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Citizenship Interview Experience - Philadelphia - January 2015
My appointment was scheduled for 2:15PM. I arrived at 30 North 41st Street USCIS office in Philadelphia around 1:20PM. After scrutinizing my appointment letter/ID and going through security, I was directed to go to the second floor. There, the receptionist asked for my appointment letter, scanned it and asked me to wait near door number 3 (there are 3 "doors" or sections on this floor).
After about 10 minutes, a USICS officer came out, called my name and asked me to follow him. I followed him back to his office. He stopped me as soon as I stepped in, turned to face me, asked me to raise my right hand and verbally made me take an oath that I would only tell the truth. I acknowledged that I would.
He gestured me to take a seat and asked for my appointment letter, passport, green card and drivers license. I placed all of these on the table. He took the appointment letter and put it in his file. He flipped through the passport and gave it back, glanced at the green card and license and said I could put them away.
He said he was going to start with the history test and started reading questions off of a sheet of paper.
1. What is an amendment?
2. What do we show loyalty to when we say the pledge of allegiance?
3. What is the supreme law of the land?
4. Who vetoes bills?
5. Who did the United States fight against in World War II?
6. What is the capital of Pennsylvania?
As I answered each question (correctly), he wrote down my answers on that paper (on a side note....it looks like USCIS officers have pre-formatted questionnaires with a set of random questions on them, but I could be wrong). He then said he was going to test my English reading and writing skills. He handed me a sheet of paper and asked me to read the first question (there were about 4 or 5 questions) on the sheet. I read aloud "Where is the White House?" "...and where is it?" he queried. "Washington DC", I replied. He asked me to write "The White House is in Washington D.C." in the space below the question. I did as instructed and handed the sheet back to him. He glanced at it, made some notes and said I had passed the civics and English tests (Yay! I guess).
He then said he was going to review my application and started with "please state your full legal name". He went on to confirm all the other information on my application like address, employer, marital status, name of spouse, number of children, etc. etc. was correct and current. I confirmed that it was. He moved on to a series of "rapid-fire" questions like "have you ever been arrested", "are you a member of the communist party", "have you sold illegal drugs", "are you a terrorist", etc etc. I answered each with a curt "no". He then asked if I would be willing to bear arms if the law required it. I said "yes". "Are you willing to take the oath of allegiance?" Me: "Yes". "Do you understand the oath?" ..."yes".
He made some notes in his file, handed my N-400 to me and asked me to sign on the last page (he had already counter-signed it). He gave me another sheet of paper (can't remember what it was) and asked me to sign in the spaces indicated. I did. He said "Congratulations, I am going to recommend that your application be approved" and handed a sheet of paper that pretty much said the same thing. He asked me to wait outside for a few minutes and that someone would give me an appointment letter for the oath ceremony. With that , he walked me back to the waiting area and parted with another "Congratulations". The entire interview from start to finish lasted no more than 10 minutes.
Once in the waiting area, I sat for about 5 minutes. A lady came out, called my name, and handed me an appointment letter for an oath ceremony due in 2 weeks!
On the whole, a pretty painless and smooth experience. Although my appointment was scheduled for 2:15PM, I was done and out of there by 2PM!
Good luck to all!!
After about 10 minutes, a USICS officer came out, called my name and asked me to follow him. I followed him back to his office. He stopped me as soon as I stepped in, turned to face me, asked me to raise my right hand and verbally made me take an oath that I would only tell the truth. I acknowledged that I would.
He gestured me to take a seat and asked for my appointment letter, passport, green card and drivers license. I placed all of these on the table. He took the appointment letter and put it in his file. He flipped through the passport and gave it back, glanced at the green card and license and said I could put them away.
He said he was going to start with the history test and started reading questions off of a sheet of paper.
1. What is an amendment?
2. What do we show loyalty to when we say the pledge of allegiance?
3. What is the supreme law of the land?
4. Who vetoes bills?
5. Who did the United States fight against in World War II?
6. What is the capital of Pennsylvania?
As I answered each question (correctly), he wrote down my answers on that paper (on a side note....it looks like USCIS officers have pre-formatted questionnaires with a set of random questions on them, but I could be wrong). He then said he was going to test my English reading and writing skills. He handed me a sheet of paper and asked me to read the first question (there were about 4 or 5 questions) on the sheet. I read aloud "Where is the White House?" "...and where is it?" he queried. "Washington DC", I replied. He asked me to write "The White House is in Washington D.C." in the space below the question. I did as instructed and handed the sheet back to him. He glanced at it, made some notes and said I had passed the civics and English tests (Yay! I guess).
He then said he was going to review my application and started with "please state your full legal name". He went on to confirm all the other information on my application like address, employer, marital status, name of spouse, number of children, etc. etc. was correct and current. I confirmed that it was. He moved on to a series of "rapid-fire" questions like "have you ever been arrested", "are you a member of the communist party", "have you sold illegal drugs", "are you a terrorist", etc etc. I answered each with a curt "no". He then asked if I would be willing to bear arms if the law required it. I said "yes". "Are you willing to take the oath of allegiance?" Me: "Yes". "Do you understand the oath?" ..."yes".
He made some notes in his file, handed my N-400 to me and asked me to sign on the last page (he had already counter-signed it). He gave me another sheet of paper (can't remember what it was) and asked me to sign in the spaces indicated. I did. He said "Congratulations, I am going to recommend that your application be approved" and handed a sheet of paper that pretty much said the same thing. He asked me to wait outside for a few minutes and that someone would give me an appointment letter for the oath ceremony. With that , he walked me back to the waiting area and parted with another "Congratulations". The entire interview from start to finish lasted no more than 10 minutes.
Once in the waiting area, I sat for about 5 minutes. A lady came out, called my name, and handed me an appointment letter for an oath ceremony due in 2 weeks!
On the whole, a pretty painless and smooth experience. Although my appointment was scheduled for 2:15PM, I was done and out of there by 2PM!
Good luck to all!!
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