Help to other VJers from an Approved Removal of Conditions case...

[antda 13]

Note: I originally posted this on another VJ forum, but I thought this would help others here on this VJ Removal of Conditions forum as well, and decided to post the following here):

Hi Everyone,

Good luck on filing your removal of conditions soon. Make sure that you file within 90 days before your 2yr green card expires, and you should be ok there. Do not file it before or after this "90 day window", otherwise your case will be sent back, rejected and/or denied.

Lol...I've "Been there, done that", with the removal of conditions recently...And let me say:

"It was 10 months of USCIS hell!"... And yes, I'm glad that's over with now!

Here is my detailed VJ timeline regarding my removal of conditions journey:

Chapter 4 "Removed":

2008-08-18: Filed the I-751/Removal Of Conditions ($465 Form + $80 Biometrics for Ant), jointly by Ant and D. Also enclosed 100+ pages of required joint evidence with the application.

2008-08-22: NOA Letter/1 year Extension Letter (received 2008-08-27).

2008-09-24: Walk-In Biometrics in Buffalo NY, which was a week earlier than the original scheduled appointment date, due to long-distance transportation and other medical issues.

2009-01-02 (Expedite/Inquiry Round #1): Tried to expedite case, by the USCIS mis-information phone line, but was rejected by e-mail (on 2009-01-03).

2009-02-26: Ant’s Canadian passport renewal, as it was expired and needed for travel purposes and I-751 case delays in which a valid passport would possibly be required.

2009-03-02: Case Transferred from the Vermont Service Center/VSC to the California Service Center/CSC on, with e-mail confirmations from CRIS (on 2009-03-03 and 2009-03-06). Hard-copy letter of transfer received by mail (on 2009-03-27, letter dated 2009-03-18) from Vermont.

2009-04-13 (Expedite/Inquiry Round #2): Congressional Expedite/Intervention requested due to “high-risk pregnancy and case being outside of standard six months I-751 processing timeframe”.

2009-04-18: I-751 APPROVED! Approval Letter from Vermont received by mail (letter dated 2009-04-15), 8 months after the date of the original application was filed.

2009-05-18 (Expedite/Inquiry Round #3): Called the USCIS mis-information phone line to inform that the actual physical 10yr green card wasn't received yet. Service inquiry requested.

2009-05-20 and 2009-05-28: Card production ordered (1st notice) e-mail from CRIS received (on 2009-05-20), 9 months after the date of the original application was filed. Card production ordered (2nd notice) hard-copy letter received by mail from California (on 2009-05-26, letter dated 2009-05-20). Card production ordered (3rd notice) e-mail from CRIS received (on 2009-05-28).

2009-05-29: USCIS online official press release about Permanent Resident Card Production Delays…for up to eight weeks, due to equipment upgrades…Decided to schedule Infopass appointment.

2009-06-03 (Expedite/Inquiry Round #4): Infopass Appointment in Buffalo NY, to “get to the bottom of the delays” and to get a Temporary I-551 Stamp. Stamp received in Ant’s new passport, valid for 1 year (2009-06-03 to 2010-06-02). Infopass officer was totally clueless about I-751 delays.

2009-06-03: Approval Notice e-mail confirmation from CRIS...duh, case was already approved two months ago...

2009-06-05 (Expedite/Inquiry Round #5): Congressional Expedite/Intervention requested due to “unreasonable delays, processing errors, mistakes, inconsistencies, and inefficient USCIS service”.

2009-06-05: 13-YEARS GREEN CARD RECEIVED! from California/CSC (notice date 2009-05-30, card date 2009-05-28), 10 months after the date of the original application was filed. Card was received just when Ant and D came back to the USA from a vacation in Canada.

Bonus/Compensation from the USCIS: Ant’s new Green Card is valid for 13 years (2006-11-14 to 2019-05-28) instead of the standard 10 years.

I-751/13yr Green Card= A waste of time and money! Ant will file for US Citizenship in August 2009.

CRIS Touched: 2008-08-22 (NOA), 2008-09-26 (Biometrics), 2009-03-03 (CSC Transfer), 2009-03-06 (CSC Pending), 2009-04-28 (CSC Pending, even though approved, our third anniversary), 2009-05-20 (Card production ordered), 2009-05-28 (Card production ordered), 2009-06-02 (Approval Notice Sent, even though approved and card production ordered).

I-751/13yr Green Card= A waste of time and money! Ant will file for US Citizenship in August 2009.

Chapter 4 ROC Timeline:

Total USCIS ROC Costs: $545

(plus mailing and photocopying costs, and non-local transportation costs)

10 Months/291 Days.(Aug2008-June2009)

As well, here is the general list of evidence that I submitted for this stage of the immigration game, sometime in August 2008 last year (gosh, that seems so long ago):

Application form and application/biometric fees

Cover letter

Permanent Residence Card (copy of both front side and back side)

Canadian Passport (with added married surname)

Marriage Certificate

Pregnancy and Miscarriage Medical Notes

Joint Home Purchase Agreement and Maintenence Fees Letters

Joint Homeowner Insurance Declaration and Invoice

Joint Home Renovation and Repair Receipts

Joint Checking Account Bank Statements

Joint Credit Card Statements

Joint Non-Filing of Income Tax Letter/Explanation

Joint Automobile Insurance Policy Declaration and Statements

Joint Electric Bills

Joint Gas Bills

Joint Water and Septic/Sewer Invoices

Joint Telephone Invoices

Photographs during the years of our marriage

Joint Trips and Events Receipts and Tickets

Joint Mail, Subscriptions, and Junk Mail

Affidavits from individuals who have known us since conditional residency

From that general list, my cute, funny, unusual, unique, etc. I-751 joint evidence are as follows

(hey, this shows that we are "human" and not just a case number/file):

-Miscarriage notes (well, at least we tried before even though it didn't work out then, I would have submitted the ultrasound photos for those pregnancies too, but found that too personal here...)

-Information explaining non-filing of income taxes (if we both legally don't have to pay taxes, then why should we?, and thus have to explain of such in great detail, with additional evidence about it too)

-Home renovation receipts (we would have sent in 'the actual bathroom sink and floor tiles', but it was too big, so I sent in the receipts for the bathroom repair bills instead...)

-Joint events: Bryan Adams concert tickets (lol...ok, I admit I'm a fan of his, especially being Canadian), Buffalo Bills Football Training Camp tickets and Buffalo Bisons Baseball tickets (lol..ok, my husband is a fan of these sports, be it that they are local teams here in NYS that he enjoys)

-Junk mail: Baby diapers and formula sample products and coupons (I need the actual products for the baby, so I just sent in the copies of the envelopes and coupons instead), Solicitations for baby catalogues and insurance policies (and no, I never bought from any of those companies), Arts and crafts catalogue covers (I got them in both names and delivered to my house because I was teaching sunday school at the time, even though my husband doesn't teach), Church flyers, YMCA 1 week free trial memberships (which we never used, as I was sick with the flu that week), Postcard from the dental clinic to remind us of our appointments (lol...funny, that local clinic closed down recently),

-Photos (ok, not too unusual there, but it makes me smile every time I see them.....different locations, different seasons, different occasions...shows a 'variety' in our lives for many years)

-It's too bad that I didn't send in evidence of my current pregnancy, as I was pregnant after I sent in my I-751 application. I figured that they were incompentent enough as it is, and to update them with more evidence while my case is processing would just confuse them even more, so I just left them with the evidence that I had already sent. However, if they ask for such, I will happily send them more information about that too....

Lessons learned from this throughout this long I-751 removal of conditions process:

1) Don't give up!

2) Be persistent!

3) Expedites/Inquiries do help!

4) I-751= A Waste of Time and Money!

5) Most Importantly: Thank goodness for VJ! I couldn't have made it without the help from all of you here...

Alas, my immigration journey and other journeys are not over yet...Onwards to the N-400 Citizenship process next!

So stay tunned for more AntandD updates on VJ....

Hope this helps. Good luck with all of your immigration journeys too.

Ant (Done with I-751....Next to the N-400...)

Edited June 24, 2009 by AntandD