calling all MARRIAGE based (3yr) N400 applicants.

The answer can be found in 8.CFR.319.11(b)2

(2) Loss of Marital Union--(i) Divorce, death or expatriation. A person is ineligible for naturalization as the spouse of a United States citizen under section 319(a) of the Act if, before or after the filing of the application, the marital union ceases to exist due to death or divorce, or the citizen spouse has expatriated. Eligibility is not restored to an applicant whose relationship to the citizen spouse terminates before the applicant's admission to citizenship, even though the applicant subsequently marries another United States citizen.​
Thank you. Any way to find out, when did this rule go in effect, and if it was imposed after 11/15/02 (date my N400 application was granted), does it apply retroactively to my case?

Thanks again.
 
Even if it was imposed after your application was recommended for approval or granted, you have no recourse as your appeal deadline has long passed.
 
Even if it was imposed after your application was recommended for approval or granted, you have no recourse as your appeal deadline has long passed.
Even if I never got the denial letter, and they know it, as it returned to them? (I only know of the denial from the NOA of 9/27/07, and then from talking to US CIS Customer Service.)
 
Even if it was imposed after your application was recommended for approval or granted, you have no recourse as your appeal deadline has long passed.
Bob, forgive me if your words sound like something spoken by a US CIS officer.

"Yes maybe we did the wrong and illegal thing, as we retroactively and wrongfully denied an application, yet you can't do nada because it's been more than 30 days since the denial, which, by the way, we know you never received."

I understand that this may be the way US CIS works, but certainly doesn't hold to even very mild standards of fairness and accountability.

If a government agency made an error that severely affects its subject's rights, it must be held responsible for correcting this error regardless of its own appeal procedures.
 
I'm not sure how the interviews are different - but I can certainly share my experience from a marriage based application. I put together all the paper work from the ones requested and I made an additional list from the forum posts here. My husband was with me but was not allowed to go in with me to the interview. He had to wait outside.

My interview was very short and very straight forward. The officer looked at my passport, verified my travel dates and the number of days I had spent outside of the country. He made corrections on my N-400 form (the form had asked for days outside of the country in the last 5 years and my number was high....though within the allowed range - I can't remember the exact details. He insisted the number was lower as per my passport and I didn't argue. :) ). Verified a few things on the form and had me verbally confirm that it was correct. The test was verbal - I got the first six answers right and he didn't ask the remaining. I had to write a simple sentence and read a simple sentence.

Although I had a bag full of 20-30 pounds of paperwork :) - I didn't have to even open the bag. I did go thoroughly prepared with all the papers and I would recommend anyone going in for the interview should take everything, just in case one gets asked.

I didn't have any speeding tickets or anything else to provide papers for. I could tell the officer had reviewed my file in detail before I was called in because he referenced a newspaper article I had submitted about my husband and me. He just made a generic comment about it so I know he had the complete file and had reviewed it in some detail. The interview was very straight forward and the officer explained he was recommending my case for approval and I would get the oath ceremony letter in the mail. I was out in 10-15 minutes. It surprised me and my husband because every applicant that went in ahead of me seemed to take a good 30 minutes at least.

My interview was on the 12th of Feb, 2008 and I got my oath ceremony letter today (May 2nd 2008). The oath ceremony is scheduled for the 21st of May. This is out in Louisiana.

I don't have anything complex to share - but on the other hand, I know how some nervousness sets in before the interview and it helps to know that it can be a very simple, straight forward and positive experience as well. The officer was great. Friendly and professional.

Good luck with your interview!

Saicool





From all the reading I've done here, I have the feeling that most of the N400's are 5-year perm resident based applicants.

We do have a good collection of feedback and posts showing how the interviews go for those applicants, what questions/evidences to prepare for the interview.

HOWEVER: there haven't been very many posts about interview experiences for N400 interviewees whose appl was based on marriage to a US citizen, to which category I belong to also.

How are these interviews different from the others?
what extra stuff does one need to do to prepare for this type?
(my GC interview was pretty painless, just a few basic questions about our marriage, and the IO looked at a few photographs, but not with any interest)
what additional questions do they ask?
what kind of proof should one have in hand when going to the interview?

I'd love to hear from some marriage based N-400 people who had their interviews already, or from people who have heard about how it goes..
I think it would be interesting for some of the marriage based applicants here...to get a rough idea at least

Thanks.
 
mixednut I am having the same issue now, i applied based on marriage, my case was pending for 2 years because the name check, i sued them they approved it right away but i divorced my wife after i had the interview and before the oath ceremony, they called me for ceremony and when they knew i was divorced they pulled me out of the ceremony and dinied my application , now i think i have to file a new N-400 but one thing i man not do is drop my lawsuite that's still pending so they can give me lawyer expenses back, any thought?
Thanks
 
Interview experience at San Francisco DO (Marriage based)

Here is my interview experience;

Arrived for interview on time, was sitting at the waiting area, IO comes out calls my name, asked how I was doing and starts walking me towards his office, on the way he asked me where my wife was, I said at home.

Entered his office and made me stand and swear, then asked from my ID, passport & green card; Below are the questions he asked;

Where does my wife work? What time she goes to work? what car does she drive? who cooks at home? when did we both go out last? where was our last vacation? if we rent or own the house? Where does my in-law live? when did I visit them last?

He wrote down all my answers, then asked me if we filed 2007 tax jointly, I gave him the copy of our tax return.

Then he went over my application (verified everything about our marriage, but did not ask for any documents as proof), then the US history test and gave me a piece of paper saying that I have passed the test.:)

All done in 20 mins.:)
 
I'm not sure how the interviews are different - but I can certainly share my experience from a marriage based application. I put together all the paper work from the ones requested and I made an additional list from the forum posts here. My husband was with me but was not allowed to go in with me to the interview. He had to wait outside.

My interview was very short and very straight forward. The officer looked at my passport, verified my travel dates and the number of days I had spent outside of the country. He made corrections on my N-400 form (the form had asked for days outside of the country in the last 5 years and my number was high....though within the allowed range - I can't remember the exact details. He insisted the number was lower as per my passport and I didn't argue. :) ). Verified a few things on the form and had me verbally confirm that it was correct. The test was verbal - I got the first six answers right and he didn't ask the remaining. I had to write a simple sentence and read a simple sentence.

Although I had a bag full of 20-30 pounds of paperwork :) - I didn't have to even open the bag. I did go thoroughly prepared with all the papers and I would recommend anyone going in for the interview should take everything, just in case one gets asked.

I didn't have any speeding tickets or anything else to provide papers for. I could tell the officer had reviewed my file in detail before I was called in because he referenced a newspaper article I had submitted about my husband and me. He just made a generic comment about it so I know he had the complete file and had reviewed it in some detail. The interview was very straight forward and the officer explained he was recommending my case for approval and I would get the oath ceremony letter in the mail. I was out in 10-15 minutes. It surprised me and my husband because every applicant that went in ahead of me seemed to take a good 30 minutes at least.

My interview was on the 12th of Feb, 2008 and I got my oath ceremony letter today (May 2nd 2008). The oath ceremony is scheduled for the 21st of May. This is out in Louisiana.

I don't have anything complex to share - but on the other hand, I know how some nervousness sets in before the interview and it helps to know that it can be a very simple, straight forward and positive experience as well. The officer was great. Friendly and professional.

Good luck with your interview!

Saicool


Hey Saicool
I'm assuming you were interviewed at the New orleans DO?
My interview is in 2 months at the New orelans DO
Looking at your oath date it took them about 3 months to send you the oath date?
I'm assuming it'll take about the same for me

New orleans DO sucks big time
:mad:
 
Hey Saicool
I'm assuming you were interviewed at the New orleans DO?
My interview is in 2 months at the New orelans DO
Looking at your oath date it took them about 3 months to send you the oath date?
I'm assuming it'll take about the same for me

New orleans DO sucks big time
:mad:

Yes, it did take 3 months to get the oath letter. It does vary from place to place. We live about a 2 1/2 hour drive away from NO and it could be because of that as well. The officer said they would first try to schedule me in closer to where I live and if there were no oath ceremonies scheduled in the time frame (I'm guessing 120 days) - then they would call me in to New Orleans. It is possible that being in a smaller city factored into the delay. Can't be sure tho.....but I suspect it did come into play.

I believe some have even gotten it on the same day. So you can ask your officer if they have an oath the same day you may be able to take. Never hurts to try. :)

Good luck with your interview!
 
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