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Citizenship interview experience
I just cleared my interview in Dallas area (Jan 12,2006). I am
scheduled for Oath on Feb 28,2006.
Because I learned so much by reading posts here,
I wanted to share my experience immediately.
- Applied for citizenship (Texas Service Center).
I live in Dallas area.
- Mailed application on Sept 13,2005
- Received by TSC on Sept 15,2005
- Check encashed on Sept 19,2005
- Acknowledgement received on Sept 26, 2005.
Priority Date: Sept 19, 2005
- Fingerprinting notice received on Oct 1, 2005.
Scheduled for Nov 3, 2005.
(NOTE: The online case tracking disappears sometime in this phase.
It might seem odd that if it does disappear, that's good sign.
Your application is progressing well. If it doesn't disappear,
there might be a problem).
- Interview occurred on Jan 12, 2006.
- Oath scheduled on Feb 28, 2006. The date and time was printed right away
on my interview results letter, without me asking for it.
The interview itself went very smoothly. The officer (female) was
extremely friendly and also joked quite a bit. Asked me 7 questions out
of 100 standard questions. Asked to me read a simple sentence
and then write another very simple sentence
("I drive a blue car to work").
She didn't ask me to show anything other than Passport, Greencard
and Driver's license. The interview was done in less than
ten minutes.
Some of my observations are:
1.It is not a problem generally to travel out of the country
while your N-400 or Oath is pending, as long as you continue to
meet GC residency requirements. For each stage, you will have
a prior notice of at least two to three weeks.
Sometimes, you may not be able to rush back within this time
based on season, or someone who is watching your stuff over in
US is didn't inform you in time. Other times, it is possible
that by travelling you could end up coming close to breaking GC
residency requirement. Per my understanding, these are the
main reasons to generally avoid extended travel while N-400 is pending.
2.I travelled to India just a month prior to filing my
N-400. I've read some people asking if they would have to
wait for 3 more months after coming back from your recent
trip. This is not necessary, as long as you continued to
rent or keep your house such that you can maintain the
3 month residency requirement in the county you apply.
3. It seems like the new Exam format is not quite ready yet.
INS website states that it will become ready for public trail
sometime in 2006. By Jan 12, 2006, it is still not there.
So take comfort, if you will, before everything changes.
My tips are:
1. Study and familiarize yourself with N-400 form and the
legal terms in there. Especially true, if your vocab is weak.
2. Watch a video of interview process. Most of the public
libraries carry at least one such video. Watching it will help
you understand what happens at the interview better and has
a calming effect.
3. In Dallas office, after we cleared the security, we had to drop
our Interview Notices in the Mail Slot attached to the door.
Apparently they will tell you that, but I was listening!
But in the end with some minor delay I did drop it in. So, watch out!
4. Take copies of your encashed checks and two extra photographs,
in case they don't have a record of you paying the fee or
lose your photos on the file.
5. Take all extra precautions to clear the interview the first
time itself. Believe me, it would be worth the additional effort.
Otherwise, it would be a major hassle to deal with paperwork
by mail or needing a second appearence.
Things you need to pay attention to are: a) additional documentation
b) preparing well for English/History/Civics and c) knowing
and being able to recall everything you filled on N-400 precisely.
This also includes your ability to show to them the entry stamps
from your passport(s) to prove your dates of travel in the last
5 years.
6. Additional documentation I took to the interview are:
a) Tax copies for last 5 years.
b) IRS tax transcripts for last 5 years.
c) Lease copies and rental payment history for last 5 years.
d) utility bills for last 5 years.
e) Paystubs for last 5 years.
f) All my immigration docs (various H1-B notices, Advance Parole doc
EAD approval notice, N-400 and fingerprinting notices, etc).
g) A letter from Selective Service stating that I didn't need to
register with them.
h) latest month's bank account statement.
i) Old expired passports, if any.
j) SSN card (in addition to your Driver's license and GC).
k) If you changed your employer immediately after getting GC
(say within a year), consider taking some supporting documentation.
If laid-off/fired by the employer, then take that layoff notice.
If it is due to your voluntary act, have some good explanation
ready for it. I took the layoff notice.
Things I didn't have to take/do, but might be applicable to some folks are:
a) birth certificate (if name mismatch or DOB problems exist).
b) Driving records (DMV and may be court records), if you ever got
a traffic ticket. There are lots questions/answers on this everywhere
so I wouldn't be covering it here. Also, I didn't have any tickets
so far.
c) Marriage certificate (if applying for a name change after marriage). If
your legal name (husband's last name after marriage is different from
your maiden name, that's not considered as a true name change.
On your N-400 you could say No to name change and still get your legal
name issued.
d) Any other docs you could think of that would help you in case
of continuous residency or legal status issues.
Finally do your own homework and checking!!!
scheduled for Oath on Feb 28,2006.
Because I learned so much by reading posts here,
I wanted to share my experience immediately.
- Applied for citizenship (Texas Service Center).
I live in Dallas area.
- Mailed application on Sept 13,2005
- Received by TSC on Sept 15,2005
- Check encashed on Sept 19,2005
- Acknowledgement received on Sept 26, 2005.
Priority Date: Sept 19, 2005
- Fingerprinting notice received on Oct 1, 2005.
Scheduled for Nov 3, 2005.
(NOTE: The online case tracking disappears sometime in this phase.
It might seem odd that if it does disappear, that's good sign.
Your application is progressing well. If it doesn't disappear,
there might be a problem).
- Interview occurred on Jan 12, 2006.
- Oath scheduled on Feb 28, 2006. The date and time was printed right away
on my interview results letter, without me asking for it.
The interview itself went very smoothly. The officer (female) was
extremely friendly and also joked quite a bit. Asked me 7 questions out
of 100 standard questions. Asked to me read a simple sentence
and then write another very simple sentence
("I drive a blue car to work").
She didn't ask me to show anything other than Passport, Greencard
and Driver's license. The interview was done in less than
ten minutes.
Some of my observations are:
1.It is not a problem generally to travel out of the country
while your N-400 or Oath is pending, as long as you continue to
meet GC residency requirements. For each stage, you will have
a prior notice of at least two to three weeks.
Sometimes, you may not be able to rush back within this time
based on season, or someone who is watching your stuff over in
US is didn't inform you in time. Other times, it is possible
that by travelling you could end up coming close to breaking GC
residency requirement. Per my understanding, these are the
main reasons to generally avoid extended travel while N-400 is pending.
2.I travelled to India just a month prior to filing my
N-400. I've read some people asking if they would have to
wait for 3 more months after coming back from your recent
trip. This is not necessary, as long as you continued to
rent or keep your house such that you can maintain the
3 month residency requirement in the county you apply.
3. It seems like the new Exam format is not quite ready yet.
INS website states that it will become ready for public trail
sometime in 2006. By Jan 12, 2006, it is still not there.
So take comfort, if you will, before everything changes.
My tips are:
1. Study and familiarize yourself with N-400 form and the
legal terms in there. Especially true, if your vocab is weak.
2. Watch a video of interview process. Most of the public
libraries carry at least one such video. Watching it will help
you understand what happens at the interview better and has
a calming effect.
3. In Dallas office, after we cleared the security, we had to drop
our Interview Notices in the Mail Slot attached to the door.
Apparently they will tell you that, but I was listening!
But in the end with some minor delay I did drop it in. So, watch out!
4. Take copies of your encashed checks and two extra photographs,
in case they don't have a record of you paying the fee or
lose your photos on the file.
5. Take all extra precautions to clear the interview the first
time itself. Believe me, it would be worth the additional effort.
Otherwise, it would be a major hassle to deal with paperwork
by mail or needing a second appearence.
Things you need to pay attention to are: a) additional documentation
b) preparing well for English/History/Civics and c) knowing
and being able to recall everything you filled on N-400 precisely.
This also includes your ability to show to them the entry stamps
from your passport(s) to prove your dates of travel in the last
5 years.
6. Additional documentation I took to the interview are:
a) Tax copies for last 5 years.
b) IRS tax transcripts for last 5 years.
c) Lease copies and rental payment history for last 5 years.
d) utility bills for last 5 years.
e) Paystubs for last 5 years.
f) All my immigration docs (various H1-B notices, Advance Parole doc
EAD approval notice, N-400 and fingerprinting notices, etc).
g) A letter from Selective Service stating that I didn't need to
register with them.
h) latest month's bank account statement.
i) Old expired passports, if any.
j) SSN card (in addition to your Driver's license and GC).
k) If you changed your employer immediately after getting GC
(say within a year), consider taking some supporting documentation.
If laid-off/fired by the employer, then take that layoff notice.
If it is due to your voluntary act, have some good explanation
ready for it. I took the layoff notice.
Things I didn't have to take/do, but might be applicable to some folks are:
a) birth certificate (if name mismatch or DOB problems exist).
b) Driving records (DMV and may be court records), if you ever got
a traffic ticket. There are lots questions/answers on this everywhere
so I wouldn't be covering it here. Also, I didn't have any tickets
so far.
c) Marriage certificate (if applying for a name change after marriage). If
your legal name (husband's last name after marriage is different from
your maiden name, that's not considered as a true name change.
On your N-400 you could say No to name change and still get your legal
name issued.
d) Any other docs you could think of that would help you in case
of continuous residency or legal status issues.
Finally do your own homework and checking!!!
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