Citizenship

Hi folks 🤗

I know it is too early to worry about that but appreciate it if anyone has an idea about my below question.

It is written as “ All applicants for naturalization with a filing date on or after Dec. 1, 2020, will be required to take the 2020 version of the civics test “
In my case, my received date and priority date was Nov 30, 2020 but my notice date shows Dec 1st.
Does anyone know which civic test I should study and take?

Many thanks and wish you all the best in your journeys guys 🤗

Update:
I logged in to my account this weekend and there is an interview notice sent on 12/8 under documents tap. I never received any email or text compared to my previous notices. It’s been a week no mail yet ☹️

Timelines:
When I check my account in the website it says Invalid date Interview Was Scheduled. And my completion case moved from November 2020 to February 2021.
March 30, 2020 We De-scheduled your interview.
March 5, 2020 We scheduled you for interview.
February 19, 2020 We are actively reviewing your Form N-400, Application for Naturalization. Our records showed nothing is outstanding at this time.
February 1, 2020 We scheduled you for a biometrics appointment
January 30, 2020 We received your Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, and mailed you a receipt notice. It is being processed at our E-Filed Case Processing Section location.

I filed October 2019, did biometrics November 29,2019. It is December,2020 and no appointment for interview. I’m so confused.

My friend did her same time as me same Brooklyn ny office got notice for interview November 5th , went to interview December 1st week. Her boyfriend file December 2019 and got called for interview this week. I don’t know what’s going on.

I do not see any one .. kindly update your timelines..

Hi I sent out my n400 packet to uscis Arizona lockbox and they received it on November 10, 2020. As far as today they haven’t cashed my check or sent me any notice.

I’m starting to get a bit worried anybody going through same situation?

And recent online filers, have they cashed your check and sent out notice? I’m starting to regret not filing online.

And lastly with all this delay will I Iand on the new civics test or old even though they received it before December 1st?

Hello
I applied for N400 while my removal of condition application still in process and I was wondering if anyone have done the same and have their !751 approved before their N400

Thanks!!

Any filer from LA? Still waiting for the biometrics and it's been 8 months now. Pls share as it’s getting frustrating. Thanks

Any Philly filers called for their interview?

Thanks

Took oath December 4 2020 at Fairfax VA (9am)

Oath only took 10 mins.

Good luck to everyone .

Disclaimer: I am not an immigration lawyer, the information below is to help inform others on the timeline and costs of my husband’s pathway to citizenship as this website (and others) gave us some peace of mind throughout the process. This post answers many of the questions I had throughout our pathway to citizenship. Our application was processed at the Washington Field Office (Fairfax, VA). The entire process cost $3,417.13: application fees for visas/permanent residence/naturalization: $3,095, plus cost of mailing applications (estimated an additional $100) and $222.13 for expedited passport book + mailing costs/fees.
Our starting situation: Married in March 2016, relocated and submitted application once we were at our new address. Husband entered the US on an F-1 student visa in 2013 and was working under OPT when we applied for our marriage license (I was still a student). I am a US citizen (born in US to US parents) and was the petitioner on my husband’s application for Green Card with sponsorship from my mother. We opted for the sponsorship since we were in grad school when we met/married and I was a Peace Corps volunteer before that. Despite having sufficient salary at the time of the application, we were worried that our historical financial situation would cause concerns of our potential reliance on public benefits and delay the process (in other words, we were marginally broke when we applied, but I had a new job starting June 1, 2016 and my husband was funded for PhD for 4 years!). We consulted but did not hire lawyers for the process, but spent countless hours researching information, gathering documentation, and preparing forms.

Permanent residence (aka green card, mail-in application)
5/27/2016: Mailed application for submission, I-130 and check for $420, I-485 and check for $1,070 ($985 application fee, $85 biometrics fee)
6/3/2016: Receipt date of application
6/10/2016: ASC Appointment scheduled (for biometric service)
7/1/2016: Attended biometric appointment
8/22/2016: I-765 – Notice date (Received Employment Authorization Card valid from 8/18/16-8/18/17)
12/12/2016: I-797 – Notice date (Received Permanent Resident Card valid 12/12/18-12/12/18). Note - we received green card with conditions making it eligible for 2 years.

Removal of restriction for Permanent residence (mail in application, can apply 90 days before expiration)
9/10/2018: Mailed application for submission, I-751 and check for $680
9/21/2018: application was rejected because we were missing the A-Number
Resent application (that mistake was our fault, but husband has SSN so we didn’t understand what the A-Number was and our government paperwork skills were a bit out of practice!)
10/1/2018: Receipt date of application
10/20/2018: Notice date of acceptance of application
6/14/2019: ASC Appointment scheduled (for biometric service)
7/3/2019: Attended biometrics appointment
8/5/2019: Notice date approval notice for I-751 Petition to remove conditions on residence (Received Permanent Resident card valid 12/12/16 – 8/5/2029

Application for naturalization (applied at uscis.gov online)
10/11/2019: Receipt and Notice date Receipt of I-797 (paid $725) for N-400
10/18/2019: ASC Appointment scheduled (for biometric service)
11/6/2019: Attended biometric appointment
3/12/2020: Notice date – Appointment scheduled for 4/17/2020
3/31/2020: Appointment cancelled (due to office closure from COVID)
7/21/2020: Notice date – interview scheduled
8/20/2020: Attended interview. Passed English test and the U.S. history and government test, but immigration officer decided not to approve his application on the spot noting “A decision cannot be made yet about your application” on form N-652. Please note: You will be asked 10 questions on the civics exam and you need to get 6 out of 10 correct to pass. If you have updates to documents, bring this with you and see if the immigration officer will accept them during your interview. Our case was delayed due to COVID, but she could have approved it on the spot, but said she didn’t have enough time review his application. This may be the only time you see an immigration officer in person before a decision is made on your case. Use it wisely, be respectful and polite (despite how you are treated) and bring all documentation with you to support your case. We sent in the required documentation for my husband’s application AND passed all test requirements, but was not approved on the spot.
8/21/2020: Request for evidence sent requesting additional information (latest lease, 2019 taxes, bank statements, etc.) Documents that were not available when we applied nearly a year ago, and were outdated due to the COVID delay.
8/27/2020: USCIS received additional information requested (uploaded through online portal)

After waiting some time, we began to grow weary. My husband needs to travel to complete research for his doctoral degree asap, and the country border opened October 1st, 2020 so that he could do field research. The online portal said that his application would be resolved by Nov/Dec 2020. We were not sure if this meant Oath Ceremony scheduled AND finalized or only processing time to approve N-400.
We spoke to a lawyer (a very kind free consultation) who advised us to physically mail in the response to the 'Request for evidence' after his interview. The lawyer stated he does not apply for anything online, as USCIS employees receiving paper documents must scan upon receipt, and therefore may process these documents quicker. Again, this is not direct professional legal advice, but you may consider trying this if you are trying to make this process faster. Our lawyer also advised us to mail using FED EX, but we sent certified by US mail (requires signature on receipt). We spent a lot of money sending each application Priority Mail Express (~$30/application), but certified should arrive within 1-3 business days and cost us ~$7 (however due to the election, it took about 5 days to arrive and we thought FED EX would have been better given the circumstances and delays at the time with the post office).
On 10/26/2020, we requested expedited processing as I am pregnant, and my husband needs to travel before his funding runs out for research. I will travel with him when he does research and give birth in his home country. We sent in an expedited request with letters of support from my doctor (stating the last safe date for travel during pregnancy) and his university (stating his funding will be finished in May 2021). Our justification was that we could experience severe financial loss due to any further delays in the process (invested 4 years in program, could have made 3-4x more by working). From research we found that financial loss expedited requests are NOT likely to make a difference in your case, unless paired with another extreme circumstance (e.g. life threatening or medical issue).

11/2/2020: Expedited request was received by USCIS.
11/3/2020: Online portal noted that they are actively reviewing our form N-400 on the online portal (we are not sure if the mailed in physical documents or the expediated request helped). Also note the date is election day in the US.
11/4/2020: Recommended that form N-400 was approved, husband was put in line for oath ceremony scheduling.
When checking the Case Status Online: https://egov.uscis.gov/casestatus/landing.do the portal said “We placed you in line for your oath ceremony and will send you a notice for <receipt #>, with the date, time, and location of your oath ceremony. You should receive your notice within 30 days of its mailing date. Please follow the instructions in the notice.” It was not clear if that meant we could receive an invitation in December, and still need to wait an additional month or more for the Oath Ceremony due to the terms of receiving “notice within 30 days of its mailing date”. Also, it turns out that would have been PAST the Oath Ceremony.

11/11/2020: We also contacted our congressman for assistance, who requested more info (11/13/2020) about our case to reach out to USCIS.
11/17/2020: Oath ceremony scheduled (note: this was posted on the online portal first, then we received the notice a week later in the mail, and again we do not know if contacting our congressman helped, but it is part of your representatives job!)
12/4/2020: Husband attended Oath Ceremony at Washington Field Office in Fairfax, VA. He was requested to come alone due to COVID, no more than 30 minutes before the appointment. The ceremony lasted 15 minutes with about 20 people present. Applicants were not able to apply for passports in person at the ceremony, but received a packet with information to do so afterwards.
We immediately went to the Post Office to apply for a passport. For first time passport application (DS-11), cost a total of $187.13 to US Dept. of State: passport book is $110, expedited $60 and expedited shipping was $17.13. An additional $35 fee for processing goes to the Post Office. We had to mail the certification of naturalization, so we only had it for about 20 minutes before having to send it out. Passport will be sent in 4-6 weeks (expedited) and original certification of naturalization in a separate letter.
We are finally done (albeit still hoping the passport comes in time for our 1/8/21 flight)! This process can be incredibly frustrating, filled with uncertainty, waiting and seemingly endless paperwork, but you will get through it! If I can make any recommendations, it would be to consult with an immigration lawyer if you have any questions about the forms you are filling out and can afford it (or can find free or reduced cost services), use certified mail from US Post to mail in applications or FED EX/UPS (as long as it ensures signature upon receipt), use the online application portal (when applicable) so you can monitor the progress of your application (it was only applicable for N-400 when we applied) and to avoid incessant monitoring of your mailbox and wondering whether your important documents were lost in the mail! You will get through this and you are valued in this country, please do not let this process discourage you! *Good luck!*