When can I throw away the paperwork?

[2newshoes 0]

Dear Friends,

My husband's swearing in ceremony will be in early Dec. I am in the process of getting rid of stuff. Is there any reason I would need to hang onto the immigration paperwork and my copies from the last 4 years?

Thanks,

2NS

[YuAndDan 153]

After becoming a US citizen, then yes, can shred old immigrations paperwork.

But before you do that can you http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=40828

Sounds like you are way past removing conditions, and are "Filed for: Citizenship" time to update profile: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...rCP&CODE=01

[*JG* 2]

Good to know.

Can't wait for that time too.

[KyngSilva 0]

It must be just me, but I would hang on to them for that just in case moment. Put it in a lock box and it's out of sight.

Plus it would loads of fun when the great grand kids will someday see all the stuff their great grand father had to do to become a USC.

[lucyrich 20]

You might want to keep some of it for awhile, though.

There's a slim chance they could try to denaturalize you at some point in the future. They can't revoke your citizenship for anything you do after your oath (unless you voluntarily and intentionally relinquish your US citizenship), but they can retroactively eliminate your citizenship for things you did before your oath. They can say that you lied on a form, or that you made a mistake, or even that they made a mistake, and that you should never have been naturalized in the first place. If this does happen, you may want copies of what you sent to them, so that you can challenge the supposed error.

Thankfully, the vast majority of naturalized citizens will never have to deal with this nightmare. While there are various reasons it could happen, the cases I've heard about where it happens are usually because they find an arrest record which was not reported on the N-400. In this kind of case, if you have no disagreement with the USCIS about what was or wasn't reported on your N-400, then your N-400 wouldn't be so critical for you to have. Your disagreement might be about whether the incident happened, or whether it should have been reported.

Of course, you might want to keep some of it for the memories, or for reference. Your great-great-great grandchildren might find the story of your immigration interesting, if you can manage to archive it so that they'll be able to read it someday.

[NickD 203]

You might want to keep some of it for awhile, though.

There's a slim chance they could try to denaturalize you at some point in the future. They can't revoke your citizenship for anything you do after your oath (unless you voluntarily and intentionally relinquish your US citizenship), but they can retroactively eliminate your citizenship for things you did before your oath. They can say that you lied on a form, or that you made a mistake, or even that they made a mistake, and that you should never have been naturalized in the first place. If this does happen, you may want copies of what you sent to them, so that you can challenge the supposed error.

Thankfully, the vast majority of naturalized citizens will never have to deal with this nightmare. While there are various reasons it could happen, the cases I've heard about where it happens are usually because they find an arrest record which was not reported on the N-400. In this kind of case, if you have no disagreement with the USCIS about what was or wasn't reported on your N-400, then your N-400 wouldn't be so critical for you to have. Your disagreement might be about whether the incident happened, or whether it should have been reported.

Of course, you might want to keep some of it for the memories, or for reference. Your great-great-great grandchildren might find the story of your immigration interesting, if you can manage to archive it so that they'll be able to read it someday.

Have no plans of pitching our thick USCIS file, way too much work, now old newspapers, magazines, worthless college books, computer software books, etc., that can fill the trash can.

[akdiver 3]

If you do pitch anything, I would make sure to make good, high-quality scans of the material - both sides - and store in TIF and PDF format. Create several CDs or DVDs with this information and store in a safe place.

[Dakine 26]

Save the juicy emails and chats. You may need them later when you're in the rocking chair and want to "whack off a round".