Viridian

For anyone else worried about this, I just want to confirm that the above advice is accurate. The 10-Year GC arrived the same day I landed in the UK, but I was able to reenter the US on Sunday without any problems using the expired conditional GC with extension letter.

Glad this all worked out for you!! I’m in a similar situation right now but on a tighter turnaround - got my approval notice for i751 in the mail yesterday and have travel planned for February 16th, with Case Status still stuck on “Case Approved”. I already booked an appointment with USCIS for an ADIT stamp, but after reading this thread I’m wondering if that was necessary.

Thanks, I hadn’t seen this!

I received the official notice yesterday that my I-751 (removal of conditions) has been approved (after almost a 3 year wait!). However, the 10-year Green Card has not yet shipped, and I have international travel planned for next week (February 16th). The notice explicitly advises against travelling internationally until I have received the physical Green Card, which is unlikely before my travel date. I contacted USCIS and have scheduled an in-person appointment to request an ADIT stamp on Tuesday. However, the USCIS Officer on the phone told me it would be entirely their discretion whether to grant it or not. Does anyone have experience with this they can share? My travel is not technically an emergency (i.e. family health crisis etc.) but has been planned since September and is my only opportunity to see my family in a long time - and it is too close to the dates to reschedule. Does USCIS usually grant ADIT stamps in cases like these? If they refuse to grant it for some reason, would I be able to travel with my I-751 NoA and expired 2-year GC (as I had originally planned to do)? Since my 10-year GC has been approved, can they still prevent me from reentering the country or are we just talking about a potential delay and administrative headache getting back in? Just trying to understand the situation and stakes better. Thanks.

I’m thinking I’ll give the Baltimore Field Office a month or two to take action independently on the N-400, but that would be my next move if the case seems to have stalled.

Thank you! Wow, 40 months is absolutely insane. I actually filed my N-400 back in November 2022 (after ~18 months waiting) in the hopes it would speed the I-751 along. What actually happened was this: I was called in for my N-400 interview in June 2023, but when I showed up at the Baltimore Field Office, they told me they couldn't process it until the I-751 had been approved by Potomac Service Center. I've been waiting to hear anything ever since. I'm hoping the N-400 process will be automatically revived now, and I'll be able to get my citizenship this year. 🤞

Well, friends, it's been 32.5 months (the exact processing time currently given for form I-751 on the USCIS website) and I'm pleased to say that as of February 1st, 2024, my case has FINALLY been approved. No interview, no RFI, nothing. Truly cannot believe how long this took. Are there any others still waiting?

Sorry, I didn’t intend to sideline your response, which I found very informative and helpful. I understand that your advice would be to reschedule my travel plans; however, this is precisely the scenario I am trying to avoid - both on a financial and emotional level, the costs of cancelling would be extremely steep. So I’m looking for the best alternative solution, knowing full well that the situation is extremely far from ideal.

Apologies - I first posted this in the I751 May filers thread and then realized this was a better place for it. Thanks for fixing.

Thanks for laying out the options. I agree that part of the struggle is not being able to make a plan of action until after the interview. I assume from the responses that attempting to reschedule the interview is futile/out of the question? At this point, given the choice I wouldn’t mind if they kicked it back several months or even a year - we have sunk a great deal of time and money into this trip, as have the friends and family who have already booked their travel, and on an emotional level the idea of cancelling is completely heartbreaking to both of us. So as I’m understanding it, we have two main paths: 1) Refuse same-day oath ceremony (if offered) and request a date in August —> if scheduled before/during our travel, attempt to reschedule 2) Do same day/pre-travel oath ceremony and apply for urgent passport processing 14 days before travel And it seems like, of the two options, 1 has the greater chance of success, since urgent passport processing is unreliable? I realise no one would recommend this, but in a worst case scenario (oath ceremony scheduled before travel, then rescheduled to a time still before/during travel) what would happen if I just didn’t show up (providing an honest explanation, but assuming I’d still be treated as an unexplained no-show)? My understanding is that, officially, you can get away with missing an oath ceremony without explanation twice - but what happens after that? Frankly, this trip is so important to us that I would file the N400 over again and wait another year if that’s what it takes. But would I then be at probable risk of deportation or other far more serious consequences?

Thanks all for the answers. I'm going to look into this further and see what my options are. In the meantime, I'd welcome any additional guidance.

Today, out of the blue, I received the letter with my naturalization interview date - it's scheduled for June 6th (I filed N400 on November 3rd 2022) at the Baltimore Office. I've seen no movement on my I751, which I filed in May 2021 and which still shows on the USCIS website as "Case Was Updated to Show Fingerprints Were Taken". While this is great news, I'm also a little concerned as my wife and I are planning to be out of the country in the second half of July for a (much belated due to immigration and COVID) wedding celebration in the UK with our families. Does anyone know if there's a possibility the citizenship process could interfere with this? E.g. is there any point during the transition from Green Card to US Citizen where you can temporarily lose the ability to travel abroad? I'm currently on the 48-month extension letter - at what point in the citizenship process does this stop being valid for entering the country?

Today, out of the blue, I received the letter with my naturalization interview date - it's scheduled for June 6th (I filed N400 on November 3rd 2022). No movement on the I751, which still shows on the USCIS website as "Case Was Updated to Show Fingerprints Were Taken". While this is great news, I'm a little concerned as my wife and I are planning to be out of the country in the second half of July for a (much belated due to immigration and COVID) wedding celebration in the UK with our families. Does anyone know if there's a possibility the citizenship process could interfere with this? E.g. is there any point during the transition from Green Card to US Citizen where you can temporarily lose the ability to travel abroad? I'm not very knowledgeable on this part of the process!

Congrats, keep us posted on how it goes. If you don’t mind sharing - how much notice (days/weeks) have they given you for the interview?

Don't worry. As long as you have the 48-month letter and your expired green card, they have to let you in as you still have legal permanent residency. I was anxious about this too, but have travelled to the UK several times on the extension letters (with and without my spouse) and have never had any issues. It's mostly just annoying to have to carry the letter around - I keep mine in a plastic sleeve with the expired green card to make sure they aren't lost or damaged. I also carry the older letters of extension and my expired UK passport (in addition to my current one) but no one has ever asked to see those.