A Few General Questions about Filing I-751

[Jon York 156]

Hi,

 

I have a couple of random questions about filing the I-751.  

 

First, the instructions say you have to do your fingerprints which makes it sound as if you have to do that before you send in the petition.  But, I thought that's what the biometrics fee was for and they would let you know if you had to actually do the fingerprints.  Does anyone know if you have to do the fingerprints first?  Or do they let you know if and when you need to?

 

My second question is a practical one about how others have done all this on a computer.  I want to end up with a pdf file for final printing.  But I'm finding for many pages it's only possible to create them in Word, which I can then later convert to a pdf.  But other files we have, like the I-751 application itself is already a pdf file which can't be put into Word.  So I'm ending up with files kind of scattered all over the place.  An application file over there in Adobe and a photos file over here in Word!  It's turning out to be an organizational nightmare.

 

I'm just curious how others have done this.  I'd love to be able to do everything in one program so I could be sure I didn't overlook something or leave something out.  I'm just afraid with the way I have files scattered all over the place I'm going to end up leaving out important items!

[Sukie 1,465]

Use Fox-It Reader.  Download it free.

 

Download the I-751 file from the USCIS site.  Open Fox-It Reader and point to the I-751 file to open it.  You can then type in the boxes and save the file for later.

 

Unless you have paid for a editing program from Adobe, you won't be able to save it using Adobe.

 

Also - you are ALWAYS free to type in SOME of the information, and then add things by hand later.

 

Good luck!

 

Sukie in NY

[theanswerisdance 144]

Once you file I-751 you WILL receive a biometrics appointment notice, it's not optional. But yes, that appointment notice will only come in the mail after you've filed the I-751. 

 

I didn't use a computer for anything but filling out and printing the I-751. All my evidence, photos, photocopies of documents, etc. were all hard copies so can't speak to that. I just printed or photocopied two of everything so that I have an identical package here at home to the one I sent USCIS.

[Going through 5,671]

23 minutes ago, Jon York said:

 But, I thought that's what the biometrics fee was for and they would let you know if you had to actually do the fingerprints.  Does anyone know if you have to do the fingerprints first?  Or do they let you know if and when you need to?

They will send you a letter with the fingerprinting appointment date.

[Frips 166]

I751 was done by computer (i did handwrite some stuff later),documents (financial, gc, photos) were scanned with my phone using a Scanner Pro app by Readle (awesome app btw). Placed everything in one folder, wrote cover letter and at the end printed out everything, organized and that was it.  I tried to make it simple as possible . I hope I didn't forget something:)

Edited August 14, 2017 by Frips

[Jon York 156]

Thanks guys!  Those were very good suggestions.  And thanks for letting me know we don't have to do fingerprints BEFORE filing!

 

When I do a big file like this, I like to have an exact copy of what I send, on my computer in one file.  So if I ever need to re-create it I can easily do so.  Or, if I just need to look at it to see what we sent, I can do that as well.  So, we're taking photos, which are all already digital and placing them into a Word file and typing captions under them.  Word just makes it so easy to write around any photos or documents you're incorporating.  So, it would be nice to have some program we can put EVERYTHING into and edit it there as well.  But apparently there's not one.  I'll check out Fox It today.  Thanks for that suggestion!

 

I do have a pdf program where I can create files, but it's very limited compared to how you can manipulate files in Word.  But that might be what I end up having to use.  

 

My wife said last night, 'why don't we just print it all out and assemble it by hand!'  At this point that's looking like the better option.  So, I'm glad to see it looks like that's exactly what some of you have done!  It's either that or my spending another few weeks trying to figure out a way in my head to do it on the computer!  At this point, it's better just to get it out and filed as soon as possible.

 

Thanks everybody!