I had my interview today and the interviewer ask many questions one of which was about my religion. Then after the tests he gave me a piece of paper and saying I will be notified. He said he needed his supervisor's approval. He also said he'll call me in 2 or 3 days to let me know of the results which I don't know if he actually will or not. I was wondering if anyone else has had such experience. It was the first time in the last 18 years in the US that someone asked what my religion was...
Religion...
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Did you request modified oath ? Its not uncommon for IOs to ask and make unrelated comments. My IO told me story of how he got friends at FAA that he routinely reports to about aircrafts flying close to the fed building. He asked me which part of india I was and then went into conversation about wanting to visit SriLanka but how the situation there is fragile.
Dont read too much into it. Relax and give proper time for the call/notification. On a side note, you could have ventured into asking him if answering the religion question was relevant to the N400 interview
but we all know not to hang up on little things (unless its big thing to you).
Dont read too much into it. Relax and give proper time for the call/notification. On a side note, you could have ventured into asking him if answering the religion question was relevant to the N400 interview
but we all know not to hang up on little things (unless its big thing to you).I think Bobsmyth is wrong..
I have to admit. I think this is one of the very few times Bobsmyth is wrong. By taking oath the applicant is admitting that he/she is telling the truth. So just an answer to Do you/Have you ever practiced polygamy and get the answer alone is enough to determine that. I dont think it was appropriate for the IO to ask that question to determine the qualification of the applicant. Thats blatant discrimination [Constitution, amendments and all that]. On the other hand if it was a fun talk and the IO wanted to learn more about the applicant in a positive way, it can be tolerated even though it was wrong.
I have to admit. I think this is one of the very few times Bobsmyth is wrong. By taking oath the applicant is admitting that he/she is telling the truth. So just an answer to Do you/Have you ever practiced polygamy and get the answer alone is enough to determine that. I dont think it was appropriate for the IO to ask that question to determine the qualification of the applicant. Thats blatant discrimination [Constitution, amendments and all that]. On the other hand if it was a fun talk and the IO wanted to learn more about the applicant in a positive way, it can be tolerated even though it was wrong.
Maybe the IO was making small talk, maybe the IO was using cause and effect questioning ,or maybe the IO was trying to establish possible fundamentalist views. It's easy to say that it was discrimination without knowing the full facts of the OPs case.
I believe that discrimination in immigration situations is not illegal. I don't know specifically about naturalization, but discrimination that is illegal when applied to US citizens is definitely fine for many immigration applications. (For example the various LPR priority dates being dependent on your country of birth, despite "national origin" being on the attributes listed in typical non-discrimination policies/laws).
IMHO, in most cases it is inappropriate for the IO to ask an applicant about his/her religion.
There are some situations where such questions would be appropriate, e.g. if the applicant has requested a modified oath (which I assume you did not, right?), or if the applicant listed some religious organizations in answering Q8 in part 10 of N-400 and the IO might have wanted to understand what these organizations are, or perhaps if the background checks have indicated something suspicious.
Was there anything else in your file that might account for the delay in approving the application, e.g. any tax problems, arrests, possible disruptions of continuous residency, etc?
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Not necessarily. For example, if an applicant indicates that s/he is a member of an organization like CAIR (Council for American-Islamic Relations) or Jews for Jesus, it's perfectly valid to inquire about the applicant's religion.
That is exactly what I meant when I wrote in my post: "or if the applicant listed some religious organizations in answering Q8 in part 10 of N-400".
That is because each country has a quota and there are more immigrants from some country. USA does not want its own population to be dominated
by imigrants from some very big countries
Rest assured they can't deny your application solely based on your religious affiliation.
Here's possible reasoning of your IO :
premise a) Applicant is from a Muslim country with suspected/known ties to terrorism
premise b) Terrorist groups in those countries consider themselves to be Islamic
Deduction: If the applicant is Islamic, then there must be a higher probability that the applicant might be a member of a terrorist group, and therefore asking about applicant's religion is considered acceptable.
This is what racial profiling is, and it is illlegal.
Consider the following
Since crime rate in the areas with large african american population is high, is it acceptable to question people of color more?
You can only question someone when there is a probable cause, or the law enforcement suspects that the person has committed some offence.
IMHO if the only reason the religion question came up was due to the 2 points you have mentioned, then it is unacceptable. If it came up due to any affliation to any groups, or not willing to take standard oath etc then it is acceptable.
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wantmygcnow
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WBH,
Your information is incorrect. The law clearly states that if you meet the requirements to be granted US citizenship, then it should granted by the immigration authorities. There is no law which limits how many people from one country can be naturalized to become USC.
You are wrong and please don't opine on such matters, you will mislead people..There is no law which limits how many people from one country can be naturalized to become USC.
I believe WBH was referring to visa limits by country of origin, not naturalization limit based on country of birth.