Quick question on removal of conditions

[thetreble 19]

Next week is finally my day to file for removal of conditions...

I get generally what I'm supposed to do. Did any of you include affidavits and do you think it's necessary?

[thetreble 19]

PS- krikit and others, I know this should be in removal of conditions but i trust Canadians and their advice to pls leave it here for meee. Pretty pleaseeeeeeeeeeeee.

[Krikit 1,165]

I'm not going to bother with affidavits. I feel it would be entirely rude and presumptous of me to request something like that from others. Unless, of course, they specifically request it in an RFE. But if they feel they need more evidence after what I send them then we have some entirely different problems altogether.

[Emancipation 2]

ha ha... yep i did 2 affidavits from a friend and a former pastor, and included pictures (about 10), christmas cards, apt. leases in both or names, me named as beneficiaries on his life insurance and medical insurance, passes to a state park listing us both, plane tickets in both our names to MO for Thanksgiving, bank account statements (3 per yr for the 2 yrs), letters from our medical Dr. addressed to each of us at the same address.. Hope that helps!

[Krikit 1,165]

BTW, it appears we will be filing at the same time. This should be interesting. Wanna send them on the same day?

[thetreble 19]

BTW, it appears we will be filing at the same time. This should be interesting. Wanna send them on the same day?

oh oh oh! Okay. What day do you want to send them?

[Krikit 1,165]

BTW, it appears we will be filing at the same time. This should be interesting. Wanna send them on the same day?

oh oh oh! Okay. What day do you want to send them?

Ugh. I'm going to say Tuesday, June 30th and hope I can stick to that timeframe. What date were you thinking?

[thetreble 19]

I can do the 30th. I was going to try for the 29th but I have no problems waiting that extra day. I have pretty much all my stuff in order. I forgot how time consuming this stuff is though.

[Krikit 1,165]

Let's go for the 29th then. I was basing the 30th on the wrong date.

[antda 13]

Hi Thetreble and Everyone,

Good luck on filing your removal of conditions next week. Make sure that you file within 90 days before your 2yr green card expires, and you should be ok there. Do not file it before or after this "90 day window", otherwise your case will be sent back, rejected and/or denied.

Lol...I've "Been there, done that", with the removal of conditions recently...And let me say:

"It was 10 months os USCIS hell!"... And yes, I'm glad that's over with now!

Here is my detailed VJ timeline regarding my removal of conditions journey:

Chapter 4 "Removed":

2008-08-18: Filed the I-751/Removal Of Conditions ($465 Form + $80 Biometrics for Ant), jointly by Ant and D. Also enclosed 100+ pages of required joint evidence with the application.

2008-08-22: NOA Letter/1 year Extension Letter (received 2008-08-27).

2008-09-24: Walk-In Biometrics in Buffalo NY, which was a week earlier than the original scheduled appointment date, due to long-distance transportation and other medical issues.

2009-01-02 (Expedite/Inquiry Round #1): Tried to expedite case, by the USCIS mis-information phone line, but was rejected by e-mail (on 2009-01-03).

2009-02-26: Ant’s Canadian passport renewal, as it was expired and needed for travel purposes and I-751 case delays in which a valid passport would possibly be required.

2009-03-02: Case Transferred from the Vermont Service Center/VSC to the California Service Center/CSC on, with e-mail confirmations from CRIS (on 2009-03-03 and 2009-03-06). Hard-copy letter of transfer received by mail (on 2009-03-27, letter dated 2009-03-18) from Vermont.

2009-04-13 (Expedite/Inquiry Round #2): Congressional Expedite/Intervention requested due to “high-risk pregnancy and case being outside of standard six months I-751 processing timeframe”.

2009-04-18: I-751 APPROVED! Approval Letter from Vermont received by mail (letter dated 2009-04-15), 8 months after the date of the original application was filed.

2009-05-18 (Expedite/Inquiry Round #3): Called the USCIS mis-information phone line to inform that the actual physical 10yr green card wasn't received yet. Service inquiry requested.

2009-05-20 and 2009-05-28: Card production ordered (1st notice) e-mail from CRIS received (on 2009-05-20), 9 months after the date of the original application was filed. Card production ordered (2nd notice) hard-copy letter received by mail from California (on 2009-05-26, letter dated 2009-05-20). Card production ordered (3rd notice) e-mail from CRIS received (on 2009-05-28).

2009-05-29: USCIS online official press release about Permanent Resident Card Production Delays…for up to eight weeks, due to equipment upgrades…Decided to schedule Infopass appointment.

2009-06-03 (Expedite/Inquiry Round #4): Infopass Appointment in Buffalo NY, to “get to the bottom of the delays” and to get a Temporary I-551 Stamp. Stamp received in Ant’s new passport, valid for 1 year (2009-06-03 to 2010-06-02). Infopass officer was totally clueless about I-751 delays.

2009-06-03: Approval Notice e-mail confirmation from CRIS...duh, case was already approved two months ago...

2009-06-05 (Expedite/Inquiry Round #5): Congressional Expedite/Intervention requested due to “unreasonable delays, processing errors, mistakes, inconsistencies, and inefficient USCIS service”.

2009-06-05: 13-YEARS GREEN CARD RECEIVED! from California/CSC (notice date 2009-05-30, card date 2009-05-28), 10 months after the date of the original application was filed. Card was received just when Ant and D came back to the USA from a vacation in Canada.

I-751/13yr Green Card= A waste of time and money! Ant will file for US Citizenship in August 2009.

Chapter 4 ROC Timeline:

Total USCIS ROC Costs: $545

(plus mailing and photocopying costs, and non-local transportation costs)

10 Months/291 Days.(Aug2008-June2009)

As well, here is the general list of evidence that I submitted for this stage of the immigration game, sometime in August 2008 last year (gosh, that seems so long ago):

Application form and application/biometric fees

Cover letter

Permanent Residence Card (copy of both front side and back side)

Canadian Passport (with added married surname)

Marriage Certificate

Pregnancy and Miscarriage Medical Notes

Joint Home Purchase Agreement and Maintenence Fees Letters

Joint Homeowner Insurance Declaration and Invoice

Joint Home Renovation and Repair Receipts

Joint Checking Account Bank Statements

Joint Credit Card Statements

Joint Non-Filing of Income Tax Letter/Explanation

Joint Automobile Insurance Policy Declaration and Statements

Joint Electric Bills

Joint Gas Bills

Joint Water and Septic/Sewer Invoices

Joint Telephone Invoices

Photographs during the years of our marriage

Joint Trips and Events Receipts and Tickets

Joint Mail, Subscriptions, and Junk Mail

Affidavits from individuals who have known us since conditional residency

From that general list, my cute, funny, unusual, unique, etc. I-751 joint evidence are as follows:

-Miscarriage notes (well, at least we tried before even though it didn't work out then, I would have submitted the ultrasound photos for those pregnancies too, but found that too personal here...)

-Information explaining non-filing of income taxes (if we both legally don't have to pay taxes, then why should we?, and thus have to explain of such in great detail, with additional evidence about it too)

-Home renovation receipts (we would have sent in 'the actual bathroom sink and floor tiles', but it was too big, so I sent in the receipts for the bathroom repair bills instead...)

-Joint events: Bryan Adams concert tickets (lol...ok, I admit I'm a fan of his, especially being Canadian), Buffalo Bills Football Training Camp tickets and Buffalo Bisons Baseball tickets (lol..ok, my husband is a fan of these sports, be it that they are local teams here in NYS that he enjoys)

-Junk mail: Baby diapers and formula sample products and coupons (I need the actual products for the baby, so I just sent in the copies of the envelopes and coupons instead), Solicitations for baby catalogues and insurance policies (and no, I never bought from any of those companies), Arts and crafts catalogue covers (I got them in both names and delivered to my house because I was teaching sunday school at the time, even though my husband doesn't teach), Church flyers, YMCA 1 week free trial memberships (which we never used, as I was sick with the flu that week), Postcard from the dental clinic to remind us of our appointments (lol...funny, that local clinic closed down recently),

-Photos (ok, not too unusual there, but it makes me smile every time I see them.....different locations, different seasons, different occasions...shows a 'variety' in our lives for many years)

-It's too bad that I didn't send in evidence of my current pregnancy, as I was pregnant after I sent in my I-751 application. I figured that they were incompentent enough as it is, and to update them with more evidence while my case is processing would just confuse them even more, so I just left them with the evidence that I had already sent. However, if they ask for such, I will happily send them more information about that too....

Lessons learned from this throughout this long I-751 removal of conditions process:

1) Don't give up!

2) Be persistent!

3) Expedites/Inquiries do help!

4) I-751= A Waste of Time and Money!

5) Most Importantly: Thank goodness for VJ! I couldn't have made it without the help from all of you here...

Alas, my immigration journey and other journeys are not over yet...Onwards to the N-400 Citizenship process next!

So stay tunned for more AntandD updates on VJ....

Hope this helps. Good luck with all of your immigration journeys too.

Ant (Done with I-751....Next to the N-400...)

Next week is finally my day to file for removal of conditions...

I get generally what I'm supposed to do. Did any of you include affidavits and do you think it's necessary?

Edited June 23, 2009 by AntandD

[warlord 73]

Next week is finally my day to file for removal of conditions...

I get generally what I'm supposed to do. Did any of you include affidavits and do you think it's necessary?

I don't think I did actually. I can't remember, but I know I wasn't contacting a lot of people at all for anything and I think at the time my lawyer said they don't really pay much attention to them since anyone can just write in a name and claim they've known you for x amount of years...

[Kathryn41 3,205]

I didn't provide any affidavits. If you have enough other evidence that shows definitively that you have blended together your lives financially, personally and socially I don't see the need for affidavits. I am also not on the mortgage or deed for our house but I did highlight how the payment for the mortgage came out of our joint bank account. I included bank statements, credit card statements, cell phone family plan invoices, car loan documents, car registration, insurance documents and maintenance records, insurance documents; pension plan and retirement information; health insurance documents; pet microchip registration, correspondence from my step-daughter and grandchildren; travel documentation for holiday trips to visit both families; photographs showing us with each family, with our daughter and grandchildren, and then with friends; tax transcripts - and since we were audited by the IRS in 2004 I also included the audit information; company newsletter welcoming me to my new job; bills paid by me for household and property maintenance expenses; HOA listing showing both of us at this address . . . there was more but that is the bulk of it. I made sure I included evidence that covered all 4 years of our marriage at the time.

Good luck and hope yours goes faster than ours did (12 months).

Edited June 23, 2009 by Kathryn41

[Krikit 1,165]

Phew. That's a great list, Kathryn. Thank you.

I expect this to be a long process.... so I have budgeted for 12 months before I start to get ticked.

[Autumnchik 6]

I did include affidavits from my boss and also from a close friend of both of ours. I just thought you HAD to include affidavits so I did!!!

I also included a copy of our son's birth certificate, pictures spanning our marriage, copies of joint bills (utilities, cell phone - as husband is not on the mortgage), documentation of our joint bank account, past taxes filing jointly, copies of medical insurance information as hubby is covered under my insurance.

Reading what everyone else submitted, now I am thinking, boy I was a slacker and didn't submit that much. Honestly though, I wasn't too stressed because of my "ace in the hole" .... my son. C'mon, obviously we have a legit marriage, I had sex with the dude, didn't I?!!! I just hope USCIS sees it that way!

[Emancipation 2]

Honestly though, I wasn't too stressed because of my "ace in the hole" .... my son. C'mon, obviously we have a legit marriage, I had sex with the dude, didn't I?!!! I just hope USCIS sees it that way!

great reply!!!