The naturalization process may be lengthy and can be somewhat expensive but overall, it’s fairly simple. However, many applicants make some common, yet preventable, mistakes. These can be expensive mistakes or they can be mistakes that can slow down the process. Even worse, some mistakes can ruin someone’s chances of ever becoming a U.S. citizen.

Meredith Brown is an immigration defense attorney who some applicants call on, after they’ve made mistakes, and they almost always have to pay a price for their errors. “I’ve seen immigrants lose upwards of $20,000. Normally though, it’s roughly around five thousand to ten thousand dollars,” says Brown.

She says that people who complete their own applications may be unaware of the ramifications of fudging a little here or there. “It’s very important to tell the truth. I think sometimes people gloss over some points. For example, lying about an old arrest, or not consulting with an attorney about an old criminal history,” adds Brown.

“That’s very important because at the time of the interview, the immigration officer will be asking questions under penalty of perjury, and so one can be creating another crime, in essence, if they don’t answer the questions correctly or if they don’t completely fill out the forms,” she says.

In fact, the incorrect or missing information on the application could be trivial – so trivial that, on its own, it could have no bearing on someone’s eligibility.

But government officials often conclude that even a little white lie is enough to disqualify some applicants based on one of the other requirements – which the person must be of good moral character.

“Another problem can be, for example, if a person has lived outside the United States for more than six months and they neglect to disclose that fact. Or they may under-exaggerate it and if it turns out they have abandoned their legal permanent residency, this can actually get a person in to removal proceedings before an immigration judge,” explains Brown.

Brown says she’d rather work with the applicants before they make potentially devastating or expensive mistakes.

She cautions people to make sure that the lawyer or agency they turn to for legal advice actually knows naturalization law.

Another error is that some applicants have the mistaken belief that – in the United States – a notary public knows the law.

“It’s a big deal with the Latino community because in Latin America, a notary public is somebody who is, essentially, a lawyer. There, it involves a process where a person has to go to the university and then has to take exams and it’s a very serious title – whereas here in the United States, notary publics are very important. They basically seal documents, they make sure that one’s identity is more or less correct when one is signing an important document, but that’s basically it,” explains Brown.

There are even more potential problems – Brown says – when people apply on-line.

When applicants don’t get an immediate response from a slow computer, they often make the mistake of sending in two applications.

Even worse, it’s easy to send in two credit card payments – without even knowing it.

Or suppose they carelessly select something by mistake.

“They can inadvertently click on something that doesn’t apply to them, thus calling attention to their case. Also, the opposite can occur where they may not fill it out correctly and then, at the time of the interview, they run into problems with the adjudicating officer. So it’s really best to do things in writing – I prefer to do things with a hard copy,” suggest Brown.