What Not to Say in an Immigration Psychological Evaluation
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People search this question before almost every appointment with me: what not to say during a psychological evaluation for immigration. I know what sits behind it. You are afraid of failing. You are afraid that one wrong sentence will sink a case your family has waited years for. So let me answer it the way I would across my desk, because the real answer is calmer than the internet makes it sound.
There is no list of forbidden words. There is one rule, and it protects you: tell the truth, the whole size of it, no bigger and no smaller.
Do not make it smaller
The most common mistake I see is not exaggeration. It is minimizing. People who have survived hard things are often experts at saying they are fine. They have had to be. So they tell me they sleep okay when they wake at three every morning, or that the threats were not that bad, or that they do not want to complain. If you leave symptoms out, they are not in the report, and the report is what the reviewer reads.
A person's outward calm, a steady job, or the fact that it took years to tell anyone does not by itself settle how much harm occurred. Say what is actually happening, even if it feels small or embarrassing.
Do not make it bigger
The opposite mistake is just as costly. Do not add symptoms you do not have, borrow someone else's story, or say what you think I want to hear. I use the interview, your clinical history, and where appropriate standardized symptom measures, and I compare what you report with what the records show. An account that does not fit together weakens the report, and it is my professional duty to write what the evidence supports, not what would help the case most.
I do not change an opinion because a different conclusion would be more useful. That independence is what gives the report its weight. It only works if what you tell me is true.
Do not pretend to remember what you do not
Trauma does strange things to memory. Dates blur. Order gets scrambled. Whole stretches go blank. You are allowed to say that you are not sure, that a date is approximate, or that you do not remember a part. Those answers are not failures. They are honest, and in the report I would rather write that a detail is uncertain than fill it in for you.
Do not rehearse
Do not memorize a script or practice an emotional response. I am not grading your delivery, and a rehearsed account reads as rehearsed. Jot down a rough timeline of the big events if it helps you keep your bearings, know your family members' names and where they are, and be able to mention any counseling or medication you have had before. That is enough preparation.
What actually happens in the room
We talk for two to three hours, sometimes split across sessions, in English, Español or Português. I ask about your life before, the events that brought you here, how you sleep and eat, what your days look like now, and who holds you up. Nobody cross-examines you. When a memory gets heavy, we pause. You can ask me to slow down or to come back to a topic later.
The report then separates three things: what you told me, what the records show, and what I can reasonably conclude as a clinician. If something is uncertain, I say so. If a diagnosis is supported, I explain it so a non-specialist can follow the reasoning. If it is not supported, I do not invent one.
You cannot fail by being honest
The only way to truly fail an immigration evaluation is to make it untrue. Everything else, the tears, the silences, the dates you cannot pin down, is just a human being telling a hard story. That is what I am there to listen for.
Common questions
What can cause you to fail a psychological evaluation?
There is no pass or fail score. What harms a report is an account that does not hold together: symptoms added or hidden, or a story that contradicts the records. An honest account, including the parts you are unsure about, is what the report needs.
Should I bring up past mental health treatment?
Yes. Prior counseling, diagnoses or medication are part of your history, and I consider them so the report does not attribute every difficulty to one event. Leaving them out would make the report less accurate, not stronger.
What if I cry or cannot continue?
We pause. The interview is paced to you, and it can be split across sessions when one long session would be too much. That is a clinical decision, and it is explained to you before it happens.
Who will read what I say?
The report goes to you and, with your consent, your attorney. Before the interview I explain who will receive it and the limits of confidentiality, so you know exactly where your words go.
Your next step
Ready to talk? Send the request form with your case type and language. You do not need to write your story in the form. The details wait for a private conversation.