Interview Notice is LATE!

W

Wosa

Registered Users (C)
:eek: My wife and I applied for citizenship together, on the same day. We received our receipt notices together and were fingerprinted on the same day.

All well and good, however she received her Interview appointment some 2 weeks ago and I have not.

I tried calling, on three different occasions only to be told that the case was at the local office and there was nothing I could do. I explained, carefully and in words of one syllable so as not to confuse the USCIS bureaucrats, that the USCIS website said to call if one member of a group application had not received a notice. They did not seem to understand why this directive was on their website.

I then proceeded to point out that the notice may have gone missing in the mail and I would then miss my interview. My wife's notice threatened that, should you miss the interview, it will be deemed that you have abandoned your application. This did not impress the officers either and I was told to WAIT.

I am frustrated with these village idiots! Surely there is something I can do to find where I stand? These turkeys have screwed up time and again in the past costing me expensive lawyers to sort out what were purely USCIS cock ups.
:mad:
 
This is certainly not uncommon. Just because you sent them in at the same time (or even in the same envelope), multiple N400s from one family is not considered a "group application"

The applications are processed independently and while FPs, interviews and oath ceremonies are often scheduled on the same day, this is certainly not a requirement, nor is it operating procedure.

Because they're processed as independent applications, filed by two different individuals, both of whom want to become US citizens, they can have different time lines based on certain factors that really are outside of USCIS's control, like the name check.

While your case very well may be because of a scheduling failure on the part of the local DO or the service center, it may just as well be because they haven't received results of the required FBI name check. Your best option, as Huracan pointed out, is to schedule an infopass to find out why your application is still pending.

Good luck!

PS: As to the question of "well, then what IS a group application?"

One example would be a family I-485 application based on the mother's employment. The application for permanent residence in that case is solely the mother's application until the I-485. At that point, the mother could apply for change of status for herself and her husband, children. The reason this case is interesting is because all the applications are linked because the family is deriving permanent resident status because of the mother.

The reason you know they're linked is because if the mom's application is denied, then everyone's applications are denied. This is not the case with the N400.

That would be an example of a group application, I believe ;)
 
Unless you specifically requested group processing when you submitted the two applications, they will definitely NOT be processed together. Actually thats probably a good thing, because if they were, you'd now be waiting for two interview letters instead of just the one...

Sounds to me like your namecheck hasn't cleared yet.
 
Wosa, let us know what the outcome of the appointment was. My hubby and I are in the same boat.. I go for my interview tomorrow, but he hasn't received interview info yet.
 
Wosa said:
:eek: My wife and I applied for citizenship together, on the same day. We received our receipt notices together and were fingerprinted on the same day.

All well and good, however she received her Interview appointment some 2 weeks ago and I have not.

I tried calling, on three different occasions only to be told that the case was at the local office and there was nothing I could do. I explained, carefully and in words of one syllable so as not to confuse the USCIS bureaucrats, that the USCIS website said to call if one member of a group application had not received a notice. They did not seem to understand why this directive was on their website.

I then proceeded to point out that the notice may have gone missing in the mail and I would then miss my interview. My wife's notice threatened that, should you miss the interview, it will be deemed that you have abandoned your application. This did not impress the officers either and I was told to WAIT.

I am frustrated with these village idiots! Surely there is something I can do to find where I stand? These turkeys have screwed up time and again in the past costing me expensive lawyers to sort out what were purely USCIS cock ups.
:mad:
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I dont think there is anything to worry...It happened in our cases too..

Both of us applied together

Priority Date Apr 10,2006
FP date May 23,2006

Husband

Interview Jul 6,2006
Oath Aug 4,2006

Me

Interview Jun 4,2007
Oath ????
 
Thanks

Thanks all for the encouragement and the fear. I will let you know what transpires.
 
Hi Nhotskie,

I have heard that answer before, and unfortunately don't know for sure what it means. It probably means that name check has cleared and you're in the queue to wait to be scheduled for an interview, but I don't know for sure. I think the best question to ask during Infopass is point blank say "has my name check been cleared?" or something like that. I think someone posted a couple of good questions to make during an Infopass, and it was something similar to what I've written, just a direct question about name check specifically.
 
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NHOTSKIE said:
Huracan,

IO made this comment" they put you back in queue for interview" when i went to the DO for infopass appt. do you have any thoughts about this?
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It does mean all the checks have cleared and it is has been placed in Que for IL.But that does not mean you will see it on ayntime soon.30 -60 days standard time frame for IL.After it goes into que.:rolleyes:
 
Thank you huracan and Dckaraja, yes IO told me after all my name check was done VSC put me back in queue for interview thats what IO said....will see what happens after put me in queue since 5/14/06..one thing i remmebered IO said u can not have interview until ur name check is not cleared..
 
Yes, the current practice is that USCIS doesn't schedule interview until the name check is cleared.
 
NHOTSKIE said:
Thank you huracan and Dckaraja, yes IO told me after all my name check was done VSC put me back in queue for interview thats what IO said....will see what happens after put me in queue since 5/14/06..one thing i remmebered IO said u can not have interview until ur name check is not cleared..
Click to expand...

Sorry notice for queue dated 5/14/07
 
Results of Interview

I have just returned from the USCIS Info interview and my N400 application is held up in name check. The conversation went:

"How long will this take?"
"I don't know."
"Is there no time limit on the name check?"
"None."
"So it could take 4 or 5 years?"
"Maybe not."

Not very helpful at all.

What would the esteemed people of the forum recommend as the next step? :confused:
 
Get confortable waiting. Name check is a black hole. Think in terms large number of months or very small number of years (1 or 2, three is unusual - I think).

Sorry. Depending on the USCIS sucks.
 
name check delays

hi,

while i agree with the above email, i suggest you stay optimistic. it took them one year to clear my name check. So I suggest give yourself at least six to nine months before you start preparing for anything.

PD: Aug 21, 2006
FP: SEP 06, 2006
NC: Initiated sometime after FP
IL : Received on June 10, 2007
ID: Interview is scheduled on August 1, 2007

I wish you all the best in your citizenshipo, and hopefully your name check will be cleared in 6 to nine months.
 
Yeah, I didn't mean to discourage you. Just get comfortable waiting. Create very low expectations, and, when the interview notice finally arrives, it will suprise you.

But, realize that there is absolutely nothing you can do about this for at least a year (search for the recent thread about the USCIS ombudsman report to see how many name checks are taking over a year). No one will help you until your case gets *very* old. So, sit back, relax, and try to forget about this (except, of course, remember it enough to check your mailbox each day).

The notice will eventually arrive. Some people clear an extended name check in weeks or a small number of months. Others, well, no so much.

Good luck
 
Flydog said:
Yeah, I didn't mean to discourage you. Just get comfortable waiting. Create very low expectations, and, when the interview notice finally arrives, it will suprise you.

But, realize that there is absolutely nothing you can do about this for at least a year (search for the recent thread about the USCIS ombudsman report to see how many name checks are taking over a year). No one will help you until your case gets *very* old. So, sit back, relax, and try to forget about this (except, of course, remember it enough to check your mailbox each day).

The notice will eventually arrive. Some people clear an extended name check in weeks or a small number of months. Others, well, no so much.

Good luck
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Very interesting stuff in the Ombadsman Report. I see the latest report was sent to Congress on June 11. As of March 2006 there were 255,000 poor souls waiting for the name checks to clear. By March 2007 there were 295,000 and by May of this year they had added a further 34,000 cases to the backlog. Good going if you ask me.

However I also see that "backlog" is the wrong word to use as USCIS does not consider cases held up in name check as part of their backlog!

What are the chances of our lawmakers actually doing something about this or will we have to wait becuase we are not drug or oil companies? Whatever happened to Obama's bill?
 
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