N400applicant

manato, just one question (consider it a practice question in preparation for USC test):

Do you think it's AMERICAN thing to do what is being done to some of us who must wait indefinitely for the same benefit that the others get in much shorten span of time?

I KNOW it's NOT. Just curious what you think.

Oh Lord..here you go again N400Applicant

From what I understand, USCIS can take up to two years to schedule an interview, and in most Jurisdictions Federal Courts will find it "reasonable". Meaning, if you sue USCIS under WOM and USCIS asks for dismissal, it's most likely to be dismissed. Only if your interview scheduling takes longer than 2 years it's almost certain to gain some traction in Court. Again, it's WOM we are talking about, not 1447(b).

But I will still try to file WOM if I don't get placed "in line for int. scheduling" in the next couple of months.

Becuase there are many reasons why your file could be stuck, and some of those are just plain frivolous and ridiculous (such as your file lost, misplaced or IO is lazy and doesn't want to touch it). Early WOM may at least take care of those "excuses", because it will force attention of US Attorney to case before he requests court to dismiss it and may cause them to fix the problem even if it gets dismissed by the Judge.

If it's alleged FBI name check or other security checks, then one would need to wait for at least two years from filing, to be able to convince the Court that the delay is "unreasonable".

I personally don't think anything that humongoius bureacracy does can be explained in reasonable terms.

Somehow I am torn between wanting to pursue this to the very end versus just withdrawing my N-400, to show USCIS that it NO LONGER has what I need form it.

I figure that if not giving us what we want gives them a pleasure, then why not take that away from them by not asking for it?

Over $600 spent so that someone can yank my chain? Feels so silly. If I want to travel I can always apply for a travel document, and I don't make enough to travel overseas anyway, so what is the point of the whole ordeal?

This fight is not worth the reward anymore. Soon we will be old, life will pass away and we have spent so much energy and efforts, our entire lives were sucked by this whole immigration experience while others were living normal lives. There is no place that welcomes immigrants from our parts of the world any longer. No body wants us to be CItizens here. That's just too obvious and clear. Now I truly regret for applying.

Why of all the things I wrote about the one most concerning and important to you is whether I am from Pakistan or Lebanon??????

For someone from Lebanon, you seem to know an awful lot about the Indian caste system. At least, you keep bringing it up all the time. Weird. Are you sure you are not from Pakistan?

No, they can not and don't do that.

What happens is US Attorney contacts FBI to expedite the name check (if it's FBI causing delay), or they contact any other agency, whoever is in charge of your case processing, and expedite processing. Sometimes it's not related to anything except plain laziness and sloppiness of your case processing IO.

In any event, US Attorney expedites the case processing and usually settles before trial.

If you do go to trial, Judge orders completion of case processing. They can not simply deny you for their own failure to complete whatever Judge orders them to do.

I'll keep looking into it as you suggest. I definitely agree with you, although I don't think there would be retaliation so much as the following scenario: if they are actually waiting for further documentation/processes (not from me but from other parties), making my case "incomplete" in their eyes, and they are forced to make a decision, I imagine it could be a negative one. Thanks again for the replies.

You should Google the 120 days rule for N-400 cases. You can file law suit anytime after 120 days elapse.

You do not have to hire attorney, by law you can go Pro Se (you don't need a legal license to represent yourself).

Non-lawyers can't advise you what to do, so I will not tell you how to do it, but you can Google it and find threads where people (including Publicus, who made fame at some point on public boards with his case against USCIS) describe in great many details how they did it.

Who ever told you that bringing USCIS to Court for failing to discharge duty results in retaliation? Retaliation is illegal and whoever in Federal Gov does that can be subject to serious reprimands for misconduct. Whoever told you this was scaremongering you.

Unless you are afraid of USCIS because you know you don't deserve Citizenship and have some criminal record or cause for denial, there is no reason why you should think of "negative outcome" for demaning your right in front of the Federal judge.

This is not El Salvador or Lebanon, this is the United States, it doesn't work like that here.

What you do is up to you, of course. You can choose not to ever go to Court and wait indefinitely for decision, that's your case and for you to decide. I just dispute the claim that there is a "negative" outcome which to be feared by doing what thousands of people did before you.

I agree. Not only do I think it's too early for me to even consider a lawsuit (although I'd love to finally get back at USCIS) I don't have the time or money (thousands of dollars) to. In addition, I have read accounts where pressuring USCIS just resulted in a negative outcome, as they are basically forced to make a decision with the information on hand, and as mentioned, if it's incomplete, could result negative. I think it's a good idea regardless, although hopefully it doesn't come to that. Also, your signature is ridiculously long. Is nearly 10 Youtube videos and several paragraphs of text really necessary? No one reads it.

It's always best to hire a good immigration attorney when you go to Court, but you have every right to go Pro Se (or file on your own, without a lawyer).

You can do your own search online. There are great number of threads (one very well known is by user Publicus, and there are many others), where number of immigrants described in scrupulous details every step they took and every paper they filled to sue USCIS after their N-400 interview. They even have posted the cover letters.

Just Google it.

When you sue under 120 days rule you don't need to file a new N-400 case. All you do is request the USCIS to make a decision on one which is pending over 120 days after your interview date.

Fear not, the US Government is by the People and for the People, it's YOUR Government and it has a duty to serve you, not vice versa. All you are asking is for them to discharge the duty, and you already paid for it with app fees.

And remember, they can't deny you just because you ask Court to force them to make a decision. They can only deny you if there is a legal basis for N-400 denial.

Good luck

I appreciate your recommendation of fighting back at USCIS, which I'm ready to do, as I'm beyond tired of them after years of dealing with them, but I don't have the time or money that I predict is necessary to take them to court. I assume it involves finding a lawyer, paying said lawyer, filing, lots more paperwork, lots more waiting, lots more processing times, etc. I realize it sounds odd as obviously I want my application process to finish but I also don't think I want to start a new one if that makes sense. I also wouldn't put it past them to take negative action towards a process if you attempt pressuring them via said method, although I have no clue.

It doesn't matter what they tell you. 120 days rule is written in statute or regulations. USCIS doesn't decide what the law is. File the case and let the Federal Judge determine if it applies to your case or not. Consult an immigration attorney if you can.

I posted about it here (http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/574165-120-days-past-interview-reccommended-for-approval-uscis-says-keep-waiting/), but basically I was told at the infopass appointment that the 120 days "doesn't apply to this case" and that essentially they can take as long as necessary and there is no time limit at all. Not very encouraging.

It doesn't matter what they tell you. 120 days rule is written in statute or regulations. USCIS doesn't decide what the law is. File the case and let federal Judge determine if it applies to your case or not. Consult an immigration attorney if you can.

Hello,

My spouse passed her naturalization interview over 120 days ago. As per the interview sheet and reccommendations, I scheduled an infopass appointment to see what was taking so long, thinking that as 120 days had passed something would actually happen. We were instead told that the 120 days "doesn't apply to this case" and were basically told there is no time limit. This doesn't seem right, but short of getting ejected from the USCIS building I can't think of anything else to do. Does anyone have experience with this? I don't think I actually want to file a lawsuit or anything, as it sounds like more time, money and paperwork. Just looking for any similar experiences or advice.

Good luck to everyone.

I would file a case in Federal Court. If it goes to Court USCIS will HAVE TO make a decision, one way or another, under 120 days rule.

Most of the times USCIS will settle the case before trial, by expediting the processing. So, he may not even have to wait until the trial date.

We tried the the Senator's office. They couldn't do anything that we did ourselves.

When it comes to the background checks you really just have to wait it out, yes after the interview you can still be going through background checks.

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.

It's very unusual for someone from Scotland to experience unreasonable delays, unless your husband has the name of notorious criminal.

Even then, from what I understand, they distinguish between individuals by the date of birth. So, even if your husbands name is Joe Smith and there are 200 Joe Smiths who are wanted as criminals, he would also have to have exact same DOB for FBI to generate a "hit".

It is indeed very odd that your husband is one of those whose case is being delayed by USCIS. Did he ever travel to any "high risk" country or even casually associate with anyone from Shudra-land (such as myself)? Remember, it does't matter whether your husband or his associates were innocent of any crime, it is enough if he ever was in contact with any Shudra. We , the untouchables, are like a virus and are treated like Ebola carriers. So, I wonder if your husband is also "contaminated" by proxy? If not, I would do the service inquiry, or an INFOPASS, and try to find out why his case is still pending.

Happy Election Day to all of you!
As a native born American, I voted in our local school board election and referendum.
My husband, of course, couldn't.
Taxation without representation is alive and well in these United States.
Maybe the St. Paul office will get around to looking at his file so he can vote in the Presidential Election a year from now?
I won't be holding my breath.

What country is your husband from? Is he one of us, born in one of the Shudra associated countries, who are presumed guilty in the eyes of USCIS unless proven innocent?

Or is he a perfectly regular fellow (like someone born in Italy, with the name like Francesco), yet still having delays in case processing?

My husband's case is also taking longer than a lot of people's here. He had biometrics on 10/19 and we haven't heard anything since. Here's hoping something will come in the mail soon!

You timeline states that on 10/28/2015 you were placed in line for an interview. Do you refer to "in line" for int. scheduling as NOA1?

After NOA1 I never got any texts or emails from USCIS and my interview is already scheduled, I was checking my status online to get updates and was waiting for paper letters.

- Victor from Russia

GOLFER, unfortunately the way things work here is that until there are series of 8pm News reports, large headlines in newspapers and Congressional inquiries, no bureaucracy will change the way it does it's business. These silly BDSM games and yanking of our chains will continue.

Puritans (and there are quite a few within ranks and file of bureacracy) just love to hunt witches.

Another thing I noticed: when Democrats were majority in the Congress and Janet Napoletano was running DHS, the immigrant cases were being processed at the highest speed. As soon as Republicans took over, things started to backlog and slow down. First of they took out Napoletano (she was a tough, strong willed woman, able to stand up to any nonsense). Then there were series of hearings (I watched some on CSPAN) where current head of DHS was almost verbally abused for not causing enough delays and hardship in case processing.

So, at least partially these delays due to Republancs attempt to slow down the number of people sworn into USC, especially if you are profiled and perceived as a part of a group of people they don't want to see voting. This is one of the reasons my whole family will always vote Democrat , even when we agree to a great extent with a Republican candidate on issues and wish to elect him or her, we will still vote for a Democrat, just so Repub doesn't get elected (even if I can't, my other USC family members can and do).

Received official response from my Congresswoman of their inquiry to USCIS regarding my N-400 application. Case pending due to " Security Background check ". In Response to my service request one month back USCIS official position was " Due to excessive work load NOT related to me case they are expecting delay in processing my case ". Funny thing is that I know since July that it is stuck in "Name Check" background checks as there was no "inline for interview" but it takes congressional inquiry to get truth out from them.

Mark my words: Paul Ryan will bring down U S of A.

He will take US to where it was before Great Depression in 1929.

It will take years for you to realize it, but remember what I said here and now: Paul Ryan WILL bring down USA.

Thanks S_R! ☺

We are aware of status not updating after interview (this was going on for a while now). But the updates prior to interview usually get entered consistently, unless your case is stuck somewhere.

Some of us had no case updates other than "Case received" , even months after our biometrics.

Some of us are still not as equal as others

For you who anxiously awaits a change of status...Don't hold your breath! My status never changed after I got the "interview scheduled". Even now, a while after my oath ceremony it still says interview scheduled...

What do you mean when you say Not really accurate ?

Are you disputing my account of events? Are you saying that you know better what informaiton I have got from INFOPASS, more than what I know? )) Are you a USCIS Officer at Baltimore DO? Were you the one who I had INFOPASS with? )

What you have gotten from INFOPASS has nothing to do with what I have gotten.

I share my personal experience with INFOPASS, not yours.

Btw, what DO you visited? Where is your local office located?

I got it from your opening statement here...

"Many people seem to suggest INFOPASS as means to get any traction on pending cases.

And I know from my personal experience that INFOPASS is as useless as Googling for your individual case update. I visited Baltimore DO twice after my I-485 interview an in both cases all they told me was "Wait for another 120 days", and nothing else.

Mind you, couple of days after the last time I was told to wait 120 days my application was approved. I also did Senatorial inquiries, which is the only thing that may have made any impact on my case processing. Definitely not the INFOPASS.

I had a feeling that the INFOPASS officers at Baltimore DO didn't even look up my case (and they had my file right there, at the local office)."

Not really accurate. I have gotten more from INFOPASS than you are saying. Actually one guy went for an INFOPASS and the officer at the window went and talked to the officer with the case and he came back and told him that the officer as promised to finish it up the following week. Sure as he promised, he got an approval the following week yet his case was pending for more than two months after interview.

Looking at the profiles of people who get "stuck", it would appear that it mostly affects (and randomly then) people from certain "high risk" countries, which may include India since I have seen quite a few applicants from India in the same predicament.

**SMH** same here.. Case received on June 5th, fingerprints complete on July 2nd, since then stuck at CASE WAS RECEIVED.

manato, as the saying goes, we are entitled to our opinion but we are not entitled to our facts.

As far as random delays and BDSM games of USCIS concerned, I rely on their own Congressional report. According to what they have reported to US Congress, about 10% of applicants go through indefinite delays when applying for immigration benefits requiring background checks. But, read this, only 0.2% get ultimately denied on security grounds. The rest are eventually approved (some as late as 7 years after applying).

This is not my opinion, this is what is going on in terms of mishandling of the 9.8% of the cases. And I never imply that just because 9.8% have been victim to USCIS's BDSM games, the remanining 90% also had the same experience.

As to INFOPASS, I have a personal experience going to Baltimore DO and at the end of the day (when it comes to INFOPASS) I do trust my personal experiences more than what what I read about it online. After all, personal experience to me is a direct source and evidence of how the program works.

And I can tell you that there is no information at all that Baltimore DO provided me when I visited it twice after scheduling INFOPASS.

They didn't even try to make it look like they are giving me an update. They could be a little more creative and come up with some made up excuse for a delay that would make me feel like they are doing somehting. nstead I had stone faced officers, staring at the computer in front of them then looking at me and telling me to wait another 120 days. Which , I guess, is a generic message basically meaning "freak off".

If you notice, I didn't claim that my experience applies to all Nationwide. In fact I wrote the following: If INFOPASS works for some folk somewhere else then I would think that the major problem is not an INFOPASS Per Se but the Baltimore DO. And , rather than discouraging, asked poster to share his experiences about his local DO INFOPASS appointment.

So, once again, I don't know where you got the impression that I blanketly asserted EVERYONE has the same experience with INFOPASS.

You should carefully read what I write.

N400applicant.....just because you had bad experiences it does not mean everyone has. I have found out more on infopass appointment. For example, I knew the USCIS website was going to be updated on that day (though she couldn't tell me exactly what the update was and me to wait and check the site in 6hrs) I last had my INFOPASS appointment and just like the officer told me, it updated that afternoon 8 hours later. You seems to pouring your frustrations on others and discouraging them based on your experiences. Every experience is different

Many people seem to suggest INFOPASS as means to get any traction on pending cases.

And I know from my personal experience that INFOPASS is as useless as Googling for your individual case update. I visited Baltimore DO twice after my I-485 interview an in both cases all they told me was "Wait for another 120 days", and nothing else.

Mind you, couple of days after the last time I was told to wait 120 days my application was approved. I also did Senatorial inquiries, which is the only thing that may have made any impact on my case processing. Definitely not the INFOPASS.

I had a feeling that the INFOPASS officers at Baltimore DO didn't even look up my case (and they had my file right there, at the local office).

If INFOPASS works for some folk somewhere else then I would think that the major problem is not an INFOPASS Per Se but the Baltimore DO.

USCIS no longer schedules interviews before FBI name checks are complete. Although it is possible they blundered in your case, but as a general rule they no longer tend to interview people with pending BGC's. Reason is: you now can sue them in a Federal Court and force them to issue a decision, under 120 days rule. So, consider yourself lucky. The main thing is to have an interview. Once you have it bureaucrats are trapped into statutory obligation to move their lazy behinds and do something about your case within 120 days. They can no longer yank your chain and play out their ill-conceived BDSM fantasies on you.

I would suggest you to wait exacty 120 days (you mentioned interview took place in "early July") and then immediately file a lawsuit against all Federal agencies in charge of processing your case. You could expect a speedy settlement by US Attorney before it goes to trial.

Good luck!

Hello,

I've posted about this before (http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/568253-no-oath-letter-after-2-months/#entry7840022) but felt it might be worth another shot. We submitted N-400 paperwork in January, and had a successful interview early July. As the months have gone by, I was told by USCIS that they had 120 days to process things after the interview and sent some sort of notification for the Oath Ceremony. Additionally, I was told that after 90 days I could inquire about how things were going and that they would look into it.

90 days passed, I called, and they said they'd have a look. I received a letter that was typical USCIS-speak that basically just told me to keep waiting, everything was in order. I'm nearing the 120 day mark, which apparently is the limit USCIS has to process things. Does anyone have any experience getting to this point? Should I make an infopass appointment for the day after the 120 mark in the hopes that they will actually do something?

Any help/advice is greatly appreciated. Good luck to everyone waiting.

Since there is zero transparency and USCIS can hide behind exemption (b)(7)(e) there is no way any one can know why some of the cases get delayed, while others get processed so fast. We can only speculate of almost infinite number of variables.

But, its my overall impression that whomever does this to us does it because they feel like they can. Human beings are irrational creatures, especially when they band together, and they are capable of doing a lot of stupid and harmful things if left unchecked. To counter it you have to have a rational approach and push back within the framework of legal system and rules of social coexistence. Problem is modern immigrants, as a group, are not a good candidate for such a monumental task.

On a bright side, in some odd way, the problem itself serves to force the solution: as more stupid people do more stupid things, evolutionary forces will necessiate countermeasures to overcome it. Then you will suddenly see more people saying things I say now, and public support growing behind rational reforms leading to transparency of government and fair treatment of public.

Wow! Some folks have interviews scheduled already! Congrats! Not even In Line yet for me - 30 days past Fprints

Just looking at the numbers above, it seems most people received In Line within 3-5 days after biometrics. I wonder what causes the extensive delays for most of us who havent receivd In Line yet. Not worried but just curious

#1. Go there if you want to, but you can be assured that it will be a watse of your time. They will say interview cancelled, if you ask why they will say wait until you get a letter (rescheduling or explaining WHY). If you insist, they will say "Schedule an INFOPASS". If you insit further they will call security and throw you outside of the building.

#2. No, they can not do whatever they want to to your application, and Donald Trump doesn't run USCIS.

I have seen way too may stupid bureaucarts sued by immigrants and humiliated in Federal Courts by Federal Judges (I must tell you there is no greater sense of plesure than to see a stupid bureaucrat staring at a Judge's face while Judge humiliates him or her right at their face), so I can't agree with you there.

However, above being said, they certainly CAN delay scheduling of your interview for at least another year and still fall under definition of "reasonable" processing time. If you sue them now you will most likely waste your efforts for nothing. But they can't hold it off indefinitely.

Also, if more N-400 related WOM cases get filed and if more Federal Judges side with immigrants by shortening their interpretation of what length of pre-interview delay is reasonable, then you may have even better success in future.

A lot of the blame for how we the immigrats (as a group) get mistreated rests with us. We, in genral and as a group, are passive, politically disengaged and clueless of how system works. We are fearful of authorities , as well as of demanding and asserting our Consituonally guaranteed rights.

Many of us come from civil war ravaged countries, others come from well to do backgrounds with "coudln't care less about anything" attitude, and almost all of us are primarily concerned with how much we make, how much we can buy, consume, etc. None of us wants to think of and perceive the bigger picture.

If there is one consituency we should all learn from it is the Conservative, Rush Limbaugh listening, red meat eating Republicans who are united, focused, passionate, motivated, driven and know exactly what they want and how to get what they want using the legal system and government to their own advantage.

What ever, i will go for interview even though its cancel. They been playing tricks with me for 9 months. I will pretend i didnot receive any cancellation notice.

Atleast i will get my answer why they cancel my interview. There is nothing i can do if they delay for background check or any other reason but atleast i will know why.

There is no way to tell how this people operate, maybe they do interview before name check or after name check, No one know how do.

In short they can do what ever with your application, it dont bother them a bit.

manato, please read CAREFULY what I write.

I am not saying they CAN'T interview you. What I said is that in past they did lots of N-400 interviews BEFORE background checks were completed. Then too many people sued USCIS for a decision , under the 120 days rule. The rule is: USCIS MUST MAKE a decision (approval or denial) within 120 days after the N-400 interview (this is a law applicable to N-400 cases ONLY, not applicable to ROC or any other cases I am aware of).

AS A RESULT USCIS decided NOT to schedule interviews UNLESS background checks were completed, so that they could AVOID lawsuits that many people were filing 120 days after the interview.

Of course they still CAN interview you BEFORE background chesks are complete, but as a matter of practical decision they no longer interview UNLESS background checks are complete (just as If you want to you can hit your head on the wall, the fact is you are not likely to do so, knowing it hurts. In the same manner, USCIS no longer schedules N-400 interviews in absence of BGC clearances, even though it still CAN do so).

N400Applicant you are not correct in the background thing. They can interview you and then let you know that they cannot make a decision as they are waiting for your background checks to clear. Happened to me at ROC interview.

USCIS no longer interviews people until background checks are complete. There were way too many lawsuits in recent years where Federal Courts ordered USCIS to complete the case processing under 120 days after interview statutory rule, and USCIS simply decided not to interview until whenever it wants to.

Since there is no similar statutory rule for scheduling an interview, as there is to make a decision after interview, the USCIS now can take as much as two years to interview you before you can bring successful WOM in Federal Court. You may still have to sue them to get an interview, but under "beyond reasonable processing time" iterpretation any time USCIS takes to work on a case prior to interview is considered to be reasonable by Federal Courts (in many cases I have heard of).

But just because interview was cancelled doesn't mean it's BGC related. They also do a lot of rescheduling due to whatever logistical reasons (understaffed, overbooked, network failure etc.). It's just impossible to tell what it is unless USCIS tells him, and USCIS is notorious for being secretive and lacking transparency with even in the most mundane of the tasks they perform.