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https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/naturalized-us-citizen-charged-fraudulently-obtaining-citizenship-failing-disclose-role

As we approach October 2022, creating a thread for those planning to file N-400 in October 2022

Used the old people way, mailed my package out. It was received on Dec 2nd. Hopefully I'll get the NOA receipt very soon. Knock woods folks!

I might be worrying over nothing. Two days ago, in manila us embassy, the consul told me my visa will be ready in 1-2 weeks and Im currently waiting for my case status to switch from "Ready" to "Issued". The ceac website i used to upload documents to, changed my case category from f2b to f11 which i guess is the result of me telling the consul that my petitioner is a citizen. An f2b applicant in youtube whose parents was naturalized as well, shared that he was required to submit an f2b retention letter so he can get an approval. However for me, the consul didnt ask for a f2b retention letter nor have given me a 221g paper. I'm anxious because my case status hasnt been updated since my interview and I saw people on facebook getting their visa issued in just a day. Do you think my case will get a second review from another consul who will delay the issuing of my visa unless i submit an f2b retention letter to the embassy?

I have recently completed the naturalization process for my wife through the Section 319(b) clause and would like to share the A to Z experience. Background I am a US citizen living overseas working for a US university overseas. My wife is a non-US citizen and I wanted to get her US citizenship. The typical way of getting your spouse a US citizenship is to get a green card and live together in the US for 3 years and then apply for citizenship. One of the requirement for getting the immigrant visa is to show a proof of domicile for the US citizen. This is proof that you are living in the US either by showing rent contract, proof work, or anything that shows that you are actually living in the US. In addition, your non-US citizen spouse will also need to live in the US for three years to get US citizenship. I had given up on getting her the US citizenship since I did not live in the US and did not have plans of moving to the US yet. Everything change when I learned about Section 319(b). What is Section 319(b)? Section 319(b) allows you to get an immigrant visa without the US citizen spouse needing to live in the US and the non-US citizen spouse does not need to live in the US to become a US citizen if you meet its requirements. As per USCIS, (https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learn-about-citizenship/citizenship-and-naturalization/i-am-married-to-a-us-citizen) Generally, if your spouse is a U.S. citizen who is employed by the U.S. government, including the military or another qualifying employer, and your spouse is scheduled to be stationed abroad for at least one year at the time you file your Form N-400, you may be eligible for naturalization under Section 319(b) of the INA. Qualifying employers can include: Certain American institutions of research; American firms or corporations engaged in the development of foreign trade and commerce; Certain public international organizations; and Certain religious denominations or interdenominational mission organizations. In general, at the time of your naturalization interview and ceremony, you must be present in the United States under lawful admission for permanent residence and you must meet of all of the requirements listed above, with the following exceptions: No specific period as an LPR is required (but you must have been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence); No specific period of continuous residence or physical presence in the United States is required; and No specific period of marital union is required; however, you and your U.S. citizen spouse must be in a valid marriage from the time you file your Form N-400 until the time you naturalize. To check if you work at an American Institution of Research, you can check the list here. https://www.uscis.gov/list-of-recognized-american-institutions-of-research-and-other-recognized-organizations Your institution can also apply to become an American Institution of Research: https://www.uscis.gov/requesting-recognition-as-an-american-institution-of-research I-130 Filing and Immigrant Visa There is no difference in the I-130 process except in the NVC process and interview process. For the NVC process, you will need to upload proof that you are working at an American Institution of Research in lieu of the proof of domicile. For the interview process, you will need to bring proof that you are working at an American Institution of Research and you might need to convince the consular officer as they might not know about it! N-400 Filing Once you have received the green card, you may start the N-400 filing. The process is the same except that you will select that you are applying for naturalization under Section 319(b). In addition, you will need to do fingerprinting either at the US embassy in your country of residence or in a field office before you complete your interview in the US. You will then be interviewed and will get your Certificate of Naturalization. Congratulations! Our Experience We applied for the I-130 and had no issues until the interview for the immigrant visa at the US embassy. Originally, they rejected our case as they did not accept that my work at an American Institution of Research counted as a substitute for domicile. After a bunch of emails with the embassy, they accepted it and we got the immigrant visa. Unfortunately, COVID happened and we did not travel and the immigrant visa expired. When COVID was done, we got in contact with the embassy and again they gave us the same issues regarding the domicile. Eventually, they accepted it as they had done before. This was very stressful and was thankful that it was done. We had no issues travelling to the US and we got the green card within a month of entering the US. We flew back home a few weeks after receiving the green card. We applied for the N-400 on the same day we received the green card. You must select the option that you qualify for Section 319(b) when you fill out the N-400! We applied to the Washington DC Field Office as we had read online that they know the Section 319(b) process very well. The N-400 was approved but we needed to do fingerprinting before they could schedule an interview. We asked to do the fingerprinting at a different field office and they had no issues scheduling it. We flew to the US completed fingerprinting at the field office and then the interview was scheduled. We then flew to Washington DC to complete our interview. We brought all documents submitted. We did the interview and my wife became a US citizen. Please feel free to comment below and I will answer any questions that come up. Please try to limit questions to Section 319(b) American Institution of Research!

Hello. I have been a Permanent Resident since 2/26/19. Single male, no kids. Never travelled outside of USA since I arrived in USA and don’t plan to either as PR. I have a 5 year waiting period. I hired an attorney to process my PR so I will be using the same attorney to apply for Naturalization. What documents do I need to gather/prepare?

Do not contact USCIS for a copy of N-662 Petition for Name Change!! USCIS does not issue this document, the local district court does. Contact your local district court to obtain copies. _________________________ Has anyone ever gotten an Apostille on the name change document the court issues at naturalization? I found some info on it here, looks like it has to go through Washington, D.C. https://www.nationalapostille.com/2018/04/01/petition-for-name-change-apostille/ Just curious if anyone has experience or recommendations for the best way to go about it.

The big day is coming up and I've been given conflicting advice about whether or not I should bring lawyer to my Naturalization interview. My case: • I'm a Canadian who entered on K1 visa, married promptly, and received my 2yr GC without issue. • My USC spouse became abusive/unfaithful/an addict. We divorced: I applied for ROC with a divorce waiver and was granted my 10yr GC without an interview. • I applied for naturalization under the 5yr rule. Many people on this site have been vocal that USCIS will go through your "entire immigration history" to make a decision on Naturalization, and given the way my USC marriage went I'm dreading the idea of having the IO dredge up/pick apart the details of my failed relationship. With this in mind, some have suggested I bring a lawyer so that the IO won't ask any off-color questions, etc. Others have said that since I applied under the 5yr rule that the details of my former marriage aren't necessarily relevant -- and that especially since I was given a 10yr GC without an interview, I already gave USCIS enough evidence to prove without a doubt in their mind that what happened-happened and won't need to get into it again. The details of my failed marriage are heavy - it was exceptionally traumatic, and needing to make a decision about this is causing me a lot of grief - so I may as well open it up to public discourse. ^^^ All of that said (and to benefit others considering legal assistance) what are good reasons to hire a lawyer to accompany you to the interview? Weigh in!

Hello everyone had my interview February 14th at the Tampa USCIS office which I was passed my US citizenship interview. I did change my last name. Anyone out there had any experience on the wait for your oath ceremony with a name change. Have a cruise booked in July and just want to make sure I have enough time between my oath ceremony and cruise to get my passport.

I'm eligible to apply for naturalization in December 2023. Since my green card was issued in March 2021, I made 3 trips overseas; the first one for 1.5 months, the second for 3.5 months, and the third one for 5.5 months. My main question is: Is it okay if I take another 5 months trip after staying in the US for only one month? It's because my parents are with delicate health and I would like to be with them. Would I have any problems when I come back? Would that put my chances of becoming a citizen at risk? For the physical presence requirement, since my green card was issued I've been present in the US for 14 months, and outside the US for 10.5 months. By the time I'm eligible to apply (at 2 years and 9 months) in December 2023, do I need to have been present in the US for 16.5 months which is half the time of the 2 years and 9 months or 18 months which is half the time of 3 years? Thank you.

Hey all! I have a few questions about documenting my employment history: In listing past employers, some of mine have different incorporated names on their W2's than the name of the business where I actually physically worked. Which one should I use for my N-400 -- the name/address I gave to the IRS or the name/address of the physical location? Some business I previously worked for have changed their name -- should I put down their old name (matching my previous tax filings) or their new name? There was a period in 2020 where I was transitioning from being fully unemployed to working for myself and continued filing for partial unemployment benefits -- I'm wondering if anyone else has accounted for time "partially unemployed" on their N-400? Currently my application says that my period of "unemployment" ended when I began working for myself -- should I extend my record of unemployment until whenever I actually got off unemployment benefits? Thank you! 😊

Hi, I am worried that I have a big problem now. I should update my SSA card and drive license before mailing natraulization certificate to apply for passport. I changed name through natraulization. My new name have 4 parts which is first-middle-middle-last. Middle name is my maiden name, I create first and last name for myself and didnt take my husband's last. I have international trip soon and not receiving my passport yet. After 6 weeks passed then the passport offier requests me to provide identification for new name use in all purposes. I submit name change certified by court order because I dont have any ID with new name on. I am panic now because review process may cause delay to get passport even I paid extra for expedited service. I still need to update SSA and driver license before departure. What will happen if I can not update those information before I go trip? Will my passport be denied because I didnt fill out middle name on the passport application form? Then why fill online it said optional for middle name? It will be appreciated if there is someone can answer or share experience like mine because change flight will be another huge expenses too. Quote EditI

Hello. My wife had her interview for the naturalization process (approved 😀) and I have a couple questions. The questionnaire on page 3 - is that to be filled out in front of an official at the swearing in ceremony? Or it can be filled out on the day of before we get to the court house? She intends to travel to Canada to visit her parents (not far from us) for less than a day and right back and then we'll be going back about a week after for maybe 1 night. We will mark box 2, yes we have traveled internationally - before the swearing in. Will that put her in jeopardy in any way? If not, how does that process work, when we have to explain any of those items if they are marked yes? We could attempt to provide some proof - namely, all I can really think of doing is using our NYS EX-Pass online records but that doesn't give a return date. Can we ask for something at both bridges on the way to and back? How does the swearing in work? It says on the form that it's 2-3 hours long! Is that because they have to individually address every person 1 at a time and everyone in the room has to wait? I sure hope we can at least sit for this process (until they ask her to stand)! Thanks!

Hello! I received my naturalization certificate yesterday! I am now a dual Canadian/American citizen!!! I feel like I keep reading and hearing some conflicting information on passport etiquette. Since I am residing in the USA- do I leave and enter the states (when I am going to visit Canada) on my USA passport? Could I use my Canadian one? I feel like they would wonder why I am living in the USA and using my Canadian passport with no greencard? My other question is that I really want to be able to go home for Christmas. I’ve heard that if you have travel within 14 days you can get an emergency passport appointment and sometimes get a same day passport… But how do I book my flight when I don’t have an American passport yet? I’ve heard that you must leave with the same passport you enter with? I’ve heard I cannot leave the country until I have my new passport even though I have my Canadian one? When I am flying do I need to bring both passports?

Hi everyone, I am an EU citizen. When I travel back to my country, my flight has layover in Germany, Belgium etc, before I arrive to my home country. Do I need to list all of those stopping countries as the countries to which I traveled on the N400 application? I never entered those countries, but just because my flight stop by there. Thank you

I used the services of a tax preparer (H&R Block) to file my taxes for 2021, and after we completed my federal tax return the advisor informed me that I didn't need to file state taxes because I was under the reporting threshold (New Jersey). For the sake of being thorough before filing my N400 (regarding part 12 question 7: "Have you EVER not filed a Federal, state or local tax return since you became a lawful permanent resident?") I decided to check on state tax filing requirements just to be certain that I'm in good standing -- and found out that according to the NJ Division of Taxation website that my income for 2021 was over the reporting threshold. It seems this means that I should have filed a State Tax return for 2021, and I'm assuming the best course of action is to make sure my State Taxes get filed before proceeding with my N400. I'm going to get in touch with the preparer/office today to find out how to amend this ASAP before filing my N400 -- but I'm really stressing out about how this could affect my application even if I manage to get it filed late. Will I be in trouble with USCIS/immigration for not filing State Taxes on time even though I was told that I didn't have to/shouldn't by a tax advisor? Also once I do get this situation resolved and/or file my state taxes, does that then mean I can select "No" as my response to N400 part 12 question 7 because I will have filed all possible tax returns - even if one is late? Thank you so much, I'm beside myself with concern right now!

I had my N400 interview approved in Chicago on 9/15/22, there was no same day oath available. I'm still waiting for my oath ceremony date. Curious to see how long you guys had to wait for your oath ceremony after the N400 interview in Chicago. My interviewer said I should receive a notice in 2 weeks, but it has been almost 4 weeks now and guess what... still nothing haha. Can't wait to get this over with since I need to make some travel plans. Many thanks!!

I am kindly seeking assistance from the forum on how to go about my situation as I am preparing my N-400 application. On reviewing the N-400 form I noticed the question below which will be a "Yes" for me: “Have you called yourself a “non-U.S. resident” on a Federal, State, or local tax return since you became a Permanent Resident?” My 2018 tax return was filed with Form 1040-NR (Nonresident Aliens). My CPA used same form (Form 1040-NR) that he has used for previous years returns before I became LPR. It was part oversight and part ignorance of appropriate tax filling form. I have filed an amended Form 1040 for 2018 which is pending to be processed by IRS. There was no tax benefit on filling with Form 1040-NR as oppose to Filling with 1040, it was a mere mistake and partly ignorance. Some Background Information: I own rental properties and have been filing returns on rental income using Form 1040-NR since 2014. I got my IR1 on 01/06/2018 I became eligible to apply for naturalization on 10/08/2022 (using 5 years rule and 90 days to 5th anniversary of becoming LPR). I have NOT applied yet. Filed amended return for 2018 using Form 1040 (IRS processing still pending) No difference in tax benefits for both forms (no refund) Only income for 2018 is from rental properties (Unemployed for the whole 2018) Does anyone have similar situation or know someone that does and may know how best to provide explanation to what I will call an innocent mistake? Are there consequences? Please let me know if you need additional information. Thank you.

Hello! I'm filling out my application for naturalization and would like to know what documents you suggest that I add to "additional evidence you want to provide". What additional evidence did you send them? Thank you! "Additional evidence you want to provide You can provide additional documents that support your application and help explain any of your responses on the application. If you want to provide additional evidence now, upload any documents below. You can also bring the documents to your naturalization interview."

Hi. If I am filing under the five year rule, do I still need a original copy of my spouse birth certificate to take to my naturalization interview?

I was wondering if there is anyone here who has been through their naturalization ceremony lately and whether there were any restrictions on who you could bring with you? I know that you used to be able to bring anyone but that was pre-COVID and I'm not sure what the restrictions are now. I was hoping to bring my wife. The more recent your experiences the better. Thanks.

My wife just received her citizenship/naturalization after a successful final ceremony and oath ceremony. She is now a citizen but does not yet have a passport. She needs to take a domestic flight, however, before receiving her passport. We are wondering what kind of evidence she needs to present at security to fly. Has anyone been in this particular situation? Presumably, it would no longer make sense to fly using her Israeli passport since her permanent resident status no longer applies.

I am on USCIS’ website and it says this. So I am so confused. Can we literally send in a non-certified copy of a naturalization certificate?? ”You do not need to obtain a Certified True Copy if the U.S. government asks for a copy of your certificate for official U.S. government business. For example, if the U.S. Department of State requests your Certificate of Naturalization when you apply for a U.S. passport, you may use a normal photocopy that has not been authenticated. You may use a normal photocopy of your certificate for legitimate U.S. government business.” https://www.uscis.gov/tools/how-do-i-guides/us-citizens/how-do-i-obtain-an-authenticated-copy-of-a-certificate-of-naturalization

Hi beautiful people. I know this may sound absurd but my husband and I have been informally separated and did not get a divorce. We have no ties together and have been living separately for three years. Can I still file for naturalization and be approved? Please, anyone, share your experience. Thank you.. Side note: my husband is aware that I need to file... and will sign any document if he needs to. He has hope of us getting back together but thats a big no no.. S

Hi! When applying for naturalization my husband wanted to change his name (he’s Latin so he has two last names. He wanted to drop one.) Now that his interview is scheduled and he’s had more time to think about it, he has decided he doesn’t want to change his name. Will this be an issue? Or can he just tell the officer at the interview he does not want to go through with the name change? Thanks!