"UPON ENDORSEMENT SERVES AS TEMPORARY I-551 EVIDENCING PERMANENT RESIDENCING FOR 1 YEAR"

[MumtazG38 1]

"UPON ENDORSEMENT SERVES AS TEMPORARY I-551 EVIDENCING PERMANENT RESIDENCING FOR 1 YEAR"

It says this on my husbands passport/visa....does this mean that my husband only has a year since the POE date to file unlike the 2 years mentioned in the wiki? My husbands GC (resident card) expires on Nov 27th, 2011....shouldn't this be the date I should count back 90 days from to file?

Also, what is AOS interview again....I can't seem to remember exactly...was our adjustment of status interview done when we were interviewed by the guy at the JFK airport? Is this something we have to do still....I'm sorry I'm so confused, but it has been a long while since I've read up on this stuff.

What is best, should I refer to the expire date on my husbands GC (resident card) regarding filing for I-751 or should I try to figure it out according to the info on his visa (which is confusing me beyond my limits right now)?

[canadian_wife 1,822]

No, what that means is that your husband has 1 year to use the STAMP in this passport before it expires. Within a few weeks he'll receive his green card and that will make ths stamp obsolete.

You should file to remove conditions 90 days before November 27th 2011

AOS is for people adjusting status from a non-immigrant visa (like a K visa) to a permenant resident. Since your husband is already a permenant resident, there is no adjusting to do.

Good luck

PS - A visa is no longer necessary for your husband since he has his green card. No need to use the visa anymore

[MumtazG38 1]

Thanks hun for that well needed information! You've cleared THAT mess up for me.

[YYZONCA 1]

Clarification of Terminology and Explanation of VISA Endorsement upon Entry to the USA as a Permanent Resident:

In today's technology, VISAS are no longer "stamped" on PASSPORTS. The US Immigrant visas (and non-immigrant US visas) are now like a "sticker" which is almost the same size as the page of your passport meticulously EMBEDDED on a page of your passport to the point that it feels like it is itself a PAGE on your passport. This is CALLED officially by US Immigration Institutions as the "VISA FOIL". It is not called a VISA STAMP. It is a VISA FOIL.

Now, the rubber bottomed device that Immigration officers use when they POUND your passport page with it with different ink color is a STAMP.

Now that we got this all cleared up, here is the thing.

Back in the days, the US Immigrant VISA FOIL did not have the notation on it the statement:

"Upon endorsement serves as temporary I-551 evidencing permanent residency for 1 year"

The new versions of Immigrant Visas have it below the photograph on the VISA FOIL.

See the difference here: New Style vs Old Style (see yellow arrow) http://www.messinglawoffices.com/immvisa.aspx

When you enter the USA for the first time as an Immigrant, you need to be "endorsed" Endorsement comes with the examination of your sealed brown envelope to make sure that everything is in ORDER PLUS - an ENDORSEMENT STAMP on the page of your passport next to the page where the VISA FOIL is embedded. Once you are STAMPED with a DATE of ENTRY, you are ENDORSED. And when you are ENDORSED, you are at that point, a US Permanent Resident. That endorsed Immigrant VISA FOIL by the STAMP is your temporary Green Card or AKA I-551.

Then, with the OLD style VISA FOIL, when an Immigrant enters for the first time, it was necessary for the Endorsement STAMP to state:

"Processed for I-551

Temporary Evidence of Lawful Admission for Permanent Residence

Valid Until _____________ (Date 1 year after the entrance today)

Employment Authorized"

Now (2014, my Immigrant Visa), the new style VISA FOIL has the statement in it that states:
"Upon endorsement serves as temporary I-551 evidencing permanent residency for 1 year"

above the machine readable code.

Therefore, the endorsement stamps of today are just as simple as the OVAL stamp with admission date on it. No redundancy. The effect is the same. That "STAMP" endorses the Immigrant Visa as your temporary green card.

To add to the confusion, some Immigrants worry about the words: "evidencing permanent residency for 1 year" They think that their permanent residence is only 1 year. NO. The evidence is only good for 1 year. Before that expires, you would have received your 10 year valid Green Card anyway in the mail, and don't worry, you are a permanent residence forever in the USA.

Got it?

Edited July 15, 2014 by Kathryn41