N-400 interview questions

[steve-phuket 15]

i was just watching this with my wife 

 

 

he asked for a lot of explanation about the meaning of all the yes/no type questions on the N400. there's so many words in there my wife doesn't know, this has to be so hard for none English speakers!

 

anyhow, i was wondering, is it acceptable to ask the interviewer to explain the question in simpler language? for example at one point is asks something like "have you ever entered into a relationship to obtain immigration benefit", she asked to clarify and he said have you every married someone to get a green card. is it ok to do this on several questions?

 

 

[OldUser 10,167]

Officers rarely go into asking definitions of words, unless they suspect the person doesn't understand English.

 

You'll know most of the questions, they're written on the form and civics test preparation. You can explain all questions to wife so she understands it before going to interview.

[OldUser 10,167]

It's, certainly OK to ask to rephrase or repeat the question if at the interview she doesn't understand it.

Asking for a simpler language may result in failing English language part.

 

 

Most questions are straightforward as long as she studies.

Edited Saturday at 07:44 PM by OldUser

[steve-phuket 15]

3 hours ago, OldUser said:

It's, certainly OK to ask to rephrase or repeat the question if at the interview she doesn't understand it.

Asking for a simpler language may result in failing English language part.

 

well these are not part of the English test. if they ask one of the yes/no questions, she knows where to say yes or no, but if asked to explain what the questions mean, i hope its ok to say she can't explain that in english. if asked how she filled out the N400, would be be ok to say using google translate?

 

there are no published rules for answering the N400 questions (unlike the civics test) so it's a little hard to know what the passing standard is

Edited Saturday at 11:23 PM by steve-phuket

[OldUser 10,167]

15 minutes ago, steve-phuket said:

well these are not part of the English test. if they ask one of the yes/no questions, she knows where to say yes or no, but if asked to explain what the questions mean, i hope its ok to say she can't explain that in english. if asked how she filled out the N400, would be be ok to say using google translate?

 

there are no published rules for answering the N400 questions (unlike the civics test) so it's a little hard to know what the passing standard is

Walk through questions with her. Allow questions on N-400 form and all questions in civics test.

Explain to her what each question means.

 

Saying she used Google translate or doesn't know English will make her fail the test. Unless she has a waiver, she must understand English.

 

As I mentioned, it's rare officer asks what each word means. But she has to be prepared.

 

 

Edited Saturday at 11:37 PM by OldUser

[TBoneTX 47,629]

The ultimate in USC-husband anticipatory terror is evident here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/382775-mrs-t-b-the-citizenship-test/

[Fr8dog 438]

I'm assuming they are discussing the yes/no portion of the N400 application in the video. So as they go over the whole form with the applicant it's pretty easy to memorize that and for you to explain, ahead of time, what these questions mean.

 

My interview was done by "the supervisor" you always read about in this forum. We had a very pleasant conversation and talked about a bunch of stuff before we even got to the actual interview. She even mentioned that I clearly Understood and spoke English but that she still had to do the "official test"

 

Part one is the civic test.

All questions and answers are available online. They usually ask at least one where you have to give them names (who's the current president, VP, name a state congressman or senator). So that one should be easy enough to memorize.

Most likely (though not guaranteed) the officer will say "you have passed the civic test" 

Part two is "the English test"

They'll ask her a question (from the same list as the civic test) and she needs to write down the answer. 

Most likely (though not guaranteed) the officer will say "you have passed the language test"

Part three is a review of the N400 that was filed.

They will go over all questions (including the yes/no ones) and ask if the answer they have is correct.

You can absolutely ask for clarification but really the applicant should know the answers that were given as they've signed the petition.

Only tricky one I can see is that there used to be an error in the system. It would give the incorrect number of previous marriages.

[steve-phuket 15]

Fr8dog, i see you are Dutch, I lived in Holland for 5 years and i speak exactly 5 words in Dutch and never had a problem. I remember sitting in a pub one time and a Dutch guy explaining English grammar to me, and i'm English!

 

My wife is Thai and it's a uphill battle for her to understand the N400 yes/no questions the way they are asked using what i would call lawyer or contract style language. She speaks conversational English just fine but many words in the N400 yes/no questions like sabotage, terrorist, nobility, etc don't come up in normal conversation. However it's still 1 year before she can apply for USC so we have time to practice.

 

Edited Sunday at 01:16 PM by steve-phuket

[Fr8dog 438]

https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-e-chapter-2#footnotelink-7

 

The way I read it it's OK to ask for clarification but she does need to understand the questions asked. You got a year? I think it's time to ditch the Thai language and only use English around her. 

 

[steve-phuket 15]

21 hours ago, Fr8dog said:

https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-e-chapter-2#footnotelink-7

 

The way I read it it's OK to ask for clarification but she does need to understand the questions asked. You got a year? I think it's time to ditch the Thai language and only use English around her. 

 

not a bad idea, i do understand Thai and she usually speaks Thai while I speak English at home.

 

anyhow, her friend just passed the USC test in Syracuse NY a couple of weeks ago and they didn't ask for any explanation of the N400 yes/no questions. i know her friend and I'd say her English is worse than my wife's.

 

however, we just watched another video, 

 

and part of the reason for failure was not know knowing, or at least not been able to, explain the definitions of the N400 words.

 

at 19:43 in the above video she is asked "do you know what "cited" means. in the doc you posted it says "A naturalization applicant must only demonstrate an ability to read, write, speak, and understand words in ordinary usage." . personally i wouldn't consider "cited" to be a word in common usage.

 

Edited yesterday at 04:36 PM by steve-phuket

[OldUser 10,167]

2 minutes ago, steve-phuket said:

not a bad idea, i do understand Thai and she usually speaks Thai while I speak English at home.

 

anyhow, her friend just passed the USC test in Syracuse NY a couple of weeks ago and they didn't ask for any explanation of the N400 yes/no questions. i know here friend and I'd say her English is worse than my wife's.

 

however, we just watched another video, 

 

and part of the reason for failure was know knowing, or at least not been able to, explain the definitions of the N400 words.

 

Yes, it's possible go get an officer who will be very strict on language requirement. However, you have a year to prepare. You can go through every single word on forms and civics test given it's one year. Could even go to English class / get a tutor to help studying for this if you can afford and don't have time to work with spouse.

[TBoneTX 47,629]

5 hours ago, OldUser said:

Could even go to English class / get a tutor to help studying for this if you can afford and don't have time to work with spouse.

The better her English, the more comfortable she'll feel overall.  Follow the above advice.

[steve-phuket 15]

i have plenty of time to teach her but i also have an English accent. hearing the questions in an American accent is not a bad idea, fortunately there are a million youtube videos on this, and i'll ask my US friend to go though the test with her too.

 

however there's no guarantee she'll get an american interviewer (we had a chinese guy for the green card interview) so i guess she needs to be prepared for anything.