Do they ?

D

desperate2

Registered Users (C)
Hey everyone,
Does the USCIS check your travel dates in their database and compare it to your application as a routine thing before or during or after interview? Do they even confirm them at all, or they just rely on what you say and provide as enough proof ? what if you don't have a proof? has anybody heard anything about something like that before ?
 
That is one of the great mysteries.

Of course, since you are telling the absolute truth, it shouldn't matter.

When you are filling in the N-400, it is best to assume that the USCIS knows everything about everything you have ever done. Then, commit to telling the absolute truth. At that point, if there is a discrepancy, then it is necessarily an oversight on your part and you can say so (and not look like you are trying to lie).
 
I wouldn't be worried or desperate about this, unless you're trying to hide a long absence. If you're well within the residency requirements and physical presence I would try to put down the dates to the best of your ability.

PS: I am sure if they give you trouble you would come up with the proof :) I'm just kidding, you can always show airline ticket info, perhaps credit card expenses. There are a few ways to "proof" where you have been, not all of them bullet proof, but probably good enough. Anyway, I wouldn't worry unless, as I said, you're trying to hide a long absence.

My 2 cents.
 
Thanks for replying back. I am absolutely telling the truth and i am not really trying to hide anything. The problem simply is that the passport i have with me contains stamps to prove my last 2 trips, while the 4 trips that happened before that (when i was going out of the country to attend school) is on my old travel document (which i had to send to departmant of justice in 2003, to be able to apply for a renewal). So i only have proof for the last 2 travels only. I do not have the boaring passes, i contacted the airlines to get ticket copies, and they replied that they only keep record of the last 3 years, accordingly, they have nothing for me in their system. Just dunno what to do !!!
 
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When you fill out an N-400, you must list all absences of 24 hours or more from the US since permanent residency (Green Card) was granted. The burden is on the applicant to be truthful. An immigration officer can challenge these data and then the burden of proof is also on the applicant.

Thus the moral is, for sure, to be honest and not to fudge the data (not that I am suggesting that anybody who has posted on this thread would do so).

In an extreme case, I think that airline passenger lists etc., together with USCIS database entries could be used to validate residency claims etc. I believe that the default position should be that the USCIS can find out what they need to know.

I made a great many trips out of the US since my green card was issued. I had three pages of details !!!! For some of these, I had stamps in my passports, some only in my re-entry permit (which I know longer have), some in both and a few in neither. I reconstructed the long list to the best of my ability with a note that it was sincerely attempted but might not be 100% correct for the very old trips. Remember that the USCIS knows more than you think they know.

Do the very best you can for all of these trips and add the caveat in the cover letter that you completed this section to the very best of your ability/memory etc. Err on the side of caution and completeness. Do not tell deliberate falsehoods under any circumstances.

And at the end of the day …. don’t lie awake at night worrying about (minor) good-faith errors or memory lapses
 
Hi desperate2,

Going out of the country to a school seems to me like it could have been long absences, unless it was for a simple summer course. I still don't think you need proof, as long as you remember the dates you traveled which I guess are close to the dates you attended school. Check the continuous residence/physical presence requirements to make sure you are ok and haven't gone beyond the limits.

My 2 cents.
 
Straight from the horse's mouth - aka me! I can tell you exactly what happens in this situation because it happened to me at the interview: The IO checked EACH DATE on the N-400 with what was in my passport! Luckily I had my expired passport with me too, otherwise I would have had to come back for a secound int. IO checked each entry & exit date with the corresponding stamp on my passports and even made copies of both passports.
 
This is going to be fun :) I hope you just got a picky interviewing officer. I kept a good log of all my trips, however, most of them don't have stamps on the passport, either because it was land border crossings (they usually didn't stamp passports) or because the officer didn't stamp the passport at the airport (at the destination, or when coming back) for whatever unknown reason. It would seem then that it would be better just to list the trips that have stamps on the passport ;) Just kidding, I hope this doesn't cause me any problem during the interview. I'll just wait and see on this one.

My 2 cents.
 
Huracan said:
This is going to be fun :) I hope you just got a picky interviewing officer. I kept a good log of all my trips, however, most of them don't have stamps on the passport, either because it was land border crossings (they usually didn't stamp passports) or because the officer didn't stamp the passport at the airport (at the destination, or when coming back) for whatever unknown reason. It would seem then that it would be better just to list the trips that have stamps on the passport ;) Just kidding, I hope this doesn't cause me any problem during the interview. I'll just wait and see on this one.

My 2 cents.
Click to expand...

hhhmmm ...... I really don't think my IO was picky. I think counter checking the dates on the N-400 with stamps on the passport is pretty std. and happens more often than not.
 
I think it is a strong function of how the IO is feeling, and of how close you are to the continuous residence and physical presence limits.

Both my wife and I (Dallas) were very far from the limits, most of our travel was to Canada (much without a passport stamp), and our our list of travel beyond 5 years was very rough ("no more than N trips per year, the longest being less than X days" kind of thing). It never came up at either of our interviews (which is *good*; we had little in the way of proof - but we were convinced that our statements were as good as our memory allowed).
 
Hi Flydog,

Thanks for your comment, I'll hope for the best, I am way below any continuous residence, physical residence limits. In fact I am a bit embarrassed to say how little time I have spent abroad since I got the Green Card ;) If they didn't stamp the passport what can I do? (This is a rhetorical question).
 
mario123 said:
Straight from the horse's mouth - aka me! I can tell you exactly what happens in this situation because it happened to me at the interview: The IO checked EACH DATE on the N-400 with what was in my passport! Luckily I had my expired passport with me too, otherwise I would have had to come back for a secound int. IO checked each entry & exit date with the corresponding stamp on my passports and even made copies of both passports.
Click to expand...

Mario123 - not every interview(er) is the same. My wife and I had many trips, most without passport stamps due to arrival/departure by sea. The IO never seemed very interested in checking any of the documentation that we'd painstakingly collected. :confused:
 
boatbod said:
Mario123 - not every interview(er) is the same. My wife and I had many trips, most without passport stamps due to arrival/departure by sea. The IO never seemed very interested in checking any of the documentation that we'd painstakingly collected. :confused:
Click to expand...

I agree.

But.... if I were someone who had not gone to an interview and read these posts before hand, I'd want to make 110% sure I had all the stuff in order
 
I absolutely agree! Prepare for the worst and enjoy some relief when things work out a bit easier.
 
I disagree ;)

I think this is a risk assessment issue. If it were a life critical application, I would say that all corner cases have to be taken care of. This is not life critical, and there are solutions for missing documents (you just send them as required). Yes, I know this can cause other problems, but this is where the risk assessment comes into play. For me, it seems that most interviews don't require page by page passport examination. Perhaps it matters when one travels to particular countries.

Anyway, you prepare for the obvious things, like proof of ticket disposition seems to be pretty common. However, asking for new pictures, tax papers, and other documents are not usually asked for unless they are pertinent for that particular case.

My 2 cents
 
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