Marriage based cases and "A decision cannot be made at this time"

S

sammm

Registered Users (C)
Hi,
I was reading somewhere that for people who got their GC's through marriage usually get "A decision cannot be made at this time" at this time. Is that true? What else can I take besides my child and my wife to prove we are happily married( at least that's my claim..my wife it's a different story).
 
Didn't happen to me. I got a "recommended for approval" at the end of my interview.

sammm said:
I was reading somewhere that for people who got their GC's through marriage usually get "A decision cannot be made at this time" at this time. Is that true?
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Triple Citizen said:
Didn't happen to me. I got a "recommended for approval" at the end of my interview.
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But even a "recommended for approval" holds no guarantee of actual approval until one actually takes the oath (according to what I was told this morning while speaking with USCIS).
 
However, the good thing is that according to patterns that we have all observed, thanks to everyone posting their experiences, we have come to know that "recommended for approval" and "a decision cannot be made at this time" almost always result in approvals.
 
jayoa said:
But even a "recommended for approval" holds no guarantee of actual approval until one actually takes the oath (according to what I was told this morning while speaking with USCIS).
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Technically, this is correct, but as a practical matter, after a "recommended for approval" there is no subsequent in-depth review of the file between the interview at the oath. Officially, the actual approval happens at the oath itself, but unless something unusual happened between the interview and the oath (e.g. an arrest or an extended trip abroad), the applicant will be allowed to take the oath. The main difference between "recommended for approval" and "decision cannot yet be made" is that after "recommended for approval" the applicant's file goes directly into a queue for the oath, while after "decision cannot yet be made", consideration of the case continues without, as yet, being scheduled for the oath - the file may need a supervisor review, or the IO may need additional evidence, etc. In fact, if the case is denied, the denial never happens at the interview itself, but always comes later, as a written notice, by mail; the cases that are headed for denial get "decision cannot yet be made" box checked at the interview.
 
sammm said:
Hi,
I was reading somewhere that for people who got their GC's through marriage usually get "A decision cannot be made at this time" at this time. Is that true? What else can I take besides my child and my wife to prove we are happily married( at least that's my claim..my wife it's a different story).
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As you can see from the experiences of other members of this forum, marriag-based N-400 applicants often do get "recommended for approval" as the result of the interview. So "decision cannot yet be made" is not really the prevalent outcome.

Regarding your wife and child, I am not even sure that you'll be able to take them to the interview itself. Practices may vary by between various district offices, but I remember that when I had my interview at the Chicago DO and was sitting in the waiting area, waiting for my name to be called, there were quite a few people there who came with their spouses. While the spouses were allowed into the waiting area, they were not allowed to accompany the applicant to the interview room itself. A colleague of mine was there on the same day as me, with her husband. She had a marriage-based case and the husband was told that he cannot be present at the interview and should wait outside, in the waiting area.

In terms of what other things you could do to prepare for possible questions about your marriage, you could bring stuff like joint bank accounts statements, evidence of joint ownership of property such as a house, a car, etc; joint credit card statements, and of course, tax return transcripts showing joint filing of taxes.
 
Same thing at the DC DO, it doesn't matter if you go there with all your extended family on both sides, you have to go into the interview on your own or with your attorney, if you had one file on your behalf.

Per the denial discussion, people do get denied on same day. On the day I had my interview an older woman was being denied since they could not pass the civics test. The IO was trying to explain future retest options to her.
 
jayoa said:
Per the denial discussion, people do get denied on same day. On the day I had my interview an older woman was being denied since they could not pass the civics test. The IO was trying to explain future retest options to her.
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What you are describing was not a denial of the application. If an applicant fails English and/or civics, they are given one more opportunity to pass the test at a future date; in the meantime their application is not denied, but rather continued. If they fail the test the second time, there application will be denied, but even then the IO is required to mail the denial notice, and specify the denial reason - namely section 312 of the INA and 8 CFR 312.

Denial is the final action on an application, after which the application is closed. After that the applicant has to either file a new application, or appeal the denial and file a motion to reopen or reconsider the case.
 
sammm said:
Hi,
I was reading somewhere that for people who got their GC's through marriage usually get "A decision cannot be made at this time" at this time. Is that true?
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Don't you mean applicants who apply for naturalization via 3 year marriage rule? (regardless of how they obtained GC)

sammm said:
What else can I take besides my child and my wife to prove we are happily married( at least that's my claim..my wife it's a different story).
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If you applied under 3 year rule with your wife being USC, then evidence of your marital union such as tax transcripts, utilities in both names, both living at same address etc could be asked at interview.
 
baikal3 said:
What you are describing was not a denial of the application. If an applicant fails English and/or civics, they are given one more opportunity to pass the test at a future date; in the meantime their application is not denied, but rather continued. If they fail the test the second time, there application will be denied, but even then the IO is required to mail the denial notice, and specify the denial reason - namely section 312 of the INA and 8 CFR 312.

Denial is the final action on an application, after which the application is closed. After that the applicant has to either file a new application, or appeal the denial and file a motion to reopen or reconsider the case.
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Here is someone who got denied at the interview if I claerly understood his explanation; http://forums.immigration.com/showthread.php?322641-N-400-denied-after-interview
 
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