Mistake on N-400 but approved and Got Citizenship

I

Imrk

Registered Users (C)
Hello
I have applied my N-400 a year ago and received US citizenship last month. However, I made a mistake on my N-400. I forgot to mention one day trip to Toronto when I went there for a business meeting. I just found out on the weekend as I was putting away all of citizenship papers. The trip was almost 5 years ago and I found out about it in one of office meetings
What to do now? Should I go to my local office? Please help
 
Imrk said:
Hello
I have applied my N-400 a year ago and received US citizenship last month. However, I made a mistake on my N-400. I forgot to mention one day trip to Toronto when I went there for a business meeting. I just found out on the weekend as I was putting away all of citizenship papers. The trip was almost 5 years ago and I found out about it in one of office meetings
What to do now? Should I go to my local office? Please help
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I wouldn't worry about it. The omission of this 1-day trip would not have affected the favorable decision by USCIS to permit you to naturalize.

In general, if USCIS pursues a denaturalization case against someone, they have to prove that the omission or misrepresentation was 1) intentional and 2) that the omission or misrepresentation directly resulted in the provision of an immigration benefit.

In your case neither applies, so you should be fine. Just enjoy your new US citizenship... :)
 
You're already a citizen and the one day trip would not have affected your continuous residency requirement. Don't worry about it and relax..no need for you to backtrack and drive yourself crazy about it.
 
NewRunner said:
In general, if USCIS pursues a denaturalization case against someone, they have to prove that the omission or misrepresentation was 1) intentional and 2) that the omission or misrepresentation directly resulted in the provision of an immigration benefit.
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They don't have to prove both; proving one of those factors is often sufficient to denaturalize.

But anyway, this poster has nothing to worry about.
 
Imrk said:
I spent overnight, it was more than than 24 hours but less than 2 days.
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That means it still would have been counted as zero when adding up the days spent outside the US, because the departure date and return date are to be counted as days within the US.
 
Jackolantern said:
They don't have to prove both; proving one of those factors is often sufficient to denaturalize.

But anyway, this poster has nothing to worry about.
Click to expand...

Hi Jackolantern: you're right, the OP has nothing to worry about. The issue about USCIS needing to prove both intent and misrepresentation leading to benefit is, I believe, still valid. It has to do with the rules that the old INS put into place to initiate denaturalization proceedings. The 1996 rule states:

INS may reopen a naturalization proceeding and revoke naturalization if it obtains "credible and probative evidence" that

(1) shows that the Service granted the naturalization by mistake; or

(2) was not known to the service Officer during the original proceeding; and (i) would have had a material effect on the outcome of the original proceeding; and
(ii) would have proven that
(A) the Applicant's application was based on fraud, misrepresentation or concealment of a material fact; or
(B) the applicant was not, in fact, eligible for naturalization.

If you want to learn more about "denaturalization" and the history of it at INS and the courts, this is a pretty good primer on the subject.

http://llr.lls.edu/volumes/v34-issue2/hultman.pdf

It traces the history of the Gorbach et al vs. Reno case which eventually established, only in 2000, that USCIS and the Attorney General do not have the final authority to denaturalize citizens. The net impact of the case was that INS in 2000, had to publish an updated version of the 1996 rule that effectively raised the standards of evidence for use in denaturalization cases as these cases would now be pursued in the federal court system.

It is a geeky read, but interesting... :)
 
NewRunner said:
Hi Jackolantern: you're right, the OP has nothing to worry about. The issue about USCIS needing to prove both intent and misrepresentation leading to benefit is, I believe, still valid.
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Not quite. The applicant could have unintentionally omitted a fact or made a mistake on the application, but when the truth came out it showed that the applicant was not eligible for naturalization.

NewRunner said:
If you want to learn more about "denaturalization" and the history of it at INS and the courts, this is a pretty good primer on the subject.

http://llr.lls.edu/volumes/v34-issue2/hultman.pdf
Click to expand...
I already read that and more, dude. Yes, I know that only the courts have the power to denaturalize. But if the facts clearly show the applicant was not eligible for naturalization in the first place, the omission or misrepresentation does not have to be intentional in order for denaturalization to occur.

In practice, such denaturalizations will be ultra-rare, because if the naturalization was the result of a material mistake (by the applicant or USCIS or both) rather than fraud, the result of denaturalization would be to reinstate the permanent resident status. At that point, the individual could reapply for citizenship and naturalize again. So whichever agency took the individual to court for denaturalization ultimately doesn't gain anything. As a result, you're not going to see denaturalization attempts except those where there is evidence of both fraudulent intent and material omission/misrepresentation so they can deport the person. That is unless they garner the resources to attempt another mass denaturalization drive going after everybody for every little thing (and they will need LOTS of resources, because they'd have to take each person to court instead of revoking citizenship administratively like what they tried in the 1990s before the courts stopped them).
 
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Jackolantern said:
...As a result, you're not going to see denaturalization attempts except those where there is evidence of both fraudulent intent and material omission/misrepresentation so they can deport the person...
Click to expand...

NewRunner said:
...In general, if USCIS pursues a denaturalization case against someone, they have to prove that the omission or misrepresentation was 1) intentional and 2) that the omission or misrepresentation directly resulted in the provision of an immigration benefit...
Click to expand...

Aren't we saying the same thing?

Thanks for your insight. Definitely gives me a different perspective on the issue in terms of eligibility for naturalization in the first place, regardless of intent.
 
Imrk said:
Hello
I have applied my N-400 a year ago and received US citizenship last month. However, I made a mistake on my N-400. I forgot to mention one day trip to Toronto when I went there for a business meeting. I just found out on the weekend as I was putting away all of citizenship papers. The trip was almost 5 years ago and I found out about it in one of office meetings
What to do now? Should I go to my local office? Please help
Click to expand...
Is he serious?! Yeah, go to your local office and confess, request de-naturalization and a one way ticket out of the states.

Cheers.

P.S. How do people like that even make to the states in the first place?!
 
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NewRunner said:
Aren't we saying the same thing?
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No. You're saying they would have to prove that the misrepresentation was both intentional and material. I am saying they don't have to show it was intentional if they want to denaturalize. However, showing the intent is important if they want to both denaturalize AND deport you, because without the intent aspect you would just revert to permanent resident status and you could naturalize again.

So you are saying they MUST show intent to denaturalize you, whereas I am saying they will not CHOOSE to pursue denaturalization unless they can show intent, because it is a waste of time and money for them if they denaturalize you and you still get to remain in the US as a permanent resident and renaturalize. Unless they are denaturalizing for reasons other than wanting to deport you, like a politically motivated mass denaturalization to prevent some groups of people from voting.
 
Jackolantern said:
So you are saying they MUST show intent to denaturalize you, whereas I am saying they will not CHOOSE to pursue denaturalization unless they can show intent, because it is a waste of time and money for them if they denaturalize you and you still get to remain in the US as a permanent resident and renaturalize. Unless they are denaturalizing for reasons other than wanting to deport you, like a politically motivated mass denaturalization to prevent some groups of people from voting.
Click to expand...

Got it. Thanks for the clarification.
 
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