Nearly 3 years and I'm getting frustrated....

[Chinyou01 7]

So it'll be 3 years since I've filed to remove conditions in November. I'm really getting frustrated and I don't know what to do. Not to mention I'm now antsy because I filed a divorce waiver as well. I have nothing to hide but the crickets coming from USCIS' end is making me think twice. Here is my timeline.

 

November 2016- Filed

November 2017- Got I-551 Stamp

November 2017- Filed for divorce

January 2018- Divorce finalized

March 2018- RFE. This is when I sent a detailed letter explaining the circumstances around the divorce and requesting that my petition be changed to a divorce waiver.

June 2018- Received extension letter that states 18 months.

June 2018- Received letter that case has been moved to NBC to schedule interview (which was expected)

January 2019- Filed inquiry about case outside of normal processing times

January 2019- Received a vague response in the mail that basically said "we don't know/can't tell you anything about your case"

May 2019- Called customer service and told them the extension letter I had was causing confusion with my job and I might actually LOSE my job over it. The letter isn't clear about whether the extension is 18 months from the stamp or not. My job is at an airport so they spoke to an immigration officer AT THE AIRPORT, who said "well actually it's just extending the stamp from 12 months to 18 months so it's just adding 6 months on". He told them my extension is only valid until literally next month. Customer service lady tells me no it extended it 18 full months and that would be May 2020. Customer service supervisor apologized profusely and put a bunch of notes in my file stating what was going on and put in another inquiry about my case being outside of processing times. I *would* make an info pass appointment except I'm in Texas and neither of the field offices here are allowing people to make appointments online. You have to call and have an actual officer make the appointment for you. I actually tried to do this before I called and spoke to the supervisor. I was told an officer was going to give me a call back. Waited 4 days and nothing so that's when I called the 2nd time and got the supervisor. 

 

I'm really at a loss here and I don't know what to do. I wish they would just schedule my interview already OR at least send me another extension letter that's clearer than the last one. This is actually the 2nd time it has interfered with my job. Since I work at the airport, I am required to renew my badge that gives me security clearance onto the ramp/airplane. So it is important that I have continuous, CLEAR documentation for my work status. I am a long time lurker here yet I rarely post. I'm really hoping someone here has gone through something similar or can bounce any ideas off of me. I know I should probably consult a lawyer, or should have a long time ago, but money is extremely tight. So now that you've made it to the end of this extremely long post....have any ideas? Thanks.

 

****EDIT**** 

Like I said, I'm a long time lurker here so I know inevitably someone is going to ask how long I was married before divorce. We got married in Feb 2014 so that would technically make it nearly 4 years married but we actually separated in Feb of 2017. This was all explained in the lengthy letter I wrote to them when I got my divorce decree. My marriage was very real and I am not concerned about any interview I have to have with them because I have nothing to hide. The fact that they are taking a million years to even schedule me for my interview is whats frustrating.

Edited May 22, 2019 by Chinyou01

[Georgia16 2,858]

The letter is pretty clear it's your work that can't figure it out so Stamp in the passport is probably a good idea for work. 

Just try and call again for an info pass appointment for that. 

 

Also, your case was put in line for interview June 2018 and you are at Dallas which is one of the most backlogged field offices so that explains why it takes forever to get an interview there but hopefully your turn comes up very soon.

[Chinyou01 7]

Just now, Georgia16 said:

The letter is pretty clear it's your work that can't figure it out so Stamp in the passport is probably a good idea for work. 

Just try and call again for an info pass appointment for that. 

 

Also, your case was put in line for interview June 2018 and you are at Dallas which is one of the most backlogged field offices so that explains why it takes forever to get an interview there but hopefully your turn comes up very soon.

I figured the letter was pretty clear too, but apparently not to other people. I even tried to get a 2nd job recently and they wouldn't even attempt to listen to me. They said they can't go by the letter and need to speak to an immigration officer lol. My stamp expired in November of 2018 so I have to go by the 18 month extension letter. Since my job has already spoken to an officer who told them incorrectly that it expires next month that is what they're going off of. 

 

Wow, I didn't know we had one of the most backlogged offices. So what are they gonna do, just keep sending extension letters? This is madness. Thank you for your response. 

[Ash.1101 1,756]

51 minutes ago, Chinyou01 said:

I figured the letter was pretty clear too, but apparently not to other people. I even tried to get a 2nd job recently and they wouldn't even attempt to listen to me. They said they can't go by the letter and need to speak to an immigration officer lol. My stamp expired in November of 2018 so I have to go by the 18 month extension letter. Since my job has already spoken to an officer who told them incorrectly that it expires next month that is what they're going off of. 

 

Wow, I didn't know we had one of the most backlogged offices. So what are they gonna do, just keep sending extension letters? This is madness. Thank you for your response. 

No they aren't sending out extension letters. You have to call to get a stamp before your extension letter expires. There are no more extension letters past the 18 month one, which was sent to everyone who had an Open ROC case. Everything after an extension letter needs to be in the form of a stamp. There are no self-scheduled appointments in Texas outside of Laredo now, so you'll have to call and explain your 18 month extension expires and that you need a stamp.

Why are you believing that your extension letter doesn't expire next month? It only extends your green card or most recent I-551 stamp. It doesn't extend it another 18 months from receipt of the letter. 

So in this case your extension should expire this month or next month.

Edited May 22, 2019 by Ash.

[Ash.1101 1,756]

19 minutes ago, Ash. said:

No they aren't sending out extension letters. You have to call to get a stamp before your extension letter expires. There are no more extension letters past the 18 month one, which was sent to everyone who had an Open ROC case. Everything after an extension letter needs to be in the form of a stamp. There are no self-scheduled appointments in Texas outside of Laredo now, so you'll have to call and explain your 18 month extension expires and that you need a stamp.

Why are you believing that your extension letter doesn't expire next month? It only extends your green card or most recent I-551 stamp. It doesn't extend it another 18 months from receipt of the letter. 

So in this case your extension should expire this month or next month.

 

Edit: I see where the confusion is, cause I would think that it would extend the most recent stamp, but I didn't mean from the expiration date of the stamp, I meant from the issuance of the stamp since that's already an extension of your green card. I would call and make an appointment anyways to get clarification on this.

Have you contacted any congressman?

Edited May 22, 2019 by Ash.

[MXcompadre 75]

@Chinyou1 suggest that you call/contact your US Congressman and Senator’s offices to file a status inquiry request into your I-751 pending petition case.

[Ash.1101 1,756]

@missileman

I don't know if you can, but could you give more clarification?

It's implied that the 18 month extension extends the physical green card by 18 months from the green cards expiration date, but it does NOT extend a I-551 stamp another 18 months at the stamps expiration date?

So in this case the OP received the 18 month extension like everyone else, but they were already one stamp in because their ROC started in Nov 2016. Their received their I-551 stamp in Nov 2017, and that stamp expired Nov 2018. They've just been using the green card extension letter since then.

Immigration officers told the OP's work that their extension expires next month (18 months after first I-551 stamp was received) since their I-551 was already a 12 month extension on the physical green card, the 18 month extension only added 6 months to it.

I want to say the immigration officers are right and that the 18 month extension just added 6 months to the extension stamp, but there aren't many people on VJ that I've seen that have been using the extension paper over using the stamps in their passport.

[Crazy Cat 42,277]

16 minutes ago, Ash. said:

It's implied that the 18 month extension extends the physical green card by 18 months from the green cards expiration date,

The only extension letters I have seen explicitly said it extends the expiration date on the card......I am unaware of an extension letter which extends a stamp.

[Chinyou01 7]

25 minutes ago, Ash. said:

@missileman

I don't know if you can, but could you give more clarification?

It's implied that the 18 month extension extends the physical green card by 18 months from the green cards expiration date, but it does NOT extend a I-551 stamp another 18 months at the stamps expiration date?

So in this case the OP received the 18 month extension like everyone else, but they were already one stamp in because their ROC started in Nov 2016. Their received their I-551 stamp in Nov 2017, and that stamp expired Nov 2018. They've just been using the green card extension letter since then.

Immigration officers told the OP's work that their extension expires next month (18 months after first I-551 stamp was received) since their I-551 was already a 12 month extension on the physical green card, the 18 month extension only added 6 months to it.

I want to say the immigration officers are right and that the 18 month extension just added 6 months to the extension stamp, but there aren't many people on VJ that I've seen that have been using the extension paper over using the stamps in their passport.

Hi, the reason for the confusion is because I have gotten 3 conflicting answers from 3 different officers. Two of which said that it extends the stamp and one who said it’s just giving me 6 extra months. The reason it’s confusing to me is because it says on the letter that it is extending the I-551 by 18 months. Well if I go off of my actual physical green card....18 months came and went on May 2018 lol

Edited May 22, 2019 by Chinyou01

[Crazy Cat 42,277]

5 minutes ago, Chinyou01 said:

it is extending the I-551 by 18 months.

My wife's extension letter says it extends ".....expiration date on your I-551, Permanent Resident Card"..........that's pretty explicit.

Edited May 22, 2019 by missileman

[Chinyou01 7]

So should I just get another stamp then? Are you telling me all of this confusion on is self-inflicted because this whole time I should’ve just gotten a second stamp! LOL

Edited May 22, 2019 by Chinyou01

[Chinyou01 7]

5 minutes ago, missileman said:

My wife's extension letter says it extends ".....expiration date on your I-551, Permanent Resident Card"..........that's pretty explicit.

Yes, mine says the exact same thing. But like I said that, for me, came and went in May of 2018. So why would they send me an extension letter in June 2018 extending it to 18 months? Also, the way one of the officers explained it to me is that the I-551 stamp serves as your temporary green card and it says that on my passport? I don’t know. I think I’m just gonna call again and ask for an appointment. I think what you guys are saying is correct, but it’s hard to tell when I’ve gotten two different answers from 3 different officers.

 

Edited May 22, 2019 by Chinyou01

[Crazy Cat 42,277]

4 minutes ago, Chinyou01 said:

So should I just get another stamp then? Are you telling me all of this comfusion is self-inflicted because this whole time I should’ve just gotten a second stamp! LOL

I'm not an expert, but I would personally get a new stamp......eliminates any ambiguity.   Of course, you still have LPR status......

[Chinyou01 7]

1 minute ago, missileman said:

I'm not an expert, but I would personally get a new stamp......eliminates any ambiguity.   Of course, you still have LPR status......

Well...now I actually feel pretty dumb! Thank you for pointing out the obvious!! Lol

[Crazy Cat 42,277]

Just now, Chinyou01 said:

Well...now I actually feel pretty dumb! Thank you for pointing out the obvious!! Lol

No reason to feel dumb....it is a legitimate question.....I'm just telling what I personally would do.......maybe the new extension letter extends the stamp......but that isn't what it says........Please let us know the result of your appointment....