N400 Denied - Help!

[citizenbee]

Hi All,

I went for my N400 interview in March and I was told to bring some additional documents like bank statements and a copy of my husband's driver's license.

When I went for the second interview, I already told the first person that interviewed me that my husband and I no longer had bank statements because we closed the bank that we used to have together. We had a Bank of America account and when I stopped working there, I just decided to keep using my Citibank account that I had used before my husband and I got married. Long story short, i didn't have bank statements but i took every other thing in our names. The person who interviewed me asked why I had only computer printouts and not the original bills and I said we have been doing online biling for all our bills and he went on to say that he thotught our phone company (Lingo VOIP) wasn't real. He also asked if the marriage was legit and I said yes, we had being married for 6 years, we only filed like 3 years after we got married. I also told him how my husband and I knew each other from way back in my home country and he relocated to the States to be with me. My husband was born here but he relocated to be with me because we had been friends from way back but I got married but my ex was abusive which is why I divorced him to marry my husband.

The letter I got states the following “You failed to provide additional documentation as requested by the Services and the evidence you have submitted is insufficient to establish you have been living in marital union with the citizen spouse for three years preceding the date of examination”.

“You have not established your eligibility for citizenship under the provisions of Section 319 (a) of the Act, supra. Therefore, your application is denied. This denial is without prejudice to your filing an application for citizenship when you provide the required evidence, and such evidence reflects your eligibility”.

When I checked online, I see that the Section 319 (a) is for abusive spouses, I didn't file based on being married to an abusive husband, my ex was the one that was abusive and he is not even in the US, so I don't understand what the implication of this letter is.

I believe from what they wrote that I can file in 2010 (it will be 5 years since I got my green card then) but I don't know what the Secton 319 (a) means and what good it would do to appeal. I would rather not appeal since I will be eligible to file by myself next year but I need to know if I should just appeal to set the record straight about my filing based on getting the green card three years ago.

I apologize in advance for my long winded mail but I need opinions from the forum. I've seen you guys give good advise since I've been lurking on this site.

Many thanks,
Mo

I was given a paper that said they couldn't make a decision but that they would send me a letter. I

 

[Bobsmyth]

Here's what INA 319(a) says:

"Any person whose spouse is a citizen of the United States, or any person who
obtained status as a lawful permanent resident by reason of his or her status as a
spouse or child of a United States citizen who battered him or her or subjected him her or her to extreme cruelty...."

This means INA319(a) is for applying as a spouse of a US citizen or for someone who was abused by US spouse. This rule applies to you since you are the spouse of a US citizen.
You were denied since you provided insufficient evidence that you were in a marital union with your spouse during the statutory period. The denial was based on insufficient evidence of marital union during statutory period, not on how you obtained the GC (marriage to US citizen). What other documents did you provide that showed you were in marital union with your US husband?

An appeal at this point is pointless as you have been given the opportunity to provide more evidence of marital union, but it was insufficient.
You can either reapply immediately under 3 years of marriage to US citizen and provide more documentation, or wait and file under 5 year rule.

 

[citizenbee]

Thanks for the reply. Our marriage is actually over 5 years and we did sunbmit our bank statments and stuff but we stopped using a joint account close to two years ago and as a result, I didn't have any to show them at the second interview.

I showed them eveything else but the joint bank statements, we had the bills, our taxes from five years back, our life and health insurances from when we were married to 2007. We both lost our jobs in 2007 and haven't found permanent employment since then.

I would just wait till next year to file on my own.

I really appreciate your reply.

 

[WBH]

Thanks for the reply. Our marriage is actually over 5 years and we did sunbmit our bank statments and stuff but we stopped using a joint account close to two years ago and as a result, I didn't have any to show them at the second interview.

I showed them eveything else but the joint bank statements, we had the bills, our taxes from five years back, our life and health insurances from when we were married to 2007. We both lost our jobs in 2007 and haven't found permanent employment since then.

I would just wait till next year to file on my own.

I really appreciate your reply.

It is sad to see the denial is based on only missing joint bank accounts.
That shows whenever one is eligble under both 5years and 3 years, always use 5 years

 

[Vorpal]

It is sad to see the denial is based on only missing joint bank accounts.
That shows whenever one is eligble under both 5years and 3 years, always use 5 years

I couldn't agree with you more. Not every married couple has a joint account.

 

[saf]

I couldn't agree with you more. Not every married couple has a joint account.

Well, filing under 5 year rule is much easier and more safer than filing under 3 years if the case under 3 year rule is not straightforward.

 

[Vorpal]

Well, filing under 5 year rule is much easier and more safer than filing under 3 years if the case under 3 year rule is not straightforward.

That's right. In fact, even if the applicant is eligible to file based on 3 years' marriage to U.S. citizen, I see nothing wrong with waiting 2 years to file under the 5 year rule, especially in NYC. I've read stories on this forum and heard through various friends and co-workers that NYC 3 year-based N-400s are subject to extra scrutiny, because marriage fraud in NYC is out of control. My personal belief is this: if you're not in a hurry to get your citizenship, wait the extra 2 years and save yourself the headache, even if your marriage is as bona fide as it gets.

 

[Jackolantern]

It is sad to see the denial is based on only missing joint bank accounts.

Which is ridiculous, given the length of the marriage and abundance of other evidence. This denial would surely be overturned on appeal, but at this point it would probably be cheaper and less stressful to just wait it out and reapply with the 5-year rule.

 

[saf]

Here's what INA 319(a) says:

"Any person whose spouse is a citizen of the United States, or any person who
obtained status as a lawful permanent resident by reason of his or her status as a
spouse or child of a United States citizen who battered him or her or subjected him her or her to extreme cruelty...."

This means INA319(a) is for applying as a spouse of a US citizen or for someone who was abused by US spouse. This rule applies to you since you are the spouse of a US citizen.
You were denied since you provided insufficient evidence that you were in a marital union with your spouse during the statutory period. The denial was based on insufficient evidence of marital union during statutory period, not on how you obtained the GC (marriage to US citizen). What other documents did you provide that showed you were in marital union with your US husband?

An appeal at this point is pointless as you have been given the opportunity to provide more evidence of marital union, but it was insufficient.
You can either reapply immediately under 3 years of marriage to US citizen and provide more documentation, or wait and file under 5 year rule.

Question: Does applicant have to pay another fees in order to re-apply if first N-400 is denied? If denied, they should refund. just curious.

 

[WBH]

Which is ridiculous, given the length of the marriage and abundance of other evidence. This denial would surely be overturned on appeal, but at this point it would probably be cheaper and less stressful to just wait it out and reapply with the 5-year rule.

That being said, I think the OP's did make a unwise decision to close their joint bank account in 2007.

 

[WBH]

Question: Does applicant have to pay another fees in order to re-apply if first N-400 is denied? If denied, they should refund. just curious.

There is no refund. I believe the only reason you can get refund is
USCIS screw up your perfectly OK application on their fault.

 

[vdostoi1]

That being said, I think the OP's did make a unwise decision to close their joint bank account in 2007.

I agree with you but USCIS cannot legally hold this against the OP because to have or not to have a joint account is a personal choice.

 

[TexToBe]

Wow - this seems a really hard decision... lots of well wishes to you Citizenbee!

I'm applying based on 3 years of marriage also, we do have a joint checking account but there's not a huge amount of activity for 2 reasons 1)my hubby is a spender and I'm a saver (he's the USC but retired - I'm the PR and working) and 2) we actually use a credit card a lot because we get cash back on it (card is in his name, I'm an authorized user), and we pay that in full every month. I'm wondering if we're going to have the same issue. Same thing on our house, we purchased it at the beginning of the year so its community property, both names on contract etc, but only my name on the mortgage since his credit score was bad enough to put us at high interest rate in the 6% range, whereas I got 4.275% - what do you all think?

 

[vdostoi1]

Wow - this seems a really hard decision... lots of well wishes to you Citizenbee!

I'm applying based on 3 years of marriage also, we do have a joint checking account but there's not a huge amount of activity for 2 reasons 1)my hubby is a spender and I'm a saver (he's the USC but retired - I'm the PR and working) and 2) we actually use a credit card a lot because we get cash back on it (card is in his name, I'm an authorized user), and we pay that in full every month. I'm wondering if we're going to have the same issue. Same thing on our house, we purchased it at the beginning of the year so its community property, both names on contract etc, but only my name on the mortgage since his credit score was bad enough to put us at high interest rate in the 6% range, whereas I got 4.275% - what do you all think?

All this is irrelevant for the purposes of naturalization. Just have as much other proof as possible that your marriage is bona fide.

 

[TexToBe]

Well I was asking because it seemed like the OP had lots of other evidence (given her marriage is over 5 years) and did not have bank statements and for that she was denied... or am I reading wrongly? We have joint bank statements, but I keep a minimal balance in it to pay for bills on automatic debit and the whole credit card amount each month. I don't deposit my pay check in it, since it has been demonstrated that hubby will spend it on stupid things

 

[Jackolantern]

Well I was asking because it seemed like the OP had lots of other evidence (given her marriage is over 5 years) and did not have bank statements and for that she was denied... or am I reading wrongly?

The OP was wrongly denied, as there was enough other evidence to approve the case. The officer was already predisposed to deny the case (such as the comment about the Lingo VOIP phone company not being real) ... if they produced the joint bank statement, the IO probably would have said there is not enough money or not enough activity or it wasn't opened for long enough or some other stupid reason.

So don't worry about not having enough in the bank account. If you get an officer who is predetermined to deny you because they don't like your face or whatever, they'll find something against you no matter what. But if you get one who is doing his/her job right you'll be fine with what you have.

 

[jllag1]

Wow - this seems a really hard decision... lots of well wishes to you Citizenbee!

I'm applying based on 3 years of marriage also, we do have a joint checking account but there's not a huge amount of activity for 2 reasons 1)my hubby is a spender and I'm a saver (he's the USC but retired - I'm the PR and working) and 2) we actually use a credit card a lot because we get cash back on it (card is in his name, I'm an authorized user), and we pay that in full every month. I'm wondering if we're going to have the same issue. Same thing on our house, we purchased it at the beginning of the year so its community property, both names on contract etc, but only my name on the mortgage since his credit score was bad enough to put us at high interest rate in the 6% range, whereas I got 4.275% - what do you all think?

Just take your credit card statements. My Amex card breaks down charges by each user on the account. That should satisfy the officer that your finances are co-mingled as both of you use the same card. Also, carry the contract with you. If asked about mortgage, tell him/her that you guys decided to apply only in your name due to credit reasons.