saheem

Hi,

So I had my first N-400 interview on March 16th. The officer was a bit cranky, hardly looking at me the entire time. I passed all the civics questions, showed him all the documents, answered all the mandatory questions, but in the end he asked for statements and bills from the time between filing (November) and present (which weren't asked for in the interview letter) and I didn't have them.

He made me another appointment for March 30 to bring those in. I came to my appointment and, lucky me, had the same officer. He went through my documents, said it all looked in order, and that I'd receive a letter notifying me of the decision in "two weeks... or less." Well, it's 3 weeks now and I'm chomping at the bit. I noticed that most people in NYC have received oath ceremony dates on the same day as the interview. Should I be concerned? Make an infopass appointment? Just wait?

Thanks,
Saheem

ian-mstm

The office was likely closed for a few days a couple of weeks ago... so I wouldn't worry.


No. No. Yes. When it gets over 6 weeks, then make an InfoPass appointment to follow up.

Ian

saheem

Thanks for the advice, Ian. I'll clamp down the worrying and give it some more time.

Cheers,
Saheem

Arpita

Not true. Not many people get their oath notice on the same day of being approved for naturalization. Some people do receive it though because the Federal Plaza district office has started giving oath notice for the last 3 months on the same day but it doesn't happen in every person's case. And if you were interviewed in Garden City office in NYC then this office never issues same day oath notice only in once in a hundred cases.

Further, sometime officers do need supervisory approval even if things look okay to them. Moreover, some officers don't bother to do all the paperwork to arrrange applicants for the oath so to issue an oath notice; rather they just forward the file to Calender Division which is responsible for sechuding for the oath. Just take it easy and relax. It will be there soon.

Rete

They did it back in 2003 as well. Some people who interviewed early in the day or who did not need supervisory approval were asked to wait for the letter to be issued which was usually around 12:30 or so.

In fact our IO was nice enough to ask if DH wanted to wait for letter but that it would be a while since he needed a supervisor to sign off on the speeding ticket.

Arpita

I don't know about things back in 2003 but I do know about for the last one year by going in there. And even though someone is interviewed before 12:30pm or doesn't need supervisory approval, Garden city office doesn't give oath notice on the same day except in very rare cases and that's also on applicant's request. As for things in Federal Plaza then it also depends on interviewing officers and not everyone gets OL on the same day.

Rete

Never said they did. And in 2003 I had heard that they were interviewing for citizenship at the Garden City office. That is relatively new and started up I believe when the back log was so great they had to do something to eliminate long waiting time.

Arpita

Garden city office was handling only citizenship cases when it opened until 2-3 years ago as it's interviewing applicants for green card as well since then. On the other hand, Federal Plaza was handling only green card interviews along with others immigration benefits but not citizenship cases since Garden City office opened but now even involves in dealing with citizenship cases as well.

grouchy

Did they want all statements and bills from the time of filing or a few. I have the last 3 months mortgage statements and a couple of ConEd bills, wonder if I need more.

saheem

I would carry everything. The officer I had asked me to bring documents from every month for 6 months prior to the interview.

By the way, it's been 2 months and I still don't have an oath ceremony letter. I made an infopass to follow up after 6 weeks of waiting, and was told I have to wait 120 days from the date of the interview (even though the officer told me I'd receive the letter in "2 weeks or less."

The waiting continues....

SA

jeffreyhy

s,

Time between interview and naturalization ceremony can vary widely from location to location around the country.

If I recall correctly my wife waited about 3 months, but some other people at her ceremony had been interviewed and approved before her and so had waited even longer.

Regards, JEff

saheem

Thanks, Jeff. It's always reassuring to hear when others have similar experiences. I'll just keep on waiting...

Best,
SA

Dan725

I didn't actually realize there was a "Notifed of Decision" period between your interview and getting a yes/no answer.

On mine, I had my interview and they said right there and then that everything was OK, and issued my letter for the oath ceremony (the next week) right there in the office.

Other people I have read about have had their interview, been told everything is A-OK, and that they would get an oath letter soon, which has sometimes taken a while...but they knew they had passed the interview.

But I have not heard of a "We'll let you know if you passed or not" period, so I'm quite surprised by this. There again, I'm just a layman and follower of this board; many others will provide better insight I'm sure - by the sound of it some applications need supervisory approval for whatever reason.

Good luck with it all; certainly must be frustrating for you

K2JLX

I found the whole N-400/NYC interview experience rather pleasant and rewarding. I was interviewed at 26 Federal Plaza on April 22nd 2009, I waited around an hour to be called up, the interviewer was very nice and easy to get along with. He swore me in, went over my N-400 to make sure nothing changed, asked for my UK passport, because I had put down I had been cited by a LEO for speeding he wanted to see proof the fine had been paid and disposed. He asked if I pay taxes, and could he see transcripts, he wanted to see selective service registration and my Greencard.

The test was very simple, the writing portion was a no brainer, nothing to worry about at all. After that was concluded he told me he was recommending my case for approval and I would receive an oath letter in a 'few weeks' after his supervisor had approved my speeding ticket disposition. The very next week I received that oath letter from NYC to attend a ceremony at the Supreme court of Orange co, Goshen NY on May 8th 2009, which was a great experience; very patriotic.

I filed my N-400 to VSC on Jan 2nd, fingerprints Feb 11th in the Bronx, NY, interview/oath ceremony as stated on April 22nd & May 8th respectively.

grouchy

Thanks for reporting in; my hubby had his test yesterday at 26 Federal Plaza and passed, but it was too late in the day for us to wait for the oath ceremony letter said the officer (12 pm appointment, but it was 2:45 before they called him in) so we were wondering how long we might have to wait for the oath letter.