In fiscal year 2023, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reported receiving approximately 10.9 million immigration applications. Specifically for family-based green cards, about 88 percent of applications were approved while the remaining 12 percent were denied. While 12 percent make up the minority, it still means that close to 100,000 applications were rejected. All of this to say that getting immigration status in the U.S. may be a cut-throat process that leaves little to no room for error. With that in mind, please read on to discover the most common mistakes seen on an immigration application and how a seasoned family immigration lawyer in Milwaukee, WI, at Sesini Law Group, S.C., can help you avoid making them at all costs.
What are the most common mistakes made on an immigration application?
A majority of mistakes found within immigration applications are categorized as clerical errors. However, these small mistakes may make all the difference in how the USCIS handles your petition. More specific examples of this are as follows:
- You may have accidentally left a blank field within your immigration application.
- You may have accidentally misspelled your name or written the wrong date in one of the fields.
- You may have accidentally forgotten to produce your signature at the bottom of the application.
- You may have accidentally contradicted your answers provided in different fields within the application.
- You may have accidentally omitted your criminal history from years ago and/or from a different country.
- You may have accidentally overlooked supplementing your application with relevant and necessary evidence.
What happens if I make a mistake on my immigration application?
In a best-case scenario, your clerical error within your immigration application may simply pose delays. That is, if deemed minor enough, the USCIS may send you a request for evidence, with which you must respond accurately and promptly. Inevitably, this leads to an extended wait time for hearing about your approval or denial.
However, more realistically, the USCIS may conclude that your mistakes are too significant for your application to proceed any further, and they may reject it outright. While you may be given an opportunity to reapply in the future, this means that you may have to start all over again, and even pay a separate mandatory filing fee.
Or, in a worst-case scenario, your pending immigration application may raise serious red flags to the USCIS. That is, they may believe that your presence in the United States is no longer lawful. In the end, you may be threatened with removal or deportation proceedings from the country, possibly with an inability to return indefinitely.
If you need help with executing this, do not be afraid to reach out to a competent family immigration lawyer in Milwaukee, WI. Our team at Sesini Law Group, S.C., is more than capable and eager to assist you in your upcoming legal proceedings.