N400 complicated case going for 18 months now. Need advice.

[Audric 0]

HI everyone,

I’ve been following the forum for a long time and it has been tremendously helpful for my husband and myself in our dealings with USCIS. However, after some consideration, I figured I might ask for help on the forum myself now, since we just don’t know what to do anymore.

It’s regarding my N400 case. Due to my husband’s employment (Public international organization) we qualified to file under 319b. We did so in March of 2017. Since we knew the case was very specific, we decided to request an interview at the Washington DC field office.

So far, so good. We received our NOA/receipt number with priority date 23^rd of March 2017.

And that’s when the trouble started.

For whatever reason, the online priority date was wrong, it showed April 11^th 2017 instead of March 23^rd.
We never received the letter for biometrics, but had to wait until May before we could file an inquiry.
When we did, they didn’t touch it for 30 days, after which I finally got my biometrics letter in the mail at the start of July 2017. Because we are overseas, I needed to go to USCIS in Frankfurt to get my biometrics done.
This was at the start of August 2017.

The officer there told us we should hear from USCIS shortly. Then nothing for months, until we finally got a reply from a level 2 officer in January of 2018, stating that the background checks had cleared and that the case was forwarded to the DC field office. They gave us an e-mail address where we could write to for any questions regarding the case.

We wrote the field office in February 2018 through the emailadress that was supplied to us. We received a reply very quickly confirming they had just received the case and were going to review it. We would be notified once review was completed with several dates to choose from for the interview. If we didn’t hear from them within 2 weeks, we were free to inquire.

Within a week they notified us that they needed some additional information regarding my husband’s employment. Since my husband was away for work at the time, I supplied them with some basic information I had available. Once again they would review it and if we didn’t hear from them within 2 weeks, we were free to inquire.

Again we received an inquiry for more details regarding my husband’s employment. Since my husband had returned, we managed to get a lot of additional files and paperwork concerning his employment. We e-mailed everything to them, same as before, and received a reply on March 22^nd 2018 that they had received all the information and would review everything.

This time however, no statement to inquire after 2 weeks was given. And despite several e-mails we sent in the last 5 and a half months, not further reply of any kind was received by us. (note, we sent just 1 email every 3-4 weeks)

Now we filed 2 official inquiries through a level 2 officer the past 2 months. The first one was never replied to. The second one we just received a reply stating that the case was "pending review by an immigration officer. We regret that we are not able to give you a timeframe for when we will complete the review of your application".

What does this mean? Why is the case still under review after almost 6 months? The case is currently entering it’s 18^th month. And no oneat USCIS is able to help us, we can’t do Infopass (since we’re overseas). The level 2 officers cannot see what the field office is doing. Frankfurt also cannot help.

It’s just ridiculous. We have the feeling that case is just lying on a shelf somewhere.

Sorry for the long post, but we have no idea what to do.
Should we go to ombudsman or a senator? What can we do to get the case moving?

Any tips/help is greatly appreciated 🙂

Edited September 3, 2018 by Audric

[Kiolas 103]

Hello @Audric! I understand your frustration with the delay in processing of your citizenship application. However, do not put much hopes into this due to the fact that you applied under 319b. Most likely, your case will be denied. Yes, the law exists, however most people I saw on this forum (including myself) were denied citizenship under 319b. Moreover, in the cases of 319b USCIS gave ridiculous explanation/reasons for their denials.

 

In addition, there is a tremendous delay at USCIS right now. It is not only with your case, but with most of the cases. People cannot get any answers on when they would get a decision. It is very frustrating. However, make sure you have a plan in case you will get a denial.

 

So hope for the best but get ready for the worst!

 

 

[TBoneTX 46,310]

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