How long to wait for Green Card after entering on CR-1?

[kerry_and 3]

Hi guys,

We finally (19 months with no RFEs) came to the states. We went through immigration on Jan 20th 2015. We are still waiting for my wife's green card to come in the mail. I went to the Social Security office and got a SSN card already, but banks are refusing to let her open a bank account without the official green card. Does anybody know who I can call to ask about the status of it? I have tried the fruitless phone tree on USCIS's website. Does anybody have any experience with this? I have seen some people say 2-7 weeks, but based on previous history, any estimate is usually much shorter then the actual wait.

Thank you

[Penguin_ie 5,986]

It took mine almsot 3 months but that was a while ago; from recent posts here, around 9 weeks seems average.

[dwheels76 5,463]

Hi guys,

We finally (19 months with no RFEs) came to the states. We went through immigration on Jan 20th 2015. We are still waiting for my wife's green card to come in the mail. I went to the Social Security office and got a SSN card already, but banks are refusing to let her open a bank account without the official green card. Does anybody know who I can call to ask about the status of it? I have tried the fruitless phone tree on USCIS's website. Does anybody have any experience with this? I have seen some people say 2-7 weeks, but based on previous history, any estimate is usually much shorter then the actual wait.

Thank you

1. First when did you pay the $165 fee?

2. on the http://www.uscis.gov/uscis-elis what does your status say?

3. When you call USCIS 1-800-375-5283 what do they say about your card?

Edited March 5, 2015 by dwheels76

[kerry_and 3]

1. First when did you pay the $165 fee?

2. on the http://www.uscis.gov/uscis-elis what does your status say?

3. When you call USCIS 1-800-375-5283 what do they say about your card?

I do not recall paying the $165 fee unless I was required to sometime before. This is for the CR-1 Visa. When we went through immigration, the guy only said that we should get some packet in the mail with everything from USCIS including the card in the mail sometime.

I will try calling that number

[dwheels76 5,463]

I do not recall paying the $165 fee unless I was required to sometime before. This is for the CR-1 Visa. When we went through immigration, the guy only said that we should get some packet in the mail with everything from USCIS including the card in the mail sometime.

I will try calling that number

Then you paid the $165 fee its the green card. Ummm I would verify with the petitioner if they paid it. If that fee isn't paid (It would have been paid after you picked up the Visa. You will never be getting that green card

That's why I gave the Elis link that's the green card website where the fee has to be paid and you follow the status of your green card.

Have you talked to the petitioner at all to find out what they did or not?

[kerry_and 3]

Then you paid the $165 fee its the green card. Ummm I would verify with the petitioner if they paid it. If that fee isn't paid (It would have been paid after you picked up the Visa. You will never be getting that green card

That's why I gave the Elis link that's the green card website where the fee has to be paid and you follow the status of your green card.

Have you talked to the petitioner at all to find out what they did or not?

I am the petitioner, ha! I will have to look up the fees that I paid online, but it was always something like you have to pay these fees before you can proceed type of thing. I never paid on the Elis website you gave to me, but also the guy at immigration never said we had to pay anything either. In a thread a while back, when it came time to pay for the visa, people on here said I had already done it through the NVC. However, since given the visa and coming through immigration, I have not paid for anything else. However, I did say I wanted a green card sent to the address during the visa application process, and the guy at immigration said we would get a packet in the mail talking about what to do next. What is the next step then?

[kerry_and 3]

I should mention that I just looked up what I had paid, and it was the "AOS Bill" and the "IV Packet Bill"

I assumed the AOS was for the green card stuff.

[Dualie 185]

The $165 fee is for the production of the actual green card, and you can't pay it until you have been approved after your interview, and after the beneficiary receives the passport back in the packet from the consulate. There is a page in there with instructions on how to access ELIS. I am a beneficiary and I received that sheet in my packet with my visa.

Edited March 6, 2015 by Dualie

[dwheels76 5,463]

I should mention that I just looked up what I had paid, and it was the "AOS Bill" and the "IV Packet Bill"

I assumed the AOS was for the green card stuff.

Mystery solved you need to go to the ELIS system set up the account and pay the $165 Visa Fee (we call the Green Card production Fee). Until this is paid there will be no green card sent.

http://www.uscis.gov/uscis-elis

[Exocet 88]

Yep, you have to pay the fee.

I POE'd in October 2014, but I paid my ELIS fee before I left Canada. It took about 1 month to get my green card in the mail.

Good luck!