CortezII

> congratulations Cortez, & thanks for the detailed information.
> i'll be applying for mine through TSC later this month, hope my
> applications is as quick as yours!

Hey,

Good luck. I was surprised to see how quickly the entire process went,
especially after the TSC sent it back up to the ATL offices. It
appears to me that the CIS is processing N-400 applications very
quickly. I have two others in my office who applied around the same
time that I did (although not K-1 types), and they too received their
NOAs for fingerprints very quickly. They are a little behind, but
moving forward.

- Cortez

CortezII

> Great story! Congratulations! Your interview sounds a lot like mine...
> it only took 8 minutes and was very straight forward. And when I
> attended my oath ceremony, I teared up more than once also!
>
> Ian

Ian,

Thanks. The interview & exam part was so quick I didn't even have time
to think. It really was boom, boom, boom - no chatting, no relaxing, no
nothing - it was multitasking at its best - answering his questions
while I was writing and saying the english portions, and same for the
signatures, etc. It really was a little anti-climatic (not complaining,
though), especially after all of the other stages in this process from
way back when my wife filed the K-1 application papers.

Next, off to the SS office and also apply for the US passport.

Regards,
Cortez

Rete

> All,
>
> Just wanted to let you know that I did attend my naturalization
> interview, etc. on April 24. I arrived at about 45 minutes before my
> scheduled appointment time (which was 12:05 p.m.). I went through
> security, showed my appointment letter, went upstairs and checked in.
> I waited until pretty much exactly 12:05 p.m. and was called (there
> were about 75 others in the waiting room).
>
> In the interview room, I was asked to supply my NOA, Canadian
> passport, Alien Registration Card and Georgia driver�¢â�¬â�¢s license.
> The interviewer (Tony) kept my NOA and Alien Registration Card and
> returned the two other items. He then asked me to stand and I was
> sworn in. I could see on his desk my entire file. He asked me to
> sign my full name (not my usual signature) on a sheet of paper (from
> the number of signatures, it looked like he interviewed about a dozen
> others ahead of me that day)
>
> He then used some sandpaper to sand the left edges of my two passport-
> style photos and asked me to again sign my full name on each (where he
> had just sanded).
>
> He then proceeded to ask me some questions about my application and as
> he flipped through it, he was checking things off. For the English
> exam, he handed me a piece of paper that had three numbered sentences
> on it and immediately below that, three blank (numbered) lines.
>
> He first asked me to write, "I drove a red car to work." on the first
> blank line. He then asked me to read the second sentence (to which he
> pointed), which was "Today is a great day."
>
> For the civics exam, he asked me a number of the usual questions. I
> cannot even remember which ones! But, I got them all right!
>
> Anyway, after that he said he was going to recommend that my
> application be approved and he handed me a sheet of paper that had a
> box checked off next to "You passed the tests of English and U.S.
> history and government" and "A) Congratulations! Your application has
> been recommended for approval."
>
> He then said that he would pass my file on to another officer who
> would review his decision. He asked me that if my application is
> approved, whether I would be interested in taking the oath ceremony
> that day? To which, I replied a resounding "YES"! He then asked me
> to sign another sheet of paper and said that I would be given it if my
> application were approved and told me keep the first sheet of paper
> that he gave to me. He said to wait in the waiting room until the
> review decision was made and my name was called, at which time I could
> go for lunch and come back for the oath ceremony at 2:00 p.m. He
> congratulated me and walked me to the outer office door.
>
> All told, this took about eight minutes! So, I called my wife and let
> her know. She said she would meet me there before 2:00 p.m. for the
> ceremony. I waited about 15 minutes and my name was called and was
> given the second sheet he showed to me, which had the details of the
> oath ceremony.
>
> I left for lunch (ate at Chick-fil-A) at mall close by and came back
> to the waiting room about 1:15. Around 1:45 the elevator doors open
> up and I see my 4 & 5-year-old children with their big smiling faces
> running over to me to give me a hug. My wife didn't tell me she was
> going to take them out of school and daycare to attend the ceremony (I
> teared up a little).
>
> Anyway, the ceremony didn't start at 2:00 p.m. First, all of us who
> were becoming US citizens were taken into oath ceremony room #1, and
> it took them about 40 minutes to process us (52 of us). They showed
> us our Naturalization Certificates and asked us to review to make sure
> there were no errors. We also were each given a little American Flag
> (I asked for and was given two extras - one for each of my kids).
>
> An officer then went through the ceremony procedures for about 10 more
> minutes. Only then did they let the family members in, who were
> allowed to take pictures, etc.
>
> When the oath ceremony began, they played the Star Spangled Banner, we
> listened to the CIS officer (not that good of a speaker), watched a
> DVD message from President Bush, watched a video to the song "I am
> proud to be an American...". We then were called up individually and
> our country of origin was announced and we were given our certificate
> in front of the room (family were allowed to take pictures of us w/
> the officer giving the certificate to us) - it kind of reminded me of
> college and high school graduation. After all of us received our
> certificates, we did the oath and then the Pledge of Allegiance. I
> teared up more than a couple of times during the ceremony.
>
> When it finally ended and we went to DQ to celebrate! All in all, a
> great day, just as I was asked to read in the English exam!
>
> - Cortez
>
>
>
> Feb. 07, 07 �¢â�¬â�� submitted N-400 App. (plus supporting docs) via
> US Priority Mail to TSC
> Feb. 12, 07 �¢â�¬â�� TSC receives N-400 App.
> Feb. 13, 07 �¢â�¬â�� TSC cashes my two checks (Cheques )
> Feb. 26, 07 �¢â�¬â�� receive NOA stating App. has been rec�¢â�¬â�¢d
> and is �¢â�¬��in process" (w/ "exceptions")
> Mar. 03, 07 �¢â�¬â�� receive NOA to appear for Fingerprinting @ ATL
> CIS ASC on Mar. 16, 2007
> Mar. 16, 07 �¢â�¬â�� appear for Fingerprint appointment (in & out in
> less than an hour)
> Mar. 31, 07 �¢â�¬â�� receive NOA notifying to appear for
> Naturalization interview on April 24, 2007 @ 12:05 PM
> Apr. 24, 2007 - interview, civics & english exams, oath ceremony
>
>
> [/quote]

My heartfelt congratulations, Cortez. So glad that your wife and the
kids were able to make it there for the ceremony.

I feel as if I have accompanied you on your walk along the yellow brick
road to the exit sign at the end of the USCIS tunnel.

It was a pleasure getting to know you and hope that one day the American
born wives and the two Canadian born husbands can meet up for a drink
either in Atlanta or New York.

CortezII

> My heartfelt congratulations, Cortez. So glad that your wife and the
> kids were able to make it there for the ceremony.
>
> I feel as if I have accompanied you on your walk along the yellow
> brick road to the exit sign at the end of the USCIS tunnel.
>
> It was a pleasure getting to know you and hope that one day the
> American born wives and the two Canadian born husbands can meet up for
> a drink either in Atlanta or New York.

Rete,

Thanks for your kind words. You have been there for me from pretty
much the time I did the AOS way back in December 2000. Hard to believe
it has been almost 7 years (of course, if I had done the N-400 back
when I could have, we would have be having this conversation three or
so years ago!)

I look forward to getting together w/ you and Jim, sometime, too!

Of course, just when I want to get a US passport, the State
Department is backlogged like the CIS was/is. Go figure. It ain't
over 'til its over."

Cortez