ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
US Citizenship General DiscussionRegister with the Selective Service System
QUOTE (Jenn! @ Jan 12 2008, 02:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (Debra&John @ Jan 12 2008, 04:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
So interesting.

We went to the web site to register and it says he is already registered......... blink.gif
It gave the Selective Service Number and the date of 2/22/06

Well, its good news but we dont have a clue as to when we did it.


I think it's automatic with AOS.


Exactly. You have to certify on the I-485 that either (1) you're female, (2) you're over 26, (3) you've already registered, or (4) you want your AOS application to serve as your registration. We paid close attention to that because G. had just turned 26 about 6 weeks before we applied.
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-01-16 20:39:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionWhat was your answer to these questions?
QUOTE (zyggy @ Jan 17 2008, 06:44 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
In one of the guides it states that for persons applying under the 3 year exemption, you only put the trips over 24 hours you have taken since you became a PR


That's what the N-400 itself says, but that wasn't the question. The question being asked about was the one two questions *before* the question about listing trips over 24 hours, where it says "How many days have you spent out of the US in the last 5 years?"
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-01-17 20:11:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionWhat was your answer to these questions?
I counted the days accurately (it was like 410), then in the longest box (I think it's "List all countries visited") I wrote "all time outside US was accumulated prior to LPR status being granted on mm/dd/yy."

If there'd been a trip outside the US I'd have put a note saying "All OTHER time outside US..." and so on.
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-01-16 20:35:00
US Citizenship General Discussionfake marriage question
QUOTE (mawilson @ Jan 22 2008, 12:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (sparkofcreation @ Jan 21 2008, 01:47 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Not necessarily illegal (though it could be), but I would say it's certainly immoral for the husband to do so knowing that the friend is planning to submit that letter as evidence in order to commit immigration fraud.

Isn't it immoral not to help a friend in need? I certainly wouldn't put "USCIS morals" above my friend's.
Your mileage may vary.


Personally, I try to avoid knowingly aiding and abetting the commission of federal crimes carrying mandatory sentences in federal prison [note that in the federal justice system, aiding and abetting carries the same sentence as actually being the perpetrator], and I think anyone who tells me I'm "required" to help them commit one isn't really my friend, but YMMV.

Edited by sparkofcreation, 24 January 2008 - 12:37 AM.

sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-01-24 00:36:00
US Citizenship General Discussionfake marriage question
QUOTE (2newshoes2 @ Jan 21 2008, 09:23 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
It sounds like the friend is just asking for a letter saying that your husband was present at the wedding. He can just state the facts as they happened. He was asked to be a witness and he attended the wedding. There is nothing illegal about his stating the facts as they happened.

2NS


Not necessarily illegal (though it could be), but I would say it's certainly immoral for the husband to do so knowing that the friend is planning to submit that letter as evidence in order to commit immigration fraud.
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-01-21 13:47:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionAnybody with over 365 days in NOA1? mine is 425 - California SC
QUOTE (dipumiah @ Jan 23 2008, 09:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I think this number depends on what local district office youre in rather than what service center you apply to since it is ultimately the local uscis office where you live that will do your interview and give you oath letter.


No, all NOAs out of the same Service Center at the same time get the same timeframe.

But if you go to the USCIS website and look up processing times for your local office, it can be a lot less. For example, my husband's NOA also said 425 days also, but the website has 7 months for our local office. Although there was a note saying N-400 applications filed after June 1 "may" take 16-18 months. I'm desperately hoping it will be less and that they'll add additional oath ceremonies if necessary—they're normally done only 4 times a year in our city: the third Fridays in December, March, June, and September.
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-01-24 00:32:00
US Citizenship General Discussionpassport picture question
No, passport style pictures (which are facing front) do not have to show ears. Only the old 3/4 style photos had to show ears.
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-01-25 01:07:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionCHANGING NAME
How long do they have left? It can easily be done for free along with the N-400, but if done separately it's expensive (usually $200-300 per person). So if citizenship is coming up soon, I'd advise changing their names on their N-400s instead.
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-01-28 23:17:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionHow much documentation to send for 3 yr application
All we sent were copies of the green card, copies of my passport (I'm the USC), copy of our marriage cert, and 3 years tax transcripts. If they want anything else, G can take it to the interview (we do have a house together, joint bank accounts, beneficiaries of life insurance, etc.).

Birth certificates are also required if you have kids, which you know. We don't have any, though.
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-02-04 21:49:00
US Citizenship General Discussion3 yr application. What kind of prooves for real marriage ?
You are required to send tax returns or transcripts for the last 3 years, your marriage cert, USC's birth certificate or passport, and birth certificates of any children born to the marriage. (all copies, of course!)

If you don't have the tax returns/transcripts, send other proof of joint financial arrangements like bank statements or mortgage statements.

You have to take the other stuff to the interview. (Well, strictly speaking, you may not *have* to, but it couldn't hurt and I've known at least one person who was asked at interview for proof of his marriage and he hadn't brought any and his application was delayed, so if it were me, I'd bring it.)

Edited by sparkofcreation, 11 February 2008 - 09:15 AM.

sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-02-11 09:15:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionVSC has not send me biometric letter
It's your local office that sends the biometrics letter, not the service center. So it depends on your local office. I'd imagine most of the local offices are swamped right now, so it's probably taking longer than it used to.

My husband's NOA-1 arrived the first week of January and his biometrics letter arrived February 2.

Edited by sparkofcreation, 11 February 2008 - 10:23 PM.

sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-02-11 22:22:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionWhen can I apply for citizenship?
90 days before the 3-year anniversary of when you got your green card approved. So in your case, sometime in June 2008.
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-02-13 23:12:00
US Citizenship General Discussionhow does divorce affecting Citizenship applying
QUOTE (diadromous mermaid @ Feb 17 2008, 10:17 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (tomjerry @ Feb 16 2008, 06:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Hello:

Me and my husband may finally get to divorce. Anyway wondering what will happen in the future (after 5 years I got 10 yrs greencard) if I want to be naturalized, by then am I still applying citizenship based on marriage? do I still need to turn in all the marriage proof paperwork (tax return and so on...) even if we've divorced?

thanks so much!


No. As a divorced alien, you will be applying based upon having been a permanent resident for 4 years and 9 months.



We did have a post not long ago from someone who applied after 5 years because she (I think it was a she) and her husband had gotten divorced after the I-751 was granted, and at the interview the AO told her they needed her to submit all that proof that the marriage had been legit, and that they have the right to review all past decisions (like her K-1 and her green card) at the time of adjudicating the N-400 in order to make sure she hadn't committed immigration fraud at any time in the past.
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-02-17 12:36:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionPriority Dates
Notice date is the day they wrote the notice.

Priority date is the day your application is considered to have been received (that's usually, not always, the same as the actual 'received date'). So like if it says "contact us if you haven't heard anything in 300 days" that means 300 days after your priority date.

NOA-1
Biometrics at local ASC
Case transferred to district office
Interview at district office
Approval
Oath ceremony

Sometime between your biometrics and approval, your FBI check will be returned. If it's already been returned when you have the interview, you can be approved at interview, otherwise you have to wait for the name check to come back before you can be approved.

How long passes between approval and oath varies by district office. Some places swear you in right there and then, some places have one ceremony a day, one a week, one a month, one every few months ...
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-02-23 12:54:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionField Office Statistics please add your info
I just looked up mine (Albuquerque, NM) and even though the NOA-1 say2 425 days, they're currently (as of 2/15) processing July 20, 2007, which means (1) the processing time has only gone up by 1 month (from 7 to almost 8 months) and (2) they're actually ALMOST DONE with the rush of applications people sent in in June/July. So maybe they'll get G's citizenship finished in time for him to vote after all. ::crosses fingers::

G had his biometrics today, he said there was only one other applicant there when he was there.
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-02-24 00:31:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionMoving-change of address
You can file the AR-11 (alien's change of address) online. Don't forget the sponsor also needs to file the I-865 (sponsor's change of address).

We filed online (also notified of the address change bc we had a pending app) when we bought our house ... the stuff we did online went through fine, but when I got the confirmation back from the I-865 (which we had to do by mail) they'd put the wrong address on it! So I trust the online thing more than doing it by mail, because if you do it online YOU'RE the one who's typing the info into the computer system, but if you do it by mail some data entry clerk is going to type it into the computer and maybe get it wrong.
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-03-01 17:24:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionN-400 Question?
Probably worth mentioning here that a marriage can be *religiously* annulled without being *legally* annulled. The requirements for a *legal* annulment are much stricter than a religious one.

I've worked in the courts for six years, and I've only seen one legal annulment—a case where the groom disappeared on his way home from the wedding reception and the bride never saw him again (he was okay, he just took off to his native country rather than coming home to his mother's house, where the bride had been going to move in). But I know plenty of people who've had religious annulments, which are usually done after a legal divorce.

They want to know about annulled marriages the same way they want to know about expunged criminal records—even if you went through a legal process to make it "like it never even happened," it still actually happened and they want to know.
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-03-08 22:11:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionThey're working overtime!
QUOTE (misterscn @ Mar 25 2008, 05:57 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I think you will find that a lot of the agents that will be working weeknights and weekends won't be too upset. As Federal employees they will be either getting overtime pay or evening / weekend shift differential pay which can add up to some $$$. Some of them may take compensetory time off vice overtime to get some additional days off vice taking the extra money. Overtime is not nearly as bad in the federal sector as it is in the private sector.


I work for the federal government and I don't get any of those things--all overtime is unpaid and uncompensated.

It depends on your grade and job title.

Edited by sparkofcreation, 25 March 2008 - 09:55 PM.

sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-03-25 21:53:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionThey're working overtime!
QUOTE (lucyrich @ Mar 21 2008, 04:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I hope they work 24/7 to get through the backlog.


You really want to be interviewed by an AO who's being forced against his will to work the night shift instead of spending time with his family?
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-03-23 16:35:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionTSC ROLE CALL
QUOTE (sophisgent @ Mar 26 2008, 01:44 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Thanks for your report.
Now let's have some of the rest of you give us some idea how things are going for you.
Thanks.


In the last update, my local office went BACKWARDS three weeks, from 7/20/07 to 6/30/07.

Happy now? Ain't jack going on 'round here.
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-03-27 22:32:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionTSC ROLE CALL
Us too! Check cashed 12/28/07. Citizenship may go through in time for the '08 presidential election after all.
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-12-29 17:39:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionTSC ROLE CALL
Mailed November 1, signed for at TSC on November 5, and we got nothin'.

They've been current on receipts for all other applications for the last two weeks, yet they still haven't budged a day on N-400 receipts. It's been stuck at 7/31/07 for the last three weeks! And only moved 5 days in the 7 weeks since we filed!
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-12-20 12:26:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionMarch 15 processing dates update - OATH dates instead of Interview Letter dates
QUOTE (pdx-n-400-filler @ Mar 31 2008, 07:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (Feliz @ Mar 31 2008, 05:38 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (Feliz-LA;1884165)
just want to add a note here:

Jan 15 Baltimore, MD reported 05/02/2007 ,
feb 15th - 05/08/2007,
mar 15 - 05/31/2007

right now they have sent ILs to July 20s,

so probably the previous "slow" dates could have been also OATH based??



hello Feliz,
Its seems you are very well informed on this issue.I am a newbie here and a little confused.
What does the processing dates published on the USCIS site means.
1.What is processing date and what is priority date?
2.If they are different,how are they?...
3.For example,my office is Portland,OR which the date says to be June 30th 2007..what does this date means?...

can someone clarify me a bit?...
Thanks



Well, the whole point of this post is that no one knows exactly what's going on, but in very general terms ...

1-2. Priority date is on your NOA-1, it's usually the date your application was received by NOS. Processing date means they're processing applications with a priority date before that date.
3. So Portland is processing applications with a priority date before June 30. So if you filed your N-400, before June 30, you should be interviewed soon if you haven't already. On the other hand, if you filed after June 30, you have a while to wait.

But no one knows exactly what "processing" means--does it mean that the file is on someone's desk, that someone is actually working on it, that an interview is scheduled or has been done, that the applicant has been sworn in...? So there's no way to answer your question exactly.
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-03-31 22:40:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionMarch 15 processing dates update - OATH dates instead of Interview Letter dates
Okay, so what you're saying is that your guess as to the reason all the dates went backwards is that, for example, at my local office, everyone who filed on or before June 30 was sworn in by March 15? Whereas at last update, the people who'd filed by July 20 were being *interviewed* but not sworn in yet?

I have to say, though, that I know my local office had an oath ceremony on March 14, so you'd think that people who'd been interviewed by February 15 would have been sworn in on March 14.

It'll be easy to know: if you're correct, my local office's date won't move when the April dates are released, because we don't have another oath ceremony scheduled until May. So the people who were sworn in as of March 15 will be the same people sworn in as of April 15, because the next oath ceremony is May 16. (Normally my local office has oath ceremonies in March, June, September, and December; this year they're adding ceremonies in May and August.)

A more likely explanation may be that the previous dates were the files the AOs had *gotten*, and the new dates are the files that have been *adjudicated*.
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-03-29 17:15:00
US Citizenship General Discussion????Criminal record???? - Moving to USA.
I hope that attorney didn't tell you to commit visa fraud by entering on the visa waiver program and adjusting afterwards. A surprising number do—and while you may get away with it, if you get caught it's a lifetime ban.
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-04-04 22:43:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionTSC ROLL CALL III
Haven't heard anything here yet. We're at 5 months and a few days (timeline in my sig).

My local office normally does 4 oath ceremonies a year (March, June, September, December) but this year they're adding May and August in anticipation of more approvals.

I did see someone post here who'd gone through TSC and filed about a week before we did (we're Nov. 1, so they were the last week of October sometime) and got the interview notice last week.
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-04-06 19:43:00
US Citizenship General Discussionsick and confusing and scared about (s s r)
What motu said. It's "if you were in the US before your 26th bday in a status OTHER THAN lawful non-immigrant." So if you were here legally on a non-immigrant visa (tourist, student, etc.) you didn't have to register. If you were here on an immigrant visa, as a permanent resident, or illegally, then you needed to register.
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-04-22 08:14:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionHave you checked the USCIS home page today?
Is that, by September 2008 they'll be working on cases that were filed that number of months beforehand, or new cases filed in September 2008 will take that long to process? It's not clear. If it's the former, in September my local office will be on January's cases, which hopefully means that my husband's interview will be scheduled in July or August.

I'm not sure what you're so upset about; every single one of those dates is less than the 16-18 months they were projecting not long ago.
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-04-23 22:11:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionWhat to do after citizenship
QUOTE (akdiver @ May 4 2008, 11:28 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (Ashish @ Apr 13 2008, 10:01 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
It might be irrelevant to you but AFAIK anyone who earns legal wages in the US has to pay SS.
This is simply not true. You should check your facts before offering bad information.

Lots of people are not required to pay SS tax on their wages - including many government employees.


According to the retirement-benefits-for-federal-employees training I had two weeks ago, at the federal level only people who started working for the federal government under the old system (CSRS) fall into that category. Everyone who's under FERS (which was put into place in the 1980s) pays Social Security. So the number of people *not* required to pay SS tax is dwindling rapidly as the people who didn't, are now retiring and are all expected to be retired in the next decade.
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-05-04 22:00:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionWhat to do after citizenship
.

Edited by sparkofcreation, 15 April 2008 - 07:11 PM.

sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-04-15 19:10:00
US Citizenship General Discussionwhy am i asking this..no one knows
QUOTE (flavaofsummer @ May 24 2008, 12:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
and what do u mean by asking is not going to do anything...isnt why this visajourny.com is for? for people to get help and opinions? or is it just to bash immigration? cuz im here for the opinions


Because this is the THIRD TIME I have seen you post asking the exact same question. You clearly don't like the answer you keep getting. Asking *the same question* over and over is NOT going to do any good except get us all pissed off at you because you keep complaining that no one will help you when what you mean is that no one will tell you what you want to hear instead of the truth.

My opinion is THE SAME AS EVERYONE ELSE'S ON THE LAST SEVERAL TIMES YOU ASKED. You will have to WAIT UNTIL YOUR LOCAL OFFICE GETS TO YOUR CASE.

Edited by sparkofcreation, 24 May 2008 - 04:17 PM.

sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-05-24 16:16:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionN400 question-have you ever been detained by a law enforcement officer?
Legally speaking, being stopped and questioned at the side of the road is what's called an "investigatory detention."

If you are not free to leave, it becomes a "custodial detention"If they put cuffs on you and take you away, it becomes an arrest. (This is important legally because the Supreme Court has held that an investigatory detention can be performed based on "reasonable suspicion" but a custodial detention and/or arrest must be based on "probable cause.")

So yes, *technically* that was a detention—an investigatory detention. Whatever semantics you want to apply about "it wasn't a detention, it was just a delay" ... well, that's cute, but it's not what the law calls it so you can be pretty darn sure that USCIS won't think it's cute if you try to play that game with them.

Oh, and I don't like to see people playing fast and loose with the law. There's a record of *everything* and just because you think there isn't, doesn't mean you won't later have your citizenship revoked for lying on your citizenship application. (Which, yes, *is* grounds for revocation of citizenship--the *only* grounds, at that.)
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-05-28 22:57:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionWhat happens if your denied citizenship?
Also, even if your permanent residence *were* in jeopardy, the first step would be a *rescission* hearing (as in, a hearing on whether or not to rescind your status) and only if you lost that would removal proceedings then be started.
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-04-23 22:08:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionNaturalization Questions?
Did you even look? It took me less than ten seconds to find the information USCIS has posted on its own website, including study guides, flash cards, and a self-test.
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-06-18 23:09:00
US Citizenship General DiscussionFrom CR1 to IR1 to Citizenship?
QUOTE (sabon @ Jun 18 2008, 02:38 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
My husband is here on a K3 visa - I don't remember the whole process, but we were very fortunate, as it only took 3 months from start to finish. We applied at the Moroccan consulate (we'd been married for six months when we applied), he was interviewed a month later, and the visa came two months after that. I know that his visa is conditional until he has been here for two years (or is it until we've been married for two years), since we'd been married for less than two years at the time he received the visa.

Phew.

Anyhow, my question is - once I file the I-751 and it is granted, is it five MORE years of residency until he can apply for citizenship? Or is it three after that? How can I find out more information?

Thanks!

sabon


You're missing a major step. If he's here on a K-3, then you should either have filed for the green card (I-485) or he'll have to return to Morocco when his CR-1 is scheduled there and be interviewed and re-enter on a CR-1 visa. I believe you can choose to do either.

He can apply for citizenship three years minus 90 days from the time he becomes a permanent resident (I-485 granted or enters on a CR-1 visa).

As for finding out more information, there's a tab called "Guides" at the top of this website.
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-06-18 23:06:00
US Citizenship General Discussionoath question
QUOTE (NickD @ Jun 21 2008, 07:34 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
You can enter by land or sea from Mexico or Canada (or the Bahamas, or a bunch of other places), with only the natz certificate and a photo ID (like a driver license) until June 2009. You need a passport to enter by air since January 2007.

Is that because terrorists only travel by air? And why are they treating Canada like Mexico? Really don't have a surge of Canadians coming down here to lose health care, get American jobs that moved up to Canada, and to pay a much higher price for prescription drugs. And why did all this start six years after 9/11?

Sorry for the stupid questions.


They are treating Canada like Mexico because those are the only two countries by which you can enter by land. They are treating Canada and the Caribbean countries like Mexico because those are the only countries by which you can enter by sea. There's no point in saying "you need a passport to enter by land from Egypt."

And the delay was because many, many, many people drive between the countries, so it makes sense to have that be the last stage implemented. Hopefully a lot of people who didn't have a passport before would have gotten one in order to travel by air, and (hopefully) some of them will think ahead and get one now rather than waiting another year.

Oh, and as for your crack about medical care in Canada, I do know (of) a Canadian who was living in illegally in the US as an overstay in order to get health care. I personally have a medical condition where it took me about two months to start treatment here, but that delay would have been up to five years in Canada (about six months in the UK).

And it didn't *start* six years after 9/11; this is all part of the implementation of the recommendations of the September 11 Committee, which was convened immediately after 9/11. It's merely *ending* several years after 9/11. Just because you didn't know about it until now doesn't mean it wasn't in progress for the last six and a half years.
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-06-21 22:17:00
US Citizenship General Discussionoath question
1. Varies by local office. Texas is a big place. It depends on your local office, not just "Texas." Call the main US District Court for your district, if you really want to know. The main district courts are in Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, and Austin, but I don't know which would cover your area. Texas has four districts but the way the state is divided up is kind of weird.

2. You can enter by land or sea from Mexico or Canada (or the Bahamas, or a bunch of other places), with only the natz certificate and a photo ID (like a driver license) until June 2009. You need a passport to enter by air since January 2007.

Edited by sparkofcreation, 20 June 2008 - 09:48 PM.

sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-06-20 21:48:00
US Citizenship General Discussionhow long between the interview/test and the ceremony?
My husband's interview letter doesn't have any of those questions on it. The first item on the list of things to bring just says "This letter."
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-06-18 19:01:00
US Citizenship General Discussionhow long between the interview/test and the ceremony?
QUOTE (NickD @ Jun 18 2008, 07:18 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
The only exception is that if you're changing your name via the N-400, the oath must be done in front of a judge, not a USCIS official.


The N-400 form sure gives the impression you can easily change your name by checking off that box and typing in the new name, but the instructions state you have to appear before a judge first, do the name change, and submit the document before you send in the N-400 application.

So are you saying if you did go through all this, have to see the judge again?

Wife likes her middle name better than her first name, so asked her if she wanted that switched, until we read what we have to go through, eh, just leave it.


You do NOT have to do a name change through the courts before the N-400, you just check the box. My best friend's husband just did it a couple months ago (his original K-1 was done with the "wrong" name). They also didn't want to go through the hassle and expense of doing it via the courts, so he just waited and did it on his citizenship app.

You only have to submit documentation with the N-400 if you have ALREADY started using the new name. If you don't want to start using it until after the oath, you check the box and your name is changed as of the date of the ceremony.
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-06-18 08:26:00
US Citizenship General Discussionhow long between the interview/test and the ceremony?
QUOTE (NickD @ Jun 16 2008, 07:52 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (sparkofcreation @ Jun 16 2008, 08:19 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Each office's policy is set by agreement with the local US District Court. Some offices allow same day oaths. Some don't. Some do if you request it in writing. It varies by office.


Hmmm, how would one make a request in writing? To your assigned field office? Did send them a couple of letters before with that long delay on the ten year green card. That was a wasted first class stamp. I did see besides a bunch of armed security guards at our local office, trash cans all over the place, sure that is where our letters ended up.

LOL, just wait and see what happens.


I asked my local US District Court, and she [the woman who coordinates the oath ceremony] said that the "request in writing" is a form they have available for you to sign the day of your interview. At my district, it must then be signed off on by a judge *before* the oath is given. (Usually a matter of a few days' wait.)

The only exception is that if you're changing your name via the N-400, the oath must be done in front of a judge, not a USCIS official.
sparkofcreationFemaleUnited Kingdom2008-06-17 23:06:00