Tampa Timeline?

Blackout date?

I was expecting to get a letter inviting me to an oath ceremony, but instead I got one, dated May 10, which basically says the following.

Due to a blackout at the USCIS office on May 9, my interview that was scheduled for May 9 has been rescheduled to July 3.

But, I never had an interview scheduled for May 9, it was scheduled for May 10 and I have been and was approved.

I pity all those poor people scheduled for May 9 who had their interviews rescheduled 8 weeks later but why am I getting this letter?

Some sort of clerical blunder I expect but let's hope it doesn't affect the date of my oath ceremony.
 
That's very interesting, Paulg. I got a letter also dated 5/10 saying that my interview had been descheduled!! :( Now I'm really, really hoping that it had something to do with this power outage (it just says "due to unforeseen circumstances") and nothing to do with any paperwork problems. Any finger crossing would be appreciated! ;)
I hope that your letter turns out to just be an error and you receive your oath letter promptly, Paul! Best of luck with that!

P.S.: Just wanted to add how deeply disappointed I was to receive that notice! :(
 
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Infopass

I scheduled an Infopass appointment for Friday (I am in California right now and that is the earliest I can be there in Tampa), and will go in and ask if the blackout letter affects me at all.

Caillie, you have my sympathy, being descheduled with no new date being given must be very nervewracking. If CIS can't give you any satisfaction about a new date, you can take the issue to your congressional representative. That goes with all immigration matters.
 
Caillie said:
I got a letter also dated 5/10 saying that my interview (originally scheduled for 5/24) had been descheduled!! :(


Bummer ... you were so close to your interview. I am just curious - did your Last Updated date change in your case online status (assuming you created an account to login and see updates to your case)?

Thanks ... and best wishes
 
Thanks for your kind words, Paulg and macchupicchu! I never did create a log-in, so I have no idea if there are any changes. Sorry, macchupicchu!

Since I was essentially fretting over this the whole weekend, I did make an Infopass appointment for today (the place was a ZOO this time!) and found out that I have indeed been rescheduled for the beginning of July! :) I can't say that I'm not still disappointed about the delay (I was hoping to celebrate my first 4th of July as an American this year), but it's a great relief that things are not postponed indefinitely regardless.

Paulg, I hope you can clear everything up Friday. I really don't think you'll have any problems though. My guess is that you receiving that letter was just a clerical error. But it definitely can't hurt to make sure that you're all set. Good luck with it and thanks again to both you and macchupicchu for your kindness.
 
hooray!

A letter has arrived inviting me to a Citizenship Ceremony at 1PM on May 22. This long journey is about to end.
 
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paulg99 said:
A letter has arrived inviting me to a Citizenship Ceremony at 1PM on May 22. This long journey is about to end.
Congratulations, that's great news! So soon after your interview too!
That's good news for the rest of us too! Good luck.
 
Congrats Mary! That's great news! I finally received my re-schedule notice today (after I had been told Monday that it was already in the mail). Here's hoping this one "sticks"! ;)
 
For those who later browse this thread

What I found is that most of the time after Fingerprint your case is assigned to a queue based on your Receipt Date and then the Tampa Office schedules the interview based on the officer's load capability. Also my observation has been that they typically do that after the 15th of the month or after they have sent their cutoff dates to USCIS for publishing. For those who are in this regular queue are given dates after 15th till the end of month. Once the End of month reaches the cut off is set and the next batch will move the coming month after 15. For those whose interview is rescheduled/reinterview/other than naturalization cases are given from 1- 15th of the month.

These are just my observations to help those who follow after this in the Tampa DO. Hope it helps.

Others can add to these musings.
 
Now a citizen

The ceremony was reasonably informal. There had been one already that morning, and this afternoon's ceremony actually started a little early, at 12.55. Our first task was to line up and show that we had filled out our FINAL (yeh!) form for the USCIS and get our green cards bagged and stapled to the form. Each form was then returned to us, with a single digit written on it.

We were called to stand up according to country of origin (Cuba had the most representatives). We sang the national anthem, took the oath, also said the pledge of allegiance and saw a video of GW Bush welcoming us as fellow citizens. Representatives of our two Florida senators welcomed as also.

We were then directed to stand in another line according to that digit earlier written on our form, and collect our naturalization certificates.

For anyone who is not totally sick of filling out forms, you will get the opportunity to register to vote and apply for a passport right there on the day. The post office charges too much for passport photos ($15) but it is convenient to get it out of the way.

So now, I am a full member of this society. It feels good.
 
paulg99 said:
So now, I am a full member of this society. It feels good.
Congratulations again. When I finish my ceremony, I plan to write an email to a very conservative ex-colleague of mine, telling him that I'm a citizen and plan to vote for Hillary Clinton. :p

He used to bug me about being Canadian, so he deserves it! :D
 
Laripu said:
telling him that I'm a citizen and plan to vote for Hillary Clinton. :p

He used to bug me about being Canadian, so he deserves it! :D

You didn't check off a member of the communist party? I would go back and select that :)
 
Congratulations, Paulg! I am glad it all worked out for you!
Maryv, very interesting observations regarding the timing of the invitations. I hope this means I will not be rescheduled again! ;) Tomorrow would have been my interview date. :(
Btw, the new update says they're now processing 11/19/05 (or was it 18?), so they've definitely done some catching up!
 
galroc said:
You didn't check off a member of the communist party? I would go back and select that :)
I wouldn't even joke about that! ... and telling him I'd vote for Hilary would be done after the oath, not before!

I may be a bit of a joker, but I'm not completely brain-dead.
 
Anyone applied in May and received N-400 receipt notice?

Usually it takes around 16 days after applied. This month takes longer?
 
Hi! Just found this website! Had my interview today, all went smooth. Quesions were not one of the easiest ones but I had studied the 100 questions hard :D

Got a letter before I left today from the office saying:"Congratulations! Your application has been recommended for approval"

Is that normal???

She also said the ceremony will be most likely on 28 June in Tampa


Service Center: TSC
DO : TAMPA
Submitted : 23 Nov
Received : 2 Dec
Check Cashed: 18 Dec
FP Received: 13 Jan
FP Date: 1 Feb
Interview Notice Received: March 23 from TSC
Interview Date: May 23
Oath Notice Received:
Oath Date:
 
paulg99 said:
The ceremony was reasonably informal. There had been one already that morning, and this afternoon's ceremony actually started a little early, at 12.55. .


Would you advice to bring friends and family? Or is it nothing really that someone would enjoy watching? Where in Tampa did it take place??

Manuela
 
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