N-400 Denied (anyone who intends to file the day they become eligible, read this)

[The_Empyrean 733]

That's just... USCIS being (removed). I'm stunned. Really?! 1DAY and they denied you on that? Don't they have better things to do than having a person who immigrated legally, followed all the laws and submitted using THEIR OWN CALCULATOR ESTIMATE, denying?! it's just bull..
I know it's "on the date they received it" but your interview was a year later from filing. It's just total abuse of power, someone in the office was having a bad day i guess, and that person should be held responsible for his decision. Make it as public as possible until that piece of **** is found and fired, or resigns. They allow undocumented immigrants, kids, grown men, women into the country, granting some kind of assylums, refugee statuses, but deny a person for filing NATURALIZATION ONE DAY EARLY, even though you even weren't. It just boils my blood. They just do whatever they want to at this point. Go after them, and make them responsible. You've got proof in your hands, make them pay YOU for THEIR mistake this time. Whole forum is with you, and "has your back". Hold on, truth will come out.  

Edited January 25, 2019 by Ontarkie
bypassing language filter

[saladboye 166]

This is the stuff an Ombudsman would have stepped in and assisted. But with the shutdown, guess what? No bueno.

 

The fact that they even accepted your online submission says things otherwise cause as far as I remember they wont even accept if you are not eligible.

 

 

PS: Look at your form N-652, it says reach out to officer directly incase of issues. I would write a letter before making decision.

 

PPS: If you get traction on news, let me know, my case has been in limbo for 70 days now. the more the merrier.

 

[Life_love 45]

This is so heartbreaking and scary and the same time considering i also applied the same day i became eligible as well (GC - 06/26/2013 eligible 03/28/2018) but much later in the morning around 10:22AM and all the dates(received, priority and notice) states 03/28/2018. This leads me to believe it might be a time zone discrepancy or an error on their part, either way i'm inclined to believe  you can fight this with the steps you have taken, because there is NO where on teh website that indicates what timezone USCIS uses for online application and they cannot expect you to adhere to an unstated rule esp when you did in fact submit on the day of eligibility.


I wish you all the best and hope this gets sorted out as soon as possible in you favour.

 

GOODLUCK!!!!!!   

[geowrian 22,335]

That's awful! I hope you get it reversed and resolved soon since you filed on the correct date!!!

 

13 hours ago, PaulMac said:

That's just... USCIS being (removed).. I'm stunned. Really?! 1DAY and they denied you on that? Don't they have better things to do than having a person who immigrated legally, followed all the laws and submitted using THEIR OWN CALCULATOR ESTIMATE, denying?! it's just bull..
I know it's "on the date they received it" but your interview was a year later from filing. It's just total abuse of power, someone in the office was having a bad day i guess, and that person should be held responsible for his decision. Make it as public as possible until that piece of **** is found and fired, or resigns. They allow undocumented immigrants, kids, grown men, women into the country, granting some kind of assylums, refugee statuses, but deny a person for filing NATURALIZATION ONE DAY EARLY, even though you even weren't. It just boils my blood. They just do whatever they want to at this point. Go after them, and make them responsible. You've got proof in your hands, make them pay YOU for THEIR mistake this time. Whole forum is with you, and "has your back". Hold on, truth will come out.  

I disagree. They are bound by the law. It's a mistake on their part with the date filed, but as far as they know the date filed was 1 day early. As such, they cannot approve the N-400 by law.

It's not a matter of USCIS or the IO abusing power. It's a matter of mistaken facts.

Edited January 25, 2019 by Ontarkie
edited quoted part for language

[The_Empyrean 733]

4 minutes ago, geowrian said:

That's awful! I hope you get it reversed and resolved soon since you filed on the correct date!!!

 

I disagree. They are bound by the law. It's a mistake on their part with the date filed, but as far as they know the date filed was 1 day early. As such, they cannot approve the N-400 by law.

It's not a matter of USCIS or the IO abusing power. It's a matter of mistaken facts.

Exactly. It's their mistake and no one who handled the case picked the error up, and on whose head it's falling? As usual, applicant. Additional wait, additional expenses, stress. It's not his mistake and he shouldn't be paying for it is my point. And there has to be a way to make them accountable for it. 

[JeanneSs 72]

11 hours ago, Hypnos said:

So I became an LPR on 3rd April, 2013. This meant that according to USCIS' filing calculator I became eligible to file an N-400 on 3rd January, 2018 (plus five years minus 90 days). I filed my N-400 online through ELIS at 2:30am, staying up late because I was excited to finally begin this final chapter in my immigration journey.

 

I hit an early roadblock when the receipt NoA for some reason assigned me an N-400 priority date of the previous day, 2nd January. The "application received on" date was correct since it said 3rd January. I posted about it here more than once, and the consensus seemed to be that USCIS would honour the "received" date, not the "priority" date.

 

It took a year of waiting (thanks, Dallas backlog) but I eventually got my naturalisation interview scheduled for 14th January of this year. I dutifully attended, answered all questions and passed all the tests, but was told a decision could not be made. Well the decision was made tonight, and a denial notice popped up in my online USCIS account. The reason? I applied too early. The notice stated that I applied on 2nd January, 2018, and was only eligible to file on 3rd January, 2018. Again, this wasn't mentioned at the interview, and I brought all my emailed ELIS receipts and other documents showing I filed on 3rd January in case they ever brought it up, but they didn't.

 

So it's been a fun night. After a brief period of shouting, loudly, I began to move into attack mode.

 

What I have done so far:

 

1) Emailed the CIS Ombudsman giving them the entire story, receipts with timestamps showing I applied on the correct date, and all that jazz. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure the Ombudsman is closed right now as part of the partial federal government shutdown, so I'm not really expecting much out of this immediately.

 

2) I'm going to my Congressman's local office tomorrow to give them the story and all the same documents and seeing if they can intercede with USCIS on my behalf.

 

3) Emailed my old lawyer and another lawyer that helped me back in 2013 to see if they can offer suggestions. Not trying to freeload on them; I offered to pay whatever fee they deem reasonable on this, since it's obviously no longer in DIY territory.

 

4) I'll be contacting the two biggest local newspapers, the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, to see if they're interested in doing a story on this. I figure the more attention I can get on it the more likely I am to get something done.

 

I also have the option of either filing a fresh application, together with its $725 fee and one year wait time, or an N-336 formal appeal of their decision. Fun fact on the N-336: it costs $700 to file, and you will often wait almost as long as it costs to process a new N-400, so they kinda get you coming and going on that one. I'm not ruling anything out yet, but for now I'm hanging my hat on something from 1-4 getting me somewhere on this.

 

So at the end of the day, anyone intending to file for naturalisation on the day they become eligible: DON'T DO IT. Wait a couple of days, then submit. You will avoid all this bullshit, and can instead deal with some other USCIS bullshit that will be unrelated to this.

 

Now it's time to write some letters to newspapers and see if I can get anywhere. I will post replies here as to what happens, if anything meaningful does.

My heart is broken   I’m sorry to hear this but hope you find solution soon. 

[ThomasNC1988 762]

I'm sorry for you, but glad you posted this. So many times I have seen post about people you mailed in stuff and it got there a day earlier than they thought or they thought one day was their day but it turns out it was a day or two later and had issues. I always thinks why wouldn't you wait a couple of days or a week into your filing period just in case you calculated wrong or in case they calculate wrong. USCIS isn't exactly known for being perfect and their mistakes always hurt us more than them. I hope everyone who reads this realizes yes it is exciting, but a few days in the scope of a years long journey is worth it just to play it safe. Hopefully, you can get your situation resolved but it may be easier just to reapply.

 

I wonder if it is possibly an issue with their case ID system. I've never done an N-400 but on everything I have done the case OD always includes a date code as in 001 is January 1. Maybe the online system only starts giving out 002 at 8am on January 2nd or something then their system recognizes your Case ID and says its a 001 so that's a January 1 case ID. Just a theory so could be wayyyyyyy off base.

[geowrian 22,335]

49 minutes ago, PaulMac said:

Exactly. It's their mistake and no one who handled the case picked the error up, and on whose head it's falling? As usual, applicant. Additional wait, additional expenses, stress. It's not his mistake and he shouldn't be paying for it is my point. And there has to be a way to make them accountable for it. 

They are human. They make mistakes. Making a mistake and/or not noticing a mistake is very different than a "total abuse of power" (your exact words). A single mistake on a date being off by 1 day doesn't jump out as a reason to call for somebody to be fired or forced to resign.

I 100% understand that it sucks having to jump through hoops to fix their mistake. But nothing here is a capital offense, somebody being vindictive, abusing power, etc. It's a miscalculation.

[Mon413 3]

Im nervous now my gc card date is 4/1/2015 

Married to usc for three plus year i sent n 400 form 1/22/18 hope im ok

[The_Empyrean 733]

14 minutes ago, geowrian said:

They are human. They make mistakes. Making a mistake and/or not noticing a mistake is very different than a "total abuse of power" (your exact words). A single mistake on a date being off by 1 day doesn't jump out as a reason to call for somebody to be fired or forced to resign.

I 100% understand that it sucks having to jump through hoops to fix their mistake. But nothing here is a capital offense, somebody being vindictive, abusing power, etc. It's a miscalculation.

Your mistake is punished by denial. Their mistake is punished...how? By you filing an appeal and paying 700 bucks. It's not a mcdonalds drive thru to make mistakes like that, and even there they take more responsibilities than USCIS. I really have nothing against USCIS, they do outstanding job, considering the sheer amount of people, petitions, interviews etc. But things like these should never happen, especially if it's initial phase controlled by computers now, then it goes thru different hands and gets reviewed probably not once. (i went overboard with abuse of power, my mistake)

[Life_love 45]

No offence but can we not go off topic because of the "abuse of power" word used. This is a really important post for not only the original poster, but for people who happened to file on the earliest accepted date as well as those planning to do so. I have also seen a couple of post on different forums with people in similar situations except they haven't yet gotten an interview scheduled. So please if we can add something meaningful that relates directly to the issue and not the word abuse of power, that would be great.

@hypnos please keep us updated on any actions taken. I really wish you all the best and i pray this mistake willl be sorted out in your favor. Amen!

[gc@gc 184]

13 hours ago, Hypnos said:

So I became an LPR on 3rd April, 2013. This meant that according to USCIS' filing calculator I became eligible to file an N-400 on 3rd January, 2018 (plus five years minus 90 days). I filed my N-400 online through ELIS at 2:30am, staying up late because I was excited to finally begin this final chapter in my immigration journey.

 

I hit an early roadblock when the receipt NoA for some reason assigned me an N-400 priority date of the previous day, 2nd January. The "application received on" date was correct since it said 3rd January. I posted about it here more than once, and the consensus seemed to be that USCIS would honour the "received" date, not the "priority" date.

 

It took a year of waiting (thanks, Dallas backlog) but I eventually got my naturalisation interview scheduled for 14th January of this year. I dutifully attended, answered all questions and passed all the tests, but was told a decision could not be made. Well the decision was made tonight, and a denial notice popped up in my online USCIS account. The reason? I applied too early. The notice stated that I applied on 2nd January, 2018, and was only eligible to file on 3rd January, 2018. Again, this wasn't mentioned at the interview, and I brought all my emailed ELIS receipts and other documents showing I filed on 3rd January in case they ever brought it up, but they didn't.

 

So it's been a fun night. After a brief period of shouting, loudly, I began to move into attack mode.

 

What I have done so far:

 

1) Emailed the CIS Ombudsman giving them the entire story, receipts with timestamps showing I applied on the correct date, and all that jazz. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure the Ombudsman is closed right now as part of the partial federal government shutdown, so I'm not really expecting much out of this immediately.

 

2) I'm going to my Congressman's local office tomorrow to give them the story and all the same documents and seeing if they can intercede with USCIS on my behalf.

 

3) Emailed my old lawyer and another lawyer that helped me back in 2013 to see if they can offer suggestions. Not trying to freeload on them; I offered to pay whatever fee they deem reasonable on this, since it's obviously no longer in DIY territory.

 

4) I'll be contacting the two biggest local newspapers, the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, to see if they're interested in doing a story on this. I figure the more attention I can get on it the more likely I am to get something done.

 

I also have the option of either filing a fresh application, together with its $725 fee and one year wait time, or an N-336 formal appeal of their decision. Fun fact on the N-336: it costs $700 to file, and you will often wait almost as long as it costs to process a new N-400, so they kinda get you coming and going on that one. I'm not ruling anything out yet, but for now I'm hanging my hat on something from 1-4 getting me somewhere on this.

 

So at the end of the day, anyone intending to file for naturalisation on the day they become eligible: DON'T DO IT. Wait a couple of days, then submit. You will avoid all this bullshit, and can instead deal with some other USCIS bullshit that will be unrelated to this.

 

Now it's time to write some letters to newspapers and see if I can get anywhere. I will post replies here as to what happens, if anything meaningful does.

 

Did you try Infopass? not sure if a visit to your local field office would fix the mistake, but that might be the quickest venue?  just a thought

 

good luck to you

 

 

 

 

[Unlockable 7,306]

Unbelievable!!!

[punter13 32]

@Hypnos I am very sorry to hear about your denial. This is plainly ridiculous. In 2017, I also applied via ELIS exactly on 90th day as per early filing calculator and my priority date was one day early just like yours. When I saw my priority date issue, I called USCIS to see what is going on. Apparently I was told by USCIS that they adjudicate based on received date so I am good. During my interview I was also given "decision cannot be made" paper just like you. But eventually my N-400 was approved exactly after two months and took the oath after another four months.

 

Honestly I am more bummed right now given two completely opposite outcome with our applications. I really hope you can put an end to this big mess asap. Good luck!

[Dashinka 23,202]

3 hours ago, PaulMac said:

Exactly. It's their mistake and no one who handled the case picked the error up, and on whose head it's falling? As usual, applicant. Additional wait, additional expenses, stress. It's not his mistake and he shouldn't be paying for it is my point. And there has to be a way to make them accountable for it. 

Not necessarily.  With anything online related to submissions or orders, the software has to change the day based on something.  In this case it appears that the day does not change until either Alaska and Hawaii enter the new day, or the midnight hour has passed Anywhere on Earth (typically identified as Howland Island).  This might be a reason not to file online.