petitefrancaise

I mentioned before that my DS was applying for his US citizenship despite being out of the country as a student in the Netherlands for the previous 2 years ( at the time of application) and also having been out of the country on 2 occasions for more than 180 days.
Despite the naysayers on the forum that told me the 180 days + would mean a refusal/delay, our lawyer told us that the law was not very clear on it and since the extra time out was only 5 days and 6 days each time, in her opinion it was worth applying.
My son was successful in his application!

we had to prove that the USA was still considered his home and that all his immediate family were living/working here.

• he has maintained his US bank account, continued to be covered under the US medical insurance and had continued having medical and dental care here.
• I provided his big sister's US naturalization certificate ( last month!), our bank/mortgage statements and little sister's high school registration

We had to prove that his stay outside of the USA was temporary - he is a student and there for university only

• proof of registration and attendance at his university
• proof of tuition payments
• Travel Permit - we got this prior to him leaving for his university. At the time this seemed like it might be an expensive ($750+) way of telling the USCIS that he was going to be out of the country. It ended up being a bit of lifesaver when his green card was stolen and he was able to use this to re-enter the USA whilst his application for a replacement green card was being processed ( this took 4 months). Also, it backed up that he has been out of the USA for his studies.
• He was asked where he lived in Amsterdam - university dorm building.
• What did he plan on doing when his undergrad course finishes. Masters- return to USA.

He was finally asked why the extra days past 180 occurred - we provided proof of the term times and a rowing regatta that he competed in....
Our lawyer told us that the best we could hope for on the day of the interview was "recommended for approval" which would need to be signed off by a supervisor. This is exactly what happened.
We are now waiting for the oath ceremony and hoping that they follow through on trying to get it done before his flight back to university next week.
The application was submitted in May, biometrics in July (great timing for when he came home for the summer!) and interview last week.

lansbury

Congratulations to your son, glad it all worked out for him.

petitefrancaise

ugh.
last week my son was sent 4 notifications of his oath ceremony to his USCIS account - some were deleted before he saw them but the 2 that remained were for oath ceremonies on different dates in 2 different cities.. We got the letters as did his lawyer..... she notified them asking for a delay and clarification on which city he should go to.
Today, lawyers office got a phone call saying that he had to come back to re-do the signature on his application form because his signature was not his legal birth name.... my son is Alexander officially but called Sandy and he has spent his life signing official documents as that.
Lawyer is getting back to them with legal argument for signature ( even using an X is legal), the cost of bringing him back for a signature ($1k) and time out of college.
If she saves us the extra flight, she's just paid for her fee.
Fingers crossed peeps.

Rete

Remembering back from when my husband did his N-400, he had to sign the application with his full legal name and had to do the same at the oath ceremony. He never uses his middle name and often goes by Jim but Jim is not his legal name. Jim is a nickname or as some apps ask for other names you are known by.

Glad your son was successful and a pity about the signature foul up not be found immediately while he was there and for the many appointments for the oath ceremony.

petitefrancaise

I've just been through the n400 form and the guidelines and NOWHERE does it state you have to sign your "full legal name" only your signature - which my son has done. I am hopeful that having the lawyer push back on this leads to a sensible conclusion.
My signature is deliberately unreadable - I could be calling myself princess leah and they wouldn't know from that.

Nutek

Yep, they made me do the exact same thing. Felt very strange.

Nutmegger

I use first initial and middle name, and I had to sign using both names in full, too. So they apparently want the full name written out, whether it is the legal signature or not.

Nutek

Yep. My sig is (meant to be) first initial/surname (squiggle) but I had to write it out in full including completely unused middle name.

civilservant

My signature is at best 'stylized' first and last name, at and no time did anyone bat eyelid about my middle name. Frankly they wouldn't have been able to tell anyway.

Rete

Hubby's scrawl is just that a scrawl. The only thing legible is the letter "J".

tht

did he file paper or online? I think I had to type in my name when filling online. At the interview I recall I had to sign an iPad a few times to confirm things. At the ceremony we were given the form and I signed it after we left / before I submitted it for a passport. It’s my normal signature that’s not my full name written out and you could not tell my name from.

petitefrancaise

This.
The signature in question is on the ipad.
My son said that he was asked to sign using just his finger as no pen was available- so he just scrawled his first name on it as there was no room for his last name - those of you who know me personally will know that Alexander + our last name would never fit in there anyway and Alexander wouldn't fit using his finger so he wrote Sandy.
I've asked him to write all this down in an email to the Lawyer to see if it makes any difference.
I've received the official letter to say that his current oath ceremony appointment is cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.
ho-hum

Nutek

With mine, they insisted the written name match the name(s) I had previously entered on a typed form (I forget which one). This included a middle name which meant it was impossible for me to use my actual sig so I just printed it in regular text.

petitefrancaise

Done!
after another letter almost giving me a heart attack 2 days ago, DS is now a USC..

We went straight to the post office to apply for his US passport, he had filled in the forms and signed in front of the officer. Then the officer said "you've written Sandy, not Alexander"..... oh dear god. Why can't he just scrawl unintelligibly like the rest of us????

zzrmark

How on earth can anything other than your usual signature be considered acceptable, surely past records matched with future records would raise eyebrows if everything looked the same except for your naturalization certificate??? No doubt this wouldn't be a problem if kids were taught cursive, stylizing being a short step away. My first initial is mostly legible but the only person I have knowledge of using their middle name is that narcissistic orange asshole.