Green card expires in Aug but moving to US in Dec... now what???

[dunebuggy 18]

Hi,

I was hoping someone could help with my situation. We have been officially married (I'm American; she is from Spain) since 2007 but have been living abroad ever since then in UAE. We go back to the US once a year. We applied for her green card a long time ago and finally received it in February 2012. However, the card states she has been a resident since Aug 2010 (not true, we only got back to the US once a year) and that the card expires in Aug 2012 (see attached ).

Now we are finally moving back to the US, but not until December 2012. We will be going back to the US for a week this July 2012, prior to the stated expiration date. At this point, what do we do? I am a bit confused because she will not need to become a permanent resident of the US, need a SS number etc, until December 2012, but the card expires before that in Aug 2012.

Any insight would be much appreciated Thanks!

[Inky 1,110]

You apply for removal of conditions before the expiration of the card. You should have 2 years of proof of your marriage and life and co-mingling finances. Please read the guides and inform yourself...

She will have to be in the USA for biometrics.

[Barca 10]

on around 05/11/2012 (90 days prior to the card expiring) you should file for removal of condition (form I-751) along with the proof of co-mingling for the past 2 years as Inky pointed out.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Don't forget your US taxes from those years.

[ceadsearc 516]

I'm a bit confused. When did you apply for the green card? Why was it only received in February? Why did you apply for it before you were ready to live in America? What have you been using to visit the US if not the green card?

[Mike B. 231]

I'm also confused. If they have been residing in the United Arab Eremites since 2007, hasn't the residency in the United States already been abandoned? If so, how could they possibly remove conditions on it?

[Cino 5]

Please give your timeline then we can help you better. You said you received GC in February 2012 & it says residence since August 2010.

When exactly was your AOS adjudicated ? What is the approval date for AOS ? Is thic GC a replacement for Conditional GC due to loss, you had to apply again by paying $450 ????

I can ask so many questions on and on , please be specific. Otherwise, not only me but nobody on VJ can guide you in right direction.

Edited April 17, 2012 by Cino

[SapphireDreams 71]

Did you apply for the greencard in 2010, but not physically receive it until Feb 2012 because you were abroad and didn't receive your mail from the US in that timeframe?

If you applied for the card in 2011 and just received it in Feb 2012, you should've contacted them about the date error as soon as you received it.

If you did in fact apply for the card back in 2009 or 2010, and just haven't lived in the US, you are not fulfilling the requirements of residency. You'll need to file to remove conditions 90 days prior to it expiring. Biometrics will also need to take place in the US. So you may need to move up your "move" to July or August.

[dunebuggy 18]

Thanks for all your responses! I will go through and update my timeline tonight. It's been a long, long process so I want to make sure the details are correct.

I can say though that we physically received the green card in Feb 2012. It shouldn't have been a problem with the mail because my parents are still at that address (in the US). She did her biometrics (fingerprint, etc) in Aug 2011. Also we just received a request the following I-751 request:

The records of this Service indicate that you entered the United States as a conditional permanent resident on 8/09/2010. In accordance with Section 216 of the Immigration and Nationality Act you must file Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence. Failure to do so may result in the automatic termination of your Status.

This is a bit of a unique situation, and maybe we will have to just do DCF, but I don't want to throw away all the work we have done over the years if at all possible.

[Little_My 464]

So the GC was issued in 2010 - but she did her biometrics in August 2011..? This is definitely very confusing, and a very detailed account of how everything went down from you will help people give you proper advice. How did she get the GC originally, was it though CR-1, AOS, or some other route? It definitely seems like she has to do ROC this July, which means she will have to be in the US for that process, at least for the biometrics part.

[Cino 5]

Thanks for all your responses! I will go through and update my timeline tonight. It's been a long, long process so I want to make sure the details are correct.

I can say though that we physically received the green card in Feb 2012. It shouldn't have been a problem with the mail because my parents are still at that address (in the US). She did her biometrics (fingerprint, etc) in Aug 2011. Also we just received a request the following I-751 request:

The records of this Service indicate that you entered the United States as a conditional permanent resident on 8/09/2010. In accordance with Section 216 of the Immigration and Nationality Act you must file Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence. Failure to do so may result in the automatic termination of your Status.

This is a bit of a unique situation, and maybe we will have to just do DCF, but I don't want to throw away all the work we have done over the years if at all possible.

Let me tell you possible scenario according to your timeline. She was approved on 08/09/2010 for Conditional GC & then she has never received this GC due to loss in the mail or returned to USCIS as "Undeliverable".

She has filled I-90 form to get the GC sometime in June or July 2011 & she went for Bio in August 2011 & then received the GC in February 2012. Now she has to do ROC before 2nd aniversary of the Conditional GC which is 08/09/2012.

What I am asking is "has she filled & sent I-90 to get the GC ?" As you know, after AOS approval, the conditional GC comes automatically in 7-14 days. I am assuming she has never received this original Conditional GC in August 2010???? If the scenario is like this or similar then it makes sense. If you give your timeline we will solve your puzzle .

[dunebuggy 18]

OK, I updated my timeline as best I could. I also found an old email I sent after we were denied at the border in Aug 2010, perhaps that will help? Thanks!

"Some background: My wife (a Spanish national) and I (U.S. citizen) were married in Spain in May 2008.

 

When we initially decided to move back to the U.S. in 2008, we completed the CR-1 process and my wife received a i-551 stamp in her passport from the US Embassy in Madrid on April 11, 2010. We arrived at the U.S. border on August 23, 2010, supposedly within the allotted 6 month window. Since we initially applied for the visa, we received work offers and will now live in Riyadh until approximately June 2012.  That said, we were hoping to apply for a 2 year i-131 extension once her i-551 was validated in August 2010, as we return to the U.S. at least once every 12 months.

 

However, the Madrid Embassy mistakenly put the date of May 11, 2010 for the “IV Expires On” field (see attached). In retrospect, perhaps we should have tried to have this text amended, however we assumed it was a mere typo and the system would recognize we had arrived on time…. (turns out we were right…. see below). Anyways, upon seeing this (incorrect) expiration date, the border agent confiscated our package and simply granted my wife a tourist visa….. and caused us a delay that made us miss our connection…. he didn’t care (and explicitly told us so).

 

Afterwards, we called the Madrid embassy and they acknowledged their mistake, however they said they needed the package that was confiscated by the border agent!

 

So we assumed that our application was dead in the water and we would have to start the whole process over. HOWEVER, a few weeks ago, my father in the USA received an ASC appointment notice (i-797C) for biometrics.. How is this possible if the border agent rejected her i-551, confiscated her “do not open” package and granted her simply a tourist visa? We are no longer in the US and will not return until July 2011."

[ceadsearc 516]

Honestly, at this point I would contact the US Embassy nearest you. There seems to be some errors on USCIS's end and some confusion on yours and I think the only way to get it sorted out is to speak with someone who can either look at what is in the system or make contact with someone who can.

[ACsMama 0]

I actually have a similar situation. My husband and I married in the Cayman Islands in 2008, and have been living there ever since. My husband was granted his IV in April 2010, and we went to the States in the end of July (we were planning to move that winter, so we went looking for jobs). However, as we both had good jobs in Cayman, and were unable to secure jobs in the US (with the economy crash and everything), we decided to stay in Cayman. We have visited the US for 2 weeks in Aug. 2010, and for a month in Aug. 2011 (when he almost got a job, so we were going to stay, but it fell through at the last minute and we returned to Cayman). We are planning another trip this summer, but need to remove conditional status as his GC will expire July 30. We are still hoping to make the move soon, but cannot just up and relocate with no job prospects with a 2-year-old to feed and clothe .

Our plan is to go ahead and send in everything, and hope and pray they grant it and we can move to the US. Otherwise we will have to stay here another year+ and re-start the whole process. What I am most afraid of is that they will grant the removal of conditions, and then take away the GC when we go through immigration this summer, but hopefully if we explain the situation they will have mercy on us? It is not that we don't want to live in the US, just that we don't want to end up in my parents' basement mooching off them and/or flipping burgers at McDonald's!

Is there anyone who has gone through something similar? What did you do? How did it turn out? I know a lot of people who keep their GC even living overseas with trips to the US every 6 months/every year, but this removal of conditions makes it more difficult!

Thanks in advance for any advice/help!

[Cino 5]

OK, I updated my timeline as best I could. I also found an old email I sent after we were denied at the border in Aug 2010, perhaps that will help? Thanks!

"Some background: My wife (a Spanish national) and I (U.S. citizen) were married in Spain in May 2008.

When we initially decided to move back to the U.S. in 2008, we completed the CR-1 process and my wife received a i-551 stamp in her passport from the US Embassy in Madrid on April 11, 2010. We arrived at the U.S. border on August 23, 2010, supposedly within the allotted 6 month window. Since we initially applied for the visa, we received work offers and will now live in Riyadh until approximately June 2012. That said, we were hoping to apply for a 2 year i-131 extension once her i-551 was validated in August 2010, as we return to the U.S. at least once every 12 months.

However, the Madrid Embassy mistakenly put the date of May 11, 2010 for the "IV Expires On" field (see attached). In retrospect, perhaps we should have tried to have this text amended, however we assumed it was a mere typo and the system would recognize we had arrived on time…. (turns out we were right…. see below). Anyways, upon seeing this (incorrect) expiration date, the border agent confiscated our package and simply granted my wife a tourist visa….. and caused us a delay that made us miss our connection…. he didn't care (and explicitly told us so).

Afterwards, we called the Madrid embassy and they acknowledged their mistake, however they said they needed the package that was confiscated by the border agent!

So we assumed that our application was dead in the water and we would have to start the whole process over. HOWEVER, a few weeks ago, my father in the USA received an ASC appointment notice (i-797C) for biometrics.. How is this possible if the border agent rejected her i-551, confiscated her "do not open" package and granted her simply a tourist visa? We are no longer in the US and will not return until July 2011."

It is kind of confusing story but forget about what happened in the past. Now you have to concentrate "how you are going to get out from this mess".

First of all, you have a Conditional GC which will be expired on 08/09/2012 which is very positive. Your ROC filing window opens on 05/11/2012. So you have 90 days to apply for ROC. Since you will come to US sometime in July 2012, in the mean time gather all evidences that you have been living together, financial co-mingling, all kind of insurance together, joint bank statements, IRS tax transcipts, airline tickets etc...( I am not going to go in details here which is completely different subject ). If you apply for ROC in July, you will do Bio in August (in fact, as soon as you receive the Bio appointment letter, you can do your Bio as walk-in, earlier than appointment date). What I am trying to say is "Act like nothing happened before, do not stir this situation which is already complicated" & also keep in your mind when you come to US in July, plan to stay about 1 1/2 months.

Secondly, could you ask your father what does it say "Case Type" box on the Bio appintment letter. I am wondering because when you apply a case you go for Bio but you have not applied I-751 yet ???? Your AOS (CR) was done a long time ago. This "Case Type" is extremely important, please learn it ASAP. Obviously you can not attend this Bio anyway, on the other hand if you don't, USCIS will assume the case (Whatever the case ??) has been abandoned. If you give me the answer to "Case Type" on Bio App. letter, I will try to help you to get out from this loop. To be continued ..........until then take care !.....

Edited April 23, 2012 by Cino