My Memphis DO Timeline and Other Impressions
Hello all. A couple of days ago I became a US citizen. I live in rural Northeast Tennessee, a place with very, very few immigrants. Memphis was the DO that handled my application. Even though it is located over 8 hours drive from where I am located, it is still the closest DO, apparently. We are literally in the middle of nowhere, here in rural Tennessee.
By way of thanks to this forum for the advice and support it has afforded me in the past year, I would like to post my personal timeline and impressions of the citizenship process.
First of all, my personal timeline (in green color). Personally, I took my time during the process, and was not in a hurry, but I know this is not necessarily shared by plenty of folks here, so I have tried to be as detailed as possible in my timeline. Also, keep in mind that I am, in addition to US citizen, a European Union citizen (thus not from a predominantly Muslim country, etc), and married to an American, so my timeline may or may not reflect this. In any case, here goes:
05/18/07 Application Sent
05/23/07 Application Received by USCIS
05/23/07 Check cashed by USCIS
05/30/07 Receipt with Exception [Form I-797] issued
06/01/07 Receipt with Exception [Form I-797] sent
06/02/07 Receipt with Exception [Form I-797] received
05/30/07 Fingerprint Notification [Form I-797] issued
06/04/07 Fingerprint Notification [Form I-797] sent
06/06/07 Fingerprint Notification [Form I-797] received
06/21/07 Attended Fingerprint Appointment (Charlotte, NC)
12/19/07 Interview Appointment Request [Form I-797C] issued
12/22/07 Interview Appointment Request [Form I-797C] sent
12/23/07 Interview Appointment Request [Form I-797C] received
03/11/08 Attended Interview (Memphis, TN)
03/11/08 Naturalization Interview Results [Form N-652] issued
04/15/08 Notice of Naturalization Oath Ceremony [Form N-445] issued
04/17/08 Notice of Naturalization Oath Ceremony [Form N-445] sent
04/19/08 Notice of Naturalization Oath Ceremony [Form N-445] received
05/15/08 Naturalization Oath Ceremony attended [Greeneville, TN]
05/15/08 Certificate of Naturalization issued
364 days total
I also wanted to share some impressions and perhaps give some (limited and certainly not expert) advise to other folks who may be going through the naturalization process:
First, my impressions of the USCIS have been very positive. Since I initiated my naturalization process, a year ago, I came in contact with USCIS employees 3 times. Once at the fingerprinting appointment, once at the interview, and once at the oath ceremony. Each and every time I was treated professionally. This has not been the case in my dealings with US Embassy officials abroad, but this is quite another story.
Second, I would advise people here not to worry or panic. My impression is that the overwhelming (if not the vast) majority of people who apply for US citizenship on legitimate grounds end up receiving it. If you have no criminal background and are otherwise eligible for citizenship, per the country's laws, you will receive it. I personally never panicked, never called the USCIS inquiring about my case, never went beserck when I did not receive a letter or an invitation "on time", etc. I just did what I was supposed to do, paid my fee, and waited. Eventually it all came together. As is says above, it took me 364 days to become a citizen. This is longer than some folks, shorter than others. But I understand that it is well within the standard timeframe of 8 to 14 months, under which over 60% of applicants fall.
Third, I would advise folks to READ ALL INSTRUCTIONS ON USCIS FORMS carefully, and to use the USCIS website. Almost all the answers are there. I was amazed, at the oath ceremony, to see how many people there had not read the instructions on their forms. It was beyond belief. There were some people there who thought that they can travel with a US naturalization certificate! I would venture to say that 20% of all the workhours the USCIS spends is used advising people who have not done their homework and have not read instructions in a careful and responsible manner.
Fourth, my impression is that, once you pass the interview, you have nothing to worry about. There is no need to be nervous before, or during the Oath ceremony. The USCIS people at the ceremony treat you with respect and are there to help you. There were cases of people there who had major traffic violations since their last interview, had changed their mind at the last minute about changing or not changing their name, and even people who had forgotten to bring their green cards along. The USCIS people patiently helped each and every one of them, and I think that in all cases they managed to get them to be naturalized on that very same day. This, of course, meant that the rest of us, who were in line, had to wait extra long, until these cases were sorted, but what can you do? Keep in mind that my oath ceremony was in a little town in Northeast Tennessee, where it is so rare that it was a community event, and even made the local paper (although there were 200 participants). These impressions may not apply to large metropolitan centers.
In short, I want to tell people that I believe that, as long as they do their homework in a conscientious and responsible manner, they will be rewarded with citizenship.
I will probably not be checking this forum very often. But if any of you wish to contact me with questions about my personal experience with the Memphis DO, or the interview, or the oath ceremony, please feel free to contact me at: purges "at" gmail dot com .
Best regards and good luck to everyone.
