N-336: What You Need to Know

Was your petition for obtaining a U.S. citizenship recently rejected? Was your Form N-400 rejected or denied? Whatever the reasons might be, you can appeal against the decision with the help of Form N-336.

In this article, we will discuss Form N-336 in detail and talk about various nuances related to it.

What Is Form N-336?

Form N-336 is a Request for a Hearing on a Naturalization Decision issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Simply put, Form N-336 allows you to appeal against a negative decision on an application meant to obtain U.S. citizenship.

Thus, if you feel you have been wrongly denied from getting a U.S. citizenship, you can appeal against the decision with the help of Form N-336 after submitting Form N-400 and appearing for the required interview.

Who Needs to File Form N-336?

If you have been recently denied U.S. citizenship and if your Form N-400 is denied, you can file a request for a hearing with Form N-336 within 30 calendar days of the denial.

It is important to note that the USCIS will reject any request that is not placed on time. Additionally, if your Form N-336 is rejected because it was not filed on time, your fee will not be refunded. However, if your application meets a certain set of requirements for the motion to reconsider, the USCIS might issue a decision in your case even if your form is not filed on time.

Required Documents for Form N-336

In order to appeal successfully, you are required to submit a copy of your Form N-400 denial. Additionally, you must submit a range of evidence to support your case. If you fail to submit the requirements on time, the USCIS may reject or deny your request on the pretext of insufficient evidence or documents.

How to Fill Out Form N-336

To begin the process, you need to download Form N-336 from the USCIS website for free. However, if you do not have an active internet connection, you can also call the USCIS National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283 and ask them to send the form to you.

It is important to fill out the form perfectly with all the valid information. You must sign the form properly, the USCIS will not accept a typewritten name or stamped name in place of a signature. However, if you are below 14 years of age, you may ask your parents or legal guardian to sign on your behalf.

You must submit the form with legible photocopies of the request documents unless you have been specifically asked to submit an original document. You might be asked to submit original documents at any point in time during the process. However, if you end up submitting the original documents even when they are not asked for, these documents will remain a part of your application and USCIS might not return them to you automatically.

Here is what you must keep in mind while filing Form N-336:

• Either type or print properly in black ink.
• Answer all the questions to the best of your knowledge. Do not lie. If a certain question doesn’t apply to you, simply type or print N/A unless otherwise mentioned.
• Avoid crossing out a response and keep everything simple.
• Ensure that the top right corner of each page contains your Alien Registration Number (A-number). You can find your A-number on your Permanent Resident Card. It is a seven to nine digit number depending on the time when your record was created. If your A-number is fewer than nine numbers, make sure you place enough zeros before the first number.

Where to File Form N-336?

You can either choose to file Form N-336 online or send it in via mail.

How Much Does Form N-336 Cost?

You are required to pay $700 for filing Form N-336. In addition, if you choose to hire an attorney who can help you with the filing, you will need to pay the additional attorney fee separately.

It is important to note that the filing fee is not refundable, which means that regardless of the decision made by the USCIS, you will need to submit the fee in the exact amount.

Here are a few things to keep in mind while submitting the filing fee:

1. Ensure that you issue a check or money order from a bank or financial institution located in the U.S.
2. Ensure that you pay the required fee in U.S. currency.
3. The check must be payable to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
4. If you do not live in the U.S., you must contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate to go over the proceedings.

What Happens After Filing Form N-336?

If you have submitted Form N-336 within 30 days of the rejection and have provided all the required information, the USCIS will schedule a hearing within 180 days. Your application will then be assigned to a new officer—someone who has not checked and processed your application before.

The new officer will have the authority to review any portion of the administrative record that you might have submitted earlier. Additionally, they might also request that you provide new evidence or testimony.

Once the officer reviews all the documents, they can hand down their decision as though a prior decision was never made on your application.

However, if you lose the N-336 hearing, you can then file a subsequent appeal requesting a review of N-400 in a federal district court. Here, unlike the N-336, your application will be reviewed by an independent federal judge who doesn’t work for the USCIS.

N-336 Processing Time

By regulation, the USCIS must schedule your hearing for Form N-336 within 180 days from the date of the appeal. However, in the real world, it takes much longer to get your hearing scheduled. This makes the processing time highly unpredictable.

Sometimes, applicants will have their N-400 approved at the conclusion of the N-336 hearing. While, on the other hand, others might face complicated circumstances which may end up forcing the USCIS to take a lot of time to reach a decision after conducting a lengthy review.

The Wrap Up

Although Form N-336 processing times are unpredictable and there are never any guarantees of winning the case, you should still give it your best shot. It is also highly recommended to hire an attorney to present your case in the best possible manner.

Frank Gogol

I’m a firm believer that information is the key to financial freedom. On the Stilt Blog, I write about the complex topics — like finance, immigration, and technology — to help immigrants make the most of their lives in the U.S. Our content and brand have been featured in Forbes, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, and more.

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