If you want to apply for U.S. citizenship, green card renewal or for some other immigration benefit with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), you will have to file the appropriate form with the right fee and supporting documents. The most important thing you will have to do is to fill out the form and make sure that it is error free. This will ensure that USCIS accepts your application. Though all errors may not cause the rejection of your form, some errors can be costly. Those might result in the rejection of your form or delay the processing of your application.
Do you know what you will need to do if you have filed an application with the USCIS and realize that you have made a mistake on your form after mailing it? Read on to know what you may be able to do.
If you have misspelled your name, provided the wrong date of birth, did not mention arrests or convictions or missed some other information that might result in you being considered ineligible for the particular benefit for which you have applied, you will have to correct it as soon as possible. You may be on the safer side if the USCIS has received your application but has still not acted on it. The process of correcting the mistake on your form may be quite easy in this case.
To correct the mistake on a form you have already filed, you will have to wait until you receive the application receipt notice that tells you that your application has been received. A unique receipt number will be assigned to your case once the USCIS receives it. This number will help you contact the USCIS regarding your case. USCIS will be able to locate your case using this number.
Once you receive this notice, you can call the National Customer Service Center and tell them that you have made a mistake on your form. You can also request them to fix the error. If the change is a minor one, the customer service agents will be able to fix it. At times, they may need some time to fix the error, in which case they will provide you with a reference number. You need to quote this number when you call back to check if the error has been fixed.
The customer service agents may not be able to help you if the error is a serious one. In this case, you will have to send a letter to the USCIS quoting your receipt number and explaining the mistake. You may also have to fill, sign and send a new form with supporting documents along with this letter, as per the instructions provided by the immigration agent who spoke to you.
USCIS may accept the correction and start processing your case if your letter reaches the agency on time. But if it is too late and if the agency has already started to work on your case, your letter may not be considered. In this case, you will be sent a Request for Evidence. If you receive a letter asking for more info, you can send the documents the agency has requested and corrections if any, within the time the USCIS has provided. You will not have to pay any additional fee for this.
But if your mistake is a serious one and if your case is rejected, you will have to start the application process again and also pay the fee again.
Here are some USCIS form filing tips that will help you file an error free form.