I-797 Receipt

[LeThanhTon 14]

Hello All, I submitted my wife's I-751 in early January 2023 and to my surprise I received back the I-797 Notice of Action today. But to my disappointment, the Notice Type read Receipt Notice Amount received $680.00 U.S.. Was hoping for an approval status instead. Is it normal to get a I-797 receipt notice first then an approval status later? Sort of concerned. Any and all help is greatly appreciated!

 

 

 

[OldUser 6,608]

@LeThanhTon I may dissappoint you, but your wife's journey just begun. This letter extends the validity of your wife's green card by 24 months. She can travel internationally with this original letter and expired green card.

 

Expect her case to take anywhere from 1 to 2 years to be approved.

 

If you search the forum you'll find the threads like this:

 

Many of November 2021 filers are still waiting for their approvals. There's even people who are waiting since 2020 and earlier!

 

Edited January 15, 2023 by OldUser

[OldUser 6,608]

By the way, here is the thread for January 2023 filers. You may want to read it periodically to see the updates.

 

The next step is your wife may be called for biometrics appointment or it may be waived. It can happen any time within next 6 months.

 

 

[Crazy Cat 41,811]

35 minutes ago, LeThanhTon said:

Was hoping for an approval status instead. Is it normal to get a I-797 receipt notice first then an approval status later?

This is just the extension letter and receipt notice.  Your approval is a LONG, LONG way off.  This could take 2 or 3 years.  You will, likely, apply for citizenship before the I-751 is approved.  My wife's I-751 took 44 months from filing to approval.  You might have to be interviewed.

Edited January 15, 2023 by Crazy Cat

[LeThanhTon 14]

21 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

This is just the extension letter and receipt notice.  Your approval is a LONG, LONG way off.  This could take 2 or 3 years.  You will, likely, apply for citizenship before the I-751 is approved.  My wife's I-751 took 44 months from filing to approval.  You might have to be interviewed.

 

Whoa, thanks to all for the quick replies. Much appreciated. To add insult to injury, I sent back my wife's green card because USCIS reversed her first and middle name. She does have an add-it stamp in her passport but I guess she'll need another one. Our tax dollars at work.   

[OldUser 6,608]

4 minutes ago, LeThanhTon said:

 

Whoa, thanks to all for the quick replies. Much appreciated. To add insult to injury, I sent back my wife's green card because USCIS reversed her first and middle name. She does have an add-it stamp in her passport but I guess she'll need another one. Our tax dollars at work.   

Was the card sent with I-90 form? Because I-751 is not going to fix it.

 

By the way, this means the extension letter is useless for travel (keep it safe though).

She'll have to keep getting ADIT (I-551 stamps) until I-751 is adjudicated.

 

[Rocio0010 5,579]

I am going to say this with the utmost respect and hope you don't take it wrong. 

If you are going to DIY the process, you NEED to invest time into reading forums. This is the first time in about four years that I have been a member here that I read of someone expecting the I-797 to be the approval notice. It is well known, for us DIYers, that 751s are taking a year at its best. 

Second, the name of the stamp is ADIT and it stands for Alien Documentation, Identification and Telecommunication. I am saying this because you literally wrote "add-it" stamp, and no, it is not an add-on to anything. 

 

Again, if you are going to DIY, please please spend some time educating yourself. Otherwise you can make very costly mistakes.

[LeThanhTon 14]

2 hours ago, OldUser said:

Was the card sent with I-90 form? Because I-751 is not going to fix it.

 

By the way, this means the extension letter is useless for travel (keep it safe though).

She'll have to keep getting ADIT (I-551 stamps) until I-751 is adjudicated.

 

The odd thing is that all USCIS correspondences now have my wife's correct naming order Including on the I-797 Notice. But I guess time will tell if the naming order has truly been fixed. Thanks for your expertise.

[LeThanhTon 14]

31 minutes ago, Rocio0010 said:

I am going to say this with the utmost respect and hope you don't take it wrong. 

If you are going to DIY the process, you NEED to invest time into reading forums. This is the first time in about four years that I have been a member here that I read of someone expecting the I-797 to be the approval notice. It is well known, for us DIYers, that 751s are taking a year at its best. 

Second, the name of the stamp is ADIT and it stands for Alien Documentation, Identification and Telecommunication. I am saying this because you literally wrote "add-it" stamp, and no, it is not an add-on to anything. 

 

Again, if you are going to DIY, please please spend some time educating yourself. Otherwise you can make very costly mistakes.

Hi Rocio0010, no offense taken at all. The members of VisaJourney have been an exceedingly helpful resource for me and I am grateful. I lucked out and obtained my wife's CR-1 within 6 weeks through the U.S. Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City during the pandemic, and the green card within 6 weeks of arriving in the U.S.. 

The confusion on my part was searching for I-797 and finding a lot of references stating the I-797 form is a notice of approval which I've learned it is clearly not. 

 

So, is your spouse carrying an expired green card with a 24 month extension? We had to return my wife's I-551 (via the I-90 form) to fix her name order. 

[Rocio0010 5,579]

1 hour ago, LeThanhTon said:

Hi Rocio0010, no offense taken at all. The members of VisaJourney have been an exceedingly helpful resource for me and I am grateful. I lucked out and obtained my wife's CR-1 within 6 weeks through the U.S. Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City during the pandemic, and the green card within 6 weeks of arriving in the U.S.. 

The confusion on my part was searching for I-797 and finding a lot of references stating the I-797 form is a notice of approval which I've learned it is clearly not. 

 

So, is your spouse carrying an expired green card with a 24 month extension? We had to return my wife's I-551 (via the I-90 form) to fix her name order. 

I’m the petitioner. And no, I don’t carry my green card nor do I carry the original extension letter. Just a copy. I figured if I get stopped, then my DL and the copy of the extension letter would suffice. 
And if they want to further prove my identity they’re more than welcome to follow me home and meet my three cute dogs😝

[LeThanhTon 14]

2 minutes ago, Rocio0010 said:

I’m the petitioner. And no, I don’t carry my green card nor do I carry the original extension letter. Just a copy. I figured if I get stopped, then my DL and the copy of the extension letter would suffice. 
And if they want to further prove my identity they’re more than welcome to follow me home and meet my three cute dogs😝

Crazy how the process went so fast until I filed the I-90. Had I known what I know now, I would have told my wife, "guess we'll be changing your name now that you're in America." 😝😝😝