Naturalization with a Fee Waiver

[mymarriagejourney 113]

Yesterday, I posted about my husband's bad experience during a naturalization interview, and now I'm seeking input for a friend (we were comparing naturalization interview experiences )

In her case:

Husband is a USC and is on permanent disability and receives Medicare benefits.

She is applying for naturalization.

The USC's disability and Medicare qualified them for a fee waiver, so they applied for it and it was granted expeditiously.

The problem came during her naturalization interview. She passed her civics and English tests but 90% of the interview was berating her about using a fee waiver. When they applied for the initial AOS, they used a family friend as a co-sponsor. The IO was saying that the co-sponsor should have paid for the naturalization fee and that he was responsible for her for 10 years and bla bla bla.

The IO was very, very rude to her and didn't approve her on the spot. Like my husband, she is now also waiting to see what will happen to her, despite the fact that she passed the English and Civics portions easily.

Can they deny for use of the fee waiver? Can they try to get the fee from the co-sponsor?

If they don't want people using a fee waiver, why present it as an option? If they didn't want this particular couple to have a fee waiver since she had a co-sponsor at AOS, why was the fee waiver granted in the first place?

[Udella&Wiz 325]

I don't see why they would since the fee waiver was indeed also approved by USCIS. Your friends went through the correct process so they have a leg to stand on. Sounds like someone peed in the IO's cornflakes that morning and they were grumpy, I am sorry they seem to pick on people they feel are vulnerable.

Edited November 5, 2015 by Udella&Wiz

[almost_umrican 54]

Yesterday, I posted about my husband's bad experience during a naturalization interview, and now I'm seeking input for a friend (we were comparing naturalization interview experiences )

In her case:

Husband is a USC and is on permanent disability and receives Medicare benefits.

She is applying for naturalization.

The USC's disability and Medicare qualified them for a fee waiver, so they applied for it and it was granted expeditiously.

The problem came during her naturalization interview. She passed her civics and English tests but 90% of the interview was berating her about using a fee waiver. When they applied for the initial AOS, they used a family friend as a co-sponsor. The IO was saying that the co-sponsor should have paid for the naturalization fee and that he was responsible for her for 10 years and bla bla bla.

The IO was very, very rude to her and didn't approve her on the spot. Like my husband, she is now also waiting to see what will happen to her, despite the fact that she passed the English and Civics portions easily.

Can they deny for use of the fee waiver? Can they try to get the fee from the co-sponsor?

If they don't want people using a fee waiver, why present it as an option? If they didn't want this particular couple to have a fee waiver since she had a co-sponsor at AOS, why was the fee waiver granted in the first place?

This is awful whatever the officer said.they are not doing anyone any favor by putting in recommendation for approval. one is getting it by properly falling whatever the law states. they are just a govt appointees to do this job. i guess this is a tendency of a human being to behave in a way this officer did.Also, i am aware of the fact that a lot of times a tourist visa is solely approved on officer discretion(does not matter how good,genuine your supporting documents).these are just my thoughts.

[mymarriagejourney 113]

Thank you both for the input.

She did not arrive on a tourist visa. She was here on an F1 student visa and adjusted status from that.