Applying for I-751 with possible change of job-Need advise

[skv 1]

Hi All,

I will be applying to remove restrictions on my green card in March of this year. My wife (US citizen) and I live together on the east coast and have all the required proof we need to provide. I am currently interviewing for a new job which is located on the west coast. If everything goes well I will have to start the job towards the end of March. The job, if I get it, will be a great step up and I do not want to let it pass. My wife (US citizen) is a teacher and does not want to quit her job in the middle of the term. So it is possible that while the I-751 application is under review my wife and I will be living separately till the summer (about 3-4 months after we file the I-751).

I am wondering if this situation is going to cause problems/delays with the application. I have the following questions :

1. Do I need to explain the situation and that we may live separately for a few months in a letter attached to the I-751? Is this going to delay the review of our file?

2. Will our USCIS center where the interview may be conducted change from the east coast to the west coast?

3. If I get the job, my wife will quit her job in the summer (about 3-4 months after we file the I-751) and move to the west coast. It is uncertain at present whether she will get a new job quickly. I know that we do not have to provide financial support documents with I-751 as my wife had to do with the original application. But will the USCIS raise a problem about financial support if we explain the situation. Obviously, I will still be earning enough to support the family.

I would appreciate any input from the knowledgeable members here. If you have been in a similar situation please let me know how you handled it. Also, do you recommend discussing the situation with a lawyer or an USCIS official.

Thanks for any input.

[RebeccaAndPhil 5]

Hi All,

I will be applying to remove restrictions on my green card in March of this year. My wife (US citizen) and I live together on the east coast and have all the required proof we need to provide. I am currently interviewing for a new job which is located on the west coast. If everything goes well I will have to start the job towards the end of March. The job, if I get it, will be a great step up and I do not want to let it pass. My wife (US citizen) is a teacher and does not want to quit her job in the middle of the term. So it is possible that while the I-751 application is under review my wife and I will be living separately till the summer (about 3-4 months after we file the I-751).

I am wondering if this situation is going to cause problems/delays with the application. I have the following questions :

1. Do I need to explain the situation and that we may live separately for a few months in a letter attached to the I-751? Is this going to delay the review of our file?

2. Will our USCIS center where the interview may be conducted change from the east coast to the west coast?

3. If I get the job, my wife will quit her job in the summer (about 3-4 months after we file the I-751) and move to the west coast. It is uncertain at present whether she will get a new job quickly. I know that we do not have to provide financial support documents with I-751 as my wife had to do with the original application. But will the USCIS raise a problem about financial support if we explain the situation. Obviously, I will still be earning enough to support the family.

I would appreciate any input from the knowledgeable members here. If you have been in a similar situation please let me know how you handled it. Also, do you recommend discussing the situation with a lawyer or an USCIS official.

Thanks for any input.

You said you're going to be filing in March but is that the date of expiration of your conditional green card? If not, why not wait and see if you get the job first and then apply (as long as that doesn't bring you near or past your GC expiration date)? That might makes things easier as far as filing goes because then you won't have to worry about transferring your case. Besides, if you move to the West Coast you'll be lucky to get an "upgrade" to the CSC which is processing cases loads faster than VSC right now Also, there's no guarantee you'll even be interviewed; only a select few cases with the ROC process get interviewed. If you do end up on opposite ends of the coast when filing, I would definitely include an explanation with your application. It won't delay your case. Maybe include affidavits as well (not required but may help in certain "uncommon" circumstances like yours).

Financial support is not an issue for ROC. You don't have to provide any form of proof for income whatsoever. I remember even specifically asking this in our AOS interview; I asked "If I stop working when we have children will this be a problem [as I am the USC and my husband is the green card holder]?" I was told "No, we really don't care as we'll have no way of knowing." Very unconventional response but a good one nonetheless

Best of luck in your ROC process!

[skv 1]

You said you're going to be filing in March but is that the date of expiration of your conditional green card? If not, why not wait and see if you get the job first and then apply (as long as that doesn't bring you near or past your GC expiration date)? That might makes things easier as far as filing goes because then you won't have to worry about transferring your case. Besides, if you move to the West Coast you'll be lucky to get an "upgrade" to the CSC which is processing cases loads faster than VSC right now Also, there's no guarantee you'll even be interviewed; only a select few cases with the ROC process get interviewed. If you do end up on opposite ends of the coast when filing, I would definitely include an explanation with your application. It won't delay your case. Maybe include affidavits as well (not required but may help in certain "uncommon" circumstances like yours).

Financial support is not an issue for ROC. You don't have to provide any form of proof for income whatsoever. I remember even specifically asking this in our AOS interview; I asked "If I stop working when we have children will this be a problem [as I am the USC and my husband is the green card holder]?" I was told "No, we really don't care as we'll have no way of knowing." Very unconventional response but a good one nonetheless

Best of luck in your ROC process!

Thanks for your comments.

I will know if I get the job or not by the beginning of February. So although March will be the beginning of the application window, I will know about the job and the relocation by the time we apply.

Also, the candid reply you got from the immigration official may not be completely valid in my case. In my case, since we will have to explain the situation it will be obvious that my wife will quit her current job. So I was wondering (also worried) that they may want to know if she has a new job.

Anyways, it looks like we will just file normally and explain our situation and take it as it comes.

[RebeccaAndPhil 5]

Also, the candid reply you got from the immigration official may not be completely valid in my case. In my case, since we will have to explain the situation it will be obvious that my wife will quit her current job. So I was wondering (also worried) that they may want to know if she has a new job.

True. But either way, in this stage of the process, all USCIS cares about is making sure you are a legitimate couple and have been married for the past two years. If you can prove that, you'll be just fine