USCIS Made Error on Resident Since Date

[Darren & Fern 0]

My conditional permanent residency card said my resident since date was 2/24/14. Later when I applied for and received my  non-conditional permanent residency card the residenct since date said 12/16/14, not 2/24/14. I included copies of both cards in my N400 application. I then applied for the N400 on about 3/1/17 and waited until my citizenship interview 12/12/17 for the immigration officer to tell me that I applied too early and that I would have to pay $725 again and reapply and wait 8 months again.

 

What can I do to prove that uscis made the resident since date error and not have to wait another 8 months and spend $725 to reapply. Are there any ways to get an issue like this resolved timely? Has anyone else had a similar experience with a uscis error?

 

- Darren & Fern

Edited December 13, 2017 by Darren & Fern

[americanintrainin 20]

Damn, you could hire a lawyer and appeal the case.

 

(I'm not a lawyer fyi.) I'm not sure if it's too late for this but in the case that the appeal fails, you should perhaps apply for an I-90 to correct the error and then apply for naturalization based on that new card?

[little immigrant 800]

I had a residence since error on my 10 year card. The officer at my N-400 interview made copies of both the conditional and non-conditional card. I was approved 4 hours after the interview. She said it didn't make sense to apply for a replacement card at this time. 

 

If it's USCIS error they replace your GC for free with the I-90. 

Edited December 13, 2017 by Andrina

[nightingalejules 678]

Yes... if you have copies of both cards and send in an I 90 they should replace it free. Too bad you didn’t do anything about it before your interview because I’m not sure that they’ll do anything about your lost n-400 application fee at this point.

[Darren & Fern 0]

7 hours ago, nightingalejules said:

Yes... if you have copies of both cards and send in an I 90 they should replace it free. Too bad you didn’t do anything about it before your interview because I’m not sure that they’ll do anything about your lost n-400 application fee at this point.

The immigration officer said the fee is lost and we have to reapply even though the conditional residence since date was incorrect per their error.

[nightingalejules 678]

15 hours ago, Darren & Fern said:

The immigration officer said the fee is lost and we have to reapply even though the conditional residence since date was incorrect per their error.

Yeah, that sucks! I guess you would have had to press the issue when the officer said that - show them the copies of both cards and your original visa stamp in your passport etc and ask to speak to a supervisor. Not that you would have known to do that. 

And now, you're just stuck (unless someone else knows of a way to reopen your original N-400).

 

Could you file an appeal? First send in the I-90 with all the evidence (and no money, again, they should fix it for free since it's USCIS' error) and then see if there's a way to appeal the "decision" of that officer.

 

[ezsosa 5]

On 12/12/2017 at 10:47 PM, Darren & Fern said:

My conditional permanent residency card said my resident since date was 2/24/14. Later when I applied for and received my  non-conditional permanent residency card the residenct since date said 12/16/14, not 2/24/14. I included copies of both cards in my N400 application. I then applied for the N400 on about 3/1/17 and waited until my citizenship interview 12/12/17 for the immigration officer to tell me that I applied too early and that I would have to pay $725 again and reapply and wait 8 months again.

 

What can I do to prove that uscis made the resident since date error and not have to wait another 8 months and spend $725 to reapply. Are there any ways to get an issue like this resolved timely? Has anyone else had a similar experience with a uscis error?

 

- Darren & Fern

Hi There, contact immediately the office of the USCIS Ombudsman, as well as the office of your congressman your case is going to be revised. 

 

You can't pay for USCIS mistakes, and the IO should have been smarter and not deny a case for a USCIS known issue.

 

Follow the instructions here: https://www.dhs.gov/case-assistance 

[charmander 692]

On 12/12/2017 at 10:47 PM, Darren & Fern said:

My conditional permanent residency card said my resident since date was 2/24/14. Later when I applied for and received my  non-conditional permanent residency card the residenct since date said 12/16/14, not 2/24/14. I included copies of both cards in my N400 application. I then applied for the N400 on about 3/1/17 and waited until my citizenship interview 12/12/17 for the immigration officer to tell me that I applied too early and that I would have to pay $725 again and reapply and wait 8 months again.

 

What can I do to prove that uscis made the resident since date error and not have to wait another 8 months and spend $725 to reapply. Are there any ways to get an issue like this resolved timely? Has anyone else had a similar experience with a uscis error?

 

- Darren & Fern

If the dates on your timeline are correct, they made mistake on your 1st card that says 2/24/14. Your timeline says you applied for AOS on 2/25/14, approved on 12/1/14 and later got the card on 12/25/14. Looks like they corrected this mistake with the 10 yrd GC that says 12/16/14. I am not even sure where this 2/24/14 mistake came from since you haven't even applied for AOS at that time yet.

[NikeS 49]

Following the above line of thought it means your conditional card had the wrong info to begin with. Even going by your AOS application/approval info it should have read Dec 2014. So you should have challenged those dates in the first place. However, it was corrected in the 2nd card so no harm done right? You should have erred on the side of caution by waiting 3 yrs after the new date before applying for citizenship. By your interview date on Dec 12 2017 you still hadn’t been a resident for 3 yrs so the officer was right to deny you.

I’m not sure you will be able to correct this without re-applying. Maybe apply for a fee waiver?

[ezsosa 5]

3 hours ago, NikeS said:

Following the above line of thought it means your conditional card had the wrong info to begin with. Even going by your AOS application/approval info it should have read Dec 2014. So you should have challenged those dates in the first place. However, it was corrected in the 2nd card so no harm done right? You should have erred on the side of caution by waiting 3 yrs after the new date before applying for citizenship. By your interview date on Dec 12 2017 you still hadn’t been a resident for 3 yrs so the officer was right to deny you.

I’m not sure you will be able to correct this without re-applying. Maybe apply for a fee waiver?

The IO was supposed to put that case on hold until the applicant meet the citizenship time requeriment accordingly to the last memorandum. After that, the system will remaind the case to the IO supervisor who make the decision, if approved they put it in line for schedule oath, if not, a letter of denial is sent.

 

USCIS is commonly making mistakes, but the main problem is that the people don't know their rights so they can't fight for them.

Edited January 19, 2018 by ezsosa

[geowrian 22,335]

The IO was correct since you did actually file more than 90 days before the 3 year anniversary of being an LPR. Your original card was wrong and it was subsequently fixed.

[NikeS 49]

17 minutes ago, ezsosa said:

The IO was supposed to put that case on hold until the applicant meet the citizenship time requeriment accordingly to the last memorandum. After that, the system will remaind the case to the IO supervisor who make the decision, if approved they put it in line for schedule oath, if not, a letter of denial is sent.

 

USCIS is commonly making mistakes, but the main problem is that the people don't know their rights so they can't fight for them.

Can you provide the info about the memorandum? It may help the OP

[ezsosa 5]

The problem here is that a memo is not above the INA, and the IO decisions are discretional, but always attached to the law.

 

When the applicant is being interviewed and things like that happen, he or she has the right to ask for a supervisor, but normally we get scared and don't know how to proceed because we don't know our rigths.

 

Now is time to ask to the Congressman and/or Omdusman for help.

 

Even so, you can read more information about USCIS policies and all the rest here:  https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartB-Chapter4.html

Edited January 20, 2018 by ezsosa

[geowrian 22,335]

An applicant is permitted to ask for a supervisor, although every refusal goes through one before it is finalized anyway. That said, the officer is required to adjudicate the application based on its merit, and it was filed prematurely in this case and therefore not eligible for naturalization at the time.

 

The IO has no obligation to hold on to it longer, nor would doing so change the applicant's eligibility since they must have qualified at the time of filing, not at the time of adjudication.

[ezsosa 5]

22 hours ago, geowrian said:

An applicant is permitted to ask for a supervisor, although every refusal goes through one before it is finalized anyway. That said, the officer is required to adjudicate the application based on its merit, and it was filed prematurely in this case and therefore not eligible for naturalization at the time.

 

The IO has no obligation to hold on to it longer, nor would doing so change the applicant's eligibility since they must have qualified at the time of filing, not at the time of adjudication.

As I said, the IO decision is discretional but attached to the law. However, I have known of cases where the applicant is not elegible yet for oath at the time of the interview and the case is put on hold until reach eligibility. That commonly happens when the applicant does early walk-in biometrics. But, If USCIS make a clerical mistake they must fix it. Even so, the applicant did not file too early taking advance of a known error, because he or she entered the USA on 2/24/2014 and interviewed later on.

 

According to the manual the form must be reviewed at the time is filled to see if the applicant qualifies for the 90 days early filing rule, but they are human and can make mistakes.

Edited January 21, 2018 by ezsosa