Hi everyone,
I am an American citizen with a late Hungarian great-grandfather. I had my interview for simplified naturalization in a US consulate in June of 2014. My language skills were fine, my papers were sent through.
I have continued to learn Hungarian in the year since then. In January, I received a phone call from Budapest checking up to see that I spoke Hungarian. I spoke some to the woman, who I had trouble understanding as it was on the phone, but at the end, she said in English that she called to see what I spoke, and that it was enough.
And just two days ago, I received a call from the consulate saying my application had been denied without a reason to why. I was told to reapply. I understand there is no appeals process and that the process has gotten harder, but without a reason as to why my application was denied (the best case scenario, as I see it, is that my language skills were not enough, because I have continued to work with my teacher and will continue to do so), I have no understanding of what my application lacked.
I did hear that there were a lot of denials recently.
Does anyone have any insight? Would hiring a lawyer make a difference the second time around? I'm really confused.