Practice Alert: Online Form N-400 and Inability to Populate the Spouse Information Section
AILA has received reports from members who believe they have encountered a glitch when filling out the Online Form N-400. It appears that the online form skips the section which requests the applicant’s spouse information, and which later appears as a blank section on the form review.
Upon contacting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for clarification, USCIS has provided the below information:
When filing the N-400 online, an applicant will only see questions about their current spouse if they are filing under eligibility categories of “Spouse of a U.S. Citizen” or “Spouse of U.S. Citizen in Qualified Employment Outside of the United States”. Applicants who are not filing under one of these categories will not see the current spouse questions within their N-400 application. Therefore, when reviewing the review page and case snapshot these questions will appear blank as they didn’t need to be provided
Based on USCIS’s response, and the fact that the clarification received mirrors the same requirement on paper-filed forms, AILA determined that there is no glitch in the online version of Form N-400, thus members who wish to file this form online may do so without issue. However, AILA does caution that the eligibility for naturalization be thoroughly reviewed prior to filing, as this is the determining factor on whether the applicant is required to provide the spouse’s information on the online form.
AILA appreciates our members’ watchful eye on new PDF and online forms. If members believe they have encountered a glitch, or information does not appear on online form version, kindly submit a report via Report a Trend.