N445 undelivered.."Failed to appear for Oath Ceremony"

[NOVA-app]

Requesting suggestions..

My spouse who is waiting for her N445 (Oath Letter) got an I-797C on 10/5/2007 stating that she "Failed to appear for Oath Ceremony" which was scheduled on 9/28/2007. Her initial interview was held on July 26th and since then she had followed up 3 times 1) by phone - August 20 - 2007 2) Certified mail - August 23, 2007 3) Info pass - September 10, 2007 on the status of the Oath date. During Infopass appointment she was denied any information by the Officer mentioning that she is entitled to any info only after 120 days have elapsed from initial interview. She needs to come back after that time.

Due to urgent family medical reasons (her mother's surgery) she has to travel from October 7th till October 25th 2007. This trip is unavoidable.

Any recommendations welcome.

 

[Huracan]

I don't know what's the best strategy, but it would seem to me that you have a well documented case of their ineptitude by which they failed to inform you of your case. The only issue is that I don't know if you can act on behalf of her while she's out of the country, or you'll have to wait until she comes back. I would probably do an Infopass and go there with all documents and explain the situation and see if they can schedule another ceremony and if they can give you the letter in hand during your Infopass.

Good luck.

 

[Atlanta_Brother]

Authrity Letter

Requesting suggestions..

My spouse who is waiting for her N445 (Oath Letter) got an I-797C on 10/5/2007 stating that she "Failed to appear for Oath Ceremony" which was scheduled on 9/28/2007. Her initial interview was held on July 26th and since then she had followed up 3 times 1) by phone - August 20 - 2007 2) Certified mail - August 23, 2007 3) Info pass - September 10, 2007 on the status of the Oath date. During Infopass appointment she was denied any information by the Officer mentioning that she is entitled to any info only after 120 days have elapsed from initial interview. She needs to come back after that time.

Due to urgent family medical reasons (her mother's surgery) she has to travel from October 7th till October 25th 2007. This trip is unavoidable.

Any recommendations welcome.

Sorry to hear about your wife's situation. Just a thought....how about if your wife writes an authority letter and hands it to you before she leaves for her trip. The letter should clearly indicate that while she is away, she authorizes her husband (you) to make infopass appointments & do inquiries on her behalf to get status and may be try to reschedule her oath cermony. Hope it helps.

 

[NOVA-app]

I don't know what's the best strategy, but it would seem to me that you have a well documented case of their ineptitude by which they failed to inform you of your case. The only issue is that I don't know if you can act on behalf of her while she's out of the country, or you'll have to wait until she comes back. I would probably do an Infopass and go there with all documents and explain the situation and see if they can schedule another ceremony and if they can give you the letter in hand during your Infopass.

Good luck.

Thank you for the suggestions..

 

[NOVA-app]

Sorry to hear about your wife's situation. Just a thought....how about if your wife writes an authority letter and hands it to you before she leaves for her trip. The letter should clearly indicate that while she is away, she authorizes her husband (you) to make infopass appointments & do inquiries on her behalf to get status and may be try to reschedule her oath cermony. Hope it helps.

Thanks that is a good idea..I will get her to sign a LOA for me to act on her behalf to get an Infopass and reschedule the Oath Ceremony before she leaves tonight..

 

[Atlanta_Brother]

One more thought !

Thanks that is a good idea..I will get her to sign a LOA for me to act on her behalf to get an Infopass and reschedule the Oath Ceremony before she leaves tonight..

I know you are running out of time since your wife is leaving tomorrow but if you have some time tomorrow, please go ahead & make that letter notarized from your bank. This way the letter would look more official since the banker would witness her signature on that letter....just a thought, that's all.

 

[NOVA-app]

Unique experience...

I know you are running out of time since your wife is leaving tomorrow but if you have some time tomorrow, please go ahead & make that letter notarized from your bank. This way the letter would look more official since the banker would witness her signature on that letter....just a thought, that's all.

Prior to her overseas travel my wife had written a detailed mail explaining what had happened and that she tried, unsuccessfully to reach out to USCIS..etc. and also requested for a reschedule of Oath Ceremony date after her return..

..last week I was working from home and received a call from an officer from the local USCIS DO enquiring about all this and the officer was so helpful/cooperative that he gave me (/splet it out) his name took (validated) our e-mail IDs and mentioned that he would send the N445 via e-mail (scanned-pdf) to the 2 e-mail-ids on file & send it out the day my wife is supposed to be back in the US. This would indicate a date for Oath ceremony for the following week or soon thereafter. He also mentioned for us to respond (return receipt) to the e-mail making sure we got it. If we don't get it from him we should send an e-mail or snail-mail attention his name he will take care. He also mentioned that he will hold on to my wife's file and not send it back to the regular pile, then it might get treated differently..

I was pleasantly surprised...Our letter to the USCIS was curt and to the point with all facts and figures supported by all possible documentary evidence of our previus communications..

 

[brb2]

When your wife did her interview she would have got the congratulations letter. That mentions the officer who conducted the interview. You should call the local office and talk to the officer.

In any case this is not a big deal. Even if some one missed it, the oath ceremony can be easily rescheduled. At my interview I asked for an Oath for next year because the date in December was not convinient for me. The officer told me he is putting instructions for the scheduling people, but even if I got it not to worry, just to send back the invitation back to his office with a request for a new date. He said once the interview is scheduled and completed the control and process is at the local office which makes things much easier.