applied for naturalization and still no response while the rest of the family's done

[rooji 25]

Hello,

I need a little help. My dad applied for his naturalization in october of last year along with my mom, brother and sister (i got mine before theirs) and while the rest of the family received their citizenship, my dad's is still pending. We haven't heard from them since he got his biometric done. he has called twice and they told him to get an infopass to schedule to see what is going on. here's my question, does anyone know or have been through something similar? They say the hold up is in his background check. It is weird because we came to usa through his work visa and since then it is through him we all go our green cards and such. The only other reason I can think of is his credit score, other than that he files his taxes and everything is good.

I need help get an idea on this situation and what should we do next.

Thanks.

Rooj

[TBoneTX 45,845]

*** Thread is moved from the US Citizenship main forum to the Case Progress subforum. ***

[JimmyHou 611]

Hello,

I need a little help. My dad applied for his naturalization in october of last year along with my mom, brother and sister (i got mine before theirs) and while the rest of the family received their citizenship, my dad's is still pending. We haven't heard from them since he got his biometric done. he has called twice and they told him to get an infopass to schedule to see what is going on. here's my question, does anyone know or have been through something similar? They say the hold up is in his background check. It is weird because we came to usa through his work visa and since then it is through him we all go our green cards and such. The only other reason I can think of is his credit score, other than that he files his taxes and everything is good.

I need help get an idea on this situation and what should we do next.

Thanks.

Rooj

1- You're right that the delay is almost certainly caused by the background check not being completed.

2- Actual incidents in an applicant's past rarely cause a delay in a background check. If it's known that he committed a crime of some kind, the background check would quickly reveal it and the information would be transferred to USCIS. The interview would be scheduled and he'd be questioned about it and either approved or denied. The delays occur primarily when an applicant's name or travel history raise suspicion. If you've got a name similar to wanted individials; terrorists, drug dealers, even tax evaders, an automated system will flag hour file. That alone will put your application into a slower line because the name check now needs to be done by a real person. Frequent travel to certain countries may also cause them to look at your file more closely.

3- If you've called twice and they've asked you to schedule an Infopass then uou should certainly do that. I hope you already have.

4- Your father applied in October, so it's about 10 months since he applied. Does he have access to his online account through the USCIS website? At this stage, he is beyond the normal processing time for the application, so he should be able to create an online service request. He should do this as soon as possible. This is in addition to scheduling an Infopass. Sometimes a background check is completed and returnees to USCIS but if it's been a long time, there's no follow up on the file. Calling or creating an online request or visitor in person causes someone to go look at the file and they sometimes find that the results of the check arrived weeks ago and were added to the file.

5- If after you do those two things you are told that the background check is still pending, then you can contact your representatives in Washington. Sometimes this helps and sometimes they tell you to keep waiting. Your dad's application is taking a lot longer than normal, but there are a few applicants every year who end up in a similar situation and who even take longer. The June 2015 group was particularly unlucky. So don't panic, but you need to be proactive; if you take no action, you may not hear anything for another year.

I'm no expert and this is based on what I've learned from reading posts on this website. It is also based on what you've posted; so if there are more details to the story, there may be other reasons for the delay.

Edited July 1, 2016 by JimmyHou

[rooji 25]

1- You're right that the delay is almost certainly caused by the background check not being completed.

2- Actual incidents in an applicant's past rarely cause a delay in a background check. If it's known that he committed a crime of some kind, the background check would quickly reveal it and the information would be transferred to USCIS. The interview would be scheduled and he'd be questioned about it and either approved or denied. The delays occur primarily when an applicant's name or travel history raise suspicion. If you've got a name similar to wanted individials; terrorists, drug dealers, even tax evaders, an automated system will flag hour file. That alone will put your application into a slower line because the name check now needs to be done by a real person. Frequent travel to certain countries may also cause them to look at your file more closely.

3- If you've called twice and they've asked you to schedule an Infopass then uou should certainly do that. I hope you already have.

4- Your father applied in October, so it's about 10 months since he applied. Does he have access to his online account through the USCIS website? At this stage, he is beyond the normal processing time for the application, so he should be able to create an online service request. He should do this as soon as possible. This is in addition to scheduling an Infopass. Sometimes a background check is completed and returnees to USCIS but if it's been a long time, there's no follow up on the file. Calling or creating an online request or visitor in person causes someone to go look at the file and they sometimes find that the results of the check arrived weeks ago and were added to the file.

5- If after you do those two things you are told that the background check is still pending, then you can contact your representatives in Washington. Sometimes this helps and sometimes they tell you to keep waiting. Your dad's application is taking a lot longer than normal, but there are a few applicants every year who end up in a similar situation and who even take longer. The June 2015 group was particularly unlucky. So don't panic, but you need to be proactive; if you take no action, you may not hear anything for another year.

I'm no expert and this is based on what I've learned from reading posts on this website. It is also based on what you've posted; so if there are more details to the story, there may be other reasons for the delay.

So he hasn't committed any crime, except for the minor traffic violations like speeding tickets but that happens to everyone at least once. His name is not the most common type so that shouldn't be a problem either. The only thing I can think of is his credit score and for the last few years due to his health and our financial situation and his unemployment, we were behind on our mortgage payment, which just picked up now that he has a job. So that shouldn't be a problem either right?

We filed our taxes no matter what, so that shouldn't be a problem.

I am going to schedule an infopass for him now. Now for an online service request, what do you mean by that? do you mean the online inquiry on the case? if yes then I am about to do it for him.

Thank you so much for your response and help. Really appreciate it.

[JimmyHou 611]

So he hasn't committed any crime, except for the minor traffic violations like speeding tickets but that happens to everyone at least once. His name is not the most common type so that shouldn't be a problem either. The only thing I can think of is his credit score and for the last few years due to his health and our financial situation and his unemployment, we were behind on our mortgage payment, which just picked up now that he has a job. So that shouldn't be a problem either right?

We filed our taxes no matter what, so that shouldn't be a problem.

I am going to schedule an infopass for him now. Now for an online service request, what do you mean by that? do you mean the online inquiry on the case? if yes then I am about to do it for him.

Thank you so much for your response and help. Really appreciate it.

1- He doesn't have to have a common name. He just has to have a name that's similar to someone else. Not just names; other biographic info like profession, hometown, physical description.

2- The financial information is irrelevant. As long as taxes are ok. Even if you have unpaid taxes that will come up at the interview. It will not delay the background check.

3- Let me clarify this again because almost all applicants have it backwards. Is no reason at all that background check would be delayed if you have committed crimes of any kind. In fact, those would show up very quickly and the applicant would be interviewed and rejected on the spot. Delayed background checks occur when there are questions about identity and whether or not the applicant is the same person as someone suspected of doing something wrong.

4- Yes, sorry, I meant a Case Inquiry. Once you file that, they will create a Service Request on your behalf. You should note that both the result of the case inquiry and of the info pass may simply be that you will be told that you have to wait for the background check to be completed This is a possibility But you should go ahead and pursue these actions anyway.

[rooji 25]

1- He doesn't have to have a common name. He just has to have a name that's similar to someone else. Not just names; other biographic info like profession, hometown, physical description.

2- The financial information is irrelevant. As long as taxes are ok. Even if you have unpaid taxes that will come up at the interview. It will not delay the background check.

3- Let me clarify this again because almost all applicants have it backwards. Is no reason at all that background check would be delayed if you have committed crimes of any kind. In fact, those would show up very quickly and the applicant would be interviewed and rejected on the spot. Delayed background checks occur when there are questions about identity and whether or not the applicant is the same person as someone suspected of doing something wrong.

4- Yes, sorry, I meant a Case Inquiry. Once you file that, they will create a Service Request on your behalf. You should note that both the result of the case inquiry and of the info pass may simply be that you will be told that you have to wait for the background check to be completed This is a possibility But you should go ahead and pursue these actions anyway.

Thank you again for the response. So here's the thing, his name is not matching anyone's because it is unique since his address and his work profession is different and his middle name is not the same with everyone's.

He hasn't committed any crime at the moment. He never has or else we would know. So unless there is something we don't know about, there shouldn't be anything. Possible an identity issue but it shouldn't be.

I am unable to make a case inquiry because according to our local field office, his case is still within the processing times. It is weird because our whole family has already been taken care of. I am going to make an appointment for infopass on his behalf so hopefully that helps.

[JimmyHou 611]

Thank you again for the response. So here's the thing, his name is not matching anyone's because it is unique since his address and his work profession is different and his middle name is not the same with everyone's.

He hasn't committed any crime at the moment. He never has or else we would know. So unless there is something we don't know about, there shouldn't be anything. Possible an identity issue but it shouldn't be.

I am unable to make a case inquiry because according to our local field office, his case is still within the processing times. It is weird because our whole family has already been taken care of. I am going to make an appointment for infopass on his behalf so hopefully that helps.

I'm sorry, I've done my best to explain the background check issue, but you're not understanding what I'm saying. Please reread my two replies. It may be my fault; perhaps I'm not explaining it clearly, but I haven't been able to get my message across. So if you'll allow me, I'm going to leave that part of your question alone. It doesn't matter though; what matters is what to do now.

If it won't let you do a case inquiry then your office has a longer wait time; I know, it doesn't make sense because you guys are done. But some offices make you wait longer. Has it been more than 10 months yet (exactly)? If so, maybe they set the time for the case inquiry to 12 months. Other offices set it at 8 months. Check the processing time for your office (search USCIS for "processing times").

Your next step is the Infopass. That should have the same result as they case inquiry; it's just harder because you have to go in person.

You can also keep trying a case inquiry every few weeks but concentrate on the Infopass for now.

[JimmyHou 611]

I am going to make an appointment for infopass on his behalf so hopefully that helps.

Probably already know this, but I just want to make sure When you say you're going to make an appointment on his behalf, you mean that you're going to schedule the appointment for him, but that he's going to go himself, correct? You will not be able to attend the info pass for him, although in all likelihood you will be able to accompany him.

[rooji 25]

You have explained it very well and I got it with the whole background check. What I am saying is that there is nothing we know of are aware of that should be a problem because if that was the case then we wouldn't have gotten our green cards 5 years back or we could have heard something in his name or gotten notice or anything even if there something that someone else did. Even if his name is similar, which is unlikely because there is a site where you can check the names online if they have been flagged. He traveled in december for my wedding but so did my family and we would've been aware of something at the POE if something did come up.

So yes I understand you, but I am stating that we are not aware of any extreme circumstances on why the hold up could be. So unless we are not aware of something, there shouldn't be anything. Even if the first and last name is same, the middle name couldn't be or his address or his background couldn't be. It should be unique that I know of.

I hope that clarifies what I am trying to say.

As for your question, yes I have only scheduled the appointment for him, he will be attending alone.

[JimmyHou 611]

You have explained it very well and I got it with the whole background check. What I am saying is that there is nothing we know of are aware of that should be a problem because if that was the case then we wouldn't have gotten our green cards 5 years back or we could have heard something in his name or gotten notice or anything even if there something that someone else did. Even if his name is similar, which is unlikely because there is a site where you can check the names online if they have been flagged. He traveled in december for my wedding but so did my family and we would've been aware of something at the POE if something did come up.

So yes I understand you, but I am stating that we are not aware of any extreme circumstances on why the hold up could be. So unless we are not aware of something, there shouldn't be anything. Even if the first and last name is same, the middle name couldn't be or his address or his background couldn't be. It should be unique that I know of.

I hope that clarifies what I am trying to say.

As for your question, yes I have only scheduled the appointment for him, he will be attending alone.

I understand your point, thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, naturalization checks are different from green card checks. The former took 4 months for me. The latter took 2 days. Don't over analyze it; you'll drive yourself crazy. I was stopped at the Houston airport once, years ago, because my last name was the same as the middle name of some other guy. I'm Egyptian and he's Algerian. We had no other names in common and were born in different years. I have never been to Algeria. Never happened before or since; just that one time. You never know what will cause a computer program to trigger a match.

Sounds like you're all set for the Infopass. Don't be too disappointed if you're told you have to wait; if that happens, just ask the officer if he can double check the file to make sure that the background check is still outstanding. If there's some other issue, he should be able to tell you that. Good luck!

[rooji 25]

Thank you for your help JimmyHou. Hopefully we get some answers. I mean we are hoping that we get something this month on this situation and there is no big of a hold due to his name or whatever.

Honestly even since he has been in the US, this was the first time he traveled outside the country since his entry to US. It is really weird because he wasn't stopped at the airport when he left and came back recently. He traveled with my mom the same time (they both applied for naturalization together and she got hers and he hasn't). So yea it is why I am having a hard time believing that his name could fall under suspicious list or something. Maybe that could be reason enough since he hasn't left the states and they must be wondering why now after all this time. who knows, right? lol Whatever it may be, i just hope we find out soon enough why if there is more delay and how to fix this delay.