N400 Not Approved Right Away; IO said he'd need to review my marriage

[Benoit_L 14]

Hi guys, here is my experience today about my naturalization interview:

 

So I had my naturalization interview today but I didn't get an immediate approval on site.  The IO gave me N-652 indicating that I passed the English and civics test but a decision cannot be made yet.

My application was in the afternoon and I was pretty much the last person in that room.  My IO seemingly was in a rush as he explained he had problems with his computer and the system was slow and not responding in the afternoon.  He had to ask his coworker for help on getting my fingerprints in a different office room.  He said he wanted to go home but the IT system was holding him back.  Actually his coworkers went home already.  I felt that he didn't have enough time to go over my file.  He asked for my passports, green card, driver license and marriage certificate.  And he also asked me about my marriage couple of times, e.g. when were you married? How many times have you been married? After that we quickly went over the questions and English tests which were pretty easy and I passed them all without issues.He also confirmed my name change and asked me all the generic questions about morals.  But the IT system seemed not working as he had to manually submit my signatures on name change and the oath of allegiance.  He said he would need to review my marriage case and if there were any other documents needed he would mail a notice to me. He said I passed the tests but he said I was married less than five years so he'd need to review my marriage, which kinda confused me.

 

When I was going home, I googled again and made sure I should be eligible for naturalization after 3 years of being a permanent resident and being in a marriage with an American citizen, not 5 years. So I was wondering why he would say stuffs like that. Because my petition to remove the 2 year restraint was approved this year already and my marriage should have been reviewed for authenticity by USCIS already . But another reason why might be that he didn't have time to go over my case because he was either overloaded with other cases or had the IT issues or he was too junior to make the call (Although he didn't seem like it). 

 

I don't wanna be paranoid about it and was somewhat relieved in the same time because I will be travelling abroad soon and might not be able to get my American passport in time to return to the U.S, had my application been approved right away. I googled and people said the wait could be 120 days.  I am ok with it so the timing might work out.  The only thing that concerns me is that why he would say he needed to review my marriage case for naturalization? 

 

Any ideas?

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

I would imagine he would need to review your marriage since you are applying for naturalization based on your marriage. I would imagine they will review your evidence of your marriage to clarify that it was entered in good faith etc.

[Ontarkie 13,902]

Everything sounds normal.

Well minus the IT stuff. 

[amkhan 108]

If you would not be eligible the USCIS would not called you for an interviewed well the officer might need to do some case reviewed since his computer was acting weird, I woulda advised you to just relax and wait for their response.

[Going through 5,668]

It's normal to not be approved on the spot.

 

It's also normal for the IO to review your marriage when filing the N400 based on marriage.

[Benoit_L 14]

Ok guys I still haven't heard anything back from USCIS since Nov 13, when I submitted all the requested evidences online; my USCIS online system says they have received all the evidences they requested and I do not need to do anything at this time.  It also says that USCIS has begun the work on my case but it has been 2 months already and I am worried if my files are just sitting somewhere in the office and they completely forgot about it.

 

Because my original estimated case completion time on the USCIS system is supposed to be Jan 2020 and the system also said that they would provide me feedback shortly but currently the message is:

 

Estimated wait time:

We are taking longer than expected to process your case. You do not need to do anything at this time.

 

I am paranoid because I have a vacation planned in July and I am not sure if I should book the air tickets now because I have a name change.  I am not sure when I will get further news and hopefully it will not drag for another 4 -5 months.

 

Any thoughts? similar experiences to share?

 

Thanks!

[Going through 5,668]

6 minutes ago, Benoit_L said:

Ok guys I still haven't heard anything back from USCIS since Nov 13, when I submitted all the requested evidences online; my USCIS online system says they have received all the evidences they requested and I do not need to do anything at this time.  It also says that USCIS has begun the work on my case but it has been 2 months already and I am worried if my files are just sitting somewhere in the office and they completely forgot about it.

 

Because my original estimated case completion time on the USCIS system is supposed to be Jan 2020 and the system also said that they would provide me feedback shortly but currently the message is:

 

Estimated wait time:

We are taking longer than expected to process your case. You do not need to do anything at this time.

 

I am paranoid because I have a vacation planned in July and I am not sure if I should book the air tickets now because I have a name change.  I am not sure when I will get further news and hopefully it will not drag for another 4 -5 months.

 

Any thoughts? similar experiences to share?

 

Thanks!

Book refundable tickets?  That way you can postpone the trip if need be.

[Wasa22 5]

4 hours ago, Benoit_L said:

Ok guys I still haven't heard anything back from USCIS since Nov 13, when I submitted all the requested evidences online; my USCIS online system says they have received all the evidences they requested and I do not need to do anything at this time.  It also says that USCIS has begun the work on my case but it has been 2 months already and I am worried if my files are just sitting somewhere in the office and they completely forgot about it.

 

Because my original estimated case completion time on the USCIS system is supposed to be Jan 2020 and the system also said that they would provide me feedback shortly but currently the message is:

 

Estimated wait time:

We are taking longer than expected to process your case. You do not need to do anything at this time.

 

I am paranoid because I have a vacation planned in July and I am not sure if I should book the air tickets now because I have a name change.  I am not sure when I will get further news and hopefully it will not drag for another 4 -5 months.

 

Any thoughts? similar experiences to share?

 

Thanks!

I haven’t heard anything since August..

[doshi8000 19]

Relax relax relax 

[kc2177 6]

On 10/30/2019 at 9:58 PM, Benoit_L said:

Hi guys, here is my experience today about my naturalization interview:

 

So I had my naturalization interview today but I didn't get an immediate approval on site.  The IO gave me N-652 indicating that I passed the English and civics test but a decision cannot be made yet.

My application was in the afternoon and I was pretty much the last person in that room.  My IO seemingly was in a rush as he explained he had problems with his computer and the system was slow and not responding in the afternoon.  He had to ask his coworker for help on getting my fingerprints in a different office room.  He said he wanted to go home but the IT system was holding him back.  Actually his coworkers went home already.  I felt that he didn't have enough time to go over my file.  He asked for my passports, green card, driver license and marriage certificate.  And he also asked me about my marriage couple of times, e.g. when were you married? How many times have you been married? After that we quickly went over the questions and English tests which were pretty easy and I passed them all without issues.He also confirmed my name change and asked me all the generic questions about morals.  But the IT system seemed not working as he had to manually submit my signatures on name change and the oath of allegiance.  He said he would need to review my marriage case and if there were any other documents needed he would mail a notice to me. He said I passed the tests but he said I was married less than five years so he'd need to review my marriage, which kinda confused me.

 

When I was going home, I googled again and made sure I should be eligible for naturalization after 3 years of being a permanent resident and being in a marriage with an American citizen, not 5 years. So I was wondering why he would say stuffs like that. Because my petition to remove the 2 year restraint was approved this year already and my marriage should have been reviewed for authenticity by USCIS already . But another reason why might be that he didn't have time to go over my case because he was either overloaded with other cases or had the IT issues or he was too junior to make the call (Although he didn't seem like it). 

 

I don't wanna be paranoid about it and was somewhat relieved in the same time because I will be travelling abroad soon and might not be able to get my American passport in time to return to the U.S, had my application been approved right away. I googled and people said the wait could be 120 days.  I am ok with it so the timing might work out.  The only thing that concerns me is that why he would say he needed to review my marriage case for naturalization? 

 

Any ideas?

any news on your app?

[Benoit_L 14]

4 hours ago, kc2177 said:

any news on your app?

Not yet. No updates. So frustrating dealing with USCIS

[kc2177 6]

1 hour ago, Benoit_L said:

Not yet. No updates. So frustrating dealing with USCIS

Did you try contacting someone? I think you can 90 days out after the interview. I fell into the same situation as your application. Had my interview recently and N400 approved, but I751 pending... the exact scenario I was hoping wouldn't happen

[Benoit_L 14]

8 minutes ago, kc2177 said:

Did you try contacting someone? I think you can 90 days out after the interview. I fell into the same situation as your application. Had my interview recently and N400 approved, but I751 pending... the exact scenario I was hoping wouldn't happen

Yeah, I responded to their REF on Nov 13, 2019 so it hasn't been 90 days yet. I guess I will do if I dont hear anything back from themby Feb 14

Edited February 1, 2020 by Benoit_L

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

Catching up late but

(1) the comment about reviewing the marriage because of less than 5 years makes perfect sense - if it was more than 5 years it would be a standard n400 not a marriage based one 
(2) you said uscis already reviewed your marriage (before this), but I guess you were not aware that at the n400 interview they can review absolutely everything since you got your green card - reviewing the marriage again is normal (another example is checking long periods out the country even if CBP readmitted you, and reviewing a marriage even if you apply under the 5year rule, etc so it covers a lot)

(3) you didn’t give info about the RFE, was it indeed evidence related to your marriage that they asked for?

 

 

 

 

[Benoit_L 14]

9 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Catching up late but

(1) the comment about reviewing the marriage because of less than 5 years makes perfect sense - if it was more than 5 years it would be a standard n400 not a marriage based one 
(2) you said uscis already reviewed your marriage (before this), but I guess you were not aware that at the n400 interview they can review absolutely everything since you got your green card - reviewing the marriage again is normal (another example is checking long periods out the country even if CBP readmitted you, and reviewing a marriage even if you apply under the 5year rule, etc so it covers a lot)

(3) you didn’t give info about the RFE, was it indeed evidence related to your marriage that they asked for?

 

 

 

 

Yes, the addition evidences asked for were joint bank statements, employer letters, tax returns filed together, lease agreements, insurance beneficiaries, etc.