Elliot Wilen

Current situation: Filed I-751 for my wife in February, 2004, received
NOA dated 3/1/2004. However, the NOA had her name incorrect. I don't
recall if I raised the error with USCIS prior to today. I suppose if I
had, I should have received an acknowledgment, and I don't have one.

Anyway, it's now been over 11 months since the application, so we
called USCIS. The person on the other end of the line took all of our
information and before we knew it, she had initiated an inquiry at the
California Service Center. I then mentioned the incorrect name, and she
told me that since I hadn't told her about that beforehand, the inquiry
would cause some sort of problem which would require me to call back in
30 days.

I won't go into all the difficulties we've had with the INS/USCIS but
suffice it to say that they've managed on more than one occasion to
misspell or otherwise scramble my wife's name; you'd think that once
the A-number is in the system, personal data would be "locked" unless
explicitly changed at the request of the petitioner.

Since my wife now meets the criteria for filing for naturalization, I
think I should just go ahead and do that. My only concern is whether
the indeterminate state of her I-751 might cause problems for our N-400
application. Would it be wise to wait 30 days? What if USCIS continues
to mess up her name on the I-751? Or what if USCIS has lost the I-751?

Any advice or guidance would be appreciated. Thanks.

--Elliot Wilen

Jonathan McNeil Wong

[email protected] wrote:
    > Current situation: Filed I-751 for my wife in February, 2004, received
    > NOA dated 3/1/2004. However, the NOA had her name incorrect. I don't
    > recall if I raised the error with USCIS prior to today. I suppose if I
    > had, I should have received an acknowledgment, and I don't have one.
    >
    > Anyway, it's now been over 11 months since the application, so we
    > called USCIS. The person on the other end of the line took all of our
    > information and before we knew it, she had initiated an inquiry at the
    > California Service Center. I then mentioned the incorrect name, and she
    > told me that since I hadn't told her about that beforehand, the inquiry
    > would cause some sort of problem which would require me to call back in
    > 30 days.
    >
    > I won't go into all the difficulties we've had with the INS/USCIS but
    > suffice it to say that they've managed on more than one occasion to
    > misspell or otherwise scramble my wife's name; you'd think that once
    > the A-number is in the system, personal data would be "locked" unless
    > explicitly changed at the request of the petitioner.
    >
    > Since my wife now meets the criteria for filing for naturalization, I
    > think I should just go ahead and do that. My only concern is whether
    > the indeterminate state of her I-751 might cause problems for our N-400
    > application. Would it be wise to wait 30 days? What if USCIS continues
    > to mess up her name on the I-751? Or what if USCIS has lost the I-751?
    >
    > Any advice or guidance would be appreciated. Thanks.
    >
    > --Elliot Wilen
    >

If she is eligible for naturalization, file the application. It won't
be granted until the I-751 is adjudicated -- but, if she gets to the
interview and the I-751 is still pending, the DAO will adjudicate the
I-751 first, then adjudicate the N-400.

--
Above intended as general commentary, not specific legal
advice. Your mileage may vary.

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Jonathan McNeil Wong Voice: 510-451-0544
Donahue Gallagher Woods LLP Facsimile: 510-832-1486
P.O. Box 12979 URL: http://www.donahue.com
Oakland, CA 94604-2979 E-mail: [email protected]
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