Appeal of premature filing of N-400 (application mailed 2 days too early)

[tosat 4]

Last August, I filed for naturalization through marriage to a US citizen. The process went super fast in the beginning and I got my interview the following October before I had satisfied my continuing residency which would be 3 years that following November. I passed the interview and got a letter on the spot stating that I am approved for citizenship. I witnessed the interviewing officer put the approved stamp on my file. That same officer then asked me to wait in the lobby for my oath date. Then, ten minutes later she called me and directed me back to her office where she told me that she can't approve my file at that moment because I had filed my application 2 days too early and got an eraser and tried her best to erase the approved stamps she had placed on my file earlier. I explained to her that I had filed it three months early as advised by the guidelines and that's when she explained that it must be 90 days which in my case was 92 days before the 3 years continuing residency. She told me that she is going to wait a month and she will approve it then and will let me know my oath date immediately after. She put my file in a pile of other files. I asked her if I should call her to remind her to take care of it in a month, she told me to not worry, she will remember to take care of it because that's her job to remember. I said thank you and left.

A month later, no signs from her, 2 months later same thing. So I called their 800# & obtained an info pass to see her. Well, I did not see her but I saw a clerk who is not an officer. That clerk told me that she would let the officer know of my concern and I should receive an answer within 60 days and if I don't receive an answer from her within that time, to call the 800#. 60 days have passed and nothing. So I called the 800# again for advice on what I should do, i was sent an email stating that my application was pending an oath ceremony date and to wait another 60 days again for the oath date and if not to call back. I waited 60 days and still nothing after 5 months, so I called again a month and a half ago and was told that I will receive an answer within 30 days. Today, to my surprise, I received a letter stating that I am denied because I am not eligible due to filing too early and I am given the option to appeal for $605. I am wondering if anyone here has experienced this before and if so, what were the outcomes? If a lawyer is reading this, I would like to know what my chances are if I appeal to actually win and how long will the entire process take from appeal to oath date? Anyone, please provide suggestions. Thanks in advance.

p.s.I had requested a change in my name because I prefer a shortened name which as a result prompted me to get rid of my husband's last name from my name (it was combined with my own pre-married last name before which made it extremely lengthy) and also I got rid of my middle name. So, I don't know if that is a bad thing and if that was a part of their decision, although they did not mention it in their letter.

Thanks in advance for you suggestions.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Why would you appeal it? You filed two days too early. Unless you can go back in time and change that then your appeal will probably be denied. You weren't eligible when you filed. However, you ARE eligible NOW!

File again.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,235]

Really beats me that people after 20, 30, 40, or 50 or more years on planet Earth file too early. What the hell of a difference does it make if one becomes a US citizen on October 12 or October 21?

I'm eligible to file on June 14, and I'll be filing "some time" in July or August. So what?

[tosat 4]

Really beats me that people after 20, 30, 40, or 50 or more years on planet Earth file too early. What the hell of a difference does it make if one becomes a US citizen on October 12 or October 21?

I'm eligible to file on June 14, and I'll be filing "some time" in July or August. So what?

Whatever Bob! yeah of course you will because you now know about that prematurity stuff from reading about on this site, probably. I had mailed it in the hope that it would get there in 7-10 days. I did not know then that they went by the postmark date. I was not in a hurry. It was just there and complete and I wanted to get it out of the way. Plus it was exactly 3 months when I mailed it out. It's easy to blame others for something you are well aware of, right? right Bob. You are soooooo perfect, never made a mistake in your life. #### off man if you can't say anything positive. I don't need to hear that from you,just so you know ok. So just back off, will you?

ps: Just don't celebrate this early. Life has a funny way of getting back at you. So just lose the arrogance pal!

[tosat 4]

Why would you appeal it? You filed two days too early. Unless you can go back in time and change that then your appeal will probably be denied. You weren't eligible when you filed. However, you ARE eligible NOW!

File again.

Tks for your input. It is well appreciated. I understand your point and it would be the ideal thing to do. However, I would also like to hear from people who have done a similar appeal or knows someone who has. It would be nice if I do not have to go through the entire process over again due to some changes in my life. Thanks a bunch.

[caliguy77 1]

Tks for your input. It is well appreciated. I understand your point and it would be the ideal thing to do. However, I would also like to hear from people who have done a similar appeal or knows someone who has. It would be nice if I do not have to go through the entire process over again due to some changes in my life. Thanks a bunch.

I am sorry to hear about this. Its just bad luck. The fact is that you did file early (how early it doesn't matter). The immigration officer probably had to go thru some trouble in changing it to a denial and reversing her decision which is why it took too long. However, now you have clean slate again.

Appeal is a difficult process that you will have to do with the lawyer and spend some extra money anyways. If you chose to do it yourself - then your case is weak. Simple answer they will give you is that you got denied because you applied early.

Focus on the positive - that once you send in your application again, you will get approved.

I recommend that you consult a good lawyer - make another info pass appt and ask them what should u do now - spend the money and be patient. You will get thru this soon.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Tks for your input. It is well appreciated. I understand your point and it would be the ideal thing to do. However, I would also like to hear from people who have done a similar appeal or knows someone who has. It would be nice if I do not have to go through the entire process over again due to some changes in my life. Thanks a bunch.

Would the changes have anything to do with a breakup in your relationship? Of so, then that would only add a little delay to the process. You'd be eligible in 5 years instead of 3.

I've given you my opinion on the appeal. It will be time consuming. If you get an attorney (which is usually recommended when filing an appeal of a USCIS decision) then it will also be costly. In the end, you'll almost certainly lose. In addition, you'll leave a lot of people at USCIS scratching their heads and trying to figure why anyone would vigorously fight against something so seemingly insignificant as a denial for early filing, rather than simply filing again. The only justification I can see for even attempting to fight this is if you are no longer eligible. In that case, we're going to need more details about the "changes" in your life before we can offer useful advice.

[leahandlucas 15]

precisely...because the same thing happened to me...i filed 2-3 days early... i sent it hoping it would get there on the day of my eligability of 90 days, but it got there a few days earlier than i expected..

So what they did was just wait out a few days, then approved it,..then i got the oath letter...

I can only agree on jim's response as well...unless there has been a break up in your marriage, then it should be already approved, you with an oath letter and thats it...

[tosat 4]

Would the changes have anything to do with a breakup in your relationship? Of so, then that would only add a little delay to the process. You'd be eligible in 5 years instead of 3.

I've given you my opinion on the appeal. It will be time consuming. If you get an attorney (which is usually recommended when filing an appeal of a USCIS decision) then it will also be costly. In the end, you'll almost certainly lose. In addition, you'll leave a lot of people at USCIS scratching their heads and trying to figure why anyone would vigorously fight against something so seemingly insignificant as a denial for early filing, rather than simply filing again. The only justification I can see for even attempting to fight this is if you are no longer eligible. In that case, we're going to need more details about the "changes" in your life before we can offer useful advice.

No. There's no breakup. It's just that I have a newborn and I'm in pain from the labor which makes everything more difficult. I am just trying to see how I can save the fees I've paid because they should have returned the application and the money to me once they noticed that they received it too early or at the most, have me reapply at the time of the interview without fees since they only noticed the error at that time. I'm thinking maybe I called them too much, but I was only doing what they had advised me to do. Thanks for your answer.

[tosat 4]

precisely...because the same thing happened to me...i filed 2-3 days early... i sent it hoping it would get there on the day of my eligability of 90 days, but it got there a few days earlier than i expected..

So what they did was just wait out a few days, then approved it,..then i got the oath letter...

I can only agree on jim's response as well...unless there has been a break up in your marriage, then it should be already approved, you with an oath letter and thats it...

Could we PM each other? I would like to ask you a few questions because that is exactly what the officer who interviewed me said she was going to do: wait a few days and then approve it; the clerk told me it was approved and another officer told me it was pending an oath letter; but that's not what happened in the end. I cannot think of anything else. Did you have your interview after the 90 days have passed, I mean after you have satisfied your continuing residency or before? I had mine before I even satisfied my continuing residency, because everything went at the speed of light. I still had 30 days to go. This may be a factor as well.

Could we PM each other? I would like to ask you a few questions because that is exactly what the officer who interviewed me said she was going to do: wait a few days and then approve it; the clerk told me it was approved and another officer told me it was pending an oath letter; but that's not what happened in the end. I cannot think of anything else. Did you have your interview after the 90 days have passed, I mean after you have satisfied your continuing residency or before? I had mine before I even satisfied my continuing residency, because everything went at the speed of light. I still had 30 days to go. This may be a factor as well. Thank you soooooooo much for your answer. It means a lot to me to finally find someone who had been in the same situation.

[tosat 4]

Could we PM each other? I would like to ask you a few questions because that is exactly what the officer who interviewed me said she was going to do: wait a few days and then approve it; the clerk told me it was approved and another officer told me it was pending an oath letter; but that's not what happened in the end. I cannot think of anything else. Did you have your interview after the 90 days have passed, I mean after you have satisfied your continuing residency or before? I had mine before I even satisfied my continuing residency, because everything went at the speed of light. I still had 30 days to go. This may be a factor as well.

They explain that my application got denied because I did not satisfy the continuing residency at the time of the application.

[Darnell 8,478]

Well, that's something, then.

Strongly suggest you file a new N-400.

Good Luck!

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

No. There's no breakup. It's just that I have a newborn and I'm in pain from the labor which makes everything more difficult. I am just trying to see how I can save the fees I've paid because they should have returned the application and the money to me once they noticed that they received it too early or at the most, have me reapply at the time of the interview without fees since they only noticed the error at that time. I'm thinking maybe I called them too much, but I was only doing what they had advised me to do. Thanks for your answer.

You generally only get the fees refunded if they reject your application during initial screening. They accepted your application (which they probably should not have done), so your application was considered "filed", and they keep the fees.

Your case was bungled by the interviewing officer, and that caused a snowball effect. When she saw the dates she should have immediately denied your application, and allowed you to submit another. Instead, she tried to juggle your application and shoe horn it through the system. The other USCIS employees who handled your application probably had no idea what to do with it, as there are no provisions for routinely handling something like this. Bureaucracies don't deal well with non-conformity. Some supervisor probably saw your application still pending in the system and decided to have a look at it. "Why is this thing still here? This should have been denied a long time ago!".

Seriously, the amount they're quoting you for an appeal is only slightly less than the total cost of filing a new application. As I said before, there is practically no chance you'll win an appeal of THAT application. You can't overcome the fact that it was filed too early unless you have a Delorean, a flux capacitor, and some plutonium. Just file again and end the stress.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,235]

Whatever Bob! It's easy to blame others for something you are well aware of, right? right Bob. You are soooooo perfect, never made a mistake in your life. #### off man if you can't say anything positive. I don't need to hear that from you,just so you know ok. So just back off, will you?

ps: Just don't celebrate this early. Life has a funny way of getting back at you. So just lose the arrogance pal!

Yo, tosat . . . please keep your attitude where it belongs. I didn't blame you or anybody for anything; I simply stated that "I don't understand . . . " literally! I'm neither perfect nor did I ever made such a ridiculous claim. I'm sorry that you have so many problems with so simple things such as counting or reading. And I'm sorry that you didn't like my post in response to your post asking for responses. And, finally, I'm not your pal either, just so that we won't have any more misunderstandings.

You have a nice day now.

[tosat 4]

Yo, tosat . . . please keep your attitude where it belongs. I didn't blame you or anybody for anything; I simply stated that "I don't understand . . . " literally! I'm neither perfect nor did I ever made such a ridiculous claim. I'm sorry that you have so many problems with so simple things such as counting or reading. And I'm sorry that you didn't like my post in response to your post asking for responses. And, finally, I'm not your pal either, just so that we won't have any more misunderstandings.

You have a nice day now.

Hey Bob, why don't you put some music and dance to it. I checked you out. That's what you do for a living, making people feel bad. I don't know about you, but people who come here come for help and not to be made fun of. It doesn't take much to see that you may have some deep personal issues you're dealing with. Don't pass it on to people who have nothing to do with it. Since you think i have a problem with counting and reading, why don't you check your writing? This is my last reply to you because I do not have time for your nonsense.

Well, that's something, then.

Strongly suggest you file a new N-400.

Good Luck!

Thank you. I appreciate your input.