Name check & Background check question

[clotty]

I read some threads on this forum and I am a bit confused about something. What is the difference between a name check and a background check? Aren't they both basically "criminal record" checks? Or is name check more a background check on your social securiy number to see if you were really married in USA , which names you used and how many addresses you have changed, etc , the same way , say, a background check you pay for on some internet sites provide you with background results based on your name, SS#, Birthdate and so on; or does INS not do any such checks but only does criminal record checks? I am confused on exactly what these name & background checks are. And also which check is done after the interview and which is done before the interview?

 

[ocworker]

I read some threads on this forum and I am a bit confused about something. What is the difference between a name check and a background check? Aren't they both basically "criminal record" checks? Or is name check more a background check on your social securiy number to see if you were really married in USA , which names you used and how many addresses you have changed, etc , the same way , say, a background check you pay for on some internet sites provide you with background results based on your name, SS#, Birthdate and so on; or does INS not do any such checks but only does criminal record checks? I am confused on exactly what these name & background checks are. And also which check is done after the interview and which is done before the interview?

have you attempted to read this post ??

http://www.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?t=193169

 

[clotty]

have you attempted to read this post ??

http://www.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?t=193169

I have. I am aware of the FBI check and the IBIS check. I guess my questions were due to many conflicting comments I have read on many threads on this forum. So I guess I could not find the answer to my question I asked in my post about whether they "check" (whether it is called a name check or part of a background check) your personal information, like marital status , past addresses, etc , the same way a background check you pay for on the net for thirty bucks provides you with such background check results. I mean I would assume that they also "check" to verify the personal information you gave on the N400 Form like your past marriages, your employment history, your past addresses, etc instead of taking our word on it . And if they do that kind of check, what is it called or is it part of one of the "background checks"? Can someone clarify this for me? And also I am still curious which checks are made when (before or after the interview).

 

[ocworker]

name check = background check.

they should have been completed before they schedule your interview. however, USCIS could still schedule your interview prior they received your name check (aka background check) cleanece.

 

[clotty]

name check = background check.

they should have been completed before they schedule your interview. however, USCIS could still schedule your interview prior they received your name check (aka background check) cleanece.

Thanks for replying. I appreciate you trying to help. But I think I did not make myself clear. Like I said I know of the name/background check performed by FBI , also IBIS. But my question was not in regards to that. I guess I was not clear, so to erase the confusion I will call it "personal info check". Does INS also perform personal info check where they check to verify the personal info you gave, like your past employments, past marriages, past anything in regards to your personal life? Do they do it themselves or hire a private company to do it? I have not read anything about such a check on this forum but I would assume they must do some sort of check to verify all that info and not just take people's word on it based on the info they gave on the N400. And I guess if they make such a check, they probably make it before the interview, right? I am just trying to figure out the complete process, from start to finish of what they do with a file.

 

[GeeC]

Does INS also perform personal info check where they check to verify the personal info you gave, like your past employments, past marriages, past anything in regards to your personal life? Do they do it themselves or hire a private company to do it? I have not read anything about such a check on this forum but I would assume they must do some sort of check to verify all that info and not just take people's word on it based on the info they gave on the N400.

I don't think that the background check involves any of these. CIS can ask proof for any of the information that you have provided on N-400 and remember that you are under oath during the interview.

 

[ocworker]

Thanks for replying. I appreciate you trying to help. But I think I did not make myself clear. Like I said I know of the name/background check performed by FBI , also IBIS. But my question was not in regards to that. I guess I was not clear, so to erase the confusion I will call it "personal info check". Does INS also perform personal info check where they check to verify the personal info you gave, like your past employments, past marriages, past anything in regards to your personal life? Do they do it themselves or hire a private company to do it? I have not read anything about such a check on this forum but I would assume they must do some sort of check to verify all that info and not just take people's word on it based on the info they gave on the N400. And I guess if they make such a check, they probably make it before the interview, right? I am just trying to figure out the complete process, from start to finish of what they do with a file.

as someone else pointed out, the background / name check does not involve in your personal info such as employment and marriage..etc. the background / name check is check if you have any crimal records.

when you go thru your interview, you are under oath to tell all truth. if you did put in some false information in your n400 form, and you do not correct it during the interview, that makes you lie under oath, and it is a very serious crime.

they do the checking with you during the interview. they would go thru your n400 form and ask you the same questions again, and you would have to answer them truthfully.

 

[Suzy977]

I'm not sure if this was your question in the initial post, but FBI's "Background check" includes both: "Fingerprinting & criminal record" and "Name Check"

USCIS in their laziness and purposely misinformation, they always use the generic "Background Check" even though most of the time the delay is because the Name Check.

 

[clotty]

as someone else pointed out, the background / name check does not involve in your personal info such as employment and marriage..etc. the background / name check is check if you have any crimal records.

when you go thru your interview, you are under oath to tell all truth. if you did put in some false information in your n400 form, and you do not correct it during the interview, that makes you lie under oath, and it is a very serious crime.

they do the checking with you during the interview. they would go thru your n400 form and ask you the same questions again, and you would have to answer them truthfully.

Of course I know about how one must be truthful. I have nothing to hide on any form or on any document. My question was in regards to wanting to know the whole process: which cheks they do , when they do (before/after interview) to give me an overall idea of what the file goes through from start to finish. Like I said people will fill out the N400 and answer questions at the interview but I ASSUMED they were also doing some sort of check to verify that all that info you give on your N400 and the anwers you gave during the interview are true; how else can they find out that you lied if they do not perform a check ? And since I only read about the background/name check of criminal records, I was confused why they do not also perform a check on personal history. I thought they did. And i was wondering if they did, how long it took and so on. But I guess from what you guys say they do not do those checks.....Thanks for replying.

 

[clotty]

I'm not sure if this was your question in the initial post, but FBI's "Background check" includes both: "Fingerprinting & criminal record" and "Name Check"

USCIS in their laziness and purposely misinformation, they always use the generic "Background Check" even though most of the time the delay is because the Name Check.

That wasn't my question(though thanks for replying) but I guess noone knows for sure if they do checks to verify personal history information which my question was about. I just wondered because I only read about fingerprint/name/background checks but nothing about checking the personal history and I thought it was weird if they did not do that kind of check also, so I asked.....

 

[clotty]

I don't think that the background check involves any of these. CIS can ask proof for any of the information that you have provided on N-400 and remember that you are under oath during the interview.

Yep, I know. I asked only because I thought it was a bit weird that they did not perform that check also along with other checks. My personal history is very straight and clean; I have no worries even if they performed a hundred checks. Just like how I read about the FBI name check because I was curious what that entailed and how long it took eventhough I have NO criminal record whatsoever, not even a traffic ticket. So my questions were not because I am "worried" about something, but I was curious to know what the WHOLE process is about and what it consists of and what it doesn't.

 

[clotty]

thank you guys for your replies. Like I said it was a curiosity to know what they do from start to finish of processing an application. It is not something I am "worried" about; it just was a curiosity that I thought I would ask about , so I appreciate your replies. I think my questions have been answered. Thanks.

 

[ocworker]

Yep, I know. I asked only because I thought it was a bit weird that they did not perform that check also along with other checks. My personal history is very straight and clean; I have no worries even if they performed a hundred checks. Just like how I read about the FBI name check because I was curious what that entailed and how long it took eventhough I have NO criminal record whatsoever, not even a traffic ticket. So my questions were not because I am "worried" about something, but I was curious to know what the WHOLE process is about and what it consists of and what it doesn't.

since some of us went thru our interview and got our citizenships, may be you could help the other readers by asking your question(s) to the interview officer during your interview, and post your experience?

that way, you would find your answer, and you would not be curious?!

 

[clotty]

since some of us went thru our interview and got our citizenships, may be you could help the other readers by asking your question(s) to the interview officer during your interview, and post your experience?

that way, you would find your answer, and you would not be curious?!

My question was also partly if they do said check whether it was before the interview or not. Ocworker, it was not such an odd question that I asked. I thought they performed all types of checks and I assumed this was one of that because I guess it seemed logical to me if they did such a check as well. Like I said it is not something I am "worried" about; the reason I asked was to understand the whole process from start to finish. And I don't intend to ask "hey, do you check this or that ? and why don't you check those also??" during my interview as I don't intend to ask/say anything that is not asked to me or if it is not something absolutely necessary for me to talk about. If that means I will never know if they do those checks, then fine. I am not going to question the IO interviewing me about what they have done and what they have not done unless there is a delay that I am concerned about at the time. If it were a curiosity that really worried me, then I guess instead of asking here, I would ask lawyers. I just asked here because I was midly curious, but if there is no answer to it, then I am not losing sleep over it nor do I intend to bring it up during my interview....

I thought PERHAPS somebody here already knew, which is why i asked here, but if nobody knows, then I am not going to ask them myself nor am I asking anyone else to question INS if/why they do not do those checks. I am not going to ask anything just "out of curiousity" during possibly the most important interview of my life unless it is someting that concerns/worries me at the time of the interview. If my interview date is sent to me too late, then in that case I may ask what the delay was about and if they mention anything about it then, in that case I woudl let others know about it. But since nobody here knows/heard about it, I guess there is no "delay" based on personal history check. So it is not a question that will matter to me then. I have not even applied yet, hence my curiosity about what this whole process is about. I did not think that to make threads on this board the question/subject of the thread needs to be utmost important/urgent/crucial to the poster who makes it. It was a relevant question to ask on a message board but NOT something important enough to question the IO during the interview....Anyway, thanks for the replies.