232 days in the US with CR-1 process, but still no green card!

[Ramsey 16]

19 hours ago, Peter Parker said:

Since my last post, there were more government screw ups I had to deal with, but I'm now past it: I finally got my green card today 🕺.

 

I'm going to detail my experience here:

• USCIS sent out my green card about 6 weeks ago, but never communicated this to me in any way. Surprisingly quickly after I was in Milwaukee actually,.
• They sent it to my old address, even though I was very careful to make sure they had my new address in their systems, and it was communicated in the manually printed visa packet
• It was therefore returned to them, and it took them about a month to process it as having been returned to them.
• I only found out about any of this when on a whim I went to look up my case status. I was distracted and it didn't cross my mind that green card mailing would be presented on there, but it was. My bad I guess, but no harm done.
• Fortunately I checked just after they'd processed the return.
• I found out it was sent to the wrong address by calling my local post office (USPS) and asking them if a particular tracking number (USCIS give you this on the case status page) was sent to a particular address (my old one).
• I called them up, and they put in a 3 service requests - 1 to fix my address (probably was not needed), 2 to tell the green card mailing folks the correct address, 3 to get me in the Milwaukee infoPass queue so I could get a temporary extension on my passport tamp.
• This was processed surprisingly quickly. I got a call confirming and cancelling me from InfoPass as I'd no longer need it.
• But they left my old apartment number in my new address. This confused USPS, who sent it out on the wrong truck (as there are no apartments here, I guess they tried to be 'clever' and corrected the address in a different way). I waited in all day, only to get a tracking notification it was undeliverable.
• This drove me into an absolute fury, due to all the problems at this point. So my wife and I drove down to USPS and we tried to pick it up by hand. The letter was not back, but we did get a USPS supervisor to deal with it and she even phoned me this morning to confirm she'd found the letter and put it on the correct truck. The USPS guys were great, even if they did screw me with their incorrect truck.
• And finally, I got it today, and it was correct!

In between all this, Wisconsin law says you can only drive on an out-of-state/foreign license for a year, so I had to get a state license. I went to the DMV and was turned away due to my temporary green card expiring within 6 months. I contacted DMV to ask for an exemption based on special circumstances (ability to drive is hardly optional if you live in the suburbs), and they told the 6 month rule applies only to temporary residents, not permanent ones. I went back to the DMV and this time the guy at the front desk didn't even want to let me through, insisting I needed a letter from USCIS confirming my status, or my actual final green card - and refusing to look at my passport, or the email I had from the DMV. I had to argue the hell out of this, and eventually the idiot let me through when I showed him my passport had the word 'permanent' on the visa - no apologies or admissions, just an incompetent guy who hates his life. After that, all was good, everyone else was very nice, I passed my computer test, and I have my road test today.

Summary: I got my green card at about 49 weeks, and a hell of a lot of messing about.

Peter,

 

Congratulations on finally receiving your green card!! 😀 Very happy to hear this news. My mother in law had a similar situation to yours. We moved to Texas recently (from California) and the USCIS had sent it to our old address. The new residents sent it back to USPS and after going back and forth between Pasadena and San Diego about 3 times, they ended up sending it to Lee's Summit, Missouri. This was back on May 11. We called USCIS and sent in multiple service requests to update the address and resend the card. My wife just spoke with an agent yesterday, actually, and she was told she should be getting the card soon. It's now July 17 and we are a bit frustrated 😣

 

Just wondering, how long did it take from the time you submitted the service request to change address and resend your card until you actually got it in the mail?

 

Thanks.

 

[Peter Parker 12]

6 minutes ago, Ramsey said:

Peter,

 

Congratulations on finally receiving your green card!! 😀 Very happy to hear this news. My mother in law had a similar situation to yours. We moved to Texas recently (from California) and the USCIS had sent it to our old address. The new residents sent it back to USPS and after going back and forth between Pasadena and San Diego about 3 times, they ended up sending it to Lee's Summit, Missouri. This was back on May 11. We called USCIS and sent in multiple service requests to update the address and resend the card. My wife just spoke with an agent yesterday, actually, and she was told she should be getting the card soon. It's now July 17 and we are a bit frustrated 😣

 

Just wondering, how long did it take from the time you submitted the service request to change address and resend your card until you actually got it in the mail?

 

Thanks.

 

Oh man, I'm sorry you are having to deal with this too. I'd be more than a bit frustrated, May 11 is a long time ago.

 

When USCIS sent it to me, it was priority delivery requiring a signature. So if it was the same for you, those new residents shouldn't have had it, it should have gone straight back.

 

Actually it was pretty quick for them to reprocess it, AFTER they realized they had it returned to them. Like a week or two. But them realizing they had it was like a month. Checking your case status may help you know the situation better.

 

"Lee's Summit, Missouri" sounds right - that's basically Kansas City, which I remember was where mine was coming from.

 

[Ramsey 16]

23 hours ago, Peter Parker said:

Oh man, I'm sorry you are having to deal with this too. I'd be more than a bit frustrated, May 11 is a long time ago.

 

When USCIS sent it to me, it was priority delivery requiring a signature. So if it was the same for you, those new residents shouldn't have had it, it should have gone straight back.

 

Actually it was pretty quick for them to reprocess it, AFTER they realized they had it returned to them. Like a week or two. But them realizing they had it was like a month. Checking your case status may help you know the situation better.

 

"Lee's Summit, Missouri" sounds right - that's basically Kansas City, which I remember was where mine was coming from.

 

Thanks for the kind words and for your response.

 

It really does suck that it's taken them so long to resend it. They did tell my wife that they would send it with priority delivery and require a signature. They apologized that they didn't do that the first time (maybe it's not standard protocol?)

 

Hopefully we receive the card within the next week or so, we will keep you all posted. I appreciate your help, Peter, and congratulate you once again!! It's been such a long journey.

[Ramsey 16]

On 7/17/2019 at 9:01 AM, Peter Parker said:

Oh man, I'm sorry you are having to deal with this too. I'd be more than a bit frustrated, May 11 is a long time ago.

 

When USCIS sent it to me, it was priority delivery requiring a signature. So if it was the same for you, those new residents shouldn't have had it, it should have gone straight back.

 

Actually it was pretty quick for them to reprocess it, AFTER they realized they had it returned to them. Like a week or two. But them realizing they had it was like a month. Checking your case status may help you know the situation better.

 

"Lee's Summit, Missouri" sounds right - that's basically Kansas City, which I remember was where mine was coming from.

 

GREAT NEWS, WE JUST RECEIVED THE GREEN CARD TODAY!!! WOOHOOO, THANK GOD, FINALLY!!  🕺

[Peter Parker 12]

What a relief, party time 🎉