Green card not received, been 130 days.

[ChewInstance 0]

Me and my wife, we paid our immigration fee on July 23 2019. And we entered in US on November 3 2019. Today it's been 130 days we entered US. But still we haven't our green cards yet. Our visas are expired and we do not have any valid identification card. 

We received our SSN shortly after we arrived and we expected the same for green cards, but it didn't come through.  

We have contacted USCIS several times, they are not really helpful at all. All they say is wait for 30 days and no feedback on that.

My wife got call from USCIS and they provided appointment details. We went to local USCIS office in Lawrence and they simply told we have to wait and nothing can be done at the moment. 

We are desperately looking for help to get our cards. Please help/guide us to get our greencards.

[Villanelle 4,122]

Unless its different for diversity visas- when you entered the US they stamped your passports right? You should have a 551 stamp valid for 1 year. That stamp is basically the same thing as a greencard. You should be able to exit and enter the US with that stamp and get DL or state IDs with it. Check the requirements for your states DMV - it most likely has 551 as an acceptable immigration document.

 

Beyond that Im assuming you paid the fees and they have your correct address on file right? If so then all you can do is wait. Your stamp should still have about 8 months validity on it so you have time enough for the cards to arrive before you need to explore how to get new proof of immigration status. 

[ChewInstance 0]

22 minutes ago, Villanelle said:

Unless its different for diversity visas- when you entered the US they stamped your passports right? You should have a 551 stamp valid for 1 year. That stamp is basically the same thing as a greencard. You should be able to exit and enter the US with that stamp and get DL or state IDs with it. Check the requirements for your states DMV - it most likely has 551 as an acceptable immigration document.

 

Beyond that Im assuming you paid the fees and they have your correct address on file right? If so then all you can do is wait. Your stamp should still have about 8 months validity on it so you have time enough for the cards to arrive before you need to explore how to get new proof of immigration status. 

Yes I have 551 stamp, but employers are hesitant to hire me with this for a job, they ask for actual green card. And yes DMV accepts 551 and it asks for expiry date also and expired date cannot be used in DMV registration. 

And yes we paid the fees and address is right too. 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

If it helps, here is the official page stating the stamped visa is acceptable https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/130-acceptable-documents-verifying-employment-authorization-and-identity - it is the line saying "Foreign passport that contains a temporary I-551 stamp or temporary I-551 printed notation on a machine-readable immigrant visa (MRIV)" under List A.

(by the way - your visas expired the day you used them. They are now temporary green cards.)

 

It is kind of odd that both your cards are missing, usually if something goes wrong (a valid concern after 130 days) it is just one card in the family. We have seen people before convinced the address was right but it wasn't, or that they paid the fee but they were thinking of the visa fee not the green card fee, so I am going to triple check on those factors.

 

What is the latest case status on your receipt number showing at https://egov.uscis.gov/casestatus/landing.do ? 

 

Separately, I would submit an online query rather than call. https://egov.uscis.gov/e-request/displayONPTForm.do

 

If you continue to get no help from USCIS, contact your congressperson's office.

 

 

Edited March 13, 2020 by SusieQQQ

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

2 hours ago, Pratik Hyomba said:

Yes I have 551 stamp, but employers are hesitant to hire me with this for a job, they ask for actual green card. And yes DMV accepts 551 and it asks for expiry date also and expired date cannot be used in DMV registration. 

 

Again, the expiry date of the I551 is one year after you entered. It is NOT the expiry date printed on the visa.

[ChewInstance 0]

2 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

If it helps, here is the official page stating the stamped visa is acceptable https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/130-acceptable-documents-verifying-employment-authorization-and-identity - it is the line saying "Foreign passport that contains a temporary I-551 stamp or temporary I-551 printed notation on a machine-readable immigrant visa (MRIV)" under List A.

(by the way - your visas expired the day you used them. They are now temporary green cards.)

 

It is kind of odd that both your cards are missing, usually if something goes wrong (a valid concern after 130 days) it is just one card in the family. We have seen people before convinced the address was right but it wasn't, or that they paid the fee but they were thinking of the visa fee not the green card fee, so I am going to triple check on those factors.

 

What is the latest case status on your receipt number showing at https://egov.uscis.gov/casestatus/landing.do ? 

 

Separately, I would submit an online query rather than call. https://egov.uscis.gov/e-request/displayONPTForm.do

 

If you continue to get no help from USCIS, contact your congressperson's office.

 

 

The latest case status is "Immigrant Visa Fee Payment Received". I will submit the online query right away. 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

40 minutes ago, Pratik Hyomba said:

The latest case status is "Immigrant Visa Fee Payment Received". I will submit the online query right away. 

For both of them? Yeah, so it hasn’t even gone to production yet. That doesn’t seem right. Definitely contact them online. 
 

https://www.uscis.gov/forms/uscis-immigrant-fee#Track_Card_Status

the previous link I gave you works for a request but they also give this one as an option to use https://my.uscis.gov/account/v1/needhelp 

 

[JacobP 185]

19 hours ago, Pratik Hyomba said:

Yes I have 551 stamp, but employers are hesitant to hire me with this for a job, they ask for actual green card. And yes DMV accepts 551 and it asks for expiry date also and expired date cannot be used in DMV registration. 

And yes we paid the fees and address is right too. 

For what it's worth, it would be illegal for an employer to not hire you based on you having a stamp instead of a physical card. They can't ask to see your permanent residence document before you accept an offer, and they can't refuse to hire you because you have a stamp instead of a green card, otherwise it would be discrimination. See here https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/employee-rights-resources/preventing-discrimination/preventing-discrimination

[Mike E 11,739]

Stop showing your potential employers your passport and instead start showing them your SS card and your state photo ID. These are the only two documents you need to present. The SS card is proof of authorization to work in the USA. The state ID is proof of identity.