I-751 October 2016 Filers

[ilyak 79]

22 hours ago, Scazy said:

I've been traveling on extention letter twice on my owm. First time it was no problem to check in, the person knew exactly what's the letter is, but at POE I created a big line after me- it took some time for the officer to check something in computer, but he let me in without secondary eventually. 

Second time they had to call a supervisor at the check in counter, but it got resolved quickly, and then at POE I ended up at secondary, which took about 15 mins - so based on my experience and others as well, traveling on extention letter is fine. 

However I started to worry this time because my travel is that close to expiration of the letter ( arriving 11 days prior it's 1 year anniversary) but still over a month prior expiration of my status based on green card expiration date ( don't even know how better to put it together haha) 

 

Really wanted to travel now while it's still valid and I already had experience using it and not bother getting a stamp whatsoever 

I have had a similar experience with an added kink. last winter I flew through Canada as a US LPR using an expired plastic card and an extension letter (I lived near the border, and YUL presented much better travel options than taking a hopper flight to JFK). I boarded the initial flight after a brief chat with the check-in supervisor. However, the connecting Air France flight from Paris was a challenge. Initially, the flight supervisor flat out denied me boarding. Luckily, I had the Canadian guide to carries with me, which does list the 797 extension letter as a valid proof of US permanent resident status. After about 40 minutes of arguing, the let me on board. Needless to say that the inspection at POE in Canada lasted all of 20 seconds and went smoothly - the officers there are definitely accustomed to the extension letters. Of course, your mileage may vary, but it is always a good idea to have a printed copy of the guide to carriers. The document is easily googleable and in my experience, carrying just the relevant pages was sufficient.

[ilyak 79]

On 11/4/2017 at 11:54 AM, ilyak said:

I may be missing your point. Technically, the new design card simply does not include a signature; it does not explicitly state 'Signature waived' as the current design cards do. However, my card is of the *old* design and *does* include the Signature waived statement, something that is not currently expected with an IR-6 LPR category. My guess regarding the preparations to transition to the new design is based on the fact that a few such cases popped up across these forums in the past 6 months. However, this is definitely just a guess and it doesn't seem to be the case for everyone getting conditions removed.

 

Folks who have received approvals and new cards as IR-6 (i.e. you went through the AOS process as opposed to entering on a K visa and then removed conditions) in the past month or so, could you please be so kind as to check your cards to see if signatures were included?

OK, a quick update on the waived signature thing. I went to an INFOPASS apt on Monday and got sort of a mixed response from USCIS. The officer agreed that my card should have a signature on it. He then checked with his boss (who happened to be the biometrics supervisor for the field office) and confirmed that the signature was captured and uploaded correctly during the biometric appointment in November of 2016. He said that "they had everything they needed to produce the card with a signature on it". He also stated that the software that controls the process would not have allowed the operator to produce a card if the signature was required but missing. He then theorized that 'someone may have checked the wrong box".  As far as the solution to this (sort-of-admitted) mistake on their part... "You can pay the fee and wait 12-14 months for a new one if you want, but really nobody should ever give you any trouble over this". Yeah, no way I am letting this card out of my hands after the 13 month ROC process. He did say that the signature is fifth on the list of prescribed forms of identification that they may use to determine whether the card belongs to me or not. So as long as my photo, my name and my print are on it, nobody should ever need to verify that signature.

 

With all of this said, I received a couple of PMs from people in the same boat. So it's unlikely that this is a one-time mistake like the officer suggested. There's a definite trend emerging: some ROC GCs for CR-6 LPRs now come with signature waivers. As to why - it will remain a mystery.

[Greg_Dubai 15]

Hi all,

 

We need some advice - we submitted our I-752 with her K-2 son on the form and checked that Yes he was applying with us.  We received an NOA1 with the 1 year extension for my wife but have not received anything for her son.  I noticed that on the form I-751 I submitted that I put in the wrong A number for him (no idea where I got the number I entered ).  I was hoping for an RFE so I could fix this, but no RFE either.  

 

Any advice on how I correct this and get him the extension?

 

Thanks 

[TaniaC 8]

On 11/7/2017 at 3:35 PM, Scazy said:

I've been traveling on extention letter twice on my owm. First time it was no problem to check in, the person knew exactly what's the letter is, but at POE I created a big line after me- it took some time for the officer to check something in computer, but he let me in without secondary eventually. 

Second time they had to call a supervisor at the check in counter, but it got resolved quickly, and then at POE I ended up at secondary, which took about 15 mins - so based on my experience and others as well, traveling on extention letter is fine. 

However I started to worry this time because my travel is that close to expiration of the letter ( arriving 11 days prior it's 1 year anniversary) but still over a month prior expiration of my status based on green card expiration date ( don't even know how better to put it together haha) 

 

Really wanted to travel now while it's still valid and I already had experience using it and not bother getting a stamp whatsoever 

I went to Greece this year, came back to the US on September 13 (NOA date on extension letter is September 20), so about 7 days prior the "expiration" of extension letter, and about 3 months prior the expiration of extension itself (GC expired on Dec-11-2016, the extension thus expires on Dec-11-2017). The officer at POE (Atlanta) didn't even flinched, and only commented that I should call USCIS and ask what's the delay with my approval.

 

I had a huge trouble with the extension letter in Greece however. Apparently they have never seen anything like this, and had no idea how to put it in their computer system. And I was traveling by United, i.e. american airline company, I thought if anything their employees should no USCIS documents. Go guess. 

 

I think you should be fine. What matters is the GC expiration, not the NOA receipt date. Saying all that I would double check what are the appropriate limits for traveling close to your GC expiration date. I mean, think about the travel IDs - usually you should have at least 3 months before travel ID expiration to be able to enter the country, even if your visa extends beyond ID expiration date. Call USCIS and ask their advise, and write down the name and badge  number of the officer you spoke with for future reference. 

[Scazy 78]

3 hours ago, TaniaC said:

I went to Greece this year, came back to the US on September 13 (NOA date on extension letter is September 20), so about 7 days prior the "expiration" of extension letter, and about 3 months prior the expiration of extension itself (GC expired on Dec-11-2016, the extension thus expires on Dec-11-2017). The officer at POE (Atlanta) didn't even flinched, and only commented that I should call USCIS and ask what's the delay with my approval.

 

I had a huge trouble with the extension letter in Greece however. Apparently they have never seen anything like this, and had no idea how to put it in their computer system. And I was traveling by United, i.e. american airline company, I thought if anything their employees should no USCIS documents. Go guess. 

 

I think you should be fine. What matters is the GC expiration, not the NOA receipt date. Saying all that I would double check what are the appropriate limits for traveling close to your GC expiration date. I mean, think about the travel IDs - usually you should have at least 3 months before travel ID expiration to be able to enter the country, even if your visa extends beyond ID expiration date. Call USCIS and ask their advise, and write down the name and badge  number of the officer you spoke with for future reference. 

I've never heard of green card extention restriction similar to passport expiration date thing in order to enter other countries! 

Gives me hope there is none  because I'll be surprised if there is something like this and it haven't been discussed at VJ yet!  

[dnp2014 44]

How do we track  a mailed green card ? If I call USCIS will they provide the tracking number 

[ilyak 79]

2 hours ago, dnp2014 said:

How do we track  a mailed green card ? If I call USCIS will they provide the tracking number 

Signing up for the USPS informed delivery service should do the trick.

[dnp2014 44]

18 minutes ago, ilyak said:

Signing up for the USPS informed delivery service should do the trick.

I tried to sign up.. my zip is eligible.. my address is not.. I also tried with neighboring properties.. none.. but 2 or 3 house apart are eligible.. 

 

what is the reason ?? 

[ilyak 79]

6 minutes ago, dnp2014 said:

I tried to sign up.. my zip is eligible.. my address is not.. I also tried with neighboring properties.. none.. but 2 or 3 house apart are eligible.. 

 

what is the reason ?? 

That's something to ask USPS. In my experience,  USCIS won't give out the tracking number over the phone. The good news is that priority mail is typically quick, a few days.

[DirtyHarry 5]

My wife went for her I-551 stamp today at the Orlando office. She managed to get an InfoPass appointment last month. The lady stamped her passport but took the expired Green Card and the letter. My wife told her that we had a single letter for her and my step daughter but the USCIS lady insisted on keeping the Green Card and extension letter since they were past expiry date. Is this normal? 

[Ksenia_O 696]

38 minutes ago, DirtyHarry said:

My wife went for her I-551 stamp today at the Orlando office. She managed to get an InfoPass appointment last month. The lady stamped her passport but took the expired Green Card and the letter. My wife told her that we had a single letter for her and my step daughter but the USCIS lady insisted on keeping the Green Card and extension letter since they were past expiry date. Is this normal? 

You've never had a single letter for your wife and step daughter. What you had was NOA1 for your wife's I-751. There was no info about a dependent - A#, name.. Not a word.

 

A dependent (step daughter) should have received her own NOA1 - it's called Verification Of Inclusion Of a Dependent in Filing of Form I-751. But for some reason a lot of dependents have never gotten their NOA2- seems like USCIS did "quit" sending them.

 

Anyway, that's fine if you are IN the country, but if you are planning to travel abroad, you should get your step daughter's passport stamped with I-551 as well - she, most likely, won't be allowed boarding since her status is unknown for Customs of any other country.

 

Green card and an Extension Letter are can be kept/taken by USCIS Office in exchange for a stamp, so yes, this is normal -  both documents were almost expired,  so would have been useless anyway.

You should make a copy of kid's green card in case if it's taken by USCIS.

 

Good luck!

 

P.S. Don't know how old is your step daughter, but has she ever received her own Biometric Appointment Letter?... There is an actual case # on ACS Appointment Notice, not on NOA1, and after I-751 is received by USCIS, both, a parent and a dependent get their own case # and it's indicated on Biometric Appointment Letter.

 

 

Edited November 13, 2017 by Ksenia_O

[pikushi 8]

Has anyone in the Chicagoland area been able to get an infopass appointment at the Chicago USCIS office? My husband needs to get his I-551 stamp, but we haven't been able to find any open appointments in the past few weeks that we have been looking. I have tried right after midnight on a few different days as well as looking in the morning and afternoon. Any advice as to when the appointments appear on the site? (I have been looking at the Milwaukee office for the past couple of days, too, but no luck there, either.)

[DirtyHarry 5]

This is so messed up. My step daughter is 17 and will be 18 in April. I am so insecure about my wife only having a stamp on a passport that means nothing to anyone.  My step daughter's biometric appointment was included in the same letter as my wife. I guess I will wait a few more months. My step daughters passport has expired so that is something else I am working on. She cannot get an I551 stamped on her passport. 

[Ksenia_O 696]

18 minutes ago, DirtyHarry said:

This is so messed up. My step daughter is 17 and will be 18 in April. I am so insecure about my wife only having a stamp on a passport that means nothing to anyone.  My step daughter's biometric appointment was included in the same letter as my wife. I guess I will wait a few more months. My step daughters passport has expired so that is something else I am working on. She cannot get an I551 stamped on her passport. 

She can get a I-551 stamp in her I-94.  If you decide to do that , you should make an inforpass appointment and bring in two passport photos of herself and her printed I-94. And expired passport I believe. 

 

I agree it's pretty much messed up if you have a dependent in Part 5. of your I-751.... My son also has never gotten his NOA1. Biometric appointment was received AFTER we actually got it done - it's another long story   We ended up with an Infopass and I-551 stamp in his passport. 

Sometimes I think I'd rather pay more and have two separate I-751 filed - one for me, another for my son - yes, it would have cost more, but  it would've definitely  brought way more peace in mind and we wouldn't have had all this "inconveniences"...

 

Hopefully you will be hearing  something soon from USCIS.. Approval, for both your ladies

[DirtyHarry 5]

Thanks, Ksenia_O. For anyone else reading this thread, the USCIS officer told my wife that it would be 4 more months before she would get an approval. I know this is not what the October filers want to hear but at least there is some timeline.