mindthegap

Yes. The received date will be the day it is signed for.

I've had four biometrics appointments...and I've done walk ins for ALL of them. Conversely, I've had many many more dealings with USCIS than most on here, and their 'official' methods - including writing a personally addressed letter to the director of the field office, sent by overnight fedex - are are an absolute joke and are often ignored. People tell you this stuff for a reason, based on their own personal experience, built up through an accumulated knowledge that is in effect passed down from person to person on here, immigration generation to generation perhaps. The advice on here is also free, and the vast majority of the time, very accurate. Use it, or don't. But if you post with that attitude, don't expect people to help you out much more.

As soon as you got back and realised you had missed it, you should have a) posted here b) immediately gone and done it, which is what you would have been advised to do had you posted immediately. If you aren't allowed to do it, you are in exactly the same position you are currently, but at least you tried. If they do let you get it done, you have the receipt from doing it. Biometrics appointments are some of the most relaxed part of the process - once you have an appointment scheduled, you can generally get away with doing it early as a walk in, or slightly late, as long as it is done (providing it wasn't waived). You would still have to have an I-751 approved....so no, it isn't easier in any way, or some magical shortcut to avoid doing it. Bottom line, you have to either get it done for this application, or await the denial and refile an I-751 from scratch and you will have to get it done then (if it isn't waived).

Thanks..the least I can do is pass on the knowledge I have painfully acquired during this hellish process, and help others to not have to suffer it. That offer is definitely accepted for sure if you are ever here!

No, your reading is fine, and that is correct. First I-751 was filed in early 2015. And yes, it is a level of stress above & beyond.

Before re-sending them, you could do a FOIA request for part of your A# file, from the date right before you submitted your i-751 to present. That will show everything that they have and will tell you if anything went missing (although big chunks of many documents will be redacted).

Yes. Not all agents are created equal, and tier 1 agents are generally medicore at best and are only for verifiying details and escalating to schedule a call back/appointment. Use my handy acronym: HUCA (Hang Up and Call Again), and if necessary continue to do so until you get someone competent. You are entitled to a stamp (as proof of status) by law. If they require an urgent reason to give you an appointment - and renewing ID, employment verification, and urgent travel are ALL classed as urgent reasons by USCIS themselves - then give them one. Scared of what? Them doing their job? Don't be.

This is not correct. You are entitled to an I-551 stamp by law, and the standard procedure right now is to call, the tier 1 escalates to a tier 2, who will (eventually) call you back, and schedule an appointment. They are saying you need proof of a job offer in order to expedite the appointment. They designate the callback in a grading system - super urgent callbacks within 24hrs/same day, slightly less urgent within 72hrs, less urgent within 5 days, and standard within 30 days. The urgent ones generally require proof or urgency - which is infuritating - and this is what they are asking. There is no requirement to have a job, so why you would need such proof of it to obtain a stamp you are legally entitled to is, frankly, bizarre. You could book a (fully refundable) ticket out of the country, call up, say you are travelling in the next few days/week on a family related matter or something important, send them proof of the ticket if they ask for it (some offices do require it via email upfront, some only request you bring it to the appointment, others simply don't care) and you will should an appointment quickly. It's significantly easier than their stupid standard 'we will call you back within 30 days' rubbish.

Aside from...the law being true? My post is absolutely correct - if the OP hadn't had that stroke of luck/quirk of fate/global entry/whatever, the options listed were more or less their only options. The OP got incredibly lucky because no-one actually checked their documents prior to boarding a flight to the US, as they are supposed to do. It is literally the law. I've shown my I-551 stamp and check in agents have insisted on seeing a card (that expired 8 years ago). On other occasions in the past I've produced the card and the letter and they've still had to verify with the supervisor. I've done online check in with carry on only to the US over a hundred times, and still had to visit an agent or at the gate every single time for a document check, even when my card was unexpired. Not having the card at the border itself isn't actually an issue - hence the advice and option to go to a land border from a neighbouring country. The issue at hand here was the very strict rules when boarding a carrier to the US, as laid out clearly and explicitly in the rules in the carrier information guide that all airlines with permission to fly to the US are bound to. It costs the airlines big money in fines if they let someone board without the correct documentation.

Nope. If you do, it's because someone breaks (not bends) the rules or doesn't know them, which is unlikely as they usually refer to their computer systems and the carrier information guide if in doubt. which clearly lists the acceptable documents. Knowing [removed] they will be sticklers for the rules and will not break them. I wouldn't even try. So, either a)get someone to send fedex it over to you (easy and quick - you can have it with you within 24hrs) b) make an appointment at the embassy for an I-131A boarding foil (slower - days, possibly a week or two, and around $600) c) fly to canada (easier) or mexico (harder) and enter via a land border. You will be admitted, but not before you endure a horrible visit to secondary while they verify your status, and then scold you in no uncertain terms for travelling without the correct documentation for re-entry. Those are your only options.

Because it is watermarked

I got an RFIE for divorce decree and other divorce paperwork, and some related stuff, despite my last I-751 having very specific dedicated sections with dividers with big titles written on, one of which - right at the front - was titled 'DIVORCE DECREE' and another 'DIVORCE PAPERWORK'. Never underestimate stupid.

Sure, what do you want to know? I have a very similar experience to you...

I can, but the inbox was full. Posting on a relevant thread and tagging me like you just did works well.

No.

Slim to none, unless an agent makes a mistake or bends the rules. Big fines for airlines for boarding people to the US without the correct documentation. You could try it and have them speak to the RCLG to approve you, but thats not guaranteed and would require some rule breaking (not bending). Your options: Enter at a land border - Canada would be better, but Mexico will work. CBP will be most unhappy with you for doing this, but it will work. This is your best option IMHO. Embassy for an I-131a (circa $600, a wait of possibly weeks/months, and could be awkward) A facility with pre-clearance *might* work

1)The card expires, not your status 2) read 1) again 3) you remain a LPR, and legal to work, until an immigration judge says otherwise. I've had two denials and two refiles and e-verifiy still shows me as legal to work - because I am. Failure to file does not immediately = no work authorization. USCIS failing to process I-751 into their system does not = no work authorization. 4) KISS (keep it simple, stupid) and don't over explain. Most americans, and HR people, are utterly clueless about this process in general, let alone the nuances of the pain in the butt that is the I-751. Trying to get them to understand that your card has expired, but your legal status hasn't, and you've filed something which will be accepted soon but will take four years to process....is.....not fun. You are a lawful permanent resident. End of. 5) Use unrestricted SS card + ID to fulfill I-9 requirements if you have those documents.

The receipt numbers for my two denied I-751 cases still show 'case received' several years later

Relax and save your ink & paper. I can tell you first hand from my several FOIA requests, that both front & back is scanned if it is double sided, and they have double sided scanners. If I had obeyed that guidance my last submission would have been a really ridiculous nearer 8000 pages instead of an already ridiculous 4000 double sided.

Nope.. haven’t the mental strength. The less interaction and USCIS bs the better. I mean, it’s only been over ten damn years now since entering on my CR-1 😐 I can work, I can travel - my visits to secondary upon re-entry to verify generally consistently take under five minutes - so the limbo and the annual renewal of stamps is just something I’ve come to accept as the way. I’m actually due a new stamp now, and I think this is number 13 or 14? Ridiculous. So really, I’m just waiting for whatever happens, to happen. If that’s (another) refile, so be it. If it’s an approval, then the n-400 will be going in the next day, and then the day after I’m a citizen I’m having a bonfire party burning every single damn piece of USCIS paperwork accumulated and that has been kept for reference and just in case. If I was to perhaps be re-married and only if I could do an IR-1 (because I could not do this I-751 thing again) I might consider doing a fresh I-130, but aside from that I’m just mentally exhausted from the whole damn thing. Filing over 4000 pages for the last i-751 refile was the limit of my patience and tolerance for this rubbish. USCIS can go f*** themselves.

It's a cover letter, don't overthink it. It gets checked to see if it's late, then scanned with the rest and little, if any, attention paid to it. Attn: I-751

You wouldn't have two A numbers. What a plank that 'attorney' is. You would have two RECEIPT numbers IF the first one was accepted, which has a 0.0000% chance of happening because USCIS wants their monies above anything else (there is a reason the cheque is on top, and they cash it first before anything), but when it is rejected, it is a nothing. No receipt number. You could indeed send a replacement now, but why complicate matters? Just wait for it to come back (every page will be marked) with the slip, write a new cheque, send it off. Hell, even use the same box. Even if it is after expiry it won't be marked/refused as late as you have a valid - and importantly, documented by USCIS - reason for it. I say again, relax (and FYI, don't leave the country if it does expire before you have re-sent and have the receipt/extension in hand).

Yes Relax.

You have no option here, as the extension letter is useless without an expired card. Use the stamp - that is what it is for.

Yes. Remember that you need the original letter (not a photocopy - it is watermarked) AND the expired 2 year card. One is useless without the other, so keep them safe. For any APIS requirements for online check in or whatnot, the expiry date of your green card is the expiry date of the letter - so simply add 48 months onto the expiry date of your 2 year card to calculate the new date.