Today I am mailing my application for US Citizenship.
My question is for any other Dopers who have gone through this process; how much time lapsed between the time you mailed out your application till the oath ceremony?
I realize this varies from state to state, but I just want a general idea.
Thank ewe veddy much. 
Oh, dear, lo those many years ago. I’d say it was AT LEAST one year, for me. From the time we put in our applications until the time we had our date for the formal oath.
But we were probably an exceptional case, being former citizens of the Axis of Evil!
Mwahaha.
A year isn’t a long time at all!
I’ve heard it can take up to two years! :eek:
And I’m not even from an axis of evil nation!
Have you gone through the naturalization process, or are you here on a visa and have gotten married, or what? My wife is Russian, and I can tell you a little about our process with the INS.
The initial application for beginning the naturalization process was sent in 3 years ago. My wife and the kids received thier green cards about 6 months later. The cards expire next month, so we recently applied to have the time limit removed and citizenship granted to my wife and the kids.
According to the INS this can take up to 18 months, and another 6 months after the paperwork clears for the wife to actually take the oath.
So in answer to your question, it appears as if our process is going to take a little more than 5 1/2 years.
Well, I’ve had a permanent green card for at least 10 years now and have just decided to get citizenship.
I’m basically wanting to find out how long people have waited after they’ve sent in their initial application for naturalization until their interview/oath ceremony (which sometimes occur on the same day.)
Lola, it varies hugely depending on where in the country you are. I do immigration stuff for a living; if you post what office you filed it at, I’ll try to find out for you.
Hey, thanks Eva!
I mailed my application to the Vermont office, which handles the Northeast region, I guess.
I’ll send a note around the office; we work with Vermont, but don’t do much natz work, so hopefully someone knows.
Thanks a lot!
I appreciate it.
It was an N-400, not something more unusual, right?
Yup, an N-400!
Also (you can probably tell I don’t do much natz work, huh?), after the Service Center looks at it, they will have to forward your file to a local INS office for the interview to be scheduled (aren’t you glad you don’t have to schlep to Vermont?). As you can imagine, local scheduling delays also vary wildly, so which local INS office would handle your interview?
NYC - You don’t think they’ll be busy there do ya?
Things have slowed down over the years. 15 years ago, I applied for citizenship in July and was naturalized in October (too late to vote in the general election :(). My parents were naturalized a few years ago and it took them about a year. What I remember most is form after form asking if I had comitted a felony or joined the Communist Party (this was while Reagan was in office). I refer to it as a sort of intelligence test.
Good luck!
CJ
Lola, my colleague says in NYC it’s currently running 305-365 days from filing to oath ceremony. Of course, this may change in either direction while your case is pending, but at least it’s a ballpark figure.
Good luck, and study your civics! A friend who naturalized a few years ago was very amused by one of the questions on his exam: it was “who is the President of the United States?” The first multiple-choice answer was Hillary Rodham Clinton…he checkled. The examiner was not amused…