Changing I-751 from Joint to Divorce waiver while its in process

[Rome1122 2]

3 minutes ago, YoloTrustMe said:

I did not send a new i751, all I did was I sent a letter to amend my i-751, along with more evidence and divorce paper work. If your divorce is finalized , send the divorce decree and if not , the send the divorce petition and mention that you will be sending the divorce decree as soon as your divorce gets finalized.

Yeah my divorce is finalized and my ex wrote me a letter aswell as we are on good terms. I dont have much more evidence than what I sent them before actually. Might sound crazy but I have sent them photos and taxes and insurances and bank and car paperwork and basically everything that I had. 

So after you sent them the letter did they notify you of something or what? I mean what's the next process as I go in and out of this country alot and dont want to get stuck while reentering the states. 

[Rome1122 2]

21 hours ago, YoloTrustMe said:

I did not send a new i751, all I did was I sent a letter to amend my i-751, along with more evidence and divorce paper work. If your divorce is finalized , send the divorce decree and if not , the send the divorce petition and mention that you will be sending the divorce decree as soon as your divorce gets finalized.

 

21 hours ago, YoloTrustMe said:

I did not send a new i751, all I did was I sent a letter to amend my i-751, along with more evidence and divorce paper work. If your divorce is finalized , send the divorce decree and if not , the send the divorce petition and mention that you will be sending the divorce decree as soon as your divorce gets finalized.

How long ago did you do your paperwork? Did you hear back from them right away or it took time to figure out if the new form got accepted?

[Rome1122 2]

Any idea of what to write in the letter to uscis for switching from jointly filed i751 to divorce waiver? 

Please help. 

[Rome1122 2]

On 10/20/2020 at 5:25 PM, YoloTrustMe said:

I did not send a new i751, all I did was I sent a letter to amend my i-751, along with more evidence and divorce paper work. If your divorce is finalized , send the divorce decree and if not , the send the divorce petition and mention that you will be sending the divorce decree as soon as your divorce gets finalized.

Any idea on how to write the letter for requesting the uscis to switch to a divorce waiver of i751?

I am like really confused on what to write.

[Villanelle 4,122]

1 hour ago, Rome1122 said:

Any idea on how to write the letter for requesting the uscis to switch to a divorce waiver of i751?

I am like really confused on what to write.

You just need to write a basic letter in a semi-formal format.

 

USCIS

address

 

RE- LPRS name,

A#

NOA case number

DOB

resident since date

address

phone number

 

date of letter

 

Request to switch to a divorce waiver

 

To whom it may concern:

 

On X date, I, (name), A# filed a joint petition with my spouse (their name) with the X service center (where you mailed it). My case number is X. (from your NOA).  On X date (spouses name) and I legally separated/physically separated/filed for divorce/divorced. Please accept this letter as my request to switch to a divorce waiver. I am/am not attaching the divorce decree. (if you are list date of divorce and court name/if not state it will provided when the court issues it.) I am also attaching X Y and Z for your consideration.

 

Signed

dated

(you can get it notarized but it doesnt have to be)

 

 

Keep a copy for your records and mail it with a tracking number to the same service center you sent the original ROC packet to.

[Rome1122 2]

6 minutes ago, Villanelle said:

You just need to write a basic letter in a semi-formal format.

 

USCIS

address

 

RE- LPRS name,

A#

NOA case number

DOB

resident since date

address

phone number

 

date of letter

 

Request to switch to a divorce waiver

 

To whom it may concern:

 

On X date, I, (name), A# filed a joint petition with my spouse (their name) with the X service center (where you mailed it). My case number is X. (from your NOA).  On X date (spouses name) and I legally separated/physically separated/filed for divorce/divorced. Please accept this letter as my request to switch to a divorce waiver. I am/am not attaching the divorce decree. (if you are list date of divorce and court name/if not state it will provided when the court issues it.) I am also attaching X Y and Z for your consideration.

 

Signed

dated

(you can get it notarized but it doesnt have to be)

 

 

Keep a copy for your records and mail it with a tracking number to the same service center you sent the original ROC packet to.

Thanks alot for the info. This is very helpful. 

I am also sending a new i751 with letter from spouse about our marriage.

Dont have much more evidence left as I sent uscis everything already. 

Do you think I can send same kind of stuff again with this letter and divorce decree? 

[Villanelle 4,122]

Why are you sending another 751?

 

If you have a 751 pending (that means it hasnt been approved or denied yet) and you sent it as a joint all you need to do is send a letter asking to change it from joint to divorce waiver. You can include additional evidences along with the letter if you want.

 

If you do NOT have a pending 751 because it was denied or withdrawn then you MUST send a new 751 (and pay the fees again).

 

If you send another 751 form they will expect you to pay the fees on it and will treat it as a new submission. The whole point of the letter is to switch your pending petition to a waiver one - so you dont have to refile from scratch. 

[mindthegap 2,590]

51 minutes ago, Rome1122 said:

Thanks alot for the info. This is very helpful. 

I am also sending a new i751 with letter from spouse about our marriage.

Dont have much more evidence left as I sent uscis everything already. 

Do you think I can send same kind of stuff again with this letter and divorce decree? 

Why are you sending a new I-751?

 

If you filed a joint one and are switching to a divorce waiver you switch the EXISTING petition, not a new one, which is what the basic simple letter as posted by @Villanelle is informing them that you are doing.

 

Filing a new I-751 only comes into play if the first joint one is withdrawn or denied.

 

 

Edited November 2, 2020 by mindthegap

[Rome1122 2]

5 minutes ago, mindthegap said:

Why are you sending a new I-751?

 

If you filed a joint one and are switching to a divorce waiver you switch the EXISTING petition, not a new one, which is what the basic simple letter as posted by @Villanelle is informing them that you are doing.

 

Filing a new I-751 only comes into play if the first joint one is withdrawn or denied.

 

 

I dont know as I spoke to one immigration lawyer and he suggested I click on the waiver things on the i751 and send a new one with all this paperwork. 

So no need to send it or it would hurt to send it?

[mindthegap 2,590]

12 minutes ago, Rome1122 said:

I dont know as I spoke to one immigration lawyer and he suggested I click on the waiver things on the i751 and send a new one with all this paperwork. 

So no need to send it or it would hurt to send it?

You have a CURRENT & still pending/un-adjudicated I-751 that was jointly filed, correct?

And you have got divorced since filing?

 

Send a simple letter as above, enclose a copy of your final divorce, and that is it.

No new I-751 needed, no fee needed. 

 

Yes, I have done exactly this, as have many others.

 

 

I have said it so many times....not all 'lawyers' are created equal 🤦‍♀️

 

Edited November 2, 2020 by mindthegap

[Rome1122 2]

8 minutes ago, mindthegap said:

You have a CURRENT & still pending/un-adjudicated I-751 that was jointly filed, correct?

And you have got divorced since filing?

 

Send a simple letter as above, enclose a copy of your final divorce, and that is it.

No new I-751 needed, no fee needed. 

 

Yes, I have done exactly this, as have many others.

 

 

I have said it so many times....not all 'lawyers' are created equal 🤦‍♀️

 

Thank you sir. I appreciate it.

I agree and yes lawyer said I dont need to pay but should send an amended i751 form.

Now I am not sending it. Thanks.

And yes I got divorced 6months after filing. 

So will they send me a letter or email or something after they receive this letter and other documents?  

I go in and out of country alot so dont want to get stuck if they deny it and I am not even aware of it. 

 

[Villanelle 4,122]

7 hours ago, Rome1122 said:

Thank you sir. I appreciate it.

I agree and yes lawyer said I dont need to pay but should send an amended i751 form.

Now I am not sending it. Thanks.

And yes I got divorced 6months after filing. 

So will they send me a letter or email or something after they receive this letter and other documents?  

I go in and out of country alot so dont want to get stuck if they deny it and I am not even aware of it. 

 

I understand the concept of sending a corrected form but to switch to a waiver you do NOT need to send a newly filled out form. IMO if you send a new form it will cause confusion. The new form will be opened by the mailroom who will most likely process it as a new 751 filing and reject it for not having fees attached. 

 

The Officer adjudicating your 751 can  amend the form to a waiver filing based on your letter and does not require an amended form to be submitted. If the Officer wants an amended form they will ask you for it. You can also bring it to any interview you may have but it most likely wont be asked for. 

 

You need to send your letter with a tracking number. You will not get back any kind of confirmation generally. Sometimes the case status is updated online to reflect someone touched your file (like a name updated status) but you may not see any updates. Basically you mail your letter and it will be placed into your file. No one will do anything with it until they actually get to your case. So you must save the tracking info because its your only proof of sending a request to switch to a waiver and if theres a problem (rare) you can appeal and they will be able to use the tracking number to resolve it. (everything received by mail is logged and scanned so if there is a dispute about whether or not you asked to switch to a waiver they need the tracking info to find the logs of when you sent it and figure out what happened to it that it was not added to your file)

 

If you travel frequently the only thing you can do is keep an eye on your case status online to make sure you dont miss any RFEs or interview notices. You can also use the informed delivery notification service from the post office to make sure you dont miss any mail and have someone trusted who can open any mail that comes. Interview notices usually give you 30 days advance notice but due to the pandemic and things getting canceled and rescheduled people have been getting short notice interview requests. 751s generally take 1 - 1.5 yrs to process

[Rome1122 2]

On 11/2/2020 at 11:06 PM, Villanelle said:

I understand the concept of sending a corrected form but to switch to a waiver you do NOT need to send a newly filled out form. IMO if you send a new form it will cause confusion. The new form will be opened by the mailroom who will most likely process it as a new 751 filing and reject it for not having fees attached. 

 

The Officer adjudicating your 751 can  amend the form to a waiver filing based on your letter and does not require an amended form to be submitted. If the Officer wants an amended form they will ask you for it. You can also bring it to any interview you may have but it most likely wont be asked for. 

 

You need to send your letter with a tracking number. You will not get back any kind of confirmation generally. Sometimes the case status is updated online to reflect someone touched your file (like a name updated status) but you may not see any updates. Basically you mail your letter and it will be placed into your file. No one will do anything with it until they actually get to your case. So you must save the tracking info because its your only proof of sending a request to switch to a waiver and if theres a problem (rare) you can appeal and they will be able to use the tracking number to resolve it. (everything received by mail is logged and scanned so if there is a dispute about whether or not you asked to switch to a waiver they need the tracking info to find the logs of when you sent it and figure out what happened to it that it was not added to your file)

 

If you travel frequently the only thing you can do is keep an eye on your case status online to make sure you dont miss any RFEs or interview notices. You can also use the informed delivery notification service from the post office to make sure you dont miss any mail and have someone trusted who can open any mail that comes. Interview notices usually give you 30 days advance notice but due to the pandemic and things getting canceled and rescheduled people have been getting short notice interview requests. 751s generally take 1 - 1.5 yrs to process

Thank you very much for the detailed response. It is really helpful. I agree no need to send them a new i751 form and confuse them.

So now I have the letter and all other evidence to send them.

Only question is which USCIS facility do I need to send these documents to amend i751 as on their website says all i751 forms should go to Phoenix as of 09/17/2020 however I send the last documents in Dallas as I stay in florida. 

Any idea which address I should send the documents?

 

[Villanelle 4,122]

1 minute ago, Rome1122 said:

Thank you very much for the detailed response. It is really helpful. I agree no need to send them a new i751 form and confuse them.

So now I have the letter and all other evidence to send them.

Only question is which USCIS facility do I need to send these documents to amend i751 as on their website says all i751 forms should go to Phoenix as of 09/17/2020 however I send the last documents in Dallas as I stay in florida. 

Any idea which address I should send the documents?

 

Since you are not sending a new 751 form the instructions are N/A. You send your letter (and anything additional stuff you have) to the service center where you originally mailed your 751. If the online system shows it was transferred (this can be for workload processing reasons) you can send a copy to both the original service center and the service center it shows it was transferred to and is now at. You can also send a copy to your local office in case your file is in the process of being transferred to the local office.

 

Basically you want to make sure this letter gets attached to your file and is there when the Officer picks it up to process it. So its best to send it to the service center and the local office. Keep a copy for your records. Make sure to write your A# on all the pages that you signed the letter in ink and dated it. Send it with a tracking number. You typically do not get anything back as a receipt or acknowledgement that they got it so hold on to the tracking info. If there is a problem you will need it. You may see some kind of update on the online system like name was updated or you may not. As long as you have tracking info showing they got it thats all you need to do. Just remember no one is actually going to read this letter and do anything about it right now beyond seeing that its for your case and putting it into your case file.  

[Villanelle 4,122]

Also it is possible to be approved w/o interview when submitting a waiver 751 or switching to a waiver 751as long as you send the final decree. Many ROC waiver cases are interviewed though. For waiver ROCs its better to assume you will be interviewed and be pleasantly surprised if you are not.