11 Nov U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Philadelphia Office Approves N-336 Request for a Rehearing/Appeal of Citizenship Denial
Form N-336 requests for rehearing of USCIS denials of citizenship applications are rarely approved. Our client’s N-400 Application for Citizenship was originally denied because his previous immigration lawyer entered an ITIN, or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, on his Form I-485 Application for a Green Card/Adjustment of Status where he was supposed to enter his Social Security Number. At the time, he did not have a Social Security Number because he had no work authorization. Our client had entered the U.S. from Mexico in 1993 and had never had work authorization until he filed his green card application many years later. The Immigration Service in Philadelphia determined that our client had committed fraud in entering an ITIN as his Social Security Number and denied his N-400 Application for Citizenship. We promptly filed a Form I-336, which is used to appeal denials of citizenship applications. In our appeal, we argued that our client had committed no fraud as he had no intent to mislead the Immigration Service and that even if he had made a misrepresentation, that it was not a “material misrepresentation” under the law as he was not required to have a Social Security Number at the time he applied for his green card through his approved employment based labor petition. Our client’s green card application was based on INA Section 245(i), a law designed to forgive both illegal employment and entry without inspection. The Immigration Officer who adjudicated our N-336 appeal agreed that our client could not be found to have committed fraud under the Immigration and Nationality Act and granted his Form N-336 and his N-400, Application for Citizenship.