Sbrisa

I went through a very similar situation. In my case, my ex was extremely non-cooperative during what was supposed to be a dissolution of marriage (so technically faster because you should agree on everything) and didn't care about my legal status here, so he wouldn't sign the divorce papers on purpose, causing me to be in a very dangerous limbo for immigration. For USCIS you're either married or divorced. Separation is not contemplated so you have to choose a path if you want to proceed with your ROC. Originally, when I applied for ROC in 2022, I applied as married but requesting a waiver due to the upcoming divorce. At that point we would have been separated for around 5 months. I wrote a letter, signed by both, that I attached to the ROC papers I sent USCIS, explaining our circumstances, why we separated, why the marriage didn't work and why we were requesting the waiver even if we weren't legally divorced yet. Long story short, my ex became increasingly abusive over time, refusing to cooperate, threatening me not to sign in the (his) hope I would get deported and lose custody of our child, plus other distressing memories I will not bring up. A year after filing though, USCIS sent me an RFE letter requesting a copy of our divorce decree so they could proceed with my application but guess what? We weren't even close to being divorced. I panicked, hard. What was I gonna do? I didn't have money for a lawyer back then, so a dissolution was the only, most cost-effective way for me to deal with it. Somehow, after I told my ex about the RFE, he had some instances of mental sanity (guilt? regret? remorse?) and finally agreed to sign the dissolution papers. Being a dissolution instead of a traditional divorce, it only took between 60-90 days for it to be finalized, but my deadline to provide my divorcee decree was still beyond our court date. What did I do then? I responded to USCIS's RFE with a letter, explaining the circumstances for not being able to respect the deadline by a couple of weeks, by being completely honest and frank about it and providing them with a copy of the letter court sent us with the final hearing date, as proof we were really close to the end of our marriage. I asked for an act of good will on their part, asking them to be compassionate about my circumstances, and promising I'd send the divorce decree as soon as I had it. After that, I simply waited for our divorce to be finalized (I assumed USCIS would take at least another month to contact me anyway) and all of this worked for me. I sent the divorce decree asap and after three months I received a letter from them (or I simply checked the case status? Can't remember), saying fingertips were applied to my case and I didn't need to show up to renew them as they previously stated in another NOA letter. Would I suggest to go about it this way? Absolutely no. Was I "forced" to proceed this way? I think I had no other choice honestly. Someone asked me why I have not applied under the "extreme cruelty" or "extreme hardship" waivers, but we all know how hard those cases are to prove and even qualify for. Not to mention, at the time I filed the petition, he wasn't even half that bad so I had no idea about what was coming. My suggestion then, is to file for divorce asap if you have the means to afford it (so she'll have no choice but cooperate, unlike during my dissolution) and convert your petition, requesting a divorce waiver. At most, you'll get denied and will have to re-file, requesting the waiver this time, while working on your divorce. I am a big fan of letters, they have worked in both cases during my ROC proceedings, but they're obviously not a foolproof or recommended method to try and mitigate the situation. Having said that, I mean that maybe they worked for me but every case is different of course, and what worked for me might not work for someone else. In my opinion though, it's always better to send it and for it to be useless, than not taking action at all.

It’s not very clear (to me at least) the way they put it on the BMV’s and TSA’s websites. They do mention that “Beginning May 7th 2025 […] make sure it is Real ID compliant” but they do not clearly state something like “Before then, your Standard ID/driver’s license are still valid to fly nationally”. They kinda take it for granted and that’s what tricked me until now. Standard or not, I still needed a valid ID to fly and well… for anything else too really, given all my other documents are expired. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to schedule an appointment with the Italian consulate in Detroit before next year and finally renew my passport. Until then, I may assume I’m safe/graced about the whole ID/flying thing(?) As for my original issue, I wanted to give an update on that too (in case anyone will find themselves in my situation): my final hearing/divorce day was scheduled for two weeks after USCIS’ deadline for submitting the divorce decree, so I responded to their RFE by sending them a copy of the letter court sent me, stating the hearing’s date and I also attached a letter explaining my circumstances, asking them for an act of goodwill and forgive what was going to be a late submission of almost 3 weeks. Haven’t heard anything from them for almost a month after that, but coincidentally, the day I received the final divorce decree and sent a copy to USCIS as another, final RFE response, I’ve gotten a letter from them in the mail. It was an I-797C NOA, informing me my case was transferred to the NBC in order to speed up processing. I’m not really sure what that implies or means for me and my case, but a big part of me hopes they received my divorce decree by now and will still consider turning a blind eye on my late submission. Will update further in the event I have news.

Ok, I just went to another BMV and two employees told me that I don’t need a Real ID card to fly within the US until May the 7th of next year. They assured me a standard ID, the one I got yesterday, is still valid and recognized to board a domestic flight. I really hope they’re correct.

Unfortunately I won’t be able to renew it on time. I fly at the end of June and I’d have to get an appointment with the consulate, fly to Detroit and back and wait for it for I don’t know how long. At this point I don’t know if I should just cancel the flight or what. TSA emailed back but the answer was very automatic. They mentioned accepting government issues expired documents and my passport expired less than a year ago, in July.

My EAD expired in 2021. I received it a week before my GC and became useless at that point.

https://dam.assets.ohio.gov/image/upload/publicsafety.ohio.gov/bmv2430.pdf This is the list of documents you may bring to get a Real ID. As you can see I had everything they requested and my passport was not necessary, since I had the extension letter (I-797) even though my GC was expired. I've decided I am going to try with another BMV and if they give me the same answer I will have to be the Karen of the situation and speak to a manager. I'm going to bring the printed list I linked above, my birth certificate + translation, W2s and any other unexpired document they might want. I can't see why they'd refuse it if I'm following their own guidelines. This is my completed checklist. I actually have more than what is required and I'm going to bring them this too. Thank you again for your answer!

UPDATE: I went to the BMV earlier today to request a Real ID, specifying it was for traveling domestically purposes. The employee told me he could not issue one to me without a valid passport. I honestly don't understand... on the BMV's website they have a checklist of documents you need to provide if you are a non-citizen and as per such requirements I provided: my temporary permit (which sadly expires tomorrow), my expired Green Card + I-797 extension letter from USCIS, two different bills and my SSN. The website's checklist confirmed I was gonna be eligible but still got denied and issued a standard ID, which is not valid for travel. I called Southwest airlines to ask them about it and they told me to double-check with TSA, so I emailed them and waiting for response. I'm panicking once again and wondering if I should go back to the BMV and talk to somebody else. I really do not understand.

Interesting. I thought only US citizens could get that form of ID but I must confuse it with the enhanced driver’s license. I will get one from my DMV asap before my doom’s day. Thank you so much!

Unfortunately I only have my temp, that will expire later this April. I can’t afford to complete the course and obtain my full license due to literally having no money for further lessons and nobody that I can practice with on a daily basis. Instructors around here charge 150$ for two hours of practice only and it is not a sustainable cost for me at the moment. So basically I’ll lose my temp too in two months. To renew my passport I’d have to go to Detroit and I can’t for the same reasons . I don’t even have a car, I couldn’t drive alone because of my temp/nobody could take me, and for the cost once again. The Expired Green Card + I-797 letter extension for 48 months is all I have as a valid document. What else can I use for a domestic flight? Is there any other type of ID that’s valid for travel? Do I need a driver’s license only or is there any other document valid for travel? Also, I don’t have an immigration attorney…yet. I can’t afford ANYTHING right now, I’m barely scraping by, living paycheck to paycheck. Will have to rely solely on my tax return money, which will be late as usual cause my ex files super late every single year.

Good afternoon everyone. I would like some advice regarding a very delicate situation that's happening to me and that apparently happened to some other people. I filed for "Removal of conditions" on my 2 year Green Card back in October 2022. I filed for a waiver, having been separated from my husband since 5 months prior and in the process of completing a "Dissolution of Marriage", aka "No-fault Divorce". Unfortunately, due to various circumstances (eg. papers getting sent back from Court for corrections like 5-6 times, "ex" husband refusing to cooperate up until a couple of months ago, etc.) the RFE letter came in the mail last December and to this day we have yet not finalized our divorce. My deadline to submit the final divorce decree is March the 14th and I doubt we will have a court date before then. We are currently waiting for a hearing date and in the documents we submitted to Court, we stated that we wanted the final hearing to be the final date of our marriage, so if I understood correctly, our divorce would legally end that same day and we would have our decree? Considering a miracle is definitely not going to happen, I have a few questions that I couldn't really find an answer to on other posts: 1. What is going to happen if I do not respond to the letter? It is specified they do not allow for extensions, so that is not a viable option. Can I still respond, explaining the circumstances and ask for them to wait? Should I respond even without the decree on hand or not do it at all cause it would be pointless, since I don't have what they need? 2. Will my petition be automatically denied? How does it work? Will I get a "Notice to Appear" in front of an immigration judge and hope to have my decree by then? How long will it take for them to send me this NTA after the RFE deadline has passed or between the denial notice and removal proceedings taking place? 3. Will they ask me to just re-file the petition, including the divorce decree this time or just deny it + NTA, cause I don't meet the criteria for the waiver anymore? 4. What happens to my PR status? Will I still be able to work? Will I still be able to travel? I have a wedding to attend to in June so I will need to fly domestically to another State, but will my Green Card still be valid? I have gotten a 48 months extention letter, so as long as I carry it along with my GC, it extends its validity until October 2024, but if they send me to removal proceedings will that void both my permission to work and travel? My passport is expired, I can't use that as a backup method. I am at a loss. I don't know what to do and frankly I'm quite desperate. I'm afraid of losing everything I worked for for the past 4 years. I have a beautiful daughter with my "ex" husband that we effectively co-parent, I have a good job that is allowing me to go to college for free, I have my whole life here and this is causing me major distres cause I don't know what to expect nor what I can do to save myself from this. My hope is that by the time they even reopen my file to look at it, I will have my divorce decree and hopefully I will able to get away with the missed RFE deadline, but I know that's just wishful thinking, hence why I'm asking for advice. Thank you all in advance, from the bottom of my heart.