I-751 March 2017 Filers

[Name O Boy 511]

1 hour ago, Hlopster said:

I've been a silent reader of this thread for over a year now. First, I want to thank all the posters for their updates, it's been an emotional roller coaster journey:)

I wanted to update you about my recent experience. I'm a March filer and I have the same notifications and status updates as most people. "On March 5th the case has been transferred to the local office" and "name was updated" (although I've never changed the name).

 

Yesterday, I went to Boston field office to get my I-551 stamp. The officer said that my case is still in Vermont and it was assigned to a person for processing. There're no mass transfers of cases happening, so the transfer can only happen if the case is scheduled for the interview.  In case of Boston, it will take an additional 9-12 month to schedule an interview because of the backlog.

 

The officer went on saying that every one of them has a very different understanding of Bona Fide Marriage. Documents that one officer considers enough, might not work for another person. 

 

Since my case was assigned to the office for processing I asked how long on average does it take to hear the news. The officer said that most of them in the service centers are working from home and are assigned 100-150 cases per week. But it doesn't mean that they process them right away, because of other things they are working on. It usually takes 6 to 8 weeks to hear something from USCIS after the case was assigned to an officer.

 

 

 

 

Welcome to the group. Thanks for sharing your experience but keep in mind USCIS and it's immigration officers are pretty inconsistent with their information. Although they do have point about the backlogged offices. At this point, VSC is approving applicants under a year whereas CSC is taking on average 18 to 19 months. Many CSC applicants here on VJ filed for naturalization with a pending I-751 due to the ridiculous processing. This is one of the ways to get some progress and save some time in the end if your ultimate goal is the citizenship. Since you are VSC applicant I believe you will hear from them pretty soon, regards. 

[Name O Boy 511]

29 minutes ago, bibi_hey said:

Hello All, my green card expired May 7,  2017 and I have been out of the country for a while but I want to come back to the US later today and I am so scared. Does anyone know if my extension increases my status by one year from the green card expiration or the day I received my extension letter.

 

N.B I would have come back earlier but for situations beyond my control.

Hi there, how long you been outside of the U.S? The extension letter extends your GC to 1 year. 

[S. & A. 159]

I finally got the "card is being produced" update today. Nine days after approval, so not bad. Notification system is still unreliable - even though I'm signed up for email/text notifications I didn't receive any. The update also says the card might take up to 120 days to get to me, which I'm hoping is not the case.

 

Hoping to see some movement on the cases that are still pending.  I know why they can't, but I wish there was a more fair way for them to work in order... at least I guess we're not at CSC.

 

I've filled out my N-400 - if you filed online, what did you do (or will you do) about the days spent outside the US during the last 5 years? I know they want to know how much time outside the US you spent AFTER becoming a permanent resident, but for those of us filing under the 3 year rule that doesn't make any sense because a lot of us were not living in the US until 2015. The form has you phrase it as "trips outside the US" which also doesn't make any sense, because I was just visiting the US while living in Argentina. The only way I see around this is (to get an accurate count of my days inside the US in the last 5 years) is to phrase it as a really long 1.5 year "trip to Argentina" between the last time I visited the US as a tourist and the day I came back as a permanent resident. This seems wrong, but so does saying I wasn't outside the US in the past 5 years. The form doesn't even offer a space for notes. Sigh. I'm going to look this up on VJ some more, but most things I see seem to be talking about the paper form.

 

9 minutes ago, bibi_hey said:

Thank you so much

You're fine regarding the extension letter, the only questioning you could face is if you've been out of the US for over 6 months (though I think 6 months is okay and you only need a reentry permit if it's been a year?). I don't know a lot about this, so I would just check to be sure. They might just ask you a few questions about why you were gone for so long to confirm that you didn't intend to abandon your residence.

[Santos12 41]

4 minutes ago, S. & A. said:

I finally got the "card is being produced" update today. Nine days after approval, so not bad. Notification system is still unreliable - even though I'm signed up for email/text notifications I didn't receive any. The update also says the card might take up to 120 days to get to me, which I'm hoping is not the case.

 

Hoping to see some movement on the cases that are still pending.  I know why they can't, but I wish there was a more fair way for them to work in order... at least I guess we're not at CSC.

 

I've filled out my N-400 - if you filed online, what did you do (or will you do) about the days spent outside the US during the last 5 years? I know they want to know how much time outside the US you spent AFTER becoming a permanent resident, but for those of us filing under the 3 year rule that doesn't make any sense because a lot of us were not living in the US until 2015. The form has you phrase it as "trips outside the US" which also doesn't make any sense, because I was just visiting the US while living in Argentina. The only way I see around this is (to get an accurate count of my days inside the US in the last 5 years) is to phrase it as a really long 1.5 year "trip to Argentina" between the last time I visited the US as a tourist and the day I came back as a permanent resident. This seems wrong, but so does saying I wasn't outside the US in the past 5 years. The form doesn't even offer a space for notes. Sigh. I'm going to look this up on VJ some more, but most things I see seem to be talking about the paper form.

 

You're fine regarding the extension letter, the only questioning you could face is if you've been out of the US for over 6 months (though I think 6 months is okay and you only need a reentry permit if it's been a year?). I don't know a lot about this, so I would just check to be sure. They might just ask you a few questions about why you were gone for so long to confirm that you didn't intend to abandon your residence.

You could use the I-94 website to check how many trips you've taken out of the country and how long. The website is meant for nonimmigrants to print their I-94 but for some reason it works for green card holders too. And if you're filing for N-400 based on marriage, you only have to input the last 3 years.

[S. & A. 159]

1 minute ago, Santos12 said:

You could use the I-94 website to check how many trips you've taken out of the country and how long. The website is meant for nonimmigrants to print their I-94 but for some reason it works for green card holders too. And if you're filing for N-400 based on marriage, you only have to input the last 3 years.

Thanks for the tip, I didn't know you could check that! Though it's actually very easy for me because I actually haven't left the US since becoming a permanent resident.  I thought about doing what you say and just counting the last three years (0 days out of the US for me), the problem is that the form produces a text on the bottom that says (depending on what you input): Days spent outside the US in the past 5 years: 0 which would be blatantly false and makes me a little uneasy.

 

If I were filing on paper I would write a note saying that this is since becoming a permanent resident, or I would cross out the five years and write three, but this is not an option online. I've spent something like 700 days outside of the US in the past 5 years, just none in the past 3. It's a stupid technicality, but I'm not sure how to go about the restrictions on the online form. I'm sure a lot of people have encountered this...

[ZA_US 27]

1 hour ago, Hlopster said:

I've been a silent reader of this thread for over a year now. First, I want to thank all the posters for their updates, it's been an emotional roller coaster journey:)

I wanted to update you about my recent experience. I'm a March filer and I have the same notifications and status updates as most people. "On March 5th the case has been transferred to the local office" and "name was updated" (although I've never changed the name).

 

Yesterday, I went to Boston field office to get my I-551 stamp. The officer said that my case is still in Vermont and it was assigned to a person for processing. There're no mass transfers of cases happening, so the transfer can only happen if the case is scheduled for the interview.  In case of Boston, it will take an additional 9-12 month to schedule an interview because of the backlog.

 

The officer went on saying that every one of them has a very different understanding of Bona Fide Marriage. Documents that one officer considers enough, might not work for another person. 

 

Since my case was assigned to the office for processing I asked how long on average does it take to hear the news. The officer said that most of them in the service centers are working from home and are assigned 100-150 cases per week. But it doesn't mean that they process them right away, because of other things they are working on. It usually takes 6 to 8 weeks to hear something from USCIS after the case was assigned to an officer.

 

 

 

 

Hey, when was your extension expiring? Mine is late in May this year. I have made an InfoPass with the Boston office to get a I-551 stamp this next week. Am I going too soon? The reason why I need it is because my mother is ill and I may need to travel soon.

[Hlopster 2]

8 minutes ago, ZA_US said:

Hey, when was your extension expiring? Mine is late in May this year. I have made an InfoPass with the Boston office to get a I-551 stamp this next week. Am I going too soon? The reason why I need it is because my mother is ill and I may need to travel soon.

 

My extension expired on the 20th of March. I actually went after it has expired and had no problem obtaining I-551 stamp.  I've hear USCIS refuses to put stamps for people who come too early. The best option is to come a couple of weeks before the letter expires, but I wasn't able to get an infopass that early. 

 

Try to reason with them if you go early, and explain that you need to see your mom. Maybe this will work. On a separate note, I was abroad just before the letter expiration ( 2 weeks before). I had no problem coming back...no questions asked. 

[ZA_US 27]

8 minutes ago, Hlopster said:

 

My extension expired on the 20th of March. I actually went after it has expired and had no problem obtaining I-551 stamp.  I've hear USCIS refuses to put stamps for people who come too early. The best option is to come a couple of weeks before the letter expires, but I wasn't able to get an infopass that early. 

 

Try to reason with them if you go early, and explain that you need to see your mom. Maybe this will work. On a separate note, I was abroad just before the letter expiration ( 2 weeks before). I had no problem coming back...no questions asked. 

Thanks! My extension letter has actually expired, it is the date on the card that is coming up - so I assume I will be fine then. From what I understand, the letter extends the date on the card but most people aren't aware of this.

 

Did they take your expired greencard from you?

Edited March 29, 2018 by ZA_US

[Hlopster 2]

7 minutes ago, ZA_US said:

Thanks! My extension letter has actually expired, it is the date on the card that is coming up - so I assume I will be fine then. From what I understand, the letter extends the date on the card but most people aren't aware of this.

 

Did they take your expired greencard from you?

I'm not sure how your situation is possible:) In any case, my gc expired in March 2017, the letter extended it to March 2018.  

 

When you go for a stamp they take both the gc and the letter....at least in my case. 

[ZA_US 27]

2 minutes ago, Hlopster said:

I'm not sure how your situation is possible:) In any case, my gc expired in March 2017, the letter extended it to March 2018.  

 

When you go for a stamp they take both the gc and the letter....at least in my case. 

Oh ok. Sorry for the confusion. The extension letter has a date on it - some people think that is the date + 1 year you are authorized to work/live.

 

I read somewhere that the new extension letters are explicitly referring to the date on the actual card to clear up the confusion.

[Smelserjl 137]

Well that was fast, given that I saw the approval notification update on there yesterday (but have checked this site 2x times today and only now is this update appearing). Hopefully it doesn't take 120 days to receive!

[gc@gc 184]

20 minutes ago, ZA_US said:

Thanks! My extension letter has actually expired, it is the date on the card that is coming up - so I assume I will be fine then. From what I understand, the letter extends the date on the card but most people aren't aware of this.

 

Did they take your expired greencard from you?

 

the extension letter's expiration date should be much later than your card's expiration date, not other way around, otherwise,  it should not be called extension letter 

[gc@gc 184]

1 minute ago, Smelserjl said:

Well that was fast, given that I saw the approval notification update on there yesterday (but have checked this site 2x times today and only now is this update appearing). Hopefully it doesn't take 120 days to receive!

 

congrats!

 

[bibi_hey 3]

3 hours ago, Name O Boy said:

Hi there, how long you been outside of the U.S? The extension letter extends your GC to 1 year. 

About 7months

Is that going to be an issue? 

[Name O Boy 511]

54 minutes ago, bibi_hey said:

About 7months

Is that going to be an issue? 

Technically it is not going to be an issue but the immigration officers in the U.S might ask you few questions. You are a legal permanent resident and make sure you come to the U.S as soon as possible. It would have been a big problem if you have stayed 1 year or more than a year, regards.