appear for the oath on 12/4 in SJ.
Nowhere does it say explicitly that my application has been approved. Do I assume the oath letter is it? Am I through or are there more bridges to cross?
wantmygcnow
Volunteer Moderator
You are approved my friend. Go and celebrate!
sanjoseaug20
Registered Users (C)
Don't worry, you are done.
Bridges to cross - do not get into a traffic ticket, arrest and any related issues for the next 2 weeks. Assault trying to get into a thanksgiving sale does not count
hello_world_bye
Registered Users (C)
Thanks wantmygcnow and sanjoseaug20 !