I got denied need help please

[sony55]

hi guys,
i am sure you remember me. after 150 days of waiting after the interview, i got denied citizenship for allegedly "lying" under oath. they claim that i answered no to question 23 is lying because i entered the states in 1999 on F-1 visa but never attended school then. that's true, but i was a victim of unfortunate change in my brother's financial situation, where i couldn't attend school till after i got married and adjusted my status in 2000. then i graduated with honors and 4.00 gpa! if i only cared about the immigration to the us, then why would i go to school even after i got my permanent green card!! they don't make any sense!! i didn't lie, i came to america to study, and i am still pursuing my bachelor's degree after i graduated in may this year. i am on the national dean's list.
they never asked me anything about that F-1 visa and the intention to immigrate thing neither in the first interview with my wife back in 2000 neither for removal of conditions. not even in the citizenship interview on feb 7, 2005, the interviewer didn't ask anything, never asked for any evidence or antyhing to prove or disapprove their "conclusion" the interview was so smooth and easy, 10 minutes.
what do you guys should i do besides asking an attorney. What things could i do or papers could i prepare. i am confident i didn't do anything wrong.
thank you

 

[genesis1]

citizenship denial

Sorry about it. However I agree with JoeF- if you enter on a F-1 visa and do not attend school, you are automatically "out of status". Going to school after marriage has no relevance to this case. You have to be "in status" all the time till you get your green card. You should have set this right before applying for citizenship. You need a good immigration lawyer to fight your case.

 

[ocworker]

my name check is pending at this moment. would they deny my application later because i disclosed my traffic tickets during the interview? however, the officer wrote down notes about when/what/how happened of the citations.. etc

my interview was so smooth. the interview officer did not check anything besides of my passports to validate the date on the application form.

so smooth that seem she did not pay much attention on this application at all. the interview was lasted top 15 mins.

any thoughts? would i get in troubles or get denied bc of traffic tickets? however, i did disclose it during the interview thou....

 

[ocworker]

hi guys,
i am sure you remember me. after 150 days of waiting after the interview, i got denied citizenship for allegedly "lying" under oath. they claim that i answered no to question 23 is lying because i entered the states in 1999 on F-1 visa but never attended school then. that's true, but i was a victim of unfortunate change in my brother's financial situation, where i couldn't attend school till after i got married and adjusted my status in 2000. then i graduated with honors and 4.00 gpa! if i only cared about the immigration to the us, then why would i go to school even after i got my permanent green card!! they don't make any sense!! i didn't lie, i came to america to study, and i am still pursuing my bachelor's degree after i graduated in may this year. i am on the national dean's list.
they never asked me anything about that F-1 visa and the intention to immigrate thing neither in the first interview with my wife back in 2000 neither for removal of conditions. not even in the citizenship interview on feb 7, 2005, the interviewer didn't ask anything, never asked for any evidence or antyhing to prove or disapprove their "conclusion" the interview was so smooth and easy, 10 minutes.
what do you guys should i do besides asking an attorney. What things could i do or papers could i prepare. i am confident i didn't do anything wrong.
thank you

how did they find out you entered as F-1 but never went to school?
did they check your school for info? also, when the interview officer asked you the question #23, did you tell the officer about F-1 case?

i remember i answered orally to the officer so quick, even she had not finished her sentence. it was just slipped out from my mouth. i hope she was not thinking i was up to something, "why answer so quick". and sure hope it was not the reason she said the background check was not cleared yet. may be she wants to get another background check?

i know she slowed down a bit when she asked me what previous names i used. I only put down 1 alternative name besides of my FULL name (with the Full spell of my middle name as well). however, my middle inital is printed (rather than Full Spell) on my DL. However, in DMV record, i have my fully spelled middle name.
however, i mentioned to her i use my middle inital name as well as my "previous use" names.

i hope it is not another reason she wants to run my background again (or i just think too much. may be my background check is really pending, rather than she wants to request another check on me).

 

[CanTex]

Sorry to hear about this. You really need to get the best immigration attorney you can afford, as I would be concerned that they're going to follow-through and also challenge the validity of your permanent resident status. This is something that should have come out during the steps leading up your getting your green card, and hopefully they're not going to go back over that...

Apart from what others have mentioned about not maintaining your F-1 status properly, the F-1 visa does not allow dual intent (i.e. initial entry as a non-immigrant with the intent to come an immigrant). Other visas like H-1B and the L-1A/B categories do allow dual intent. It sounds like you went from F-1 status to permanent resident status without leaving the U.S. and that's a no-no.

 

[hanging in here]

Q.23 in N400 asks, have you ever given false or misleading information to any US gov official while applying for any immigration benefit, ...

So, the issue seems like not so much as whether you were out of status in 1999 (which you were), but whether you disclosed that information in your PR application process.

So, as far as you can provide evidence showing that you indeed disclosed this info in your AOS process, you should be alright.. Of course, I agree with JoeF, etc, about seeing a good lawyer..

 

[ocworker]

As somebody else mentioned, the fact of having been out of status has to be disclosed on the I-485.

does it mean sony did not disclose the out of status case (came in as F-1 but never went to school?) on I-485.

*IF* he did disclose, would USCIS hold it against him during the citizenship application? would it make any different regardless if he disclosed the OOS during his PR application process?

to sony:

sony,
sorry to hear your case got denied.

did you file a law suit after the 120 days? then they made a decision after the court hearing, and denied your case?

or you just waited 150 days and they sent you a letter about denial?

 

[ocworker]

Now you're getting paranoid...
I think you're fine.

too paranoid here and i kept repeating the interview and tried to detect what went wrong.

guess i have to put a stop and get back to my normal life, for a while.

thanks Joe

 

[parekh]

too paranoid here and i kept repeating the interview and tried to detect what went wrong.

guess i have to put a stop and get back to my normal life, for a while.

thanks Joe

Like many folks on this forum(and this after reading the forum threads a few times!) I made the mistake of not declaring my speeding tickets on the N-400(coz I did not realize that traffic tickets are considered a citation). A few days after I mailed my N400 I mailed a clarification letter and an updated version of the page(not the entire N400) where I declared the tickets.

At my interview the officer asked me absolutely nothing at all about the tickets. As he was flipping thru' the app I noticed that the file did not have my updated page. At that point I was in two minds - should I or should I not mention it? As the officer finished the interview and was congratulating me I thought -- what the heck, let me mention it so that it does not come back to bite me. I did and he said it was irrelevant since they were only speeding tickets. He made no notes whatsoever. A couple of days after my interview(which was more than 4 months after my PD) I recd a letter from USCIS in response to my updated N400(where I declared the tickets) and guess what --- they said they were seriously backlogged and expected to process my letter by Oct!

My interview was on June 22 and I'm scheduled to attend the oath ceremony on Jul 22. Hopefully in Oct 2005(more than 7 months after I sent my clarification) USCIS does not change its mind on granting me citizenship

 

[sony55]

Sorry to hear about this. You really need to get the best immigration attorney you can afford, as I would be concerned that they're going to follow-through and also challenge the validity of your permanent resident status. This is something that should have come out during the steps leading up your getting your green card, and hopefully they're not going to go back over that...

Apart from what others have mentioned about not maintaining your F-1 status properly, the F-1 visa does not allow dual intent (i.e. initial entry as a non-immigrant with the intent to come an immigrant). Other visas like H-1B and the L-1A/B categories do allow dual intent. It sounds like you went from F-1 status to permanent resident status without leaving the U.S. and that's a no-no.

why no-no, when the constitution gave me the right of Adjustment of status and i got everything later legally through the lawyer , he, then, told me that i didn't exceed the maximum deadline and didn't violate the law, therefore , he told me i didn't have to leave the country to adjust my status. they never brought that up during the first 2 interviews!

 

[sony55]

Q.23 in N400 asks, have you ever given false or misleading information to any US gov official while applying for any immigration benefit, ...

So, the issue seems like not so much as whether you were out of status in 1999 (which you were), but whether you disclosed that information in your PR application process.

So, as far as you can provide evidence showing that you indeed disclosed this info in your AOS process, you should be alright.. Of course, I agree with JoeF, etc, about seeing a good lawyer..

on my permanent residence application, whenever i was asked on the form about my F-1 or the way i entered the country, i never provided any inaccurate or untruthful information regarding my status. the problem is the uscis never asked me about that during the interviews as everything was fine. i dind't lie about the benefits, yes i entered on F-1 visa, but the situation changed, and things always come up. my sincere intent was to study.

 

[srini123]

I-485

I don't think in I-485 they ask a question like

'Have you ever been out of status?'

(Please correct me if I am wrong)

They certainly ask about Employment history...I am a bit confused about the reason they gave...if there is no question in I-485 that specifically asks about status (like the one I mentioned above), how can USCIS say that he lied during the adjustment of status phase?

Srini

 

[sony55]

That is in principle not a problem, as long as he didn't have that intent when entering on F1. That's where the marriage shortly afterwards comes into play. That could be seen as if he had the intent to marry all along. There has been a lawsuit about that, Seihoon v. Levy, and as result, CIS considers it ok if the change in non-immigrant intent was at least 90 days after entry.
As somebody else mentioned, the fact of having been out of status has to be disclosed on the I-485.

thank you joeF,
i have gotten married about 13 months after entering the country on F-1 visa. also, i did my adjustment of status through a good attorney, and i didn't lie about my out of status thing. i disclosed it. but as i see the issue here, they say that i "lied" under oath, because they concluded that when i originally entered the states in 1999, i didn't have any intention in attending school, as if i had the intention to get into the country through that visa then immigrate and stay in the country. which what happened, but not intentionally. so, why would i get punished for my circumstances?!! if i really wanted to immigrate, then why would i go to school after getting the green card?!! also, i applied for an F-1 visa extension in august 11, 1999 but was denied on Feb 2000 because i couldn't attend the second school in tennessee. my brother left his job in europe , he was supposed to provide all the financial support for tuition, and that's why i couldn't attend that school in september 1999. why else would i apply for a non-immigrant F-1 visa extension if i knew i was not going to go to school?! i would know then that my application would get denied! that there, shows my good intention and my sincerity of going to school.

 

[sony55]

I don't think in I-485 they ask a question like

'Have you ever been out of status?'

(Please correct me if I am wrong)

They certainly ask about Employment history...I am a bit confused about the reason they gave...if there is no question in I-485 that specifically asks about status (like the one I mentioned above), how can USCIS say that he lied during the adjustment of status phase?

Srini

No no, va1234
you have misunderstood the issue here. they are saying that i have lied under oath during the citizenship interview on Feb 2005 not during the adjustment of status! they say that i should have answered "yes" to question # 23 because in 1999, allegedly as they claim or concluded, i intended to immigrate through obtaining an F-1 visa just to get in to the country. which is completely wrong. i have an original and sincere intent to go to school, the change in my brother's financial situation was the reason i didn't attned school, that's it.

 

[max2k1]

i have gotten married about 13 months after entering the country on F-1 visa.

--> So you were out of status for 13 months ... I don't know how your 485 lawyer said that this was OK -- this issue should've come up during your GC process - am surprised it did not

if i really wanted to immigrate, then why would i go to school after getting the green card?!!

I don't think USCIS really cares what you did after getting the GC -- their only claim is that you came here on a F1 to study but you did not study at all in F1 status -- instead you proceeded to immigrate.

Get a lawyer asap.

 

[Natureli]

What happens after getting denied? Can they cancel your GC?

 

[Ocelot]

sony,

I remember you. It's a pity you got turned down.

Do you have copies of any correspondence related to your initial attempts to attend university? For example, if you and your brother corresponded about his financial ability to support you, it would be helpful to have this to substantiate your claims.

Also, can you establish (by some kind of evidence or testimony) when you met your wife and under what circumstances?

Do you have correpsondence with the schools in which you made clear that you had difficulties due to a change in your brother's financial situation?

Can you substantiat your bother's job loss with some kind of papers?

I think you may need all of these things - to make it clear that you fully intended to attend university and did not misrepresent your intent. It should be possible to win. The INS is not staffed with tirants, but they also do not want you to make a fool of them.

Lawyer, you need, I think.

-Ocelot

 

[parekh]

Well, being out of status is forgiven when applying for AOS based on marriage to a US citizen...
So, the lawyer was correct.

Please correct me if I am wrong but if memory serves me right there's an upper limit(180 days?) on the amount of time that is forgiven if you are out of status and applying for adjustment of status based on marriage to a US citizen.

 

[sony55]

sony,

I remember you. It's a pity you got turned down.

Do you have copies of any correspondence related to your initial attempts to attend university? For example, if you and your brother corresponded about his financial ability to support you, it would be helpful to have this to substantiate your claims.

Also, can you establish (by some kind of evidence or testimony) when you met your wife and under what circumstances?

Do you have correpsondence with the schools in which you made clear that you had difficulties due to a change in your brother's financial situation?

Can you substantiat your bother's job loss with some kind of papers?

I think you may need all of these things - to make it clear that you fully intended to attend university and did not misrepresent your intent. It should be possible to win. The INS is not staffed with tirants, but they also do not want you to make a fool of them.

Lawyer, you need, I think.

-Ocelot

i deeply appreciate your assistance and advice , ocelot!
i have almost all of those evidences and i will make sure to show it to the uscis staff during the hearing session. i have gotten a lawyer and he said that i should fight that decision because the uscis do not really have any physical evidence against me, he said, that all the uscis is saying are conclusions and assumtions.

 

[sony55]

Nope. There is no upper limit for spouses of US citizens, or, to be more exact, for immediate relatives (it also applies to parents of US citizens, for example). The only requirement is that the person was inspected, i.e., didn't sneak over the border. In all other cases, there is indeed a 180 day limit.

thank you joeF,
what do u think about my case. do u think i have a chance in a hearing? what do u think the laywer's cost could be?
thank you.