Almost there! but typo on Green Card prevents citizenship (AGH!!!)

G

Guineapig

Registered Users (C)
My I-140 application for my green card was approved May 1 1997.

My green card, when it arrived 5 years later(!) in May 2000, but that's another story, has printed on it that my residency date was:

February 10 1997

I assumed (incorrectly) that my residency was somehow back dated to the time of adjudication and not the time of issue.

So - I wait 5 1/2 years from Residency, and applied for citizenship on September 8th 2003, and passed my interview on January 20th 2004.

Now - move forward to August 2004. I recieve a letter indicating that my application was reviewed and denied as I failed to meet the 5 year presence test! This was because of a typographical error on my green card, specifically that the residency date should be March 9 2000, not Feb 10 1997.

My questions to this board is this:

1) as this was an error on the part of the INS and as I acted and applied in good faith, should I have to re-take the citizenship interview in March of next year when I become eligble?

2) Should I have to pay again?

3) Is it possible for me to simply have my oath ceremony deferred for the 6 months to put me past the 5 year presence test (March 2005)

4) Should I order replacement green cards for my wife and I with the correct dates?

5) Should I even bother fighting this and just re-apply in March, use my existing green card, and pay the fee again....

6) If it's even worth fighting, any lawyers out there interested in handling this case? If so, what would the cost be?

I can't believe they still managed to screw me at this late stage... (I was so looking forward to voting this year!)
 
Guineapig said:
So - I wait 5 1/2 years from Residency, and applied for citizenship on September 8th 2003, and passed my interview on January 20th 2004.
Click to expand...

Im surprised this did not show up in the interview... CIS is wrong to have issued you a GC with a wrong date but unlike retail you cant have it for free (meaning apply for Natz) as it is governed by law and CIS cant overstep that.

You can apply 90 days prior to your 5 year anniversary as a LPR.

PS: Though this is a CIS error you should have realized that you got your GC in 2000 and not 3 years prior.


Rahul
 
Thanks for the detailed response. Pretty much what I expected it to be.

I was a little surprised at my early residency date but the reason I didn't question the date at the time was because it had taken me over 1100 days to get my GC from initial application. I was under the mistaken assumption that as this was so much longer than the 180 days originally quoted, that the RD was "back dated" to some point in the past where I should have got my residency. Also - as all other paperwork that came back at the time had the same date on it, I assumed it was correct. At that point I was so damn glad that I had the card, and that my name etc were right I didn't want to question it.


One thing I do intend to do though is write a letter back to INS, thanking them for the information, and while I realize they are correct, would they please note in my file that I acted in good faith, and could they please issue me with accurate cards.

90 days prior is December 10th of this year - that's kind of what makes this so frustrating. Its so close and as I had no other problems, a deferment would seem to make sense here. I know INS is a big robotic machine, but each naturalization case is handled individually, so you'd think there'd be a little leeway.

Oh well - live and learn. At least I know what the questions are going to be like on the test :)

Thanks again!
 
And it takes about a year to process an I-90 in many districts. So you may have your Citizenship before your GC reflects the correct date.

My adivce: File I-90 anyway (like JoeF said it must be free for you). Apply 90 days (maybe about 85-88 days just to be safe) prior..

Glad to see you upbeat about this situation
 
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