interview and traffic ticket and new rules

E

emc1234

Registered Users (C)
Hi, i finished my interview today. i went to dallas INS around 7:30am. and called into interview at 7:50am and done within 5 minuates or 10. officer asked everything on the first page of N400 (name, address) and to my surprise, she asked me if i had traffic ticket (!!!!). I did not report it on N400 but I told her I did. I gave her a copy of ticket (5 years ago, 5 miles over speed limit, that is it). She told me no problem at all. Also she rewrote my N400 on traffic ticket. She tested me 5 questions and let me write a sentence.

To my surprise, she marked "no decision could be made at this point" instead of "congratulations". She told me I passed. There is new rule on background check. So everyone has "no decision". It started 1 week ago.

My question:
1) How long will it take to get oath letter?
2) I need to apply my wife's PR. I know I need to file I-130, I-485 and AP for her. Anything else? Also, could I file all of these together?

Thanks. Good luck.

Timeline:
Apply: August 2002
FP: Sept. 2002
Interview: December 2002
 
thank you for sharing your experience ,you get me thinking about those traffic violation ,i 've been driving in the us for the past 10 years ,i had so far 5 tickets (speed 3 ,red light 1,accident ) i always paid my fines ,and nothing else after that beside my insurance going up and down .
in my n400,i didn't disclose those traffic violation ,i wonder if it will be a problem at my interview coming up soon in march ?
where did you get you driving record ? from dmv ?
any additional input from people who just had their interview will be appreciated
i applying for my wife too, i already send the i 130 as a pr just waiting for my citizenship to upgrade .it takes betwen 6 to 9 months to come here if she is out of the country .
 
I guess my experience explains the best on traffic ticket. I did not report it on N400 is because I thought it is not a big deal. I thought N400 asked for those "big" crimes not speeding ticket. However, when asked, I am obligated to tell the truth under oath. I kept the copy so it speaks itself very well. Officer does not care about speeding at all except filling the space on N400.

If I were you, I would put it on N400 at first place. If not, tell officer at interview. Remember to bring the ticket copy and proof that you have paid in full (she asked me if I paid or not). Either way, you would be fine. Do not worry too much about traffic ticket. Millions get it every year and you do not hurt anyone else.

What I am interested is if anyone out there have the same experience on "no decision" instead of "congratulations" on the interview result. I do not know how long security check takes. Hopefully just 1 more week.
 
sorry did not answer your question. I did not get my driving record. I kept original speeding ticket from police officer and receipt of payment from court. (yes, they are more than 5 years old. I dig it out from old files.)
 
Hi, EMC1234
I also got the "We'll inform you of our decision later" note when I completed - and passed - my interview on 10/28/02. I got an appointment notice from the INS in Nebraska - not from the district office - about 10 days later, on 11/7/02, telling me to show up for the ceremony on 12/4/02. On 11/25/02 I received another letter from the INS in Nebraska telling me that the "Oath Ceremony for the above applicant (me) had been de-scheduled due to unforseen circumstances". My lawyer mentioned the internal memo from the INS that was circulated to all field offices reminding that no decision on natz can be made until an applicant had been cleared of all security checks, so he speculated that the INS had not completed all the security checks on me when they sent me the appt notice on 11/7/02. Nevertheless, I went to the district office on 12/4/02, hoping the descheduling notice was some sort of an error. It was not. An INS officer I talked to there told me to go back home and wait for another appt notice from the INS. He would not look up my case on the computer, he did not give me any indication of what could be going on and when it would resolve. I called the INS cust. service phone number and asked them what the "unforseen circumstances" could mean. They said that the district office probably could nt find a slot to take me in for the oath. However, when I was at the INS office on 12/4, they must've had 100 people there who were invited for swearing in. SOme people had been interviewed the day before, others - in the middle and the end of Novemeber, way after me.
So I've no clue what's going on. The INS would not disclose the status on my case - a simple "we are waiting for add'l checks to clear" would've been sufficient for me, but they didn't even tell me that. I'm going to wait for another few weeks or so, and then I think I'll ask my lawyer to request a disclosure of my file under FOIA, hoping that way we could be able to find something out. I can't think of anything else. I was not able to obtain any ifno on from people who might've gotten de-scheduling notices as well.
I wish you luck.
 
Did you ask interviewing officer why she did not congratulate you instead of "pending" you?

I did ask. She told me it is because of new rule effective 1 week ago. And she said it would take 3 - 6 month before I receive from INS. I think 3-6 months is kind of too long.

What is your timeline? I will let you know if I receive anything. Please inform me as well.
 
SV303. I thought about your case. I think INS officer did do a pending on you because he did have a doubt to check or he is a new officer and need veteran's checkup. After that, you were cleared for oath. However, INS issued new rule at mid-Nov and it found that you were lack of IBIS check. So INS took back the appointment and is doing IBIS check now. If that is the case, you have nothing to worry. It just matters of time. Other people behind you might get IBIS check while your case "is waiting for oath" so they turned out to be faster.

My experience with the interviewing officer is that she did study my case files thoroughly since she was asking few but fitting questions. I would say she is very very experienced.

Good luck.
 
Hi, EMC1234
MY timeline:
PD: 1/22/02
FP: 4/30/02
Interview: 10/28/02
Oath: 12/4/02 - descheduled
Now no idea what's next
My lawyer also mentioned the IBIS check. It's just annoying that the INS didn't bother to tell me that much. The interviewing officer was totally clueless about the "pening" thing. He kind of looked at me and said: "I don't know, you have to wait". "No, I don't know how long. You will be notified". That's all. I'm going throught the Seattle district office, but getting notices from Nebraska for some reason.
thanks for your thoughts
 
Hi, all
just got a note from my lawyer - latest on what's going on with the holds/delays on naturalizations. Hope this is helpful.

"National AILA - Update on Adjudications Halt - as of 12/11/02

Some call it a "freeze". Some say "halt". Some refer to a "delay". But it is all the same thing: INS District Offices and Service Centers are not issuing approvals on any adjustment of status applications, and many naturalization and asylum approvals are also being delayed. Indeed, some areas report that people have been pulled from naturalization ceremonies at the last minute. INS Headquarters continues to insist that there is no "adjudications freeze", and indeed cases are still being adjudicated. But where the case is ready for approval, the approvals are not being issued.

What is behind this? An 11/13/02 INS memo, described on InfoNet on November 21, 2002, required that no "benefits" be granted until the INS receives back from the FBI an affirmative response on the G-325A name/date of birth check. Previously, the INS had presumed that if it had not heard back from the FBI within a given period of time that there had been no issue with the check. INS has now indicated that the "benefits" in question are adjustment of status, naturalization and asylum. Ancillary benefits, such as advance parole and work authorization, are not subject to this process.

Because there was no automated mechanism in place for FBI to respond to each and every request, an adjustment to INS' CLAIMS system had to be made. AILA has been advised that that system adjustment is largely completed, so that the checks can be made on an ongoing basis. However, there remains a backlog of pending cases on which INS still needs FBI clearances. INS Headquarters indicates that the FBI has sent it tapes covering about half of those cases, but INS local offices are still indicating that they have not been given the clearance to issue approvals on these cases. "

good luck to all of you (and me) waiting for this mess to clear up
 
hi, sv303. thank you for the info. it matches quite well with what I heard from INS officer. is that possible that you could point out the original article(s) link? The info you posted seems from a laywer. not in plain english. G-325 is biographic information. how does FBI check it? Why a birthday is such a big issue? I guess INS should have more accurate info on immigrates' birthdays than FBI. i guess we just wait till first person reports approval. Good luck.

Also it sounds wired that your INS officer was clueless and gave you "no decision could be made". He should have some reason by doing that. Maybe he just did not want to tell you. At your interview time, INS still gave out "congratulations" on the interview results.
 
Hi, EMC1234
Yes, this was an email I got this morning from my lawyer. He got it in an email from the local AILA chapter mailing list. I think AILA is or will publish it on their website, but this kind of info is only accessible to AILA subsribers (lawyers). Yes, G-325A is the bio-form which I imagine the FBI uses to do the name/DOB check. I don't know what it involves. I think the key message is the change in procedure as of 11/13/02, when the INS circulated an internal memo to all field offices instructing them NOT to ajudicate or approve any cases until an affirmative reply has been received from the FBI. Before this memo the default process was that the INS requests this check from the FBI, and if the FBI does not report a hit within N days, the INS considered it as a no-hit and proceeded with adjudications. Now they have to wait for a reply to each and every request to the FBI. The FBI/INS computer systems were not set up to handle each and every request, so the INS had to update their CLAIMS system to enable this process on a one-by-one basis.
You are right, a simple "we need to wait for additional FBI check to clear" from the INS officer would've put my mind at ease. But... Anyway, a fair thing to do would be for the INS to publish this info on their website rather than deprive thousands of people of piece of mind.
You are right, let's wait til we hear from someone being cleared and scheduled for another ceremony. I promise I'll post an update when I hear anything.
 
EMC1234
BTW, yes, you can file I-130 and I-485 and EOD and a bunch of other stuff together if your wife is in the US. If she is not, you can only do a I-130 (without adjustment of status cuz she's not here). There is good list of all the req's and forms you need to file on the INS website/How Do I?/Bring my family to live in the US
Good luck. I really feel for you
 
Question for SV303

Hello SV303,

I'm the same case of pending oath ceremony.
My husband is Canadian, commuting all the time and he was told that he should apply his PR in Canada.

Now I don't know when I could have the ceremony.
Should he wait for my oath or anything he should start filing anything in Canada? We just want to save time.

Thanks in advance.

Jennie
 
Hi, Jenni_dg
As a spouse of a permanent citizen your husband can come and stay here with you legally on a non-immigrant visa, right? I forget what the visa is called, but i know all my GC friends have their spouses here (there are quite a few of them). Once your spouse is in the US, you can petition for his PR after you become a US citizen (should be soon, hopefully). IF your spouse is in the US, AND you are a US citizen, you CAN file I-485 at the same time as I-130 (and you can also file an EAD so that he can work while his petition is pending). Only "the immediate family" of a US citizen can apply for an adjustment of status at the time of filing a petition, the immideate family includes spuses, parents and unmarried children under 21, if my memory serves me right. While his petition is pending, your husband can legally stay and work in the US, can get a stamp in the passport that his I-485 is pending etc, almost as if he actually had a GC.
This process is described very well on the INS website: (looks like this topic is interesting to many of us for the same reason - we want to petition for our families... So here are the links)

http://www.ins.gov/graphics/howdoi/spouselive.htm

and
http://www.ins.gov/graphics/howdoi/legpermres.htm

and
http://www.ins.gov/graphics/howdoi/LPReligibility.htm (explains eligibility, i.e. who can adjust status while in the US)

You can certainly petition for your husband while he's in Canada before you get a US citizenship, but beware that he will be treated differently from a US citizen spouse - he'll have to wait for an immigrant visa number to become available (will take a few months, we've all gone through it), and it might have an affect on his ability to travel in the US (i.e. if he needs a visa to enter the US, the US consulate may deny because he has a pending immigrant petition).
Again, much of this is described very well on the INS website, other stuff I've learned on my own expirience and from immigration lawyers. My advice to you would be to bring him in the US on a non-immigrant visa, then get your citizenship, then petition and apply for an adjustment of status.

Good luck
 
Hi, Jennie_DG
One thing I missed: if your husband does NOT have a non-immigrant visa, then you should check to see which one would be quicker to obtain: a non-immigrant visa, or an immigrant visa number. You should be able to find the timeline on both on the Dept. of State website (it's not the INS that issues those). Again, if your husband is a Canadian citizen, that it should not be a problem as Canadian citizens do not need a non-immigrant visa to enter and remain legally in the US. Best thing to do is to discuss your particular situation with an immigration attorney (AILA is a good source for finding one, and of course the sponsor of this portal Law Offices of Rajiv Khanna could be a good start)

Good luck
 
Hi, Jennie_dg, sv303 is correct. put it in a simple way. get your husband in US on any visa. He should pass inspection. (I am not sure crossing land border constitute inspection or not since there is no record at all on his entry if he is CA citizen.) He should not come to US from some back road along US-Canada border. After your citizenship (should be soon), you could apply for his Advanced Parole (AP) and I-130 and I-485. I guess after 2 or 3 months, he could be free going back to Canada on AP. You are almost there. just be a little patient.
 
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