N-400 Possible Problems

[quickquestion123 2]

Hi fellow VJers,

I have already tried to ask this question in the ROC forum and didn't really receive any advice aside from the obvious, but since I am slowly moving to the Citizenship forum, maybe you will be able to help me. Here is the deal:

I am slowly getting ready to apply for citizenship. I will be eligible in June of 2015. This February I have received my 10 year green card after removal of conditions only to find out that it has my first and last name switched around on the card. As I did not make any copies of the submitted documents, I have no way of knowing whether I have switched them around on the application (which could be the case), or whether it was an error on the part of USCIS. Frankly, I was going to go ahead and leave it be, as I am not prepared to gamble away $450 that I might have to pay to correct it if this was indeed my fault, but I am wondering whether this will have any affect on my citizenship application. Does any one have any experience with this? Could the citizenship application encounter problems and delays because of this? I have read that you should apply for I-90, but again, I am not ready to gamble on $450 if this was in case my fault, nor do I want to wait for over three months this close to filling N-400 unless it is absolutely necessary. If anyone has any advice, I would appreciate it.

Thank you for reading this post

[olna83 20]

I would correct the GC first because you have to submit your n400 with your legal first and last name - as it appears on your passport and GC. You also need to send a copy of both along with n400.

If you don't do so and just send n400 with the correct name and the copy of GC that indicates the incorrect name they may blame on you saying that you should have notified USCIS immediately if the name on your (important in this country!) document is wrong.

They sent me my NOA after I submitted n400 and on the notice the first name was misspelled, although the name on my passport, GC and application is correct. So I called them and asked to fix it.

[TheCaptain 67]

You cannot leave it as it is. The green card is a LEGAL immigration document and is required to be correct. Was your name also incorrect on your 2 year conditional Green Card?

I would contact USCIS and ask the best course of action. Possibly request an InfoPass. It may be easier to explain away if you can prove your name on the conditional Green Card was correct.

You are required to surrender your Green Card as part of your N-400 so unless you want a whole bunch of questions and delays I would be looking into getting this corrected ASAP. Especially since it needs to match your current passport.

[JimmyHou 610]

Hi fellow VJers,

I have already tried to ask this question in the ROC forum and didn't really receive any advice aside from the obvious, but since I am slowly moving to the Citizenship forum, maybe you will be able to help me. Here is the deal:

I am slowly getting ready to apply for citizenship. I will be eligible in June of 2015. This February I have received my 10 year green card after removal of conditions only to find out that it has my first and last name switched around on the card. As I did not make any copies of the submitted documents, I have no way of knowing whether I have switched them around on the application (which could be the case), or whether it was an error on the part of USCIS. Frankly, I was going to go ahead and leave it be, as I am not prepared to gamble away $450 that I might have to pay to correct it if this was indeed my fault, but I am wondering whether this will have any affect on my citizenship application. Does any one have any experience with this? Could the citizenship application encounter problems and delays because of this? I have read that you should apply for I-90, but again, I am not ready to gamble on $450 if this was in case my fault, nor do I want to wait for over three months this close to filling N-400 unless it is absolutely necessary. If anyone has any advice, I would appreciate it.

Thank you for reading this post

Are you supposed to correct your green card? Yes.

Is it absolutely necessary? No.

You may get unlucky and get an extremely strict interviewer who will insist on making you file an I-90 but I don't think that is likely.

The N400 has different entries for your current legal name and your name exactly as it appears on your green card. You will enter each accordingly and at the interview you can explain what happened.

Make sure you have your passport and preferably your birth certificate as proof of your actual legal name.

Edited March 25, 2015 by JimmyHou