Desperate after 5 years here...

[Patrickjeanmarie 1]

So I have been married for 5 years and living here. Over a year ago, when I got my passport stamp I551 while waiting for my Green Card, the officer at USCIS said ' you should be getting it in the next 3 months, nothing to do on your end'. Flash forward to a month ago when I called the 1.800 number realizing my stamp was about to expire and and they give me an appt to get a third stamp! They also mentioned they sent me a letter back in December 2018??!! I Told them I never got it they looked and said ' Oh yeah you changed your address 1 month after we sent it, let me have a copy of that letter sent to you to your updated address'.

I finally received it... They sent it asking me for even more evidence that my mariage was in good faith!? (I already did send a whole bunch of documents and affidavits 2 years ago when they asked for the same kind of things)...  And so all the documents have to be provided by March 10th 2019... 7 months ago... And it does mention that my case was time sensitive and failure to do so may get me denied! As I look at that letter and realize it s my failure to change my address in time, I also realize they sent it to my very 1st address in the USA, which has been void for 4 years now. It should have been sent to my 2 nd address (I currently live at my 3rd address). So regardless of my late last change, they still sent that letter to a very old void address. On top of all this, I am now separated and in the middle of my divorce papers (not final yet). So the whole situation is that I am 7 months late for providing more evidence that I married my wife in good faith AND I am now about to be divorced. I don't think there s much hope left. I just saw a lawyer who told me I should re file the whole thing once my divorce is final as a divorced man. Regardless, being 7 months late is what scares me. I keep feeling like someone is going to barge in my house and send me back to France... Just trying to see if someone has something to help with this on here. 😞

[Dashinka 24,786]

I think the 7 months late thing is easily explainable.  I would start pulling together a new package for your divorce waiver submission.  Additionally, if you are worried about possible actions you can do the following:

 

Good Luck!

 

To find out if you have an old order of deportation follow these steps:

• Find your “Alien Registration Number.” It is on most immigration papers, including the I-94 card on your passport, greencard, or any other document that immigration gives you. The A# looks like: A99 999 999
• Call 1-800-898-7180. This is the hotline for the immigration court (EOIR).
• Press “1” for English or “2” for Spanish.
• Enter the 8 digits of your A-number and listen for instructions. If your number is in the system, then this means that an immigration case existed against you at some time.
• Press “3” to find out if an immigration judge decided your case, including if there is an order of deportation (“removal”) against you.
• If the hotline says you have a deportation/removal order, consult a lawyer specializing in immigration deportation before you go to the immigration office, leave the country, or try to adjust your status.

[Ontarkie 14,450]

~~Moved to ROC, from K1 P&P - The OP is going through ROC not a K1 ~~

[Philly2017 35]

@Patrickjeanmarie When you initially filed your I-751 application, which mailing address did you use on your application?  1st address in the USA (void for 4 years) or 2nd (you currently live on the 3rd)?  

 

Did you keep a copy of the initial application to verify that?  

[Patrickjeanmarie 1]

2 hours ago, NYCQueens2017 said:

@Patrickjeanmarie When you initially filed your I-751 application, which mailing address did you use on your application?  1st address in the USA (void for 4 years) or 2nd (you currently live on the 3rd)?  

 

Did you keep a copy of the initial application to verify that?  

I m not sure... I have to check. On top of this, I received a letter a few months ago telling me I was no longer handled y the Vermont center but the California one. But this letter is from Vermont... I don't know any more. 

What I do know is that I did receive letter at my 2nd address before that last one that they sent to the 1st address...

[Philly2017 35]

1 minute ago, Patrickjeanmarie said:

What I do know is that I did receive letter at my 2nd address before that last one that they sent to the 1st address...

@Patrickjeanmarie Then you most probably indicated your 2nd address on your I-751 application.  If you can confirm that, you can explain to USCIS (probably through a letter or by speaking to a Tier 2 officer on the phone) that the last RFE was incorrectly sent to the 1st address, therefore, you had never received it (until you called and they mentioned that a letter was a sent out in December 2018) and you had no way of knowing about their RFE.  Try to avoid mentioning that you did not file an AR-11 form on time (to change from your 2nd to 3rd address).

 

Regarding the letter about Vermont-California service centers, it seems that your case has been transferred and is now handled by the California service center.  Any additional documentation should be sent to California (along with a copy of the letter informing you of the transfer), but make sure you confirm that with USCIS as well, before you sent out anything.

[Patrickjeanmarie 1]

So, my main concern is that the immigration lawyer told me to get my divorce finalized before we start anything. But that can take months! Should I still contact them now because I m already so late...?

[Californiansunset 336]

7 hours ago, Patrickjeanmarie said:

So, my main concern is that the immigration lawyer told me to get my divorce finalized before we start anything. But that can take months! Should I still contact them now because I m already so late...?

Did you do what @Bill & Katya told you to do? That is the first and most important step at this point and you can do that yourself. Call the immigration court to find out whether you are in removal proceeding because that can change everything that you need to do at this point. 

[Philly2017 35]

@Patrickjeanmarie Technically, you’re not late, as the RFE was mailed to the 1st address, which is no longer used on your side.  I would definitely fight for it right away (as initially filed) and try to get it over with.  If that’s a dead-end, then I would try to switch to a divorce-waiver when the divorce is finalized.  But that’s just me.  An expert’s opinion may be more appropriate.

[Ash.1101 1,756]

Just as a future note, it's always advised to call and confirm any and all address changes. They have so many systems and apparently not all of them update, so they may have changed one, but not the main one.

We moved in 2016 and in 2018 they sent us three attempted deliveries of notice to file I-751 (the reminder they send out). They had sent it three times in 2017 to our old address, finally after realizing they had it return to sender three times, they sent it to our new address and this was something they caught themselves, we didn't know it wasn't officially updated.. We changed the address in the system two weeks after moving in 2016.

[Patrickjeanmarie 1]

7 hours ago, Californiansunset said:

Did you do what @Bill & Katya told you to do? That is the first and most important step at this point and you can do that yourself. Call the immigration court to find out whether you are in removal proceeding because that can change everything that you need to do at this point. 

I JUST DID  and I m not in the system. So tomorrow I ll call and ask to talk to a tier2 officer and will explain the address mistake on their part. But I will honestly mention I ve been separated for 2 years now and am in the process of divorcing (we lived 3 years together). So there s a chance they may grant me that extra time to send what they asked and send it  now? Should I not mention that I m separated now...?

[Californiansunset 336]

2 hours ago, Patrickjeanmarie said:

I JUST DID  and I m not in the system. So tomorrow I ll call and ask to talk to a tier2 officer and will explain the address mistake on their part. But I will honestly mention I ve been separated for 2 years now and am in the process of divorcing (we lived 3 years together). So there s a chance they may grant me that extra time to send what they asked and send it  now? Should I not mention that I m separated now...?

That’s great! Always be honest!

 

What I learned out of experience is that even the tier 2 officer on the phone can’t see much in your record especially if your field office is handling your case (they denied my greencard by mistake before long story). So if I were you I’d try to get a field office appointment immediately to talk to someone in person about what happened. In the meantime talk to tier 2 on the phone and collect all your documents to change your ROC into a waiver. The people at the field office, even if your file is not physicially there are so much more helpful than the tier 2 on the phone. I’ve received so much misinformation from the phone line I don’t trust them at all anymore. So while you can let them know through the hotline about what happened I would also physically speak to someone at your field office. 
 

From what I’ve read before your timeline shouldn’t even change much even if you change from a normal ROC to a divorce waiver. ALSO make sure they have your correct address now. 

[Patrickjeanmarie 1]

6 hours ago, Californiansunset said:

That’s great! Always be honest!

 

What I learned out of experience is that even the tier 2 officer on the phone can’t see much in your record especially if your field office is handling your case (they denied my greencard by mistake before long story). So if I were you I’d try to get a field office appointment immediately to talk to someone in person about what happened. In the meantime talk to tier 2 on the phone and collect all your documents to change your ROC into a waiver. The people at the field office, even if your file is not physicially there are so much more helpful than the tier 2 on the phone. I’ve received so much misinformation from the phone line I don’t trust them at all anymore. So while you can let them know through the hotline about what happened I would also physically speak to someone at your field office. 
 

From what I’ve read before your timeline shouldn’t even change much even if you change from a normal ROC to a divorce waiver. ALSO make sure they have your correct address now. 

Viel Danke! Ich werde es probieren heute! 🙂