Can you bring an attorney to the N400 interview?

[RamonGomez 271]

My wife is considering filing an N400 in October this year. For the I-485 AOS we hired a VIP top-tier immigration attorney in case if any issues came up.  The attorney knew pretty much all the IOs and staff at our field office and brought along a massive stack of court decisions as a defense in case if any issues cropped up (e.g. Communist Party Membership). The interview was only about 7-8 minutes long and she did a lot of the talking, corrected the IO, clarified answers, basically guided the process etc. Definitely worth the money.

 

To make the process smoother we were thinking of hiring her again for my wife's N400 (money is no issue) - is this allowed?

[Mike E 11,739]

1 minute ago, RamonGomez said:

To make the process smoother we were thinking of hiring her again for my wife's N400 (money is no issue) - is this allowed?

Yes. Give the attorney the N-400 case number and your N-400 application and evidence, and she will take it from there.

[ArnoldJoe 0]

17 hours ago, RamonGomez said:

To make the process smoother we were thinking of hiring her again for my wife's N400 (money is no issue) - is this allowed?

If you have committed crimes, are planning to commit a crime, or are a communist, it will help. If not, it will be a total waste of money even if you tell money is not an issue.

[Mike E 11,739]

12 minutes ago, ArnoldJoe said:

are a communist

The applicant was a member of CCP as per:

 

17 hours ago, RamonGomez said:

The attorney knew pretty much all the IOs and staff at our field office and brought along a massive stack of court decisions as a defense in case if any issues cropped up (e.g. Communist Party Membership)

lawyers are like insurance. Insurance protects stuff we value.

 

I have never had my house burn down, and yet I have fire insurance.

 

Presumably Ramon values his wife and wants to protect her.

[RamonGomez 271]

2 hours ago, Mike E said:

The applicant was a member of CCP as per:

 

lawyers are like insurance. Insurance protects stuff we value.

 

I have never had my house burn down, and yet I have fire insurance.

 

Presumably Ramon values his wife and wants to protect her.

 

She was a CCP member but easily meets the exemption requirements, since she only was pushed into it in college for "job opportunities" (which she never took advantage of) and hasn't been a member or paid dues in 15 years. That shouldn't pose any problems with the N400 but you never know whether the IO is aware of USCIS's own policies. For our AOS interview the attorney dug up and brought a massive stack of court rulings related to CCP issues but the issue was never brought up. My wife did however submit a "letter of explanation" with the I485 packet per the attorney's suggestion. 

 

I'm not too worried about it but like @Mike E said in another thread, having a third person as a witness is invaluable in case it ever comes down to a "our word versus yours" situation. And according to her 20+ years of experience, USCIS IO's generally behave better when there is an attorney in the room - not that abusive behavior is particularly common, but it's especially uncommon when an applicant has legal representation present.