Libertate

SSA offices are now open. When updating your info ask the officer to "suppress" printing of the new card. The default process is that a new card is sent to your address of record.

Hail to the FOIA!

Attended my naturalization ceremony in Boston. They switched back to allowing massive events and there were 93 people naturalizing and about 40 people who were friends and family tagging along (although this was not officially allowed). The whole thing took almost 3 hours! They first herded everyone in a very long line to collect green cards and allow oath-takers to enter a big hall where the oath ceremony was to be held. This took about an hour. When the judge finally entered the hall, people were already on edge, there was a relived and loud "oh yes" (or may be "oyez" which was kind of funny for the court clerk  )

Aside from masked derision towards Russian applicants and Mexican applicants with 10+ names, USCIS staff was friendly, apolitical, and helpful as they presented naturalization certificates to new citizens. 

Overall, good event, I am glad that this is over. 

After the ceremony i filed an N-600 for my kid AND also filed a FOIA request to retrieve the kid's A-file. I am interested to see how FOIA plays out with N-600. 

On 4/11/2022 at 11:00 PM, Kaptan said:

Hello everyone. My wife and I just naturalized about ten days ago. We have a seven year old, who has automatically derived citizenship from us since she was already a permanent resident in our custody at the time of our naturalization. We would now like to get her her citizenship certificate and her passport, and confused about the process. I tried to fill out the N-600 electronically through my own myuscis account, but the application gets stuck when the system sees that her birth date that I enter doesn’t match my birth date, which seems to be the only birth date associated with my myuscis account. I am therefore thinking I’ll need to open a new myuscis account for her, and apply for the citizenship cert using the N-600 form through there. Is that what you all did? Is there an easier way?

 

Related to that, in what sequence have you applied for your kids’ passport vs the citizenship certificate? We have a passport appointment this Friday at our post office. Will they take away her green card, or just look at it/make a copy and give it back? If they take it, I’m guessing that’s going to interfere with the N-600/citizenship certificate process, as I would imagine the same green card would also be needed for that application. I’d appreciate any insights you may be able to provide on these two docs. 

I created a separate account for my kid to file their N-600. Don't forget to add yourself as a "preparer". When you go through the N-600 there is an error: there is a question about your "Country of citizenship" and you naturally answer US. However if you generate N-600 when you review your answers, look at Part IV question 4. The question is what is your "Country of PRIOR citizenship." Very misleading. 

I filed N-600 and immediately submitted a FOIA request to get my child's A-file. I hope this will speed things up. 

Regarding the passport, IMO it is better to file N-600 first and get a passport you have filed N-600. Based on what I've read so far, the process is riddled with RFEs and complications that delay the processing of passport application for derived citizen children.

Hi Family, it's not that I want but have to disengage since my oath is next week and I have no legal footing to participate in a legal action against USCIS as part of May 2020 filers group. However, I'd like to be in the loop of any grass root action against USCIS and would like to contribute to the cause. You can absolutely use my name and my posts for that. USCIS has inflicted great suffering upon a huge amount of April-May 2020 filers. Making the bureaucracy understand that there is a person behind each "A" number is a noble cause that I will gladly support.

On 4/13/2022 at 11:02 PM, Guido51 said:

Hi, can you explain how you gather the group? please share what you did so we can follow. thank you

I posted about this in April and May 2020 filer discussion. 

I needed 30-35 people, whose cases were stuck, to form a class. I was willing to become a lead plaintiff on it and didn't mind investing a 5 figure amount in the process. The idea was to hold USCIS accountable for the unreasonable delay in processing applications of April-May 2020 filers and request the application fee back. Because USCIS does not refund application fees the matter most probably would have gone to court (which is all i needed to create a buzz and certify the class).
I don't think that people on this forum are ripe to form a class action. This requires dedication, money and time. There were 8 members that were interested and most of them are already citizens after FOIA. 

The whole class idea is kind of pointless from legal perspective as USCIS could have easily made our case moot by granting our citizenship. But wasn't this what we were essentially fighting for?

Although jokingly, but yes, i do suggest volunteering. If employment history takes a hit, the applicant can make a case that they are a very energetic person and regardless of 3 jobs still has time to volunteer and be involved in their community. 

"In general, an officer must consider the totality of the circumstances and weigh all factors, favorable and unfavorable, when considering reformation of character in conjunction with GMC within the relevant period. The following factors may be relevant in assessing an applicant’s current moral character and reformation of character:

• Family ties and background;

• Absence or presence of other criminal history;

• Education;

• Employment history;

• Other law-abiding behavior (for example, meeting financial obligations, paying taxes);

• Community involvement;

• Credibility of the applicant;

• Compliance with probation; and

• Length of time in United States."

https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-f-chapter-2

Yes, this is AIC. 
Before AIC decided to move on this, I also wanted to gather a group to file a class action suit but, coincidentally, USCIS scheduled me and my oath ceremony is next week. 

Are you hourly or salary? 

If you contract stipulates that you are paid for all of your time as a salaried employee then it might be an issue when it comes to explaining that you signed all these contracts in good faith. May adversely affect your good moral character points. Do good, be a volunteer (since you already have 3 jobs, you can probably find some time for volunteering too) and you should be fine 

"AIC is willing to take your case on a pro bono basis – meaning you should not have to pay any legal fees if you decide to work with them and become a plaintiff in their lawsuit.

The lawyer in charge of organizing the case is Leslie Dellon.

If you would like to explore the possibility of suing USCIS to compel the agency to act on your case, please contact AIC.  They have set up the email mailbox below.

When you send the email, please include a short summary of your situation.  Please also indicate if you have a lawyer or not.

N-400outreach@immcouncil.org

I wish each and every one of you great success in the next steps in your naturalization process! "

If you received your A-file there is no need to send it back to USCIS because they already have it. 

When you request your A-file it comes to you through USCIS (USCIS forwards your request to NARA, receives your A-file, sends it back to you). If you upload it to your online account then your submission (in this case the entire A-file) will be added to your A-file because anything that you submit gets attached to it. Imagine the kind of mess this might create.

The fact that in USCIS world you exist as 4 different aliens is very troubling. There are 2 potential risks in this situation: 1) USCIS may not have all of your 4 A-files, 2) even if they have them they are so inept that they need constant nudging to get to your case. 

To mitigate risk #1 you need to file FOIA for all 4 A-numbers and request all your A-files. This will help retrieve your A-files from various caves in NARA and deliver them to USCIS and to you. Then, you need to work with risk #2 and nudge them by filing outside of normal processing time requests, requesting call backs from Tier 2 officers by calling their numbers, contacting congressmen, senators and DHS ombudsman pointing to the fact that you have 4 A-files which you might present as clear USCIS error that is causing your hardship and utter suffering.

All this may not yield immediate results but you are waiting anyway and it is unlikely that these actions will extend the delay. At least you might feel that you are doing something. 

Answer "yes" and don't worry about this. That's what the interview is for. Some people reply that they are Costco or Sam's Club members in response to the question that asks about affiliations and membership in various groups.

On my N400 I responded that i had received weapons training (even though it was a simple safety training for my carry permit). They got a little bit excited but then lost interest when i explained what it was about. 

File to obtain SIL online. You age doesn't matter. I needed a letter from them for my FAFSA application (i was 35) and there was no problem obtaining the letter. I provided them all my visas (tourist, immigrant etc) and all "Admitted" stamps. Got the letter in 1 week

This is related to delays with retrieving your A-file from NARA. A lot of filers have been waiting for months because of this. You were lucky that they had even scheduled your interview. 

File FOIA and request your A-file, this will move things along. For details about FOIA, see discussion for April or May 2020 filers. 

6 weeks, provided that you are recommended for approval at the interview.

It depends on how your business is incorporated. If it is a disregarded entity (single mbr LLC / sole proprietorship) just download your Record of Account or transcript from IRS secure portal. It already includes your Schedules C and SE.  If you are an s-corp and receive a W2 and/or dividends then i would just bring your 1040. Your business has a separate tax liability and i don't think USCIS is very competent in tax matters. They rely on the IRS to determine whether or not you have taxes due. What USCIS needs is to see that you don't owe anything at the time of your interview. Record of account confirms exactly that as it shows taxes paid and balances due. 

This whole discussion about FOIA (which undeniably helps and helped me personally) got me thinking about ways to trigger various processes within the USCIS that would help to improve case processing.

Right after my interview where I was recommended for approval and got the oath ceremony scheduled I moved to another state. After i had submitted AR-11 they de-scheduled my oath ceremony in my former state and now i am in limbo again waiting for another oath ceremony to be scheduled. It looks that the process to transfer my case from one state to another is another hold point and I am thinking to get an InfoPass appointment in my new jurisdiction and request an I-551 stamp. Do you think this process will make my new jurisdiction to pull my case from the old one and take ownership over it?

You do not need to upload those things, however doing so might speed things up and you will not be hit with a request of evidence.  USCIS is not interested in speeding tickets (unless those are >$500) but it is handy to have them with you to show that those have been paid for. If you have any agreements (continuance for dismissal and similar) you need to have those with you too. Taxes: just record of account would do. They are checking that you don't owe any taxes to the IRS. They are not interested in the whole tax return and attachments. 

On 1/22/2022 at 2:28 PM, psal said:

My N-400 will celebrate 2 years in May and it's "Estimated time* until case decision: approx. 8 months". Very promising especially given the fact it took them more than a year to get my fingerprints. ☹️

 

USCIS tracker is a total BS. Don't rely on it. Especially if you are a May or April 2020 filer. BTW, there is a thread where people share their stories. 

What helped many of us (i am May 2020 filer myself), was requesting our respective A-files using FOIA. There is a whole discussion about this on those 2 threads. 

On 2/10/2022 at 3:19 AM, Devops said:

Apr 2022 will be 2 years after they received my N400 case .

I had my finger print in January 2021.

Now estimated time in the website says 2 months.

Please let me know if you have any updates.

Read April and May 2020 discussions (last 10-15 pages), file FOIA. 

To receive your passport just book a refundable ticket to wherever you are from originally, call the State Dept, and say that you need to travel urgently due to... (there is a list of reasons that makes you eligible for expedited service). You will get your passport in 1-3 days.

22 hours ago, April202Filer said:

Congratulations - Couple of questions please, is your FOIA completed before you went for interview? Also did you upload all documents before the interview or at the time of applying? 

Yes, my FOIA had been completed before my interview, although I couldn't download my actual files, just the acknowledgement letter. My wife's complete A-file was available though. 

Received my Oath ceremony notice today for 3/17. 

Update: 

Filed FOIA 12/7/21, they found our files in their cave. My wife and I had our interview today at Minneapolis field office. We applied on the 5-year rule. The whole thing took about 40 minutes. They didn't ask us a lot of questions probably because I uploaded all files starting from our tax account transcripts to my SIL registration. They only asked me 6 civics questions and didn't even go with me through the questions about communism, armed groups, nazi germany and other fun stuff. Gave me a paper that said that I was recommended for approval (same for my wife). Status in my account changed to "oath ceremony will be scheduled." Same-day oath was not available and they don't do it in Minneapolis. Everything looked like a formality as if everything had been decided even before the interview. Still want to sue these guys for 2 years of waiting. Unfortunately, not enough people for the class action as I had hoped. 

Regarding FOIA: it is your right to do it and their responsibility to provide you with your A-file. When you file for naturalization you are filing for an immigration benefit. That's why they can delay it and do whatever they want because it is a benefit. You cant really make them do anything. FOIA is a different game though. Now it is your right to get your A-file, and having received it, USCIS can no longer pass the buck to NRC, NARA or whatever. In my opinion, if you haven't already filed FOIA and are still waiting -- just file it. 

So far we have the following users who would like to join the class action against the USCIS:

1. Libertate

2. Malik85

3. Cloggie

4. keyuree1

5. sfo-user

6. Errrlis

Sorry if I missed anybody, if you'd like to join please copy the list and add your nickname to it.

Once again, we need to have 20-30 people to form a class.

56 minutes ago, Yupibotan said:

If we do a class action lawsuit, what will be the logistics, likely outcome and the cost?

Is there any specific law being violated by USCIS with our n400? 

1. Find enough people

2. Create a separate group and compare notes (similarities and differences of our cases)

3. Identify individuals that are the most affected by the delay

4. Discuss contribution that each participant can afford (can be money, legwork etc)

4. Write a brief summarizing commonalities in our cases and identifying the lead plaintiff and each individual joining the suit

5. Get the word out to advocacy groups to see if someone can support us (MPI, ILRC or similar)

6. Find lawyers

7. Certify the class

Likely outcome: USCIS will expedite the cases of those who joined the class to make the case nonjusticiable and thus prevent the court from hearing it.

In my opinion the Administrative Procedure Act and the Due Process clause are violated, but this is for lawyers to decide. The hardest stage is the one that we are going through now: grassroot organizing and getting people to act together and really commit to the cause. 

I posted in the May 2020 thread to see if anyone else is interested. We need to get around 20-30 people to sign up for it.