I-751 January 2018

[Eli_za 50]

Hi everybody!

 

Did anyone besides MadMax101 and me receive an “unofficial” courtesy copy of the extension letter?

 

I’m getting paranoid at this point and I don’t know if we should call uscis to mention we didn’t even file Form G-28 (entry of appearance from attorney), we don’t even have an attorney this time (we had an attorney for AOS but not  for ROC), and supposedly the official extension letter was sent to whoever was in Form G-28.  

 

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated. Thank you! 

[mrandmrsBRS 116]

4 hours ago, Eli_za said:

Hi everybody!

 

Did anyone besides MadMax101 and me receive an “unofficial” courtesy copy of the extension letter?

 

I’m getting paranoid at this point and I don’t know if we should call uscis to mention we didn’t even file Form G-28 (entry of appearance from attorney), we don’t even have an attorney this time (we had an attorney for AOS but not  for ROC), and supposedly the official extension letter was sent to whoever was in Form G-28.  

 

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated. Thank you! 

I would call them tomorrow. Probably just a mistake

[Tom and SooGyeong 87]

4 hours ago, Eli_za said:

Hi everybody!

 

Did anyone besides MadMax101 and me receive an “unofficial” courtesy copy of the extension letter?

 

I’m getting paranoid at this point and I don’t know if we should call uscis to mention we didn’t even file Form G-28 (entry of appearance from attorney), we don’t even have an attorney this time (we had an attorney for AOS but not  for ROC), and supposedly the official extension letter was sent to whoever was in Form G-28.  

 

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated. Thank you! 

  We received our 'Official Extension Letter' 9 days ago, and it is on the  usual card stock paper, with the watermark and all. However, we never filed Form G-28, and have not used an attorney for any of this journey. The petitions are self explanatory, and there is ample information to be found online, so for the vast majority of filers, an attorney should not be needed.

 The reason for the new 18-month extension letter is because USCIS  has been gradually decreasing the number of waivers for Interviews for work related I-485 Adjustment of Status Petitions. Their aim is to transition to 100% interviews for ALL petitions, beginning with the I-485s. Since all interviews happen at the Local offices, this is building a backlog there. That is the primary reason for the decrease of other petitions processed. 

  Since most I-751 ROC petitioners are also planning to file for citizenship, USCIS does not find ROC petitions to be a priority. Also, Since the 12- month extension is now completely inadequate, ROC filers are obliged to schedule an Info-pass and visit their local office for an I-551 passport stamp. Those 'Stamp Visits' are an additional burden on local offices, and the new I-797 receipt and 18-month extension letter is necessary to buy them a bit more time. 

[heo luoi 206]

1 hour ago, Tom and SooGyeong said:

  We received our 'Official Extension Letter' 9 days ago, and it is on the  usual card stock paper, with the watermark and all. However, we never filed Form G-28, and have not used an attorney for any of this journey. The petitions are self explanatory, and there is ample information to be found online, so for the vast majority of filers, an attorney should not be needed.

 The reason for the new 18-month extension letter is because USCIS  has been gradually decreasing the number of waivers for Interviews for work related I-485 Adjustment of Status Petitions. Their aim is to transition to 100% interviews for ALL petitions, beginning with the I-485s. Since all interviews happen at the Local offices, this is building a backlog there. That is the primary reason for the decrease of other petitions processed. 

  Since most I-751 ROC petitioners are also planning to file for citizenship, USCIS does not find ROC petitions to be a priority. Also, Since the 12- month extension is now completely inadequate, ROC filers are obliged to schedule an Info-pass and visit their local office for an I-551 passport stamp. Those 'Stamp Visits' are an additional burden on local offices, and the new I-797 receipt and 18-month extension letter is necessary to buy them a bit more time. 

Could you elaborate on the "Also, Since the 12- month extension is now completely inadequate, ROC filers are obliged to schedule an Info-pass and visit their local office for an I-551 passport stamp. Those 'Stamp Visits' are an additional burden on local offices, and the new I-797 receipt and 18-month extension letter is necessary to buy them a bit more time. "

Is there a certain window this needs completed and filled out form...etc?

 

[Fer00 7]

Has anybody traveled to Spain(Madrid) with the extension letter? 

[Tom and SooGyeong 87]

1 hour ago, heo luoi said:

Could you elaborate on the "Also, Since the 12- month extension is now completely inadequate, ROC filers are obliged to schedule an Info-pass and visit their local office for an I-551 passport stamp. Those 'Stamp Visits' are an additional burden on local offices, and the new I-797 receipt and 18-month extension letter is necessary to buy them a bit more time. "

Is there a certain window this needs completed and filled out form...etc?

 

Not sure if I understand the question, but here goes:

When your Extension Letter date expires, the foreign resident must visit their local office to get an I-551 Stamp in their passport. This allows them to remain in country, (live and work, etc...) until their stamp date expires. Stamp extensions vary from 6 months to 12 months, depending on the local office. 

To gain access to the local office, you must go online to request an appointment. The request is called an infopass. that can be done here:

https://my.uscis.gov/en/appointment/new?appointment[international]=false

However, there are a couple of speed bumps. You can only schedule an infopass appointment (forward ) within a 2-week window. For example, tomorrow is Aug 27, so your 2-week window of available appointment slots only reaches out to September 10. If you attempt to make an infopass on Tuesday Aug. 28, you can reach out to Tuesday Sept 11, etc.

BUT, you cannot see the Local office calendar (to search for a date), you can only attempt to log on, and more often than not, receive a statement:

'Currently, there are no available appointments. Please check again tomorrow'. Statement. (Copy Attached.) This requires multiple attempts to secure an appointment. Further, people are reporting on VJ and other sites, that you cannot schedule an appointment and get the I-551 stamp until you are within 30 days of your extension letter date expiring. So, There is your window.

If you look at the number of I-751 petitions that USCIS has posted, you can see that the number of petitions remains constant quarter by quarter, averaging 40,000 I-751 petitions filed per quarter. If you average all of the petitions processed (Approved and Denied combined)  2015 and 2016, they average 37,000 adjudications per quarter. However, if you average the  all of the petitions processed (Approved and Denied combined)  2017 and 2018 (first half), the average drops to 24,000 adjudications per quarter, a considerable 35% decrease. (spreadsheet attached.

If you check on Visa Journey's 'Lifting of Conditions' timeline, filter to show only CSC filed petitions, then sort by NOA1, you will find my and my spouse's name on page 24 (attached). As there are 10 listings per page, that makes for about 240 VJ I-751 petitioners that filed after we did.  That covers 8 months time . . . The sad part is, you have to page through until you are into the mid-80 pages to begin seeing more than one (anomaly) approval. You have to go even further into the high 90's to find 3 or 4 approvals on the same page. I have attached page 100, with 6 of 10 approvals on the same page.  

When you check out their filing and NOA1 dates, and then slide over to their approval dates, Most of them are waiting 16 to 17 months, and they filed at the beginning of the slow-down in processing times. My guess is that most of us will be waiting longer, possible 20+ months for our approval.

That is what I meant by the 12-month extension being all but useless. By continuing to issue 12-months extensions, USCIS was guaranteeing themselves waves upon waves of Infopass seekers in need of I-551 stamps, because as of now, virtually 100% of us will be waiting past the 12-month extension date. The new (longer) 18-month extension is USCIS's attempt to lessen the Tsunami of Stamp-seekers that are soon to come . . . (by that, I mean US)

Infopass No-Go.pdf

Case File Progress By Quarter and Year.pdf

I-751 VJ Timeline P24.pdf

I-751 VJ Timeline P100.pdf

Edited August 27, 2018 by Tom and SooGyeong

[CharlieJK 12]

6 hours ago, Fer00 said:

Has anybody traveled to Spain(Madrid) with the extension letter? 

I haven't traveled to Madrid but I travelled to Tenerife in April and the only issue I had was that when leaving the airline representative didn't realise that entering an address is mandatory on their system (apparekntly its optional for US citizens so she kept skipping it). The delay was because the system wouldn't accept my details without it. If Tenerife was fine I'm pretty certain Madrid wont be a problem.

[templinc 7]

Received my wife's 18 month extension on 8/25/18, dated 8/18/18.  But I have not received the 18 month extension letter for her son.  I have submitted an inquiry about it.

[tomriesgo 39]

17 hours ago, Eli_za said:

Hi everybody!

 

Did anyone besides MadMax101 and me receive an “unofficial” courtesy copy of the extension letter?

 

I’m getting paranoid at this point and I don’t know if we should call uscis to mention we didn’t even file Form G-28 (entry of appearance from attorney), we don’t even have an attorney this time (we had an attorney for AOS but not  for ROC), and supposedly the official extension letter was sent to whoever was in Form G-28.  

 

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated. Thank you! 

I received an unofficial copy on Saturday 25th stating an official copy had been sent. 

[Eli_za 50]

30 minutes ago, tomriesgo said:

I received an unofficial copy on Saturday 25th stating an official copy had been sent. 

Hi Tomriesgo,

 

did you letter start reading:

 

“we have mailed an official notice about this case (and any relevant documentation) accordingly to the mailing preferences you chose on form G-28, notice of entry of attorney appareance... this is a courtesy copy, not the official notice”    

 

I’m  concerned the official letter got sent to someone else or lost since we don’t have an attorney  we didn’t submit Form G-28. 

[jarj 13]

16 minutes ago, Eli_za said:

Hi Tomriesgo,

 

did you letter start reading:

 

“we have mailed an official notice about this case (and any relevant documentation) accordingly to the mailing preferences you chose on form G-28, notice of entry of attorney appareance... this is a courtesy copy, not the official notice”    

 

I’m  concerned the official letter got sent to someone else or lost since we don’t have an attorney  we didn’t submit Form G-28. 

Received unofficial letter too dated 08/24/2018

[NikV 44]

hello All,

 

I have received courtesy copy for 18 month extension last Friday. I don't know if I will get official copy too. Never ever used an attorney. so hopefully they will send regular one as well.

[TabeaK 517]

This courtesy copy business for people not having filed via attorneys is rather weird. I guess USCIS is getting overwhelmed by its new 18 month extension letter process and currently experiencing errors. I got a regular extension letter about 2 weeks ago. It'll be interesting to see if filers who got the courtesy letter will actually get the real one.

[Eli_za 50]

16 minutes ago, TabeaK said:

This courtesy copy business for people not having filed via attorneys is rather weird. I guess USCIS is getting overwhelmed by its new 18 month extension letter process and currently experiencing errors. I got a regular extension letter about 2 weeks ago. It'll be interesting to see if filers who got the courtesy letter will actually get the real one.

I will call after work. I’ll post my findings. 

[Eli_za 50]

2 hours ago, NikV said:

hello All,

 

I have received courtesy copy for 18 month extension last Friday. I don't know if I will get official copy too. Never ever used an attorney. so hopefully they will send regular one as well.

If you have time give them a call. I will call after work. I guess the more people we call uscis will make them be aware of this mistake. As the courtesy copy states “it’s not the official notice” we need the official notice anyways.