Extremely rude and confrontational officer during naturalization interview

[mymarriagejourney 113]

Well, my husband had his naturalization interview this morning and it ruined his day.

We've had a fairly easy time with immigration to this point, and it really caught him off guard to have such a bad experience with the officer today. He easily passed both the English and the Civics portion of the interview. But, the officer was nasty and disrespectful when asking questions about our marriage, mostly focusing on finances. For example, when he asked about "accounts" my husband assumed bank accounts and told the officer we had 2 joint accounts and told him the name of the bank. The officer pressed and said, "Are those the only accounts you have?" and my husband said "yes" and the officer rolled his eyes and gave him a nasty look. Perhaps he wanted him to mention joint credit cards? To my husband, "accounts" means bank accounts. In the same vein, the officer asked if he had joined any organizations where he paid dues. My husband said, "no." To my husband, he is thinking of a union, for example. The officer asked the question again in a rude way. Perhaps he wanted him to say that we belong to the local gym and pay a monthly fee to the gym? Whatever it was, he was treating my husband like he was an idiot. He was similarly disrespectful when mentioning his step children and other topics.

We've proved the validity of our marriage twice during this process, and my husband had documentation in-hand should he have wanted to see proof of the ongoing relationship, but the officer never asked to see anything except for his green card and drivers license.

Needless to say, he didn't mark the box on the form that said approved, although he did notate on the form that the tests were passed. The box checked was for "further review."

It's hard to convey the nastiness of this guy as I'm writing it out, but I've rarely seen my husband so disturbed and offended. I honestly would have expected more of this type of demeanor during the AOS rather than naturalization.

[almost_umrican 53]

Sorry for your experience, i had a similar experience at a POE while my ROC was pending.the IO was being a smart alec with me, commenting on my how ugly my pp picture was etc. i asked him to give me his agent Id and who his manager was, believe me, his tone and attitude changed in a fraction of sec and he started treating me like i invented america or something. i will not deny the fact that they can be nasty and ugly and have my sympathies for the treatment meted out to your husband.on a positive note, tell him congratulations

[mymarriagejourney 113]

I don't think congrats are in order yet. The recommendation for citizenship was not marked on the form, but rather marked for "further review." We will see what happens.

[Safety Chick 5]

Sorry to hear about your experience. it's really not fair people treat others with disrespect. Mine wasn't rude but he wasn't nice either up until the end.

[TBoneTX 43,250]

i asked him to give me his agent Id and who his manager was

It takes a lot of composure and poise to remember to do this -- it's exactly what to do.

*** Thread shifted from US Citizenship main forum to the Case Progress subforum. ***

[IcezMan_IcezLady 582]

Sorry for your husband's rude encounter..But one thing I learned before migrating here was, NEVER assume unless you are really sure that's what question demands. These people write or bubble in whatever answer you give and you won't have the chance to explain yourself when the review comes around.

But lets keep our fingers crossed that, that attitude of the officer has no impact on the interview results.

Everything will work out.

[NexGen 8]

Well, my husband had his naturalization interview this morning and it ruined his day.

We've had a fairly easy time with immigration to this point, and it really caught him off guard to have such a bad experience with the officer today. He easily passed both the English and the Civics portion of the interview. But, the officer was nasty and disrespectful when asking questions about our marriage, mostly focusing on finances. For example, when he asked about "accounts" my husband assumed bank accounts and told the officer we had 2 joint accounts and told him the name of the bank. The officer pressed and said, "Are those the only accounts you have?" and my husband said "yes" and the officer rolled his eyes and gave him a nasty look. Perhaps he wanted him to mention joint credit cards? To my husband, "accounts" means bank accounts. In the same vein, the officer asked if he had joined any organizations where he paid dues. My husband said, "no." To my husband, he is thinking of a union, for example. The officer asked the question again in a rude way. Perhaps he wanted him to say that we belong to the local gym and pay a monthly fee to the gym? Whatever it was, he was treating my husband like he was an idiot. He was similarly disrespectful when mentioning his step children and other topics.

We've proved the validity of our marriage twice during this process, and my husband had documentation in-hand should he have wanted to see proof of the ongoing relationship, but the officer never asked to see anything except for his green card and drivers license.

Needless to say, he didn't mark the box on the form that said approved, although he did notate on the form that the tests were passed. The box checked was for "further review."

It's hard to convey the nastiness of this guy as I'm writing it out, but I've rarely seen my husband so disturbed and offended. I honestly would have expected more of this type of demeanor during the AOS rather than naturalization.

Oh man! So sorry about your experience. Sounds like that particular interviewer had a bad day or bad attitude about their job and they took it out on your husband. Look, provided your husband has met the eligibilty requirements for citizenship, is not a security risk or perpetrating a fraud to gain citizenship, they have no reasonable basis to deny him. I believe he will come through in the end.

[mymarriagejourney 113]

Can anyone comment if they have had the "further review" box checked and yet were not asked for additional documents (or to see any of the documents brought to the interview)? No reason was given for the reason for "further review." My husband passed the English and Civics tests and was very rudely told "we are done here" and given the paper with the "further review" box checked. That's it.

[almost_umrican 53]

Can anyone comment if they have had the "further review" box checked and yet were not asked for additional documents (or to see any of the documents brought to the interview)? No reason was given for the reason for "further review." My husband passed the English and Civics tests and was very rudely told "we are done here" and given the paper with the "further review" box checked. That's it.

i think you guys will be fine.

[Penguin_ie 5,986]

That is actually not uncommon, the further review; in many cases, a supervisor needs to sign off on the case before you can be scheduled for an oath.

[Alaska2012 462]

I didn't have a bad experience at my interview but I didn't get approved on the spot either. The officer told me she had to do the last background checks and such before she could approve me. I asked what that meant and she had to pull my fingerprints and whatnot. I got my oath ceremony letter a while later.

[NexGen 8]

I concur with Penguin. My application was approved on the spot by the interviewing IO but he did mention that my entire file still had to be routed to a supervisor for final review. Primary role of the supervisor is to make sure the interviewer did not miss anything. In the majority of cases, supervisory review is simply a formality. But there are instances the file can be kicked back to the interviewer, usually for administrative reasons, meaning, there is a form missing or additional evidentiary info is needed in which case USCIS will send you a letter (ie Request for Evidence or RFE for short). The supervisor is looking not just at your n400 application but your ENTIRE immigration file. This is their last chance to dot their "i" and cross their "t" before they approve you. Once the supervisor signs off, USCIS can schedule you for the oath ceremony. You are in the home stretch.

[N400applicant 7]

In my personal experience the interviewing officer was very polite. It didn't prevent him from screwing my answer, and then I had to wait almost two months after my interview before my I-485 was approved (which also coincided with Senatorial inquiry I have initiated). But I had no outright confrontational attitude or rude treatment to deal with. It was more like passive aggressive (just not doing anything after interview) than plain and openly aggressive behavior.

I think your husband is lucky. If officer is rude and openly confrontational without a reason then you have some grounds to file formal complaint, write to his superiors, create a facebook story, write to your Congressmen, basically do all you can to make a lot of waves, bringing full attention to his misconduct. It's a lot worse when there is nothing you can do, because from strictly legal point of view there is nothing wrong that is being done to you, not even a rude and confrontational treatment. That same officer could have been extremely polite and just never make a decision on his case. That would have been even worse.

Edited November 4, 2015 by N400applicant

[Hypnos 6,576]

I mis-read the title as saying that your husband was interviewed by an extremely nude and confrontational officer.

I was going to say that some people would pay good money for that particular style of berating.

Edited November 4, 2015 by Hypnos

[zeeeeeeek 9]

When i first read the title of the thread i was thinking my self there is a 90% chance the interview was done in Amman, Jordan. Sadly i was right about that but i would like to put you at ease, this is very normal here in Jordan. Most officers whether it's in U.S embassy, Canadian, Australian, etc... they all look like they have a stick up their a$$ when conducting interview. Give it a couple of weeks and you should hear good news soon, worst thing could happen is that he may be scheduled for a second interview.

Well, my husband had his naturalization interview this morning and it ruined his day.

We've had a fairly easy time with immigration to this point, and it really caught him off guard to have such a bad experience with the officer today. He easily passed both the English and the Civics portion of the interview. But, the officer was nasty and disrespectful when asking questions about our marriage, mostly focusing on finances. For example, when he asked about "accounts" my husband assumed bank accounts and told the officer we had 2 joint accounts and told him the name of the bank. The officer pressed and said, "Are those the only accounts you have?" and my husband said "yes" and the officer rolled his eyes and gave him a nasty look. Perhaps he wanted him to mention joint credit cards? To my husband, "accounts" means bank accounts. In the same vein, the officer asked if he had joined any organizations where he paid dues. My husband said, "no." To my husband, he is thinking of a union, for example. The officer asked the question again in a rude way. Perhaps he wanted him to say that we belong to the local gym and pay a monthly fee to the gym? Whatever it was, he was treating my husband like he was an idiot. He was similarly disrespectful when mentioning his step children and other topics.

We've proved the validity of our marriage twice during this process, and my husband had documentation in-hand should he have wanted to see proof of the ongoing relationship, but the officer never asked to see anything except for his green card and drivers license.

Needless to say, he didn't mark the box on the form that said approved, although he did notate on the form that the tests were passed. The box checked was for "further review."

It's hard to convey the nastiness of this guy as I'm writing it out, but I've rarely seen my husband so disturbed and offended. I honestly would have expected more of this type of demeanor during the AOS rather than naturalization.