One-Year Aniversary! What should I do now? (Name Check)

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SlowJedi

Registered Users (C)
Next week will be exactly one year since my naturalization interview (San Diego, CA). I've been waiting for this whole year for my name re-check to come back from FBI. I wrote a letter to FBI, they started a FOIP case, never got any response (five months ago), asked a local Congressman to get involved, they wrote letters to BCIS, who sent them a pre-printed "buzz-off" letter stating that the case is with FBI and nothing they can do. The Congressman since than hasn't done anything else (three months ago). My immigration attorney has no clue what to do at this point. Me neither, I'm just sick and tired of waiting! I don't expect any surprises from FBI name check, I've been in this country for 15 years, the only reason my file went back for the name check was because the interviewing officer wanted to change one letter in my last name and I didn't know better (thank you Mr. immigration attorney) to say no and just stay with the name as it was in the file. Crap!!

Any bright ideas? Any help? Any light in the end of the tunnel?
 
SlowJedi said:
Next week will be exactly one year since my naturalization interview (San Diego, CA). My immigration attorney has no clue what to do at this point. Me neither, I'm just sick and tired of waiting! I don't expect any surprises from FBI name check, I've been in this country for 15 years, the only reason my file went back for the name check was because the interviewing officer wanted to change one letter in my last name and I didn't know better (thank you Mr. immigration attorney) to say no and just stay with the name as it was in the file. Crap!!

Any bright ideas? Any help? Any light in the end of the tunnel?
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Sorry to hear this. Infact I also requeted for name change (there is gap in my first name and wanted to avoid that i.e from xxx yyy to xxxyyy). SanDiego DAO checked there itself (during interview process) on new name and he said everything is fine. I don't know what exactly he did on the computer, but he told me just make sure that everything is fine. What I also did was: during N400 application, I declared I used this new name as well in addition to my old name. My xxx yyy appears in only immigration papers, where as xxxyyy was used in my tax filings, SSN and DL. I don't know wthere this played any role.
 
SlowJedi said:
Next week will be exactly one year since my naturalization interview (San Diego, CA). I've been waiting for this whole year for my name re-check to come back from FBI. I wrote a letter to FBI, they started a FOIP case, never got any response (five months ago), asked a local Congressman to get involved, they wrote letters to BCIS, who sent them a pre-printed "buzz-off" letter stating that the case is with FBI and nothing they can do. The Congressman since than hasn't done anything else (three months ago). My immigration attorney has no clue what to do at this point. Me neither, I'm just sick and tired of waiting! I don't expect any surprises from FBI name check, I've been in this country for 15 years, the only reason my file went back for the name check was because the interviewing officer wanted to change one letter in my last name and I didn't know better (thank you Mr. immigration attorney) to say no and just stay with the name as it was in the file. Crap!!

Any bright ideas? Any help? Any light in the end of the tunnel?
Click to expand...

You could try filing another N-400 with CSC. Maybe first you should withdraw the current application. I'm sure you are allowed to withdraw the pending application. Its just an idea and it may not work.

You can also try contacting the senators since Cong. doesnt seem to have worked out. They may have more influence with FBI.
 
SlowJedi said:
I'll try it. Thanks.
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Did you ask your Congressman to write to the FBI? It seems like you did not do that.(Cong. only wrote to CIS) You need to explain to the Congressman and ask them to send a request directly to FBI. If your Cong. wont do that then contact your senator and I'm sure they will be able to ask FBI to expedite your namecheck.
 
FoxyIdiot said:
Did you ask your Congressman to write to the FBI? It seems like you did not do that.(Cong. only wrote to CIS) You need to explain to the Congressman and ask them to send a request directly to FBI. If your Cong. wont do that then contact your senator and I'm sure they will be able to ask FBI to expedite your namecheck.
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That's exactly my beef with the congressman. I asked him repeatedly to send a request to FBI, he only sent it to the BCIS, then came back and said: "See, we did what you aked, we got this BS letter form BCIS, but we did ask on your behalf, Aren't you greatful? Vote for me, when you become a citizen!"

Don't you love these elected officials, that's how they do their work: they like to show that they "do something" but really don't care for results.

My other question, does FBI have any guidelines as to how long they can ignore my request for FOIP? Is five months a standard turn time for them? Should I write them every week until I get something?
 
Slow Jedi,

Are you from a muslim country or do you have a muslim sounding name? I am trying to see if there is a pattern and people with muslim names are getting stuck in the name check black hole.
 
falcon66 said:
Slow Jedi,

Are you from a muslim country or do you have a muslim sounding name? I am trying to see if there is a pattern and people with muslim names are getting stuck in the name check black hole.
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No, I'm from Russia, and my last name ends with "sky" in all my documents, with the exception of my Russian Passport, that I used to enter this country only about 10 times. In the passport my last name ends with "skiy", and my "oh-so-knowledgeable-mr.-attorney" simply forgot to include this spelling into the list of other A.K.A.'s in the original application.
 
Sorry off topic question. I always wondered whether there is any significance of the "sky" at the end of lot of Russian names?

-g
 
SlowJedi said:
No, I'm from Russia, and my last name ends with "sky" in all my documents, with the exception of my Russian Passport, that I used to enter this country only about 10 times. In the passport my last name ends with "skiy", and my "oh-so-knowledgeable-mr.-attorney" simply forgot to include this spelling into the list of other A.K.A.'s in the original application.
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You can't just blame your lawyer, you had to verify the N-400 application yourself.
 
Myxomop said:
You can't just blame your lawyer, you had to verify the N-400 application yourself.
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If I knew all the details of N-400 and the dangers of the name change at the interview, I would not even need a lawyer, I could probably become one, since the immigration lawyer profession does not even require to be a member of the bar. That's why I pay my CPA, my corporate attorney, my wife's OBGYN to know things better then me and hold them accountable in their profession. So, I don't see how I should accept this responsibilty. Thanks for the input though.
 
SlowJedi said:
If I knew all the details of N-400 and the dangers of the name change at the interview, I would not even need a lawyer, I could probably become one, since the immigration lawyer profession does not even require to be a member of the bar. That's why I pay my CPA, my corporate attorney, my wife's OBGYN to know things better then me and hold them accountable in their profession. So, I don't see how I should accept this responsibilty. Thanks for the input though.
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I see your point. On the other hand, if you try to avoid taxes and sign the tax return, your CPA is not going to pay fines for you or go to jail for you. All I was saying is that you should have read the application carefully to check for errors/typos...
 
SlowJedi said:
If I knew all the details of N-400 and the dangers of the name change at the interview, I would not even need a lawyer, I could probably become one, since the immigration lawyer profession does not even require to be a member of the bar. That's why I pay my CPA, my corporate attorney, my wife's OBGYN to know things better then me and hold them accountable in their profession. So, I don't see how I should accept this responsibilty. Thanks for the input though.
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SlowJedi, don't blame yourself or your lawyer. A name check is standard practice when filing for some immigration benefits, including green card and citizenship. Everyone has to go through an FBI name check and some people's takes forever. The FBI is very guarded on why it takes so long.
 
Russia

I read in the name check thread that a person from Russia was held up with name check because he belonged to a Communist party when he was between the age 6-15!!! So one cannot predict why & when you get stuck in the name check rut.
 
SlowJedi,
You really need to put a lot of pressure on the Cong or Senator. Thats
the only way I can see. Maybe the senators will be more helpful.
 
genesis1 said:
I read in the name check thread that a person from Russia was held up with name check because he belonged to a Communist party when he was between the age 6-15!!! So one cannot predict why & when you get stuck in the name check rut.
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Thanks for everybody's feedback. It's a great board, I just wish I knew about it before I went for my citizenship test.

Genesis1, you couldn't become a member of the communist party in the USSR until you were, I believe, 18. I had this question on my citizenship test in San Diego.

..... just kidding ;)
 
genesis1 said:
I read in the name check thread that a person from Russia was held up with name check because he belonged to a Communist party when he was between the age 6-15!!! So one cannot predict why & when you get stuck in the name check rut.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I heard that people from Russia take a long time. Not sure how systematic it is.
 
I'm from Russia also, had the interview last week, was told that they are waiting for name check. I haven't even been to Russia in 16 years! I moved to the US when I was 17 years old, what's there to check?!?
 
RealSuperK said:
I'm from Russia also, had the interview last week, was told that they are waiting for name check. I haven't even been to Russia in 16 years! I moved to the US when I was 17 years old, what's there to check?!?
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It's the worst example of government bureacracy that I've ever seen. It's a shame that good people have their lives uprooted and often experience severe psychological stress because of government inefficiency.
 
wafr said:
It's the worst example of government bureacracy that I've ever seen. It's a shame that good people have their lives uprooted and often experience severe psychological stress because of government inefficiency.
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It gets better. My company REALLY wants me to move from one city to another. If I moved, I'd fall under a different district office. Then I'll either (a) have to move the file from one district office to another (read - it will get lost enroute) or (b) withdraw the application and refile at the new place. So, I'm either looking at forgoing a promotion and a raise or at losing another 7-8 months and then running into the same name check problem again. Good choices, huh?
 
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