USCIS practice, strange practice.

SecretUser444

New Member
On quest to obtain a replacement Naturalization Certificate after it being destroyed in fire, I am dismayed by the USCIS request for evidence.
This is after my trip to the metrics office where I gave my photograph & fingerprint. I have checked with the National Archives folks already.
They were clear in stating they did not have an original copy of my Naturalization Certificate. This was backed up by a USCIS employee.
If it still exists, my Naturalization Certificate is under the ownership of USCIS. The request for evidence actually asks for my naturalization
record "from the National Archives" even though they do not have it, aren't supposed to have it.
I was naturalized in the mid seventies, before computers. Granted, it would require an employee to search some files, but it would seem to me
that the base fee of $555 and a strive toward efficiency would make that the preferred route to proving I am in fact a citizen. That is, the record
or copy would have my name & fingerprint. Instead, USCIS seems bent on me gathering a bunch of incidental information, such as records
for my parents, dead some 20 years. USCIS did give me my alien registration number so I am somewhere in their system. What am I missing?
Why does USCIS go in such strange directions? Is the Request for Evidence a very old form that USCIS can't be bothered to update?

Wait, there's more. I called their help line. The operator said they could not help me, that I should hire an immigration lawyer. How complicated is this?
I took the help line's suggestion and tried to schedule an in-office interview. Phone answering recording said they were not scheduling appointments
at this time. This is kind of like the post office was 40 years ago. (The post office pretty much rivals any private company's service now, imho.)

Can I just get a fake Naturalization Certificate online somewhere? I only need it to seek employment and to get a replacement social security card,
also burned in the fire.
 
A fake certificate? Are you kidding?

Did you never apply for a US passport?

SSA office should have you on record including your citizenship status.
 
I was on a passport with my father--both of us in same picture, weird--when a teenager.
Otherwise, no.
When I went to SSA to get a replacement SS card--everything I own burned in the fire--they
said I needed proof of citizenship. They would not replace my card, but gave me a sheet of
paper that confirmed nothing.
 
Old thread but advising regardless. Please do not do this - procuring fake federal documents is a crime. You may end up being in way more trouble than not being employed. USCIS does not have your certificate because you never naturalized but acquired citizenship as you were under 18 when your parents naturalized. It’s quite obvious since you were on the same passport as your father and one cannot naturalize when they are under 18. Two options - if you have a copy of the old passport, you can apply for your own with that evidence. Option 2 - ask the passport office to do a file search, they can find your old passport record (with your father). It costs around $200 I think, but they should have your record if you indeed were on your fathers passport. Better do this than go to jail!
 
Top