I-751 jointly filed. Spouse now deceased.

[SomeGuy 3]

Long story short. My condition green card expired in 2017 and we both jointly filed for the renewal/petition to remove two year conditions. This was in mid 2017. Unfortunately she passed away in mid February this year. My case has been bounced around office to office with new jurisdiction for the past few months. I called the UCSIS about the situation and they told me to bring the death certificate to the interview if I am called into one. However, I see a waiver is needing to be filed? I really cant get a solid answer. 

[Dashinka 24,512]

This is what I found.  I think the IO would change it to a waiver in your situation, but maybe @Zombie69 may weigh in as I believe they went through a similar situation.

 

If your spouse died after you filed an I-751 with both your signatures, USCIS cannot approve the I-751 (not even if it was submitted on time, before the deadline). You will have to ask USCIS to convert your I-751 into one with a waiver request. Get in touch with the USCIS Customer Contact center to get help with this; it might make an appointment for you to visit a local USCIS office.

 

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/what-conditional-residents-should-do-after-spouses-death.html

Edited April 7, 2020 by Dashinka

[Zombie69 363]

52 minutes ago, SomeGuy said:

Long story short. My condition green card expired in 2017 and we both jointly filed for the renewal/petition to remove two year conditions. This was in mid 2017. Unfortunately she passed away in mid February this year. My case has been bounced around office to office with new jurisdiction for the past few months. I called the UCSIS about the situation and they told me to bring the death certificate to the interview if I am called into one. However, I see a waiver is needing to be filed? I really cant get a solid answer. 

Hi, someguy, I am so sorry about your wife. My condolences. I went through the same situation like you. We filed joint 751 to remove conditions and we later on applied for N400. My husband passed away 3 days after the 400 interview(the IO was going to reschedule my 751/400 combo interview,  but I told him my husband was in critical condition and proved it with documents and photos) while my 751 was pending . What I did was I submitted a request to convert our joint 751 to a widower waiver application with the proof from the mortuary proving my husband passed and stated once the death certificate was available, I would submit it right away. I walked in as an emergency requesting to see an officer right away, and someone was assisting me at the window, and 2 weeks later when the death certificate was available, I took it to the USCIS as an emergency and submitted it. Most importantly, you have to tell the USCIS office it is an emergency because you want to convert your 751 to a widow waiver application, and when your wife's death certificate is available, take it to the office as an emergency again, and submit it there, and they will adjudicate your 751, that will be 2 visits as an emergency. I got my 751 approved 3 or 4 weeks after I submitted my late husband's death certificate, I was naturalized a month after that because I had 751 and 400 pending at the same time. Good luck, and sorry again for your loss. If you did what I did, you should be ok. My lawyer advised me to do so right away after my spouse passed. Take care and good luck. Feel free to ask me if you have more questions.

36 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

This is what I found.  I think the IO would change it to a waiver in your situation, but maybe @Zombie69 may weigh in as I believe they went through a similar situation.

 

If your spouse died after you filed an I-751 with both your signatures, USCIS cannot approve the I-751 (not even if it was submitted on time, before the deadline). You will have to ask USCIS to convert your I-751 into one with a waiver request. Get in touch with the USCIS Customer Contact center to get help with this; it might make an appointment for you to visit a local USCIS office.

 

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/what-conditional-residents-should-do-after-spouses-death.html

You are correct. I walked in as an emergency when I got my spouse's death certificate, they took care of it right away as I explained to Someguy above. 

Edited April 7, 2020 by Zombie69

[SomeGuy 3]

Wow that sounds like a terrible ordeal! You have my sympathies. Thank you for the help. I'm getting the run around by USCIS. I've called twice and both supervisors I have been transferred to have told me to wait it out and bring the death certificate to the interview. My case has finally reached my local office too. It doesn't help that the local office is temporarily closed during due to corona so I cant do an emergency walk in.

[SomeGuy 3]

Update to this. Many years later.

 

I did have an interview scheduled. Then two days later it was cancelled. Or descheduled is how they put it for unforeseen circumstances.

 

Four months after the cancellation I recieved a notification that my case was approved and card was being shipped out. Interview skipped altogether. 

 

Ten year residency card in my hands six years later. 

[OldUser 6,709]

Congrats and thank you for the update @SomeGuy!