Citizenship

Hi guys,

I noticed a lot of people posting about long waits and wait times. Well I had to wait for 2 years after my interview before I got my oath ceremony, and was able to Naturalize last year. I will detail below my journey:

* May 2012 - Received my 10 year green card after filing a VAWA petition in November 2010.

* September 2013 - Falsely arrested and charged. All charges were eventually dropped in September of 2015.

* April 2016 - Filed for citizenship (couldn't file in May 2015 because my case was still open)

* August 2016 - Had my interview, passed civics and English test. No decision made because I had a conditional discharge that wasn't up yet (conditional discharge was finished Sept 21st 2016)

* September 2016 - Went to Federal Plaza with an updated disposition to show that my conditional discharge was up.Later that day status updated to " Supervisor review of your case was completed, will inform you once a decision is made".

* May 2017 - RFE from USCIS for an updated disposition (even though I walked one physically in to them). Mailed the disposition out. And the waiting continued.

*August 2017 - Called to find out about my case ( one year since interview).

* September 2017 - Email stating that my case was still under review, and no definitive timeline for completion could be given.

* August 13th 2018 - Checked my status like I had been doing all year. It still said Supervisor review.....but this time it stated that the Supervisior review was completed on August 11th 2018!!! Finally after 2 years they looked at my case again!!!

* August 14th 2018 - At work, decided to check the status again to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. This time my status said " My Oath Ceremony Notice was Mailed". I almost fainted. From nothing for two years to having my notice mailed!!!

* August 17th 2018 - Received my notice in the mail.

* August 30th 2018 - Oath Ceremony - became a citizen of the United States of America!!!

* October 26th 2018 - Received my US passport.

* November 2018 - Voted in the mid term elections!!

* February 2019 - Traveled to my home country for the first time in 18 1/2 years ( never traveled on my green card ).

* March 2019 - Returned to US, first time through immigration since arriving here in 2000. It was a breeze!!! Having a US passport makes a HUGE difference!!!

Please be patient. I used a immigration group to help me prepare my N 400 because of my arrest, but did every thing else myself. I waited two years in limbo, but I got the greatest gift for my patience!!! Good luck, and best wishes to everyone that is going through this process now...