Hello,

I understand that if we did not receive the 10 year green card before the expiration of the 1 year extension, we need to get our passport stamp the I-551 for another 6 months. Do we consider out of status if we did not get our passport stamp for another 6 months and the new card not yet arrive after the 1 year expiration date? Is it compulsory to make an appointment to get the passport stamp?

Thanks for the reply.

AFAIK you are in legal status as long as USCIS does not take a decision on your petition. So you do not to worry about I-551. Good luck.

It only becomes a problem if you are called upon to prove you are a legal immigrant - ie for driver's license renewals, new employment, etc. You should renew the one year extension though, just to be on the safe side.

Can we make the renewal appointment after the one year extension date? We will be out of town this week and by the time we come back, the 1 year extension date is already expired.

Thank you for the reply.

Yes, you can make the appointment even after the current stamp expires. Bring your expired greencard and your passport with the expired stamp with you. They will look up your information via your Alien # and be able to determine your status from that. You can make your appointment via the internet at www.uscis.gov. It is on the right hand side. Follow the prompts and you should be able to select a date that is good for you. Good luck.

Hi, I just registered to this site today, so please forgive my "ignorance". My Conditional GC will expire on July 27/2008, well, the one year extention I mean. After reading your comments I realize more and more that I should get an infopass. My problem is that my passport has exprired. The reason I didn't renew it is because I was expecting to get my Permanent GC so I can submit it with my passport renewal application. My temporary GC is on a different name than my passport because I changed my name after I got married.
1) What shall I do?
After almost one year we got a divorce, I filed the I-751 on my own last year in June, got the NOA in July 2007 and a Notice of Transfer to CSC on April 9/2008. Since then my case is pending. I called USCIS 3 times since May, they ask me to wait.
2) Cound this be a bad sign or it is just a matter of delay in processing the application?
I remember reading on the USCIS site, somwhere, that if they want to interview you on the I-751, they must do it withing the first 90 days from the day they receive the application.
3)Can anyone confirm?

You don't need the stamp, you are not 'out of status', the only reason you need the stamp is if you were going to travel.. my 1 yr extension expires next week and guess what I am going to do..... NOTHING, sit on my skinny butt and save some gas because it is simply a waste of time to go get the stamp UNLESS you are going to travel abroad or use your passport for something. You don't even need that stuff for employment verification provided you have other supporting documents such as valid driver license and SS card....

BTW I even called the USCIS helpline and they verified that it was not required...

The only reason I could see us needing the stamp is if we live in Arizona, work in a tomato field and look Mexican.... Not to offend anybody with that, just needed an example... I look pretty Mexican myself LOL

Gabrielarad, if your passport is expired, you can get an I-94 with the I-551 stamp -- just bring a couple of passport photos with you when you go to the Infopass appt. The stamped I-94 will serve as your proof of status.
The delay is not necessarily a bad sign -- some of these cases have been taking a loooooooooong time.
I'm curious where you heard that USCIS needs to decide whether to interview you within 90 days -- as far as I know, they can interview you at any time until your case is adjudicated.
Good luck!

RADACOS, thank you so much for the reply, multumesc, I see you are Romanian also. So to get the INFOPASS I make the appointment with the LOCAL USCIS office, right? I do hope the delay is not a bad thing, your info made me relax a bit. Where I found the info about the interview must be help within the first 90 days from the date you sent your I751, somewhere within the USCIS official website, a link. I will look for it and send it to you. Please stay in touch:)

Cu placere! To make an Infopass appt., go to http://infopass.uscis.gov/ and follow the prompts. The appt. will take place at your local office, but you must schedule it online. Good luck!

Petition review —(1) Authority to waive interview. The director of the service center shall review the Form I–829 and the supporting documents to determine whether to waive the interview required by the Act. If satisfied that the requirements set forth in paragraph ©(1) of this section have been met, the service center director may waive the interview and approve the petition. If not so satisfied, then the service center director shall forward the petition to the district director having jurisdiction over the location of the alien entrepreneur's commercia l enterprise in the United States so that an interview of the alien entrepreneur may be conducted. The director must either waive the requirement for an interview and adjudicate the petition or arrange for an interview within 90 days of the date on which the petition was properly filed.



(2) Location of interview. Unless waived, an interview relating to the Form I–829 shall be conducted by an immigration examiner or other officer so designated by the district director at the district office that has jurisdiction over the location of the alien entrepreneur's commercial enterprise in the United States.


the website address:http://www.uscis.gov/propub/ProPubVAP.jsp?dockey=bf6d8a7298b058542add9eda3bd080b8

http://www.uscis.gov/propub/ProPubVAP.jsp?...add9eda3bd080b8
Petition review —(1) Authority to waive interview. The director of the service center shall review the Form I–829 and the supporting documents to determine whether to waive the interview required by the Act. If satisfied that the requirements set forth in paragraph ©(1) of this section have been met, the service center director may waive the interview and approve the petition. If not so satisfied, then the service center director shall forward the petition to the district director having jurisdiction over the location of the alien entrepreneur's commercia l enterprise in the United States so that an interview of the alien entrepreneur may be conducted. The director must either waive the requirement for an interview and adjudicate the petition or arrange for an interview within 90 days of the date on which the petition was properly filed.



(2) Location of interview. Unless waived, an interview relating to the Form I–829 shall be conducted by an immigration examiner or other officer so designated by the district director at the district office that has jurisdiction over the location of the alien entrepreneur's commercial enterprise in the United States.

Here is the corect paragraph, same web address:
( Interview —(1) Authority to waive interview. The director of the regional service center shall review the Form I–751 filed by the alien and the alien's spouse to determine whether to waive the interview required by the Act. If satisfied that the marriage was not for the purpose of evading the immigration laws, the regional service center director may waive the interview and approve the petition. If not so satisfied, then the regional service center director shall forward the petition to the district director having jurisdiction over the place of the a lien's residence so that an interview of both the alien and the alien's spouse may be conducted. The director must either waive the requirement for an interview and adjudicate the petition or arrange for an interview within 90 days of the date on which the petition was properly filed.



(2) Location of interview. Unless waived, an interview on the Form I–751 shall be conducted by an immigration examiner or other officer so designated by the district director at the district office, files control office or suboffice having jurisdiction over the residence of the joint petitioners.

Huh... That's very interesting! I am quite sure that this does not apply anymore, since there have been quite a few people on this board who were called for interviews long after the 90 days were up. Anyone have any info about this?

It seems to be a policy guideline that they are not able to comply with. So they ignore it pretty much without anything happening to them.

The rumor going around is that USCIS is processing citizenship applications at the highest priority and ignoring all other applications, apparently to support voting rights for the upcoming presidential election. I haven't a clue why that could be so important to the US Government. Maybe Bush thinks most new immigrant citizens will vote Republican?

Regardless of the reason why, the processing of I-751 petitions has dropped off to nothingness, at least at VSC. Maybe they think it has little impact on the petitioner, since they are already in a "safe" status. But it is very inconvenient to carry around an expired Green Card, a NOA paper, and a passport with (multiple) I-551 stamps.

The conditional Green Card should be good for a longer period of time, like four years.



kenk3z