Tips for your Naturalization Interview

It is not required that an attorney accompany you to your USCIS interview, however, it is strongly recommended. Please confirm with your attorney ahead of time whether they will be accompanying you; whether arrangements are being made for another attorney to accompany you to your interview; or whether you wish to go to your interview without an attorney. If an attorney will be accompanying you, you should understand that the attorney cannot testify for you at the interview. The USCIS officer will be asking you the questions, and the officer will be expecting you to answer them. The attorney is there to observe the interview and will only intercede if the attorney feels that the USCIS officer is acting in a way that the officer shouldn’t be acting; if the attorney feels that there was a miscommunication between you and the officer that needs to be corrected; or if the attorney feels that they need to clarify for the USCIS officer how the law applies to your case.

Whether or not an attorney accompanies you to your interview, please follow the tips below.

1.      Always tell the truth.

2.      Listen very carefully to the questions that the officer is asking. If you are not certain that you understand what the officer is asking, do not answer the question. Tell the officer that you did not understand the question and ask the officer to repeat or explain the question.

3.      If you do not know the answer to a question, the most honest answer is to tell the officer that you do not know the answer or do not remember the answer. The officer will probably ask you to take your best guess, at which point the officer will know that you are not sure about the answer, and if you provide incorrect information, it is less likely that the officer will think that you are trying to lie or hide information.

4.      Exception: When the officer is asking you the questions from the Civics Examination (the “Test”), if you are having trouble remembering an answer, it is still better to take your best guess rather than just say “I don’t know” because you might actually remember the answer and guess correctly.

5.      Only answer the questions that the USCIS officer asks. As a rule, you should not volunteer information that wasn’t asked for by the USCIS officer. Keep your answers short. You should not give overly long answers or “ramble on.”  If you can answer a question with “yes” or “no,” then answer with “yes” or “no.”  However, if a simple short answer does not fully answer the USCIS officer’s question, you should use your best judgement in giving a longer answer. Just remember that if you give long answers to the questions beyond what is necessary to answer the question asked, the interview will unnecessarily take longer, and you are more likely to say something that will lead the USCIS officer to ask even more questions.

6.      Be familiar with your application. Take the time to review your application again carefully. Most of the questions that the USCIS officer will be asking at the interview will come directly from the application. The more familiar you are with the questions on the application, the more comfortable you will be during the interview.

7.      While you are reviewing the application in preparation for the interview, if there are any mistakes on the application or if information needs to be updated, please let your lawyer know. You should NOT lie in the interview to match the mistaken information on your application. If there is a mistake on the application, the interview is the time to correct that mistake.

8.      If you need to refer to a document or a record to answer a question completely, it is okay to say, “I need to look at my documents.” For example, if you do not have your social security number memorized, you can bring your social security card with you to look at it during the interview. (Exception: You cannot look at any answers while taking the Civics Examination).

9.      Dress nicely. For example, do not wear a t-shirt, jeans, or shorts. Dress in “business casual” or nicer attire.

10.   Bring your interview appointment notice. Bring all your original documents. Bring translations of any documents not in English. Bring one copy of each of your documents. Do not assume that your attorney will be bringing any of your documents to the interview. Make sure you have your documents arranged in a folder, envelope, etc., so that you are comfortable knowing where each of your documents is located within the folder.

11. Study for the Civics Examination questions. Here is a link for study materials to help you:

https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learners/study-test/study-materials-civics-test.

12.   Prepare for the English Writing and Reading Examination. Here is a link for study materials to help you:

https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learners/study-test/study-materials-english-test.