rejected from oath ceremony after gettign approved

[amamun3774 0]

so everything seemed to go smooth, filed n400 everything was approved on time. went for interview passed the interview got the oath ceremony date. 2 days after the interview i get a phone call from uscis local office saying they have taken my name off from the oath ceremony which was scheduled for the following week because i don't meet the 3 year permanent resident guideline. so now my journey begins with uscis. when filing the n400 i followed the date that was on my PR card which qualifies me for 3 years resident. according to uscis that was a typo on my card and the actual date they have on file i wouldn't qualify for naturalization for another 9 months, so guess what i lose my application fee and have to wait a good year. now who's fault is it that they made typo? and the instructions for the n400 specifically says follow the date on PR card. did anyone else ever go through this ? this is new york by the way.

[English Muffin 59]

Didn't you notice when you got your Green Card that the date on it was wrong?

Moving from K1 forum to Citizenship forum.

Please fill in your timeline so that people will get a better idea of your immigration journey and be able to offer some advice.

Edited January 28, 2010 by English Muffin

[amamun3774 0]

No becuase I thought they counted from the date they received my application which was oct 2006.

Didn't you notice when you got your Green Card that the date on it was wrong?

Moving from K1 forum to Citizenship forum.

Please fill in your timeline so that people will get a better idea of your immigration journey and be able to offer some advice.

[lucyrich 19]

The wrong date on the green card was their clerical error. But the law doesn't allow them to naturalize you until you've completed three years as a lawful permanent resident, regardless of clerical error. If they didn't catch their error and let you go through the naturalization ceremony, your naturalization would have been invalid and you would probably be administratively denaturalized later, which would have been a tremendous headache for you (much worse than just re-filing an N-400). So you should be glad they caught it before the oath instead of afterwards.

On the N-400 which you filled out, you probably checked box 2B, which says "I have been a lawful permanent resident for at least three years ...". They made an error when they put the wrong date on your card, but you also made an error when you checked that box and claimed you had held the green card for at least three years.

Edited January 28, 2010 by lucyrich

[DrKunzle09 0]

Get a lawyer. You should be allowed to take oath once you meet the 3 year requirement. All the best.

[lucyrich 19]

Get a lawyer. You should be allowed to take oath once you meet the 3 year requirement. All the best.

Not without re-filing. INA 319(a) clearly says the three year requirement applies prior to the date of filing the application. INA 334(a) allows the 90 day shortcut on the 319(a) or 316(a) residency requirement, but if the application was filed earlier than the 90 day shortcut would allow, then the law doesn't allow the individual to just wait awhile and take the oath after the residency requirement is met.

Even if there was a clerical error, the USCIS officers don't have the authority to waive those provisions in the law enacted by Congress.

[NickD 202]

Not without re-filing. INA 319(a) clearly says the three year requirement applies prior to the date of filing the application. INA 334(a) allows the 90 day shortcut on the 319(a) or 316(a) residency requirement, but if the application was filed earlier than the 90 day shortcut would allow, then the law doesn't allow the individual to just wait awhile and take the oath after the residency requirement is met.

Even if there was a clerical error, the USCIS officers don't have the authority to waive those provisions in the law enacted by Congress.

Hate to say this about my wife, she is a wonderful woman, but was a bit careless in her children's birth certificates and even her previous marriage certificate not letting Latin American typos be corrected then and there. This cost us a small fortune in those countries to even get minor typos corrected. I see on my keyboard, the "V" is right next to the "B", someone hit the "V" instead of the "B". It was their mistake, but we had to pay for it, and pay for it dearly.

With the USCIS, anything we got back I examined under a microscope so to speak for any errors, and especially after her oath certificate with all that excitement. Rather than jumping up and down was going through her certificate with a fine tooth comb, give me a couple of minutes honey before we walked out the door. No errors there, but she was so excited when she received her first drivers's license, she never noticed they misspelled her last name. I caught that before we left and got it corrected, then and there.

Again when their green cards first came in, wife and daughter were again jumping up and down, but never paid attention to that brochure that came in and read it carefully with all the rules, again old sternface did that. Hmmm, both of you are females and don't have to sign up for selective service. How many males in that age group came here and never read that brochure? Recall that brochure stating for you to very carefully check your card for any errors, that I did even cross referencing our application.

It's so typical when receiving any bill, to have bunch of garbage attached like buying a phony diamond ring with only three easy installments. That can be pitched, but anything from the USCIS has to be gone over with a fine tooth comb. It's the OP fault for not following these instructions. Matter of fact, anything dealing with the USCIS is your fault.

[nigel 7]

Ive read where applicants of the N-400 was interviewed before there 3 yr and was told at the interview that they had to wait 2 more mths before the oath..

Also ive read where somebody took the oath before the 3 yrs also...uscis errors happen everyday...it's wise to double check everything document from them as there is only one person who is wrong and it's not them..

But i feel the very least they should do is delay until the correct time without paying more fees....maybe interveiw you again in 9 mths time..

But are they going to do that? different story..

[Sc0tt28 26]

so everything seemed to go smooth, filed n400 everything was approved on time. went for interview passed the interview got the oath ceremony date. 2 days after the interview i get a phone call from uscis local office saying they have taken my name off from the oath ceremony which was scheduled for the following week because i don't meet the 3 year permanent resident guideline. so now my journey begins with uscis. when filing the n400 i followed the date that was on my PR card which qualifies me for 3 years resident. according to uscis that was a typo on my card and the actual date they have on file i wouldn't qualify for naturalization for another 9 months, so guess what i lose my application fee and have to wait a good year. now who's fault is it that they made typo? and the instructions for the n400 specifically says follow the date on PR card. did anyone else ever go through this ? this is new york by the way.

Me thinks you should know how long you have been a PR and not need a card to tell you.

[DanielParul 50]

Me thinks you should know how long you have been a PR and not need a card to tell you.

Thats what I think too. Always put a reminder and remember your dates. USCIS is not answerable and will not suffer any consequences, you will.

[NickD 202]

Found it curious that the first bit of evidence they ask for is a copy of your green card, and on both sides. Didn't we receive our green cards from the USCIS? Don't they have a record or a copy of it? And what good is that copy if they check it anyway, in particular for the date it was issued. Wife and daughter never liked the photos they took of them, typically catch them with a dumb look. Now the photos I took for her certificate she liked, but that was after many tries.

If this was a conditional green card, really can't help but memorized the date, if you don't apply precisely 90 days before it expires after two years, you will be here illegally and can even be deported. Still can remember the date of my wife's green card, saw it many times, June 27, 2005 to be precise, and I am not good at remembering dates.

[bv2116 0]

Your situation is definitely not favorable. I'm sorry for the headache. I'd be more pissed about the duplication of processing fees than anything else. Like another poster stated...it's too bad they can't just schedule you out for another 9 months so you don't have to repay. Best of luck!