Experience I551 at Boston InfoPass

[FrankBooth 0]

Just wanted to pass along my Boston InfoPass experience at Boston center.

Appointment was for 1:30, got there an hour early.

Line was not that long and we were given a number quickly.

After waiting for about a half hour we were seen by the inspector.

We told him that my wife needed a I551 because she was traveling abroad and the NOA letter had expired.

After some consultation we were told that we had to wait until the GC expired which would be next month.

I told them that we had already purchased the flight ticket and showed it to them.

They consulted a bit more then stamped my wife's passport with a 90 day I551.

But they kept the GC.

All in all it was a non-stressful experience and we got what we wanted.

Now if they would just hurry up with finalizing the pending I-751.

[Jenn! 918]

Thanks for the report. How is it possible though that the NOA expired before the green card?

[TayRivers 4]

I too am confused, The NOA is valid for 1 year so the greencard would have expired within the first few months of the NOA. so how can the greencard be still valid????

[FrankBooth 0]

I was confused too. According to what they told me, the the GC was good for a year after it expired, if I751 was pending. And since the GC expired in December of last year they mentioned that it was good until the December of this year(because of pending I751). Now the I751 process is independent of the GC expiring and we had applied for I751 before the GC expired last year, hence NOA expired before the extra year on the GC.

Hope that's clear.

[Jenn! 918]

I was confused too. According to what they told me, the the GC was good for a year after it expired, if I751 was pending. And since the GC expired in December of last year they mentioned that it was good until the December of this year(because of pending I751). Now the I751 process is independent of the GC expiring and we had applied for I751 before the GC expired last year, hence NOA expired before the extra year on the GC.

Hope that's clear.

Ok, yes, I understand now. This was actually something that has been unclear for me, i.e. whether the NOA extends the validity of the green card for one year past the expiration of the green card or for one year past the date of the NOA. From what they told you, it seems to be the latter.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Actually, it is valid for one year after the green card. The green card was valid until December 2007 - the NOA extends its validity to December 2008. The applicant, however, was travelling and would be out of the country beyond the extension date in December and needed proof of status that extended beyond December. Since you can't have two 'active' green card documents at the same time, they basically superseded the NOA/greencard status by extending the status from 'now' for another year by the stamp. If you hadn't needed the stamp, the green card and NOA status proof would have expired in December as it states. Now that the stamp takes its place, your status expires a year from when you got your stamp.

(For an example, I never received an NOA. I went to get a stamp 2 weeks before my green card expired. My stamp expires one year from the date I got the stamp, not one year from my green card which would have been the case if I had ever received the NOA).

[FrankBooth 0]

You are correct except that the stamp is only for 90 days from the date issued.

Hopefully the I751 approval will come before that 90 days is up er else we'll be in Limbo. It should have been in process by now according to the Processing Dates website and indeed they did tell us in Boston that the I751 was on its way to an officer, whatever that means...

[Jenn! 918]

Thanks for the clarification, Kathryn. I wasn't getting the part where the OP would be out of the country when the GC expired.

I would think that if your I-751 is not adjudicated before the 90 days is up on the I-551 that they will restamp.

Interesting that they told you your file was "on it's way out". I hope they were right!

[cherr1980 1]

Okay now I understand why most probably they gave you a 90 day stamp since you are a Dec07 filer and they are processing end of Nov and Dec cases in VSC.

Hope you get approved soon!!!