what steps should I take to apply for citizenship?

[indeeptrouble 0]

I have been living in the US sjnce 2005. First I had a study and travel visa. Then I met my husband and got married and I got the 2 year green card.

Now we have bought a house and had our first child and I would like to become a citizen myself.

My question is, what should I do about my expired green card? I do not want to have to leave the country for any period of time and I realize it was my mistake for not renewing it.

when I apply for citizenship, will this cause immigrations to start removal procedures?

What steps do I have to take now so I don't have to leave my husband and son?

any advice is appreciated!

[aleful 1,905]

I have been living in the US sjnce 2005. First I had a study and travel visa. Then I met my husband and got married and I got the 2 year green card.

Now we have bought a house and had our first child and I would like to become a citizen myself.

My question is, what should I do about my expired green card? I do not want to have to leave the country for any period of time and I realize it was my mistake for not renewing it.

when I apply for citizenship, will this cause immigrations to start removal procedures?

What steps do I have to take now so I don't have to leave my husband and son?

any advice is appreciated!

you should have removed conditions before the visa expired, that's the first thing you have to do before you think of ciitizenship.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

To apply for citizenship you have to do one of 2 things

Show you have been married to a USC who helped you get a green card for at least 3 years and have proof of having that green card status for the last 3 years ( you can file 3 years minus 90 days )

or

Show that you have held valid green card status for the past 5 years. ( you can file minus 90 days and no one cares about your marital status or lack of it )

You don't meet either requirement . Right now you are very deportable and need to get a green card ASAP. Then you will be either 3 or 5 years away from being able to be a USC

[sciencenerd 56]

Someone with more experience will be by I'm sure to give advice, but I know in similar situations here, people have been told that they are out of status and basically need to apply for adjustment of status again. Your 2 year green card didn't just expire - it had conditions on it that you failed to remove and your permanent resident status was terminated. Definitely don't leave the country until you have a permanent status again. Good luck.

[NickD 203]

Immediately affects, state dependent, is losing your drivers' license, losing your job also in some states where they demand the employers do their immigration work, and of course, you cannot travel. Well with a valid foreign passport, could leave, but never come back.

ROC I-751 was stressful for us due to long delays, was due for an infopass appointment to get an I-551 stamp in her foreign passport, but just two days ahead, her ten year card came in.

You should have applied for the I-751 90 days before your conditional card expired. I would take care of that right away. Unlike an illegal, they know you are here.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

I have been living in the US sjnce 2005. First I had a study and travel visa. Then I met my husband and got married and I got the 2 year green card.

Now we have bought a house and had our first child and I would like to become a citizen myself.

My question is, what should I do about my expired green card? I do not want to have to leave the country for any period of time and I realize it was my mistake for not renewing it.

when I apply for citizenship, will this cause immigrations to start removal procedures?

What steps do I have to take now so I don't have to leave my husband and son?

any advice is appreciated!

You are presently in the US illegally. Your status expired when your card did as it was a conditional card. A 10 year GC can expire but your status doesn't expire with it. When your GC expired you had 30 days to leave the US. I don't know if you're working but if you are, you're working illegally and should stop working immediately. If you leave the US you can't get back in without a proper visa. You should also avoid borders and try not to draw attention of the police as you are deportable. I'm not sure the ability to AOS would change anything because you HAD a GC and you let it lapse.

You will need to file AOS again. You need to file the I-130 and the I-485 together. You will need a new medical which is a few hundred, and you will need to pay for AOS itself which will be $1070 for the I-485 and $420 for the I-130 (in total you're looking at around $1500 minimum. Medical cost can vary). Your husband will also need to be earning enough money to support your household size. Your income will not count because you are working illegally. As you've been married more than 2 years you'll get a 10 year GC so no ROC to worry about BUT you will need to wait another 3 years before you can apply for citizenship.

Had you filed ROC when you were supposed to you could have filed for citizenship today... can't change the past.

I should also warn you that i don't know what an interview would be like for someone in your position so make sure you read and understand everything so you don't screw it up and get deported.

Edited September 17, 2011 by Vanessa&Tony

[indeeptrouble 0]

thank you everybody. I know I screwed up when I didn't remove conditions. I am not working. I'm home with my son.

Vanessa&Tony, thank you for the information. I will get started on the process right away. I don't mind waiting a couple more years to get my citizenship as long as I am a legal resident of this country.

one more question: if they did deport me, would I ever be able to legally come back? (this is so scary to think about)

[sib 7]

When exactly was your green card expiring?

You might be able to file late for removing of condition, but you need a good explanation.

Why did you not file?

Maybe you should get advice from a good immigration lawyer what your options are.

Wishing you luck.

Sib

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Since you did not file for RoC (which was really stupid), your residency expired when your Green Card expired. In all likelihood, you are well beyond the time frame where an appeal to the Director would have had a chance. All water under the bridge now.

You will not be deported because you are eligible to file for AOS. So that is what you will need to do, ate the tune of $1,070 plus the cost of the medical. Your AOS petition will be approved and the end result will be a 10-year Green Card this time, the same you would have received when filing for ROC at the tune of $590, so the financial damage is not too bad. Once you have become a LPR once again, you will have to wait another 3 years until you can become a U.S. citizen.

If you intend to keep your German citizenship, you should file the BBG application about 6 months before filing the N-400.

[NickD 203]

Our IO during the AOS stage was nice enough to explain the ramifications of not applying for removal of conditions. Came home and typed out the date that had to be done and taped that to the front of our refrigerator door. That is when the conditional green cards came in to get the date. Already downloaded the I-751 and spent the next 21 months collecting evidence.

Was shocked we had to go through all this after the meat grinding we went through with the AOS. Read the I-751 was created in 1988, two years after the new immigration law was passed with the lottery. Marriage was about the only way left to bring a person here and a lot of reported fraud. But the I-751 is also loaded with loopholes if your marriage didn't work out.

It was the most frustrating part of our journey, getting that one year extension notice instead of a card that nobody understood. Then taking 14 months and two weeks after we applied to receive those ten year cards. And that was done only with the help of my senators office.

See the USCIS is still dragging their feet on this phase, also read they are only doing 140,000 I-751's per year, just a drop in the bucket compared to the some odd 20 million illegals here. But once you contact the USCIS, you are flagged, and they don't send out any letters to inform you your green card is getting out of date. Almost like hoping you will forget or didn't know about it.

[indeeptrouble 0]

Just Bob, that doesn't sound too bad. We are gojng to get help from an organization in my area. I am least worried about the money and don't mind waiting 3 more years with the citizenship as long as I can get my legal status back. I am a stay at home mom now but I was hoping to go back to work some time soon. I never worked illegally since I stopped working before my little one was born and that was before my green card expired.

Thanks again for your help everybody. I will keep posting what happens. Wish me luck!

[indeeptrouble 0]

So we are getting help from World Relief and they told us that we can just file for removal of conditions and attach a letter explaining why we didn't do so in a timely manner.

We are planning on doing this asap. Hopefully we can have everything resolved by the end of the year.

[nwctzn 55]

So we are getting help from World Relief and they told us that we can just file for removal of conditions and attach a letter explaining why we didn't do so in a timely manner.

We are planning on doing this asap. Hopefully we can have everything resolved by the end of the year.

Please let us know how it goes since this will shed some light on similar cases. Good luck!