Motion To Reopen letter from USCIS (Los Angeles, CA)

S

svshah

New Member
Hi

My wife is in the process of applying for citizenship. She went through the interview in August of this year and was scheduled to appear for oath in September. Unfortunately we were not able to appear that day because we had made travel arrangements to go to India in October to visit a sick relative, and could not change it. So we sent a letter to postpone the oath because my wife would be at risk of not receiving the new Visa on time before our travel date.

But another oath letter came and scheduled another appointment in October, this time during our travel dates. So we sent another letter of postponement as required.

We've been back from our trip, and just today my wife received a "Motion To Reopon" letter for "337.10 Failure to Appear for Oath Ceremony". The letter states at the end, "The decision is reconsidered and the application is hereby reopened." It goes on saying she has 15 days from the date of the letter(Nov 29) to appear "at the above address" between 07:30 to 14:00. The only address listed on the letter is the Los Angeles USCIS office at 300 North Los Angeles Street Room 6001-104. Also it does not mention to schedule an appointment.

At first we were first told by a USCIS rep to schedule an info pass appointment with the Santa Ana USCIS office when we inquired about the letter, however the main customer service department says to just take the letter to the Los Angeles Department and appear as stated on the letter(don't have to take an appointment).

Because of this ambiguous responses, we are confused as to what exactly to do. We are leaning towards going to the Los Angeles office. If anyone has any experience dealing with this issue(or a attorney/paralegal) and happened to be in the Los Angeles area, please let us now which office we should report to. Also, what is required for us to bring along with the letter? We have the evidence of our mailing the postponement letters along with the copy of the letters themselves.

Thank you

Vipul
 
I don't know how Oath Ceremonies happen in LOS district. Do they have a giant ceremony that encompasses all the sub-offices or do the smaller local offices have their own ceremonies? The answer to that question will determine where the actual file and associated certificate are located. That is where you want to go. It seems that the paper in your hand will serve as an open appointment notice. It tells you where to go within a window of opportunity. Any Security Guard should have no problem with that. If the file was in Los Angeles and you sent a letter to Santa Ana...are you suprised at this in that case?

§ 337.10 Failure to appear for oath administration ceremony.

An applicant who fails to appear without good cause for more than one oath administration ceremony for which he or she was duly notified shall be presumed to have abandoned his or her intent to be naturalized. Such presumption shall be regarded as the receipt of derogatory information, and the procedures contained in §335.5 of this chapter shall be followed.

§ 335.5 Receipt of derogatory information after grant.

In the event that the Service receives derogatory information concerning an applicant whose application has already been granted as provided in §335.3(a) of this chapter, but who has not yet taken the oath of allegiance as provided in part 337 of this chapter, the Service shall remove the applicant's name from any list of granted applications or of applicants scheduled for administration of the oath of allegiance, until such time as the matter can be resolved. The Service shall notify the applicant in writing of the receipt of the specific derogatory information, with a motion to reopen the previously adjudicated application, giving the applicant 15 days to respond. If the applicant overcomes the derogatory information, the application will be granted and the applicant will be scheduled for administration of the oath of allegiance. Otherwise the motion to reopen will be granted and the application will be denied pursuant to §336.1 of this chapter.

§ 336.1 Denial after section 335 examination.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
svshah said:
Because of this ambiguous responses, we are confused as to what exactly to do. We are leaning towards going to the Los Angeles office. If anyone has any experience dealing with this issue(or a attorney/paralegal) and happened to be in the Los Angeles area, please let us now which office we should report to. Also, what is required for us to bring along with the letter? We have the evidence of our mailing the postponement letters along with the copy of the letters themselves.
Click to expand...
The letter itself should be fine as proof for appointment. You can always schedule Infopass as a back up, but the first available slots for LA are only on 12/10.
Bring your ID, GC and proof you previously sent them notification that you requested to have oath postponed and also proof you were outside the country at the time of the scheduled oath.
 
We initially sent the postponement letter to a los angeles address listed on the oath notice itself. As a matter of fact, a USCIS rep told us to send it there(3939 South Figueroa St). We got the letter back from the post office saying "wrong address". We called USCIS and spoke with a rep again about this, and then they said to send it to the Santa Ana office(have proof of who I spoke too).

Only later(today) we found the return address on the oath letter ENVELOPE was the correct address, which happens to be the same address in the Motion To Reopen Letter. In conclusion, the oath letter and the USCIS reps never specified the correct address. No one explained to us about it until now.

This is the first time we are aware of the LA address on that Motion To Reopen letter, which is there headquarters. It has been VERY confusing and the confusion seems to continue.

BigJoe5 said:
I don't know how Oath Ceremonies happen in LOS district. Do they have a giant ceremony that encompasses all the sub-offices or do the smaller local offices have their own ceremonies? The answer to that question will determine where the actual file and associated certificate are located. That is where you want to go. It seems that the paper in your hand will serve as an open appointment notice. It tells you where to go within a window of opportunity. Any Security Guard should have no problem with that. If the file was in Los Angeles and you sent a letter to Santa Ana...are you suprised at this in that case?

§ 337.10 Failure to appear for oath administration ceremony.

An applicant who fails to appear without good cause for more than one oath administration ceremony for which he or she was duly notified shall be presumed to have abandoned his or her intent to be naturalized. Such presumption shall be regarded as the receipt of derogatory information, and the procedures contained in §335.5 of this chapter shall be followed.

§ 335.5 Receipt of derogatory information after grant.

In the event that the Service receives derogatory information concerning an applicant whose application has already been granted as provided in §335.3(a) of this chapter, but who has not yet taken the oath of allegiance as provided in part 337 of this chapter, the Service shall remove the applicant's name from any list of granted applications or of applicants scheduled for administration of the oath of allegiance, until such time as the matter can be resolved. The Service shall notify the applicant in writing of the receipt of the specific derogatory information, with a motion to reopen the previously adjudicated application, giving the applicant 15 days to respond. If the applicant overcomes the derogatory information, the application will be granted and the applicant will be scheduled for administration of the oath of allegiance. Otherwise the motion to reopen will be granted and the application will be denied pursuant to §336.1 of this chapter.

§ 336.1 Denial after section 335 examination.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top