New Example Forms (N-400 & AR-11)

[Captain Ewok 1,900]

I have had two more example forms created. Please review them if you are able . Let me know any corrections! They are filled out generically.

http://www.visajourney.com/examples/ar11.pdf

http://ww.visajourney.com/examples/N-400.pdf

[meauxna 15]

hi,

the N-400 choked my computer; I recommend that you download a copy locally to read.

A very frequently asked question that I just triple checked the answer to regards Part 10B "Affiliations".

The question is:

Have you ever been a member of or associated with any organization, association, fund foundation, party, club, society or similar group in the United States or in any other place?

This is answered NO in the example, but almost everyone belongs/belonged to something, sometime. Recommendations from immigration attorney, CIS officer, other users are to include ALL organizations of a political nature and any professional organizations are absolutely mandatory. User your good judgement about adding other groups.

Myself, I think it is best to err on the side of foolishness and include any group, as recent events show the gov't is looking into groups 'we the people' might never suspect.

If it is irrelevant, it will be ignored. If it is relevant and left off it could be a deal-killer.

I recommend adding the answer YES to the example and including some sort of groups.

From Folinskinla

just returned from a naturalization interview. Since it was a 50/20 case, it was done wiith a translator, so the examiner and I had some time to kill. I told him about your question regarding Costco and AAA

-- and he laughed -- and said that unless Costco or AAA are designated as terrorist organizations, no problem.

I told him that I would omitt AAA & Costco as commerical but would list AILA and California bar. He agreed that "professional organizations must be listed."

Comment from avum-b user

Again, I would err on the side of reporting too much than not enough. The campaign for nuclear disarmament you should list for sure. If you list golf clubs, etc. it won't in any way hurt your chances. In fact it may convey to INS that you are serious about reporting all memberships and that may look good.

Superuser Kevin Keene

If in doubt, list it. Affiliated means something a bit less than member of, but a bit more than "seen their name on TV". I would put it at the level of either "supports their cause" or "attended some of their

meetings".

The most important ones that the INS cares about are of course groups that are illegal for some reason or another or would affect your eligibility. I'd recommend listing the main ones where you participated in some

meetings. Also list professional organizations.

If you're not yet convinced 'Attorney15' at the murthyforum sez:

Generally, questions on the naturalization application that ask whether one has ever done something or belonged to something do not, by the nature of the question, have any exclusions.

There is always a risk that the failure to disclose information on the N400 can result in difficulties in becoming a U.S. Citizen.

Another FAQ about N-400 that concerns VJ is the 3 year waiver that most of us here file under, shortcutting the 5 year instructions on the form.

Poster Folinskyinla, a Los Angeles based immigration attorney, regularly posts that one may draw a line through references to '5 years' and substitute '3 years' and answer the questions accordingly.

What **I** do is to cross out the reference to "five" and put in "three" by hand.

Never had a problem.

Successful user jeninifer:

The officer in Indianapolis said that we should answer the question based on the last 3 years.

For us, answers that spanned 3 years were the same if extended to 5, so we did not make a fuss. The exception was in the travel time.

Yet another confusion regards Part 7 Time Outside the United States. To me, the form is clear in allowing for the 3 year waiver as it goes on to be worded:

C: List below all the trips of 24 hours or more that you have taken outside of the United States since becoming a Lawful Permanent Resident.

I showed my husband the following answers so he could make an accurate count. The example form does not reflect this use of days, which will not affect MOST people's answers since most people are not cutting it that close on the physical presence 'test'.

Folinskyinla:

Practice pointer: any day which you spend PART of the day in the United States counts for physical presence. This can be important if one is close to the 50% rule or on absenses which break continuity.

Example: One leaves the United States on a red-eye leaving at 12:15 a.m on April 1st and returns on a flight which lands at 11:45 pm on April 30th. This counts as TWO DAYS of presence in the US for the

month of April.

Caveat: I learned this from the AILA Maven on naturalization law: Robert Mautino in San Diego. Most attorneys nor most DAO's know this little quirk. So a good lawyer is recommend for such cases

Part 8: Marital History

The example form could be stronger by including an example of someone with a marriage history, since many users do and the ones who don't can easily answer these questions without help.

EX:

Question F: we included exwives here and checked 'other', adding "UK citizen"

I think that's all.