CarlM

Hey Roomies,

After 5 years away from BE, i decided to come back. Yesterday was my N-400 interview and i thought i would share my experience.

I had an attorney complete and file the paperwork for me. He told me to expect my biometrics fingerprint notice within 2 weeks, which I got. I had them done, then a month later (end of August)I got the notice that my interview was scheduled for Oct 13th.

There was a list of documents and papers I had to take, and they advised the interview process takes 2 hours. So I collated everything together, copied all my documents (with the help of some friendly people at FedEx Office!) , drove to Downtown Columbus, parked, and went to Immigration. I got through the security check, and sat and I waited half hour, until the adjudication officer called me in – very nice and friendly lady. I was sworn in, and sat down. She went over some of the questions on my form. Then she asked me to read a sentence, then write a sentence, then she did the civics questions (i got the first 6 right, so she didn’t ask any more). As I started pulling out my tax returns, marriage certificate etc she said “Congratulations – you have passed, and we will send you details of your swearing in!” The whole interview was 11 minutes!!

Feeling good!

Noorah101

Congratulations!

Rene

Rete

Thanks for the update and congratulations.

kodokan

Congratulations! And thanks for sharing your Columbus exerience - we moved here from AZ last year, and will be eligible for citizenship in early 2018. Here's hoping ours is so straightforward. Would you mind popping back and saying how the swearing-in went, too? Thanks!

hungryhorace

Why?

Rete

Why not? He has the right to legal counsel in the preparation and filing of immigration forms. I can think of many reasons why someone would be likely to retain the services of counsel. One such reason is that one might be uncomfortable with dealing with paperwork and evidence required to be presented with the application.

Not everyone wants to do things on their own and we should not, in any manner, make them feel that their decision was unnecessary. It is, after all, their decision, their money and their application.

His application was accepted and successfully adjudicated. The story ends with his oath ceremony.

hungryhorace

Because it's a pointless waste of money, and takes around 15 minutes to complete. I could understand retaining a brief if there were potential issues you knew could come up, but just to file a straight N-400? Come now.

taffie77

Congratulations!
So, if I'm reading this correctly, you submitted the application in July? We've just got our receipts, and we're trying to work out timelines. USCIS seems to indicate that they're reviewing cases from January still...

Rete

Depends on which local office you are using. Some have a lighter load than others so it goes more quickly. A poster from Texas filed in November of 2015 and was sworn in back in April, I believe. Usually, it is around six months.

ian-mstm

By and large, I agree with you - especially since naturalization is the easiest of all the immigration processes. However, other people don't feel that way, and retaining counsel is their choice whether you think it's pointless or not.

Ian

hungryhorace

No, I completely get that. Some prefer to pay someone to fill out a simple form, that's their choice.

For example, my mate in NYC is adjusting his status after entering on the VWP and marrying a USC. He's having a lawyer do everything; he doesn't even know the basics of the process he's applying for. Not saying that's the case here, as clearly it isn't.

Anyway, rant over

BTW - My N-400 goes in end of this month! Scary thought!