‘Never lawfully admitted’ denials

Some people are having their naturalization applications denied on the grounds that they were “never lawfully admitted” for permanent residence. What this basically means is that they may have obtained their green card through fraud, mistake or US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) oversight. In other words, they obtained their green card in error, and only now has USCIS realized that error.

If the person is not lawfully eligible for their green card, then they would not be eligible for US citizenship. Not only that, but they could possibly face deportation/removal to have their green card taken away.

Some situations where this may come about include:

• A person was petitioned as single but was secretly married. (Sometimes they marry the same person a second time to cover up the original marriage.) But that first marriage is discovered at naturalization, resulting in the fact that they were not “lawfully” admitted as a “single green card holder.

• A person was petitioned by an employer but, after getting the green card, never worked for that employer. In fact, at naturalization interviews based on an employment based green card, one of the first questions a person is asked is, “How long did you work for the petitioning employer?” If they never worked for that employer, then it’s like a “fixed job,” just like a fixed marriage, and USCIS would conclude they obtained their employment-based green card through fraud and were never lawfully admitted.

• A person applied for adjustment of status, but at the time they applied, they were already out of status. Miraculously, the adjustment was approved, but when they apply for US citizenship, USCIS discovers that they were erroneously approved and therefore were not “lawfully admitted.”

USCIS is now digging back into a person’s visitor visa application from years ago (DS 160) and looking for inconsistencies or misrepresentations, especially concerning their intent for coming to the US. Sometimes USCIS accuses them of having committed fraud in obtaining their tourist visas and therefore should never have been granted a green card. As a result, they also were not lawfully admitted.

There are many other situations where USCIS may conclude that a person’s green card was granted in error or through fraud or concealment. If you are considering filing for naturalization, you may want to consult with an attorney concerning your immigration history and eligibility for the benefits you are applying for and hopefully avoid a naturalization denial based on never having been lawfully admitted.