Adam Walsh Act & I-751 delays

[Perplexed 0]

Greetings! My application for permanent residency, filed in December 2004, was approved in Dec 2005. In September 2007, I filed my I-751 application to remove conditions of permanent residency. In January, 2009, my husband and I had our interview. Today is March 4 and a decision has yet to be made. Let me give you some background.

My husband (a USC) is required to register as a sex offender (if you're going to pass judgements on me about that as some have done in other posts, be sure they will be ignored by me so don't waste your time; I'm not here to find out what you think about sex offenders, only how AWA impacts my immigration process). AWA went into effect, as I understand it, in July 2006 and affects those applications filed on or after that date. Theoretically, then, the law should not impact us. However, my I-751 application is 4 months outside of normal processing time. Does anyone know what USCIS' policies are for approving I-751's given AWA? I do not see anything written by the USCIS or within AWA about I-751's but that doesn't mean policies about it are nonexistent. I can tell you that at our I-751 interview, the officer asked us more than 5 times if we had children in the home (we don't) and we have a bona fide marriage and provided them with all of the information they requested (we have joint everything!) so I can only assume my husband's status as a registered sex offender is impacting the delays. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

[milimelo 4,561]

The only thing I can say is try to contact your congressperson as you are outside the processing times.

I believe AWA went into effect as of January 2007, not sure.

Good luck and hopefully you get your card soon.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

I agree. Contact your Senator or your representative. Your husband's past record should not be an issue in validating your marriage. Part of the AWA is to ensure that the foreign spouse is in full possession of facts that might impact his/her decision regarding the marriage. You seem to be fully aware of the circumstances and are not in need of that 'protection'. Good luck.

Edited March 4, 2009 by Kathryn41

[Mrs.J06 4]

What did the officer tell you once the interview was done?

I would assume the background checks would take a little longer since they will probably have to follow up the hits that come up, but otherwise I don't know what the difference would be.

I would go for an infopass and try and find out what the status is. If the infopass does not help, get your congressperson involved. Sex offender or not, I would think between January and March they should be able to come up with a decision.

[YuAndDan 153]

Adam Walsh act only affects Immigrant visa petitions (I-130 and I-129F), I have not heard of it affecting Adjustment of status or removal of conditions.

I-751 can take time to be processed, I have seen a few go past one year.

You can file an N-400 at three years of residency, this tends to jump-start a stalled I-751, they cannot start working on the N-400 until the I-751 is complete.

[cherr1980 1]

To know more about AWA (Adam Walsh Act) and USCIS please see the link below:

http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/Ad...shAct072806.pdf

It states petitions I-130 and I-600, does not state about I-751. Now, we don't know HOW USCIS is interpreting the act. And they are leaving many things in hold before making a further decision.

The new act states tiers for sex offenders and what changed the INA depends on what type of offense was made to a minor. It is listed in the link.

Have you make INFOPASS or what the officer tell you at the end of the interview? Did s/he made a comment about ""I need to review this carefully" or something like that?

[Perplexed 0]

Thank you everyone for the information. I do appreciate it. At the end of the interview the officer said we would have a decision in a couple of weeks and that he needed to "review and cross reference" our information. The law is really vague, isn't it? There is a statement in the USCIS memo about "revoking approved I-130's" that is throwing me. Thoughts?

Making an info pass appointment is really difficult for us as we live 4 hours from the field office so that will be last resort. Also, if I might ask, what role does the Senator or Congressperson play in this? I've never heard anyone recommend contacting them before, so I'm curious. For some reason I can't imagine my representative having time or interest in addressing individual immigration issues?!?

[milimelo 4,561]

Thank you everyone for the information. I do appreciate it. At the end of the interview the officer said we would have a decision in a couple of weeks and that he needed to "review and cross reference" our information. The law is really vague, isn't it? There is a statement in the USCIS memo about "revoking approved I-130's" that is throwing me. Thoughts?

Making an info pass appointment is really difficult for us as we live 4 hours from the field office so that will be last resort. Also, if I might ask, what role does the Senator or Congressperson play in this? I've never heard anyone recommend contacting them before, so I'm curious. For some reason I can't imagine my representative having time or interest in addressing individual immigration issues?!?

Let's just say my congressman managed to get my green card to me after I never recived one for almost a year since I entered the country. They wanted me to say I lost or mutilated the card I never even received, and they wanted me to pay again for something I already paid for but they never produced or sent to my address (we never changed address). The congressman's office has people specialized in helping constituents with various matters, immigration included.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

A Senator has staff whose responsibility is to deal with issues constituents have with the federal government. They have special liaison contacts they work with who can find out more information about situations than you can on your own. A good staff person is willing to do the work and often by their enquiry can shake loose something that is stuck. Not all Senators have good staff who are willing to do the work, though. It is reasonable to request your Senator's office to put through an inquiry as to why there has been no decision yet when you were told there would be one within the specified time period. You will need to fill out an authorization form and send it to your Senator since they need your signed permission to request personal information about you. My Senator has a blank copy of the form on his website so all I had to do was print it off, fill in the details, sign it and then I faxed it to his local office. I then called to follow up and make sure they had received it. In my case, my Senator's staff put through an inquiry as to why my I-751 was taking so long to approve. I had my approval 3 days later. It may have been coincidence but I don't think so. Definitely consider contacting your Senator's office and asking them to investigate for you. It is part of their job to represent you in dealings with the government and that is what you are asking them to do. Goodluck

Edited March 5, 2009 by Kathryn41

[Perplexed 0]

Silly question ... am I considered a constituent even though I'm not a US citizen?

Thank you everyone for the information. I do appreciate it. At the end of the interview the officer said we would have a decision in a couple of weeks and that he needed to "review and cross reference" our information. The law is really vague, isn't it? There is a statement in the USCIS memo about "revoking approved I-130's" that is throwing me. Thoughts?

Making an info pass appointment is really difficult for us as we live 4 hours from the field office so that will be last resort. Also, if I might ask, what role does the Senator or Congressperson play in this? I've never heard anyone recommend contacting them before, so I'm curious. For some reason I can't imagine my representative having time or interest in addressing individual immigration issues?!?

Let's just say my congressman managed to get my green card to me after I never recived one for almost a year since I entered the country. They wanted me to say I lost or mutilated the card I never even received, and they wanted me to pay again for something I already paid for but they never produced or sent to my address (we never changed address). The congressman's office has people specialized in helping constituents with various matters, immigration included.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Your spouse definitely is - and you are a potential voter. You are a permanent resident residing within their electoral district so yes, they are supposed to represent your interests as well.