Denied N400 because wife was Overseas with me ..

[Cazwik 11]

Hello , 

We got a very dissapointing letter that my wife was denied her citizenship because she was overseas with me in Korea from 2014- 2016

 

She , along with my 2 kids , first arrived with me non command sponsored because of some paperwork trouble arriving in country. I called USCIS military line and I was told it was ok as long as I changed her address to the APO address. Later , after being there a year and a half non-command sponsored she received her 10 year Green Card no problem. In April 2015 our command sponsorship paper work was finally done and I had orders with her name on it. We returned to El Paso TX ( Fort Bliss) in Aug 2016. No problems getting in.

 

We applied for her N400 around November and it was expedite due to a upcoming deployment. She had her interview in Jan. She passed the test with flying colors. Then the officer looked over and saw she was in Korea with me. She tried to explain the situation with the orders and being there a year and a half non command sponsored. She asked if she could get me to explain better and they told her no. The officier ( according to my wife) didn't understand the orders and why she wasn't on the original orders but later put on later within my time in Korea. She said she would have to look into it deeper and mail her the decision. We got the letter stating since she wasn't on the orders first she was in Korea over her time and we would have to wait another 2 years to file. I don't understand 1) why we would get as far as the interview before they notice this and 2) if the USCIS t2 officer on the phone said it was not a problem as long as her address was changed to a apo address it wouldn't affect her status. Also like I said her 10 year green card went through with no problem and without a interview. I have the option to appeal, but that is another 700$. 

 

Any suggestions ? Should I appeal ? 

I also called the hotline again and they were kind of confused why it didn't go through and told me to schedule a info pass appointment . Which I did... just wondering if anyone had any similar issues or had any advice how to proceed.

 

V/r 

Chad

[Ben&Zian 4,398]

Did they simply ad her to new orders for the command sponsor or did they amend the original ones? Like back-date her to the original time you went to Korea? Having been in the army myself I know how important it is to make sure they back-date information otherwise they take the easy way and just print new ones with her on it. 

[Cazwik 11]

 Unfortunately no they just gave  us another set of orders on that date,however  I did have A letter from my commander at the time trying to also explain the situation. 

Edited February 8, 2017 by Cazwik

[Ben&Zian 4,398]

I am assuming they want and need to see amended original orders to include her with original date, same as yours... Otherwise obviously they see a large gap of time.

 

I would be trying to get with the commander or even battallion commander or whoever actually deals with the orders in Korea and try to still get them to amend the originals if possible.. but it has been awhile so I don't know how likely that would be with possible change of commands/personnel changes and all.

[Cazwik 11]

Yeah , that's one of the reasons it took so long for me to get the CSP Approval in the first place because of change outs and losing paperwork. It took a IG call to get things in working order. The most I could do is hopefully get in touch with the Commander at the time if he is still in the Army. Other wise I do have the paperwork of him approving my wife coming Non CS while I waited for the paperwork. I also have her and my kids SOFA Visas showing they were with me at the time (dated in JAN) but that was also in the packet I sent. I was hoping an appeal with a different officier might help , but I don't want to spend that kind of cash for another denial... I ll wait and see what they say when I have I go in to the INFOPASS appointment. 

[Lenchick 133]

21 hours ago, Cazwik said:

Hello , 

We got a very dissapointing letter that my wife was denied her citizenship because she was overseas with me in Korea from 2014- 2016

 

She , along with my 2 kids , first arrived with me non command sponsored because of some paperwork trouble arriving in country. I called USCIS military line and I was told it was ok as long as I changed her address to the APO address. Later , after being there a year and a half non-command sponsored she received her 10 year Green Card no problem. In April 2015 our command sponsorship paper work was finally done and I had orders with her name on it. We returned to El Paso TX ( Fort Bliss) in Aug 2016. No problems getting in.

 

We applied for her N400 around November and it was expedite due to a upcoming deployment. She had her interview in Jan. She passed the test with flying colors. Then the officer looked over and saw she was in Korea with me. She tried to explain the situation with the orders and being there a year and a half non command sponsored. She asked if she could get me to explain better and they told her no. The officier ( according to my wife) didn't understand the orders and why she wasn't on the original orders but later put on later within my time in Korea. She said she would have to look into it deeper and mail her the decision. We got the letter stating since she wasn't on the orders first she was in Korea over her time and we would have to wait another 2 years to file. I don't understand 1) why we would get as far as the interview before they notice this and 2) if the USCIS t2 officer on the phone said it was not a problem as long as her address was changed to a apo address it wouldn't affect her status. Also like I said her 10 year green card went through with no problem and without a interview. I have the option to appeal, but that is another 700$. 

 

Any suggestions ? Should I appeal ? 

I also called the hotline again and they were kind of confused why it didn't go through and told me to schedule a info pass appointment . Which I did... just wondering if anyone had any similar issues or had any advice how to proceed.

 

V/r 

Chad

how did it happen anyway? What regulation did you apply after? under 3 years rule? Are you overseas now? oh ok I got it now, you are back in the states.  yeah they will believe the document. So she wasn't listed in the orders but she was overseas with you. So she broke her continuous residence and physical presence requirements for naturalization. I believe if you amend the orders, you could probably appeal. You could have applied for  naturalization under 319b while you were stationed abroad.