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I was scheduled for my naturalization interview last week at the Washington DC office, the officer came and invited me within 5 minutes of my scheduled time. She was professional in her attitude, neither hostile nor friendly.
The officer asked me for my driver’s license, green card and passport. The interview began with an oath to tell the truth, followed by Civics test, then spoken English & then written English test. For the Civics test, the officer verbally asked the questions and I had to answer, I got all 6 questions right. For the English test, there was a tablet in front of me where one question of five words appeared which I had to read, similarly the officer spoke a statement of four words which I had to write on the tablet. This completed all the tests.
While reviewing the documents the officer noticed that my name on the passport was written in a different sequence as compared to the green card. So she asked for my original birth certificate, which I showed. She asked if I wanted to change my name (so that it continued to appear as the existing green card had, otherwise it would have been different on the naturalization certificate because the naturalization certificate uses the name of the birth certificate). I confirmed to change my name.
Then the officer went over every single answer I had written in the N400 form. I had checked the question “Have you ever been cited, arrested…….” as Yes because I had few traffic tickets. The officer said that since you have never been arrested, so this question should be unchecked. She asked if all the tickets were paid and I confirmed. I had attached the proof of the tickets payment when I had filled my online N400 application. I told her that I got one ticket after filing the N400, she asked its details and I showed her the proof that it was also paid. She kept a copy of it. There was another typo in the application in which I had written zero instead of one, she corrected that too.
The officer asked about how I got the green card to which I replied about H1 visa, then she asked about the name of that employer, how long did I work with that company and why did I leave. My answers were: worked for around 5 years, the company let me go as they no longer needed my services.
In the end, all the changes to the form were signed off by me, first on the tablet and then hard copy. I asked a couple of questions after the interview for the process of kids naturalization and this concluded the interview.
IMPORTANT: The invitation letter for the interview only asked to bring all passports, driver’s license, green card but I took every original document I had and tax transcripts for last 4 years from IRS (you can request online from IRS site, give ample time as it takes a few weeks to get online site registration). It turned out to be a lifesaver otherwise it might have been an RFE as she asked for birth certificate which was not identified in the invitation letter. Moral of the story, take any and all original documents with you.
The total interview lasted 35 minutes. It would have been done in lesser time but due to the name change confusion, it took more time. After the interview, I was given form N652 that decision can’t be made yet, and the officer told me that it will be mailed in 30-60 days. I asked the reason of why I was not granted immediate approval and she said that the application need to be reviewed & approved by the supervisor.
The officer asked me for my driver’s license, green card and passport. The interview began with an oath to tell the truth, followed by Civics test, then spoken English & then written English test. For the Civics test, the officer verbally asked the questions and I had to answer, I got all 6 questions right. For the English test, there was a tablet in front of me where one question of five words appeared which I had to read, similarly the officer spoke a statement of four words which I had to write on the tablet. This completed all the tests.
While reviewing the documents the officer noticed that my name on the passport was written in a different sequence as compared to the green card. So she asked for my original birth certificate, which I showed. She asked if I wanted to change my name (so that it continued to appear as the existing green card had, otherwise it would have been different on the naturalization certificate because the naturalization certificate uses the name of the birth certificate). I confirmed to change my name.
Then the officer went over every single answer I had written in the N400 form. I had checked the question “Have you ever been cited, arrested…….” as Yes because I had few traffic tickets. The officer said that since you have never been arrested, so this question should be unchecked. She asked if all the tickets were paid and I confirmed. I had attached the proof of the tickets payment when I had filled my online N400 application. I told her that I got one ticket after filing the N400, she asked its details and I showed her the proof that it was also paid. She kept a copy of it. There was another typo in the application in which I had written zero instead of one, she corrected that too.
The officer asked about how I got the green card to which I replied about H1 visa, then she asked about the name of that employer, how long did I work with that company and why did I leave. My answers were: worked for around 5 years, the company let me go as they no longer needed my services.
In the end, all the changes to the form were signed off by me, first on the tablet and then hard copy. I asked a couple of questions after the interview for the process of kids naturalization and this concluded the interview.
IMPORTANT: The invitation letter for the interview only asked to bring all passports, driver’s license, green card but I took every original document I had and tax transcripts for last 4 years from IRS (you can request online from IRS site, give ample time as it takes a few weeks to get online site registration). It turned out to be a lifesaver otherwise it might have been an RFE as she asked for birth certificate which was not identified in the invitation letter. Moral of the story, take any and all original documents with you.
The total interview lasted 35 minutes. It would have been done in lesser time but due to the name change confusion, it took more time. After the interview, I was given form N652 that decision can’t be made yet, and the officer told me that it will be mailed in 30-60 days. I asked the reason of why I was not granted immediate approval and she said that the application need to be reviewed & approved by the supervisor.
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