APPROVAL OF APPLICATION
Soon after your interview, you will receive a letter in the mail officially confirming the fact that your application has been approved. At this point, you can be relatively secure in the knowledge that you have
completed all but one step in the process of becoming a U.S. citizen.
Finally, soon after you receive the letter in the mail, you will receive
yet another appointment notice (this should be the last one). This is
for your swearing-in ceremony. The notice will contain the date,
place, and time for your ceremony.
At the ceremony, you will likely be in a room with many other people –
sometimes hundreds of others – who, like you, have had their applications
approved and are now taking the final step to becoming a U.S. citizen.
During the ceremony, you will be required to surrender your green card.
This is not a bad thing, since you no longer need it. You will also be required
to swear the oath aloud in front of either a judge or other USCIS official.
At the end of the ceremony, you will then be given a formal piece of
paper, which is your naturalization certificate. This document is very
important and serves as evidence that you are now a U.S. citizen.
With this document, you can apply for a U.S. passport, which will
allow you to travel freely in and out of the United States.
In fact, it is highly recommended that you get your passport as soon as
possible after you have been sworn in. There are usually one or more passport
agencies conveniently located near swearing-in cites. It is not recommended
that you keep your naturalization certificate on your person
because there is a great risk of loss, and it can take up to one year to get a
replacement certificate. Keeping your passport on your person as evidence
of your citizenship status is preferred. Although losing your passport
would be an inconvenience, at least it is be relatively easy to get a new one.
DENIAL OF THE APPLICATION
If you have properly completed Form N-400, submitted all
supporting documentation, sent it to the proper office, paid the
proper fee, and completed the interview, three things can happen:
1. your U.S. citizenship will be granted (the usual outcome);
2. your case will be continued because you failed the English or civics
test or because you did not provide the proper documents; or,
3. your case will denied.
This part of the chapter deals with this last worst-case outcome. A
denial can happen no matter how well prepared you are, but it is not
the end of the line for you. There are more steps you can take.
Options for Appealing the Denial
The first thing to do if your application is denied is to stay calm.
Then, carefully and completely review the denial notice. The USCIS
is required to tell you why it denied your application.
Ask yourself whether the denial is based on a factual reason that you
cannot deny or dispute. For example, if you were indeed an active
member of a terrorist organization, you will find it next to impossible
to overcome a denial made for this reason. More often, however, the
denial is based on a fact that is not so clear-cut.
In reviewing denial decisions, the more common reasons for denials
are lack of good moral character, lack of the necessary continuous
residence in the United States, and tax reasons. These grounds for
denial can sometimes be overcome through legal argument and the
provision of additional documentation.
For example, a woman was denied U.S. citizenship because she was
living with a man but not married to him. The USCIS examiner
concluded that this was evidence of bad moral character. The woman
was able to overcome this conclusion by showing that her living
arrangement was as moral as any marriage except without a
marriage certificate and that modern society accepted nonmarried
partners living together as a morally correct arrangement.
The lesson to learn from this example is that if you think the denial
was made incorrectly, you should try to appeal the decision.
To appeal a denial, you should start by filing a Request for a Hearing on
a Decision in Naturalization Proceedings (USCIS Form N-336) with the
office that gave you the unfavorable decision. You must file this form
within thirty days of the denial. (You have thirty-three days if the decision
was mailed to you.) To complete Form N-336, you simply indicate
that you want to have a hearing and state the reason for the request.
You should prepare thoroughly for the hearing by addressing the
specific reason for denial in detail. If you have not consulted an
attorney up until this point in your application process, you should
definitely do so in dealing with a denial.
If the USCIS denies your application after the hearing, you still have
another chance to appeal the denial and try to get a positive decision.
You can appeal the USCIS decision in a federal district court. This is
a complicated and sometimes expensive procedure. You should
consult an attorney before making a decision to take this step, in
order to assess your chances of winning.
Reapplying for U.S. Citizenship
If your application is denied, you can sometimes reapply rather than fight
the denial. Reapplying involves sending a completely new Form N-400
application, fees, etc. Reapplying is appropriate in the following situations:
• You were denied because you failed the English test and you now
have improved your English.
• You were denied because you failed the civics test and you now
have improved your knowledge. OR
• You were denied on another basis, but your situation has changed so
that the situation no longer applies (e.g., you were denied because criminal
charges were brought against you, but the criminal proceeding has
now been decided in your favor, leaving you with no criminal record).
Source: Become a U.S. Citizen
