Sophie T

"gaude" <member1618@british_expats.com> wrote in message
news:35$335333$2947335$...
> Hey Guys-
> Thanks again for all the best wishes. The karma really paid off. Today
> was the big day. I had to first go into court to appeal a speeding
> ticket (I was going 5 miles over the speeding limit) and then onto the
> naturalization interview. The speeding ticket appeal was a bust. The
> court found me responsible and I was a bit depressed. I owe the
> speeding fee plus whatever the insurance decides to bilk me for the next
> 3 years. We then headed from there to the JFK building in Boston.
> My interview was for 1:30. Wife and I got there at 12:25. Attorney was
> already there waiting. We put the letter in the box and waited. The
> way it seems to work in Boston is that the lady in the front desk takes
> the appt letter and finds the actual A-file that goes with it (though
> mine had everything from the first time I entered the U.S 16 years ago).
> The DAOs come out and randomly pick the next file, scan it out and then
> go back to their offices. They review the file and come out a bit later
> to and call your name.
> I was called in around 1:40. I was nervous as a ninny and my attorney
> was yak-yaking away. We got to the DAOs office. The officer swore me
> in and asked me to take a seat. My atty wrote down the DAOs name for
> his file. Next, he started by asking me for "proof of marriage". My
> N400 was based on marriage to a USC. I gave him my mortgage documents
> and a couple of bills. He swiftly photocopied them and then put them in
> his file. He was pretty laid back, but very thorough.
> He started going through the application (I was dying to know the
> whole time if my security check was completed, but did not bring it
> up). So, he went through section by section till he got to travel
> dates. At this point, his phone rang and he had to talk to someone
> about his own 401K witholdings. I was waiting until he finished. He
> glanced at my passport (did not really tie dates back, just glanced
> through), and crossed off that section. Then he went through more or
> less every question in the N400 until he came to the "Have you been
> cited" question. I was quite a bit worried since I had about 7
> tickets over 16 years (including two court appearances, one for a
> suspended license due to forgetting to pay a ticket and a second one
> because the charity guys were late picking up my second car and some
> friendly neighbor reported it as abandoned). Both of the cases had
> been dismissed and 5 years old. So, then he said "Did these both get
> disclosed in the I-485" and I said yes. He said, anything else new to
> report since then. I said, "Unfortunately yes. I got another
> speeding ticket for going 25 in a 20 mile zone and was ticketed. I
> appealed it, but was found responsible this morning. I have till Nov
> 20 to pay the ticket". He was like, "Boy, you have some issues with
> driving" and made a copy of the citation. I pointed out that I had
> only received one ticket in 5 years.
> He then went on to the next sections and asked me about selective
> service registration. He made a note that I was ineligible to apply
> because I was over 26 when I filed for AOS. Then he said, I have made
> two changes to your application. One, I have notated that you do not
> want a name change. Two, I have made a check here saying that you were
> over 26 when you filed for AOS. Can you sign the bottom of the form.
> Then, he asked me to sign the two photographs.
> Next, we went through the civics (standard 6-7 questions), some simple
> reading and writing test and I passed those.
> Then he said, "Let me see if I can find a supervisor to sign off on this
> since you had some driving ticket issues". So, he walked out the door.
> I was asking the atty if they would approve it. Atty seemed unfazed and
> said seems to be going well so far. The DAO came back and did not say
> anything. He started printing something and ran out of paper. He went
> back out, came back with more paper. Then he started filling some form
> and said, hmm, I need to check that out with the supervisor. He came
> back and then clicked the magic second box on the white form. Then he
> smiled and said "I am recommending you for approval". I said, "Thank
> you sir, that really made my day".
> He walked me and the atty outside. I came out and had a cheek to cheek
> smile and my wife had a wonderful expression on her face and she said "I
> told you so"...lol.. About 10 minutes later, my name was called and I
> got the oath letter for Feb 2, 2006 at Fanueil hall at 12:00 p.m.
> (appears that Boston is filling up quickly) We were out of there by 2:30
> headed back home.
> So, I guess, I am more or less done. Just got to get the natz cert and
> file for a p-port. Thanks again to everyone for all the support in this
> group and my apologies for a long post.
> My final timeline
> PD - July 15, 2005
> FP Notice - Aug 15, 2005
> FP Date - Sep 15, 2005
> Status changed online - Sep 23, 2005
> Interview letter received - Sep 26, 2005
> Interview - Nov 3, 2005
> Oath date - Feb 1, 2006
> Cheers
> -- Gaude
> --
>

Congratulations! Very nice written account too. :-)