Andrew Ayre

Yesterday I had my citizenship interview in Tucson. My application was on
the basis of being married to my USC spouse for three years with a green
card.

Arrived at the office half an hour early and was immediately called back. I
was suprised at that. They didn't want my spouse and never talked to her.
The officer took me to his office and was extremely professional, curteous,
and relaxed, which put me at ease. After putting me under oath, he wanted to
see my green card and then went through my application, asking me questions
about it. He asked if I had taken any trips outside the US since applying,
to which I told him yes and gave him a piece of paper with my A# on it and
the details of the trip I took. He marked this with an evidence number and
put it with my application. Although I couldn't remember one or two trips
that I had taken outside of the US in the last 5 years, all he was
interested in was the total number of days I had been outside the US. I was
well within 365, so it wasn't a problem.

He asked me some of the standard 100 questions randomly picked by his
computer and joked that I had gotten easy ones. He then decided to ask me
the 13 original states for extra credit - that was fun. :) I had to read a
sentence and write a sentence and sign my name on the N-400 and the two
photographs and that was it. Unfortunately there is a backlog at the FBI for
background checks, and mine hasn't been completed, so he couldn't approve me
on the spot. So now I am waiting for the letter to arrive with the oath
ceremony scheduling, which should be in the next month or two, once the FBI
are done. He didn't ask to see any other documents, but I guess he assumed
from the large binder I brought in that I probably had everything with me.

On the N-400 I disclosed the one time I was pulled over by the cop and given
a written warning (no ticket) for speeding. He asked a couple of questions
and looked at the warning - no problem at all.

All in all, the interview lasted about 15 minutes and was a piece of cake.
Here is an approximate timeline (all filled in Tucson or with WSC):

May 1999 - entered US with H1B
November 1999 - married to USC and filed for adjustment of status, EAD,
advanced parole
September 2001 - conditional residency approved (interview at INS in
Tucson), green card received in 5 months
June 2003 - applied for removal of conditions
May 2004 - conditions removed without need for another interview, green card
received in 8 months
September 2004 - applied for Citizenship
1st February 2005 - Citzenship interview at CIS Tucson

It's been a long road and I couldn't have done it without the invaluable
advice from members of this and other immigration newsgroups. Thanks to you
all and good luck on your journey!

Andy
andy at britishideas no spam for me dot com

Sophie T

"Andrew Ayre" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] ink.net...
    > Yesterday I had my citizenship interview in Tucson. My application was on
    > the basis of being married to my USC spouse for three years with a green
    > card.
    > Arrived at the office half an hour early and was immediately called back.
I
    > was suprised at that. They didn't want my spouse and never talked to her.
    > The officer took me to his office and was extremely professional,
curteous,
    > and relaxed, which put me at ease. After putting me under oath, he wanted
to
    > see my green card and then went through my application, asking me
questions
    > about it. He asked if I had taken any trips outside the US since applying,
    > to which I told him yes and gave him a piece of paper with my A# on it and
    > the details of the trip I took. He marked this with an evidence number and
    > put it with my application. Although I couldn't remember one or two trips
    > that I had taken outside of the US in the last 5 years, all he was
    > interested in was the total number of days I had been outside the US. I
was
    > well within 365, so it wasn't a problem.
    > He asked me some of the standard 100 questions randomly picked by his
    > computer and joked that I had gotten easy ones. He then decided to ask me
    > the 13 original states for extra credit - that was fun. :) I had to read a
    > sentence and write a sentence and sign my name on the N-400 and the two
    > photographs and that was it. Unfortunately there is a backlog at the FBI
for
    > background checks, and mine hasn't been completed, so he couldn't approve
me
    > on the spot. So now I am waiting for the letter to arrive with the oath
    > ceremony scheduling, which should be in the next month or two, once the
FBI
    > are done. He didn't ask to see any other documents, but I guess he assumed
    > from the large binder I brought in that I probably had everything with me.
    > On the N-400 I disclosed the one time I was pulled over by the cop and
given
    > a written warning (no ticket) for speeding. He asked a couple of questions
    > and looked at the warning - no problem at all.
    > All in all, the interview lasted about 15 minutes and was a piece of cake.
    > Here is an approximate timeline (all filled in Tucson or with WSC):
    > May 1999 - entered US with H1B
    > November 1999 - married to USC and filed for adjustment of status, EAD,
    > advanced parole
    > September 2001 - conditional residency approved (interview at INS in
    > Tucson), green card received in 5 months
    > June 2003 - applied for removal of conditions
    > May 2004 - conditions removed without need for another interview, green
card
    > received in 8 months
    > September 2004 - applied for Citizenship
    > 1st February 2005 - Citzenship interview at CIS Tucson
    > It's been a long road and I couldn't have done it without the invaluable
    > advice from members of this and other immigration newsgroups. Thanks to
you
    > all and good luck on your journey!
    > Andy
    > andy at britishideas no spam for me dot com
Congratulations! We're about to file the N-400 for my husband based on
marriage too.

storaje

Andrew Ayre wrote:
    > Yesterday I had my citizenship interview in Tucson. My application
was on
    > the basis of being married to my USC spouse for three years with a
green
    > card.
    > Arrived at the office half an hour early and was immediately called
back. I
    > was suprised at that. They didn't want my spouse and never talked to
her............................................... .............




Congratulations

One question: Are you supposed to mention about traffic tickets on the
citizenship application.

If Yes, then where on the application, which question #?

Thank You

Andrew Ayre

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] oups.com...
    > Andrew Ayre wrote:
    > > Yesterday I had my citizenship interview in Tucson. My application
    > was on
    > > the basis of being married to my USC spouse for three years with a
    > green
    > > card.
    > >
    > > Arrived at the office half an hour early and was immediately called
    > back. I
    > > was suprised at that. They didn't want my spouse and never talked to
    > her............................................... .............
    > Congratulations
    > One question: Are you supposed to mention about traffic tickets on the
    > citizenship application.
    > If Yes, then where on the application, which question #?
    > Thank You

I did. Some people say no, some people say yes. I decided not to risk it. I
think the wording of the N-400 form indicates that you should include
everything, but that is just my opinion. I answered yes to question 16 (I
consider that I was detained at the side of the road), and I filled in the
details into the box below question 21. I wrote in the box "Detained for
speeding" and "no charges, written warning".

Andy

storaje

Thanks very much for your reply

Also wanted to know the following regarding citizenship application:

We have to take photographs when we go for the interview?

Do they ask you to go over the whole N 400 application that you
submitted and update every thing that has changed since you sent the
application - specially regarding whether you have changed jobs,
address after the application was sent?

Did the officer ask you details on how you got the greencard?

Also please tell me about other immigration newsgroups.

Thanking you in anticipation

Andrew Ayre

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] ups.com...
    > Thanks very much for your reply
    > Also wanted to know the following regarding citizenship application:
    > We have to take photographs when we go for the interview?
    > Do they ask you to go over the whole N 400 application that you
    > submitted and update every thing that has changed since you sent the
    > application - specially regarding whether you have changed jobs,
    > address after the application was sent?
    > Did the officer ask you details on how you got the greencard?
    > Also please tell me about other immigration newsgroups.
    > Thanking you in anticipation

Because I filed around the start of September when the photo specifications
changed I sent two 3/4 view and two frontal view photographs with the N-400
to the service center. At the interview the guy prefered the older style 3/4
view and used those. He gave me back the frontal view ones for my US
Passport application. :)

He went over the N-400 app in the interview and checked information, asked
me to confirm some stuff, etc. He made one correction where I entered my
wife's previous married name rather than the name of her previous spouse. I
hadn't changed address or jobs, but he confirmed I was still at the same
address and job. I doubt there would be a problem changing address, but if
you change address while a GC holder you have to tell the CIS within 10 days
(fill out two copies of the form, walk in to the CIS office and get your
copy stamped to prove they received theirs).

He didn't ask me how I got my green card, but it was fairly obvious:

- I was filing N-400 based on marriage to a USC holding a GC for three
years, therefore it makes sense that my GC was obtained through marriage
- he had my entire file with my GC application and everything else I had
ever filed with the INS/CIS in it, probably about two inches thick. He could
check anything he wanted.

Andy

storaje

Thanks again and very much

Please tell me about any immigration newsgroups if you know.





Andrew Ayre wrote:
    > <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected] ups.com...
    > > Thanks very much for your reply
    > >
    > > Also wanted to know the following regarding citizenship
application:
    > >
    > > We have to take photographs when we go for the interview?
    > >
    > > Do they ask you to go over the whole N 400 application that you
    > > submitted and update every thing that has changed since you sent
the
    > > application - specially regarding whether you have changed jobs,
    > > address after the application was sent?
    > >
    > > Did the officer ask you details on how you got the greencard?
    > >
    > > Also please tell me about other immigration newsgroups.
    > >
    > > Thanking you in anticipation
    > >
    > Because I filed around the start of September when the photo
specifications
    > changed I sent two 3/4 view and two frontal view photographs with the
N-400
    > to the service center. At the interview the guy prefered the older
style 3/4
    > view and used those. He gave me back the frontal view ones for my US
    > Passport application. :)
    > He went over the N-400 app in the interview and checked information,
asked
    > me to confirm some stuff, etc. He made one correction where I entered
my
    > wife's previous married name rather than the name of her previous
spouse. I
    > hadn't changed address or jobs, but he confirmed I was still at the
same
    > address and job. I doubt there would be a problem changing address,
but if
    > you change address while a GC holder you have to tell the CIS within
10 days
    > (fill out two copies of the form, walk in to the CIS office and get
your
    > copy stamped to prove they received theirs).
    > He didn't ask me how I got my green card, but it was fairly obvious:
    > - I was filing N-400 based on marriage to a USC holding a GC for
three
    > years, therefore it makes sense that my GC was obtained through
marriage
    > - he had my entire file with my GC application and everything else
I had
    > ever filed with the INS/CIS in it, probably about two inches thick.
He could
    > check anything he wanted.
    >
    > Andy

Ken

I submitted application in June 04, finger printed in August 04, and
had
Citizenship interview on the first week of Feb 05.
The offcier also said that my FBI background check is still pending and
will
have to wait for a couple months to get it cleared.

I read from other postings mentioned a similar problem and some waited
for 1+ - 2 years.

Could you please keep us informed when you got the letter for oath
ceremony?

-ken

Sentosa

I sent my papers off last week and i too had the same question, so i rang the help line and was told that you did not have to put down traffic tickets, i did make a point of taking down the persons name and date and time i called. I have found the help line good . They do ask you some questions just to verify you are eligable to apply for citizenship. hope this helps

Rete

Once again the notorious misinformation 1-800 number is incorrect. You received a traffic violation, you were therefore detained/stopped by a police office, you received a ticket/summons to appear in court and/or to plead guilt to the charges against you. What do you see in this scenario that does not met the question as asked on the N-400.

Do you know that the issue of good moral character is prudent to becoming a US Citizen. If you have three or more speeding tickets, DWI's, etc. you show clearly that you are lacking good moral character and can be denied naturalization.

In the past you did not have to include traffic violations, but the N-400 petition was revised and the issue of traffic violations is now an includable item as per two immigration attorneys that I know personally plus my husband's N-400 experience in NYC in 2003.

As for the 1-800, of course you like the information they have given you they have given you what you wanted to hear even if it was incorrect. They are contract employees not US Government Employees and are reading from a script. They somethings answer questions off the top of their heads.

Rete