Change of address card

[krishna43]

Hi All,

My wife and I are elderly parents of three children, who are naturalized citizens now. We came to USA with green cards in 2002 and have been staying here since then except for some brief visits to India.
We are now filing the N-400 forms and we have the following questions:

1. My wife, being a home maker, was making frequent trips between San Diego (my daughter's house) and Seattle (to my son's house) during the past five years. Sometimes I missed filing the Change of address cards to the INS. Now we are declaring the addresses where we stayed during the last five years. Is the INS very strict about the Change of address cards for every change of address we declare? What plausible explanation can we give, except of course that we forgot to inform the bureau?

2. My wife is not very fluent in English (though she can carry on the conversation and is preparing for the Civics test). How complicated is the written test at the time of interview?

Thanks in advance for any experience or advice.

- Krishna

 

[rwsh]

My (strictly non-legal) opinion is that in your case the change of address cards might not be critical. It perhaps depends on how long you were in each location: was it truly a change of residence or was it an extended visit? I would suggest you file an AR-11 for the last "significant" address/residence change just to make sure you are up to date if you are asked. I was a couple of years late in filing my last one and it was not an issue at all.

The English test is two parts; written and oral. The written consists of writing down one simple sentence that is dictated by the IO. The oral consists of reading a few sentences out loud. There are examples of both given on the USCIS website.

However, be aware that the interview itself is conducted in English (of course) and so your wife will need to be able to adequately understand and answer the questions put to her.

I hope this helps - good luck.

 

[krishna43]

Thanks for the prompt reply ( and the encouraging news). In fact I have already mailed the Change of address for the last change when my wife came back from Seattle. What I would like to know is whether there were any instances of the rejection of N-400 solely due to the change of address declaration issue. We were maintaining residence (at my son's address) in Seattle for the first two years. Then I got a job in San Diego and the residence is now here (my daughter's address). The visits were mostly extended visits to help out the respective families.
My wife will be attending some classes conducted by the adult education groups regarding the citizenship interview. I think that should give her the confidence to face the interview.
I would appreciate any further advice or details of experience at the interview.

- Krishna

 

[RSury]

1. Since you have filed last chg. of address that sh. be fine.
2. Form your post it looks that you are staying in a place and you wife alone travels frequently between your kids place... then it is fine.


All the best

 

[Flydog]

As I understand it, most of the "English Test" is, in fact, the interview. If the applicant can get through the interview, understanding the questions and answering them intelligently, then they pass the "oral" part.

The other part consists of reading a simple sentence (examples in the guide) and writing a simple sentence (along the lines of "I live in a green house").

If you are up to date with your address, all should be well. I never knew I was supposed to file an AR-11 and never did. It didn't come up at my interview.

 

[rwsh]

Also, as we have said before, be well prepared for the interview. Take all supporting documentation, just in case. This will include (but not limited to) data on residency, international travel history since PR status, tax/IRS status, traffic violations etc etc.

Check out the "Sticky" post on this subject; it covers most issues.

Remember that the IO is not trying to make your nervous or threatened. He/she is simply trying to do his/her job. Some interviews take as little as ten minutes, some might be longer.

Mine was 50 minutes but included a lot of clarification on my complicated international travel history and residency implications. It was never intimidating. See my post on the subject.