Was told I'd receive Oath Invitation in two weeks, but got "a decision cannot be made at this time"

[gsg32 0]

Hi all,

I'm a Canadian citizen residing in the US for 12 years, the last 4.5 of which have been as a permanent resident (other yrs were spent as a student, and legally employed resident alien). My wife and I have been married for 5.5 years (still happily married) and just moved a few days ago to a larger house to start adding to the family.

I had my naturalization interview last week, and it went very well (or so I thought). I had answered the civics questions easily, and otherwise had a good conversation with the interviewing officer about my background and marriage.

At the end of the interview, however, the officer informed me that they would need to conduct a background check before inviting me to the Oath Ceremony. She mentioned that I should be receiving my Oath invitation in a couple of weeks in time for the April ceremony. Yet, I was confused because I didn't receive the straight approval (instead I got the form that says "a decision cannot be made at this time").

I don't have a criminal record, and there were two charges I've ever had (no DMV tickets, etc.):

1. Harassment (2006): thrown out. No charges filed. I did some volunteer work, but never was on parole, etc. I was asked about this, and it was a bad break-up in college. I was on ACD (Adjournment contemplating dismissal), which does not count as parole or probation. Conditions are only that the charge is thrown out if I'm on good behavior in the following six motnhs. The case was thrown out and the charge sealed.

2. Open container violation (2009): fine I paid

I haven't had any other fines/fees since as far as I know, and I ran my own criminal check yesterday and it came up clean.

Question: what are your thoughts?

[JimmyHou 610]

Hi all,

I'm a Canadian citizen residing in the US for 12 years, the last 4.5 of which have been as a permanent resident (other yrs were spent as a student, and legally employed resident alien). My wife and I have been married for 5.5 years (still happily married) and just moved a few days ago to a larger house to start adding to the family.

I had my naturalization interview last week, and it went very well (or so I thought). I had answered the civics questions easily, and otherwise had a good conversation with the interviewing officer about my background and marriage.

At the end of the interview, however, the officer informed me that they would need to conduct a background check before inviting me to the Oath Ceremony. She mentioned that I should be receiving my Oath invitation in a couple of weeks in time for the April ceremony. Yet, I was confused because I didn't receive the straight approval (instead I got the form that says "a decision cannot be made at this time").

I don't have a criminal record, and there were two charges I've ever had (no DMV tickets, etc.):

1. Harassment (2006): thrown out. No charges filed. I did some volunteer work, but never was on parole, etc. I was asked about this, and it was a bad break-up in college. I was on ACD (Adjournment contemplating dismissal), which does not count as parole or probation. Conditions are only that the charge is thrown out if I'm on good behavior in the following six motnhs. The case was thrown out and the charge sealed.

2. Open container violation (2009): fine I paid

I haven't had any other fines/fees since as far as I know, and I ran my own criminal check yesterday and it came up clean.

Question: what are your thoughts?

Unfortunately, regardless of what the officer said at the interview, they have 120 days from the day of your interview to respond... you can contact them by phone or make an appointment and visit them in person before then, but be prepared to be told that your case is within normal processing times. They first need to approve your application (since that hasn't happened yet) then they will schedule a ceremony. If they need more details, you may get an RFE (request for evidence) in the mail. It's definitely too early to start worrying, but if you haven't heard anything in a couple of months, you might want to contact them (again, don't expect much of a response until your application has been waiting longer than the normal processing time).

So that's the standard answer, but hopefully you won't need to do much waiting and you'll get a response in the next few weeks.

Edited March 17, 2015 by JimmyHou

[gsg32 0]

Thanks for the quick response. I even asked my officer (to help overcome any ambiguity) "thumbs up?" She said "yes, thumbs up. This happens all the time, and the turnaround should be relatively quick. Since the march ceremony is almost full, I'll be most likely invited to the April ceremony".

What is it that they'd check in this background check? Should I hire a lawyer? Lastly, my wife and I heading to Europe for a few days late March. I asked the officer if this'll be a big deal. She said "no" since i'm well below the 6 month limit, but I should have someone watch my mail in case I get my oath invitation. Lastly, she felt like I'd be OK making the April oath ceremony. She sounded very bullish on my case - is there any point reading into this?

Edited March 18, 2015 by gsg32

[DC85 113]

I think you shouldn't worry 2 much about this. Each office has its own rules, and some officers doesn't have the approval authority on naturalization, specially when there is any incident. I think they just wanna verify the Harassment issue. I know may be if the officer told you that you are approved you might have a closure. But trust me before you get your Naturalization certificate , they can reverse their decision at any moment if the find something in your file.

[gsg32 0]

My status changed online today. It says my oath ceremony invite will be arriving in the mail soon.

Thank god.

[gsg32 0]

Scratch that - false alarm.

[gsg32 0]

checked just now - and my status has changed to "

Oath Ceremony Will Be Scheduled".

So thankful this process is (almost) over.

[gsg32 0]

Scheduled for April 23 oath ceremony!

[TBoneTX 43,250]

That's great news! Congratulations.

[NancyNguyen 1,657]

Congratulations.