Hi All,
I had my interview today in San Antonio and it was one of the best experiences one could ask for.
For a little background, I recieved my greencard through employer sponsorship using the 245i law that Clinton passed back in 2000. I had the unfortunate situation that my sponsoring employer couldnt provide me employment by the time of my GC interview. (they wanted to keep me on without pay until they found new contract work for me). I took my chances and instead went looking for another employer. My lawyer advised me that as long as I worked in a similar pay and position then there should be no problem. During this time my greencard was approved (I explained this situation at my GC interview as well), IO didnt have a problem with it.
Now I got really worried for my citizenship after reading these forums for not having worked long enough for the sponsoring employer... and in my case not having worked at all.
So I left home for my interview with some nervousness and a lot of excitement that a long road is coming to the final stretch. My interview was scheduled at 3:00pm and I arrived at the office 2:40pm. I had taken a seat for about 5 minutes when a nice lady called my name and told me that she will be interviewing me today. She took me to her office and we went through the oath. She was extremely nice and asked my about my drive from Austin to San Antonio. She asked for my greencard and drivers license. In front of her was my file that was about 4-5 inches thick, I was like wow I didnt realize how much paperwork they have on me. She then went through my application verifying the biographical information. She asked my about my parents, my spouse (US citizen) and my son (also US citizen). She then asked my about my trips outside of the country... I had no trips longer than 6 months. She then got to the employment history section. Now she stopped and started flushing through the file. She told me that they dont give them enough time to go through the file, so thats what she is doing right now.
She asked me how long I worked for the sponsoring employer. I was like great ... I am screwed. I answered truthfully that my sponsoring employer would only keep me on without pay if they could find new contract work for me, and I decided to find another employer and moved to Texas instead. She said that is unfortunate but was your intent to still work for the sponsoring employer. I said "yes I intended to work there as long as I was paid". She said "thats alright, was your new work in the same kind of position as your sponsor?" She flipped through the file to see the job description. I told her yes I am in communications engineering and still doing the same kind of work after 3 different employers in last 9 years. She seemed satisfied and wrote a long note in my file, ofcourse I couldnt read her notes but I did catch "AC21 180 days" written in there. That was the "wow" moment for me.
The rest of the interview was usual fare... all the crime history questions(clean record), oath questions etc. She asked me if I had any traffic tickets.. I said yes they were dismissed, she said as long as the record is clean and nothing pending its fine.. she made a small note on the application. She didnt ask me for any other documents. I had earlier asked the forum about not having my SS registration card but she didnt ask about it. She didnt ask for any documents from me other than my greencard, drivers license and passport.
She then told me that she will ask me civics questions (I got all of them right) and English proficiency questions.
civics:
1. Who was the first president
2. What ship the pilgrims came on
3. What is the presidents official residence
4. what is the constitution
5. what is the executive branch of the government
6. How many amendments to the constitution
7. Who signs the bill into law
written: something like citizens have right to vote
read: some similar sentence like that
After that she said you have passed the interview and that you will receive the letter confirming your oath date. She had me write my name on the naturalization certificate(My eyes lit up at that moment
. She had two pictures and I had also taken a new set and she asked me whichever set I wished to use. I used the new one and she asked me to write my full name around the edges of the picture.
I asked her when the oath might take place, She said that they are naturalizing a large number of people and trying to schedule a huge ceremony in Austin at the Delco Center in September. She said it might be even bigger than the largest one they had to date in May (1100 people).
At this point the interview ended and she walked me to the front reception and I thanked her.
Wow... that was one great experience.
I am so relieved.
I want to thank this forum for helping me along in my long journey to becoming a US citizen. I am grateful to this wonderful country that I have called home for the last 19 years.
Thank you all.
I had my interview today in San Antonio and it was one of the best experiences one could ask for.
For a little background, I recieved my greencard through employer sponsorship using the 245i law that Clinton passed back in 2000. I had the unfortunate situation that my sponsoring employer couldnt provide me employment by the time of my GC interview. (they wanted to keep me on without pay until they found new contract work for me). I took my chances and instead went looking for another employer. My lawyer advised me that as long as I worked in a similar pay and position then there should be no problem. During this time my greencard was approved (I explained this situation at my GC interview as well), IO didnt have a problem with it.
Now I got really worried for my citizenship after reading these forums for not having worked long enough for the sponsoring employer... and in my case not having worked at all.
So I left home for my interview with some nervousness and a lot of excitement that a long road is coming to the final stretch. My interview was scheduled at 3:00pm and I arrived at the office 2:40pm. I had taken a seat for about 5 minutes when a nice lady called my name and told me that she will be interviewing me today. She took me to her office and we went through the oath. She was extremely nice and asked my about my drive from Austin to San Antonio. She asked for my greencard and drivers license. In front of her was my file that was about 4-5 inches thick, I was like wow I didnt realize how much paperwork they have on me. She then went through my application verifying the biographical information. She asked my about my parents, my spouse (US citizen) and my son (also US citizen). She then asked my about my trips outside of the country... I had no trips longer than 6 months. She then got to the employment history section. Now she stopped and started flushing through the file. She told me that they dont give them enough time to go through the file, so thats what she is doing right now.
She asked me how long I worked for the sponsoring employer. I was like great ... I am screwed. I answered truthfully that my sponsoring employer would only keep me on without pay if they could find new contract work for me, and I decided to find another employer and moved to Texas instead. She said that is unfortunate but was your intent to still work for the sponsoring employer. I said "yes I intended to work there as long as I was paid". She said "thats alright, was your new work in the same kind of position as your sponsor?" She flipped through the file to see the job description. I told her yes I am in communications engineering and still doing the same kind of work after 3 different employers in last 9 years. She seemed satisfied and wrote a long note in my file, ofcourse I couldnt read her notes but I did catch "AC21 180 days" written in there. That was the "wow" moment for me.
The rest of the interview was usual fare... all the crime history questions(clean record), oath questions etc. She asked me if I had any traffic tickets.. I said yes they were dismissed, she said as long as the record is clean and nothing pending its fine.. she made a small note on the application. She didnt ask me for any other documents. I had earlier asked the forum about not having my SS registration card but she didnt ask about it. She didnt ask for any documents from me other than my greencard, drivers license and passport.
She then told me that she will ask me civics questions (I got all of them right) and English proficiency questions.
civics:
1. Who was the first president
2. What ship the pilgrims came on
3. What is the presidents official residence
4. what is the constitution
5. what is the executive branch of the government
6. How many amendments to the constitution
7. Who signs the bill into law
written: something like citizens have right to vote
read: some similar sentence like that
After that she said you have passed the interview and that you will receive the letter confirming your oath date. She had me write my name on the naturalization certificate(My eyes lit up at that moment
. She had two pictures and I had also taken a new set and she asked me whichever set I wished to use. I used the new one and she asked me to write my full name around the edges of the picture.I asked her when the oath might take place, She said that they are naturalizing a large number of people and trying to schedule a huge ceremony in Austin at the Delco Center in September. She said it might be even bigger than the largest one they had to date in May (1100 people).
At this point the interview ended and she walked me to the front reception and I thanked her.
Wow... that was one great experience.
I am so relieved.
I want to thank this forum for helping me along in my long journey to becoming a US citizen. I am grateful to this wonderful country that I have called home for the last 19 years.
Thank you all.