Hi All,

I submitted the I-751 packet for my husband at the end of January to Vermont Service Center. They cashed the check on 2/2/2007 and I received the FD-258 Fingerprint receipt. I have not received the NOA yet. After looking at the posts I see that Vermont is taking about 1-2 months to get the NOAs out.

My question is this. My husband's condtional residency expires beginning of April. I am trying to hold out in the hopes that the NOA will come within the next week or two. How long before my husband's card expires (assuming I did not receive an NOA) should I make the appointment through Infopass to get a I-551 Stamp to extend his status? When making the appointment through Infopass is there usually a 2-3 week wait or do they take you relatively quickly?

I just want to make sure I leave enough time for any mishaps.

Thank you all for your advice and guidance!

You have already done the important thing, file the I-751 before his 2 year anniversary of PR status. If you don't receive the letter by the time the card expires I would make an Infopass appointment at that time. It's not that important that you get the stamp before the card expires... just make sure that you get it before anytime that you would travel...

Several people have stated on the forum that CIS no longer gives I-551 stamps in passports for individuals in this stage of the visa journey. We did get my wife's stamped but that was before the policy change. We had an infopass appointment the same day we did her biometrics and the officer was happy to stamp her passport. YMMV

I was in a similar situation, because I filed only 33 days before expiration, to include the birth certificate of my second son as evidence. I made an Infopass appointment to get my stamp after my I-751 expired but cancelled the appointment when I received my NOA before that.

First, you don't need a stamp to be legal. Your filing, shown best by the cashed check, makes you legal until the USCIS adjucates your case. If your husband would continue to work with his GC expired but his application filed, he could not be punished for that, because he IS legal. But, of course, we like to have also proof of our status, to make life easier.

If you don't receive a NOA within a month of filing, call the 1-800 number of the USCIS and ask for one. If you still haven't received a NOA two weeks before his GC expires, make an Infopass appointment for the last possible day before his GC expires or the first possible day after. If the NOA arrives before that, cancel the appointment; if not, he takes his expired GC, the proof for filing, and his passport to the appointment, and gets a I-551 stamp there, because he hasn't received a NOA.

If you receive a NOA with the one-year extension, you don't need a stamp, and many (most?) offices won't give you one. But if you haven't received a NOA, you should get a stamp, especially if you can show the need, like a travel plan with tickets or a letter from an (ignorant) employer asking for proof of your legal status.