1 year extension granted - spouse died

[skybrie8 0]

Please help me. My step-Mom from Thailand married my US Citizen Dad in 2007. She was granted a 1 year extension 3/2012 of her conditions of residency and currently has an expired Permanent Resident Card.

He passed away last month and I do not know what to do to keep her here. She did bio-metrics in June but has not received anything since. We sought out a lawyer who said she charges $2,500 to handle this, are we getting ripped off?

Can we do it on our own? Do she wait until the 90 days before expiration and have her send in a new I-751 with the waiver that the spouse passed away? Can she send it in now?

From reading on the forums here she can travel with the letter and expired card right? He wanted his ashes spread in Thailand so we want to plan a trip soon.

Thank you in advance for your help

Brie

[No-Where-Man 147]

I am sorry for your loss.

As far as your questions, I do not see any complications in your case that require to hire an attorny and pay $2500.00 ( I would not).

From the information you gave, she filed I-751 to remove conditions on her residence and got 1 year extension I guess because the petition went outside the normal processing times or she needed to travel or whatever the reason. Since her petition is still pending and the spouse died she needs to inform USCIS once she has the death certificate (per USCIS guidelines), they will tell her exactly what she needs to send and where to. It happens and no danger on your mother-in-law since she filed on time and as required. Call USCIS and ask to talk to a tier 2 officer.

Please help me. My step-Mom from Thailand married my US Citizen Dad in 2007. She was granted a 1 year extension 3/2012 of her conditions of residency and currently has an expired Permanent Resident Card.

He passed away last month and I do not know what to do to keep her here. She did bio-metrics in June but has not received anything since. We sought out a lawyer who said she charges $2,500 to handle this, are we getting ripped off?

Can we do it on our own? Do she wait until the 90 days before expiration and have her send in a new I-751 with the waiver that the spouse passed away? Can she send it in now?

From reading on the forums here she can travel with the letter and expired card right? He wanted his ashes spread in Thailand so we want to plan a trip soon.

Thank you in advance for your help

Brie

Edited September 6, 2012 by no_where_man

[skybrie8 0]

Her resident card expired 7/10/2011 and she got a 1 year extension on 3/26/12

Does that mean she is current illegal?

[Karee 4,190]

Her resident card expired 7/10/2011 and she got a 1 year extension on 3/26/12

Does that mean she is current illegal?

From the guides on this website:

Q: What if my spouse is unable or unwilling to file the I-751 joint petition?

A: If you cannot file because your marriage has ended in divorce, annulment or death of your petitioning spouse, or your spouse refuses to join in the filing of the petition, you may apply for a waiver of the requirement to file the joint petition. The waiver is filed with form I-751. To qualify for the waiver, you must establish that one of the following circumstances exists:

--o Your spouse has died;

--o Your marriage was entered into in good faith but ended by divorce or annulment;

--o Your marriage was entered into in good faith but your spouse subjected you to battery or extreme cruelty; or

--o Termination of your status would cause you extreme hardship.

Link:

http://www.visajourney.com/content/family-status-immigration-d

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Her resident card expired 7/10/2011 and she got a 1 year extension on 3/26/12

Does that mean she is current illegal?

No she's not illegal. She has filed ROC jointly with her husband. Her husband has since passed. I suggest she makes an infopass appointment to change it to a waiver filing, showing the death certificate for her husband. Not something that requires an attorney.

[skybrie8 0]

Thanks for the information, I think the infoPass appointment is a good idea.