MAVNI updates - Page 91

Dont tell me you are in 92a titans or deadpool

Update: Two of my AIT friends at Fort Eustis had their packets transferred to the Norfolk, VA USCIS field office and they were allowed to interview there. They passed, and had their packets transferred back to their respective local field offices to have their oath ceremony scheduled, as Norfolk doesn't do same-day oaths anymore, unless you are deploying. Both of them are now scheduled for oath ceremonies in San Jose, CA and Minneapolis, MN.

On the other hand, my packet was not transferred on-time, so I asked them to hold it at my local field office in Santa Ana, CA. I contacted the field office, as well as the military helpline during my AIT graduation week to ask for an interview. They called me back the Tuesday following my return home, and scheduled me for an interview the next Monday. Side-note, Ft Eustis wasn't able to issue me a DD-214 during out-processing because their printer was down. They collected our addresses and e-mails and promised to deliver them as soon as possible (this never happened, of course). I attended my interview, and the first thing the immigration service officer asked me was for my DD-214, what a great day, yes? He proceeded with the interview/test and held my case for approval pending a copy of my DD-214. I frantically contacted Ft Eustis that afternoon, and in the morning, they were able to send it to my military e-mail. Yes, I know people have been naturalized without it, but what am I gonna do? Combative practice with the ISO? Anyway, long story long, I submitted my DD-214 on Tuesday, and they gave me an oath appointment for this past Friday at the LA Convention Center. Oath ceremonies are held once a month, and like Norfolk, neither Santa Ana nor Los Angeles hold same-day oaths unless for urgent deployments (not sure if this is a new policy, but let me know if y'all experienced otherwise).

Bottom-line, make sure you have your DD-214 in hand if you're a Reservist and have returned from IET. I hope this helps any of you who are still going through the process.

Santa ana here too pretty much waiting to come back to do oath taking

Good luck, Sorrybrah. Almost there!

Tip: Not sure about other places but in the LA ceremonies, I highly recommend wearing your dress blues (duty uniforms were also worn, but personally, I thought dress blues seemed more special). This lets the ushers spot you and your family easily and do a couple of things for you:

1. Let you utilize the disabled security check line, as opposed to being separated from your family right off the bat--both the civilian applicant and civilian guest lines are packed!

2. Let you stay together as you walk through the check-in desks (also separate for military personnel), and seat you together (yes with a butler-like usher guiding you to your seat) in the very front of the crowd--civilian applicants and civilian guests are separated.

3. Let your families stay with you as you obtain your naturalization certificate at the end of the ceremony--civilian families are kicked out of the hall, and civilian certificates aren't distributed until all guests are out. Meanwhile, we get our certificates first, letting you rush out of the hall and to the voter registration and passport booths outside before the cattle arrives (have your DS-11 completed online and printed, and check fees ready, and don't forget to take a high-quality picture of your certificate before they collect it).

4. These business class privileges are also available to military personnel in civies and show their CAC card. However, it makes it easier on you and your families, as well as the ushers, to have them just spot you and pull you aside for priority boarding.

5. Be prepared to be singled-out by name one by one as they recognize each military personnel during the ceremony.

All of these privileges sound insignificant and arseholey, but it makes the ceremony so much more convenient, and of course, so much more special for you and your family.

Hope this too helps!

You are the best! I missed my first oath taking date for obvious reasons (they notified me about oath taking right before I boarded the plane to basic) my lawyer wrote them to reschedule in October but so far no new date has been issued. Should I be concerned? Just paranoia

Not at all! They're super good at responding if you contact them right during your graduation week. The reason they haven't contacted you with a new date is probably similar to mine..

They had to "administratively close" my case for the time being, because they couldn't issue me a date that far out. Not sure what that means exactly, but upon contacting them at the right time, they even looked at my fingerprints on file automatically to see if it needs updating (due to time), and they called me back with a date within 4 business days.

Also, don't worry about nonresponse, because the letter I sent them while I was at basic didn't get a response, but I saw it filed in my packet during the interview.

Rest assured, you do go to the front of the line once you graduate--business class service at its best. Or am I giving them too much credit? lol

Enjoy the process and keep us posted when you get that piece of paper brothers.

Called my lawyer and she just told me uscis called them to inquire about my return. Now that a date is set the uscis officer will work to get me a spot for September in LA CC woohoo

Congrats!

Congratulations!! Oath ceremony in Sept at LACC is on the 18th!