Citizenship

Thank you everyone for the support during the long wait
Today is the end of my citizenship journey
Office : Newark, NJ

Application submitted: Aug 2019
Biometric done : sep 2019
Interview scheduled: April 2020 and was canceled
New interview scheduled: October 2020

Interview and oath at the same day
Very simple , civic and English test were so easy , few questions from the application and done

Had to wait about four hours for the oath but gladly it was done the same day

Good luck everyone

Hi all,
I applied for I-751 extension on January 2019, and N-400 on January 2020. Extension letter expired on September 2020. I have called twice to set up an infopass appt, and when they called me back the officer (tier 2) keeps telling me that there are not any appointments available.

A couple of things here:

1) I am trying to renew my MA DL, and one of the requirements is to bring a proof of lawful presence, meaning a valid permanent resident card.
2) Otherwise a I-551 stamp should suffice that requirement.
3) I have had a lawyer since day one, she kept saying that "just make a call and set up the appointment."
4) I am going through a divorce and I have enough proof, not concern about that... but the waiting is killing me.

Hello,
Here is my timeline of N-400 precedure

Sep.10-2019 Submitted Application,
Oct. 2-2019 biometric done,

Oct.3-2020 interview scheduled
Interview date is : Nov. 17

Guys this forum was so helpful for myself and I wanted to share the end of my citizenship journey:
GC holder 3 years married to a American citizen basis
Timeline: in Las Vegas
Applied online ( which I highly recommend)
On dec 22
Biometrics Jan 13
Interview sep 17
Oath ceremony today oct 22
In the interview for those filling in the same basis be prepared and ready for an interview like the one you had for the green card ( at least with me the asked all kinds of questions related to my spouse, very intimate questions)
Bring all the evidence you have do not skip anything that you have in common with the spouse.
And the oath ceremony very simple( they took more time checking everybody in than the ceremony itself.
They explained the things to do or not to do with the certificate and then the contacted the judge on a videoconference she sworn us all in and welcomed us to the USA 🇺🇸 as new Americans
They called us by name one by one to receive the certificate and asked us to make sure all the info was correct.
That’s it
Thanks my Lord Jesus I’m finally part of this gorgeous country 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸😍🙏
I’m so happy
Good luck everyone !!!!!

Hi All,

Any experience after having a service request to get your biometrics appointment? Before they said we need to wait 90 days, now they re opening service requests. Has anyone open a service request and already received an appointment?

Thanks

I would like to know if you know anyone who got married AFTER applying for Naturalization but BEFORE doing biometrics or interview. Also due to marriage the last name has been changed. Thank you very much.

hi everyone i need help i apply for citizenship my interview go well and officer gave me form n-652 decision cannot be made and then they send me letter asking me my tax return divorce papers and some more and got all papers and send with priority mail and they received my papers according to tracking number but i try first online upload the document on there website uscis and my papers r more then 5 papers so website upload one time only 5 pages so when i try to upload other papers website dont give me option for upload then after 1 hour i got mass case update said my documents are upload so wait for decision and i know my papers r not complete upload then i call cstmr care told them same what happ i try to upload and doesnt work and i told them i send by mail all my original documents pls mentioned they receive they papers and i got ticket number also from cstmr care now i got mass from them after 2 month they denial my application and m sure they dont see my original document which i send by mail they take decision from online upload documents wich r not complete anybody. so anyone have same problem or any one know what next i have to do m still waiting for letter from them can u guys pls tell me what gong on thanx in advance

I am sharing my experience on how I applied to become a naturalized US citizen with an expired green card while owing back taxes in hopes that it will help someone. I read many forums before applying because I wasn't sure if these things would disqualify me. I'm happy to report that they did not and I became a US citizen earlier this month during the pandemic.

Here are the details of my experience in New Jersey:

I applied for citizenship on December 2019. I am a New Jersey resident and have been a permanent resident for well over 10 years but my green card expired 5 years ago. I thought I would have to renew my green card in order to apply for naturalization, but thankfully I did not. So I saved $540.00.

I applied online without an attorney. I've learned that it is better to apply on your own if you don't have any issues that require explaining. Also, it will save you thousands of dollars since immigration attorneys are very expensive.

The online application process took me about 20-30 minutes. I have been married to a US citizen for over 10 years and I was able to upload all of my evidence including my marriage certificate and birth certificate to the USCIS online system. The online system is pretty good. It details your application, evidence provided in the form of uploaded documents, case status, copies of documents/notices they have sent out and every time an action has been taken.

I also owed the IRS a couple years in back taxes. When I applied, I did disclose this and stated that I would arrange a payment plan.

If you don't have all of the documents needed for the application, but will get it in a few days, I would recommend that you still apply online. The system allows you to upload documents to your file at any time.

I have never been in trouble with the law, never used or abused drugs or alcohol and have always been a good resident including volunteer work.

I have one child with my husband.

After applying, the system provided an estimated case completion time for naturalization of 7 months.

4 days after applying, I received a notification that my biometrics appointment had been scheduled.

The date scheduled was only 3 weeks from my application date. I had no idea it would happen that quickly.

I attended my biometrics appointment at a small immigration office in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

 Do not try to reschedule your appointment unless you absolutely have to. It can push the process back by a month or more. I initially tried to reschedule my appointment because I thought I would be out of state and they earliest appointment that they had at the time was a month from the date I had been given. So I didn't do it.

When I attended my appointment, they just asked for the appointment letter and my green card. No one cared or questioned that the green card was expired. You should also bring your drivers license or passport so you have another form of ID.

The staff was polite and some were pretty friendly which helped ease my nerves.The entire process took a couple hours.

On the same day that I had my appointment, I received a notification that my biometrics had been reviewed and I didn't need to do anything.

3 weeks after doing my biometrics appointment, I was notified that my naturalization interview for April 2020. This was all in the USCIS online system. A few days later I received a physical paper notice, notifying me of the same.

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, it was cancelled as expected.

Even though my green card was expired, I found out that the I-797c notices I have been receiving could work as proof of being 'current' if I needed to do business. Fortunately I didn't but good information to have.

In June, I received a letter in the mail from the Newark, NJ office requesting that I bring 3 years of tax return transcripts and proof of payment or a payment plan. At first I wasn't sure if the request was real because it did not come on the standard USCIS letterhead or show up in the documents section of my USCIS online account. I called USCIS and they also couldn't verify it because they apparently on not on the same systems.

In September I finally received an appointment notice for early October. The notice requested that I bring my notice, green card, drivers license, my passport from my place of birth (which was also expired because I haven't done international travel in 5 years), my marriage certificate and my spouse's birth certificate.
They did NOT mention carrying tax information.

I did some research and found several forums and blogs that stated that I should bring at least 3 years of tax transcripts and proof of payment or payment plan with me to the interview. So I went online and made payment arrangement plans for my back taxes along with downloading tax transcripts (which is a summary of your filed tax return).

I printed everything at home and put it in the folder that I would take to my interview.

When I went in for my naturalization interview, due to new COVID measure, we were only allowed to arrive 15 mins before our appointment. My appointment took place in Newark, NJ. We had to line up outside using social distance markers and wearing a face mask. The line moved very quickly even with security and metal detection checks.
Checking in upstairs went pretty quickly. An agent took my notice and green card, told me to have a seat and wait for my name to be called.

I waited for 1 1/2 hours and then an agent called me in for my interview. She was very friendly and told me that she would ask me some easy civic questions to get it out of the way. She only asked me about 6 questions and then we moved on. She did not tell me what questions I got right or wrong. Everything she asked was on the digital civic study booklet they provided to me after my biometrics appointment. It is on the USCIS website.

The reading and writing portion of the test was very easy. I only had to read and write one sentence in English. This portion was done on an iPad.

Then she moved on to taxes. She asked for my tax transcripts. I was very thankful that I brought them with me. If you make the mistake of not bringing them, ask if they will allow you to contact your accountant or family member and email them to you. You can then email it to the agent. This would of course be at the discretion of the agent.

Also be sure to bring a bill, bank statement etc with your current address on it, if your state ID or drivers license does not have your current address. If you forget to bring this and you need it, ask the agent if you can either bring it up on your phone or have a family member email it.

Once I explained the reason that I was behind on my taxes and provided proof of payment plan/arrangement, the agent had me sign and complete several things relating to taking the oath on the iPad. She also had me verify that I had never been arrested, detained, falsified or pretended to be a US citizen, voted, tried to be a communist and other questions related to being loyal to the United States. She did this verbally by asking questions and then followed up with the same on a on paper form.

When we were done, she handed me a paper titled " Naturalization Interview Results" which stated that I passed the English, Reading and Civics test and 'Congratulations! Your application has been recommended for approval.

She did not ask me for my marriage certificate or my husband's birth certificate, even though the notice I received stated that I should bring it.

She then asked me to go back to the waiting area and wait to be called again.

After 30 mins, she came back out and told me to go downstairs to the 14th floor and wait for my name to be called. I wasn't sure what was happening. I was a little afraid to ask so I just sat there and waited. I noticed other people who had been upstairs with me waiting too, so I assumed they needed additional information from us before we were allowed to go home.

After waiting for 2 hours, another agent appeared from behind the glass partitions and told us that if he called our names, we should report to the Oath Ceremony room. I was in shock. I had no idea that they were doing naturalization interviews and the oath ceremony on the same day. My name was called and I went to the Oath Ceremony room.

People who had family with them, were allowed to enter the room, but they would have to sit in the back. I had no one with me because I didn't know I would become a citizen on that day.

I am guessing this new system is as a result of COVID to limit the need for people to continually return to immigration offices for appointments.

We were greeted by another agent who walked us through what was about to take place. We then watched a short video and waited for another agent, not a judge, to swear us in. The whole process took about 30 mins. When we were done, we received our naturalization certificates and told to verify to make sure everything was correct. If it wasn't, we could have it corrected for free. However if we leave and then discover something the next day and try to have it corrected, it was cost $550.

We also received a citizenship package that contained information on how to register to vote (I made it right before the deadline in NJ) and a passport application.

We were allowed to take pictures inside the room for 10 mins, with our face masks on and then ushered out because they had another ceremony to prepare for.

So I walked into the immigration building with an expired green card and a lots of nervousness and walked out a proud US citizen. I was in the immigration building for about 5 hours total from start to finish.

When I went home and checked the online USCIS system, there were 3 updates. One that stated I attended my interview, another that stated my application had been approved and then another that stated my naturalization ceremony had been scheduled. It provided an estimated wait time of 4 months. This just proves my earlier assessment that USCIS has fragmented systems.

I know this was a long post but I hope this information is helpful. My big tips are:

- Sign up for a USCIS account online so that you can submit your application and track everything. It's free and they provide updates faster than mail
- Apply online without an attorney
- Submit all your evidence online
- Get your IRS transcripts online(you can also make a request via phone but it will take you hours because their systems are always busy)
- Bring everything with you even if they don't ask for it
- Bring family with you in case you get sworn in
- Bring your camera phone with you with a portable charger because you will be waiting for several hours. They only allow you to make phone calls in the hallway, but you can text, WhatsApp, answer emails, work from apps, surf the internet and read books on your phone while you wait.

Good luck to everyone applying for their citizenship.

Good day folks, Please how it takes currently to process an expedited US passport if apply form Maryland? thanks guys.

Office: Fresno CA (employment based)
Applied N400 - Jan 5, 2020
Biometrics - Jan 30, 2020
Interview - Oct 20, 2020 12:30pm
Oath - Oct 20, 2020

Just want to share my experience:

Arrived around 11AM. Waited outside till 12:15pm. Security let me into the building. Waited for a few minutes in the lobby, IO called me around 12:30pm. Went through some questions about full name, address, dob and spouse name and kids names etc.

Then she started with the Civics questions.

what is the name of National Anthem?
What was Martin Luther King known for?
Who is your House of Rep?
What happened on Sept 11, 2001?
Name 2 US national Holidays?
Which ocean is to the West coast of US?

Then on to Reading and Writing something about Columbus day. Then moved on to some Yes/No questions (same as in N400). After which she told me I passed the interview and approved for Oath. And then she mentioned, due to Covid, they are doing same day Oath and if I had no out of Country travel plans, she can administer the Oath today and issue the certificate. Since there are no ceremonies offered and no plans to reinstate that in near future, she asked if I wanted to do the Oath today. I agreed and she handed me another form to complete some Yes/No questions. After which she administered the Oath and said, Congratulations. You are now a US Citizen.

Asked me to wait outside in the lobby while the certificate was being prepared. A gentleman came out to the lobby and handed me the certificate and asked to confirm the name and details. And he also wished Congratulations!

Left the building at 1PM.

End of Story. End of citizenship Journey.

Good luck to all prospective applicants and the ones in waiting!