Told at n400 interview to withdraw application

[rogue320 3]

Today my wife was told at her Naturalization interview that she needed to withdraw her application for citizenship because we moved from Ohio to Tennessee in December. I was transfered to Tennessee by my employeer. We filed in Jan with our new address after submitting a change of address form to the USCIS. Apparently you have to live at your current address for 90 days prior to filing a N-400. I looked over the instructions and this is not mentioned. We cannot appeal because it wasn't denied so we are forced to refile and pay the filing fee once again and start all over. I think they did it this way on purpose so we would not be able to appeal. We have now been at our new address for longer than 90 days. The imigration officer told us we could file again today but she made sure to stress that the original fee was not refundable and we would need to send another check with her application. She has been in the US and we have been married for over 4 years, I am an American citizen, we have 2 boys together that are American citizens, and they act like they want to deny her citizenship. I thought she would have as strong a case as anyone.

[Darth Vader Ku 16]

Today my wife was told at her Naturalization interview that she needed to withdraw her application for citizenship because we moved from Ohio to Tennessee in December. I was transfered to Tennessee by my employeer. We filed in Jan with our new address after submitting a change of address form to the USCIS. Apparently you have to live at your current address for 90 days prior to filing a N-400. I looked over the instructions and this is not mentioned. We cannot appeal because it wasn't denied so we are forced to refile and pay the filing fee once again and start all over. I think they did it this way on purpose so we would not be able to appeal. We have now been at our new address for longer than 90 days. The imigration officer told us we could file again today but she made sure to stress that the original fee was not refundable and we would need to send another check with her application. She has been in the US and we have been married for over 4 years, I am an American citizen, we have 2 boys together that are American citizens, and they act like they want to deny her citizenship. I thought she would have as strong a case as anyone.

Your case is unfortunate. It happens far more often than you think since this is a country with a very mobile workforce so I sympathise with your case. However:

1) You must not have looked over the instructions carefully because this requirement is not only mentioned very plainly in black and white, but it is very common knowledge. It must have slipped your attention

2) The Immigration Officer did you a considerable favour by advising (not forcing, per se) your wife to withdraw her application. Your wife was ineligible at the time unfortunately, and the officer would have been well within her rights to deny the application outright. If that had happened, your wife would have had to declare this denial in all further dealings with the USCIS which would only subject her to additional scrutiny and likely processing delays

3) The additional $680 fee does not go to the officer, neither is the office compensated for cases that are denied and appealed and invariably generate more revenue for the USCIS. You seem to imply she had financial motives

I wish you better luck in your new application. Make sure there are no seemingly harmless conditions you're not fulfilling, and your wife ought to be alright this time.

[Hypnos 6,576]

Read the instructions better: http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/n-400instr.pdf

General Eligibility Requirement #3 clearly states that you must have resided in the jurisdiction from which you are applying for 3 months before you are able to submit your N-400.

Edited March 21, 2014 by Hypnos

[rogue320 3]

Thank you both for pointing this out to me. I did miss this. Very expensive penality for a simple mistake. I do not believe I implied in any way that the officer receives any type of compensation for the resubmission of the application. I simply stated what was said to my wife and I today at the interview.

I guess my only other question would be why would she be scheduled for an interview and test if she did not meet the basic eligibility requirements. It seems to me they would have rejected the application if they had reviewed it. The only office they have in Tennessee is in Memphis, we had to travel the 4 hours from Nashville today so a lot of waisted time for everyone.

[Darth Vader Ku 16]

Thank you both for pointing this out to me. I did miss this. Very expensive penality for a simple mistake. I do not believe I implied in any way that the officer receives any type of compensation for the resubmission of the application. I simply stated what was said to my wife and I today at the interview.

I guess my only other question would be why would she be scheduled for an interview and test if she did not meet the basic eligibility requirements. It seems to me they would have rejected the application if they had reviewed it. The only office they have in Tennessee is in Memphis, we had to travel the 4 hours from Nashville today so a lot of waisted time for everyone.

Why did they invite her to the interview anyway? Probably to determine if there were extenuating circumstances to excuse her ineligibility under the 90-day district residence requirement.

[Birdo 16]

This time you won't have to submit the Biometrics fee. I know it's pittance compared to the whole process, wasted hours driving etc. and preparing docs, studying the civics test and general heartache. I'm sorry this happened to you - we all make stupid mistakes and some cost more than others in more ways than one.

[rogue320 3]

Read the instructions better: http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/n-400instr.pdf

General Eligibility Requirement #3 clearly states that you must have resided in the jurisdiction from which you are applying for 3 months before you are able to submit your N-400.

Hypnos, I am usually very good at reading the instructions. In fact your response actually made me feel like a complete idiot. Not really what I am use to on this site. I immediately looked up the instructions and could not believe I would miss a requirement outlined as it currently is. I went back and pulled all the copies I had of the application I filed. The available application at the time I filed was OMB No. 1615-0052; The current application form was not released until Feb 4, 2014. We had already submitted the application by that time. I just read the instructions for the application we filed line for line and there is no mention of the 90 day current resident in a district prior to filing requirement.

[BigDaddy28 228]

Hypnos, I am usually very good at reading the instructions. In fact your response actually made me feel like a complete idiot. Not really what I am use to on this site. I immediately looked up the instructions and could not believe I would miss a requirement outlined as it currently is. I went back and pulled all the copies I had of the application I filed. The available application at the time I filed was OMB No. 1615-0052; The current application form was not released until Feb 4, 2014. We had already submitted the application by that time. I just read the instructions for the application we filed line for line and there is no mention of the 90 day current resident in a district prior to filing requirement.

You don't have to feel like you are an idiot, because you are a human you will always make mistakes or misread something. But the good news is you are not the only one who does that, I do it as well. A lot lol. But the months requirement of living in the district is not in the instructions document, It's actually in USCIS website. When you click the link to citizenship that shows you the requirement (age, permanent residency requirement, how long you lived in the district. ..) are all there. I know it's a big hit for the fee to not to be refunded in these cases, But if you qualify for a fee waiver bass on your income go ahead and do it. Otherwise you will have to pay. Your wife is lucky that she was not denied, because a denial is bad on the record. The officer was really nice to give her the option to withdraw. I know you don't want to hear that but that's the truth. Good luck to you.

[Hypnos 6,576]

Before the instructions were updated earlier this year, as you indicated, the warning about needing to reside in the same district for 90 days was included in the naturalisation worksheet, also linked from the N-400 page: http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/article/attachments.pdf (eligibility worksheet, question 6). This was most recently updated in 2006, and has been available since then.

I apologise if I seem harsh, it just aggravates me when information is plainly available and people do not avail themselves of it. When it comes time to apply for citizenship for myself, you can be sure I will read every form, every instruction, every page backwards, forwards, and side-to-side. We're human though, so we make mistakes; all we can do is try to minimise them the best we can.

[carton025 38]

Sorry to hear about your situation. Too bad all the "rocket scientists" that have chosen to offer their opinion(s) have also choosen to not offer any help, just critism, welcome to the world of VJ.

Best wishes...

[Hypnos 6,576]

I'm actually a brain surgeon.

[carton025 38]

Cool, that's good to know. Wanna offer your credentials?

Headgames..., sorry!

[Hypnos 6,576]

My medical degree was eaten by the Loch Ness Monster.

[Boiler 45,486]

[milimelo 4,477]

Never read the guide for naturalization - M-476? Page 24.