What is your status after you apply for ROC and the 2 year card is expired?

[eckoin 211]

Are you a permanent resident after the two year conditional card is expired and you're waiting for the 10 year card? Or are back to being out of status though able to legally remain in the country while the application is processed? 

 

Also, what is the i-551 stamp? I had my AOS interview yesterday, was approved, but didn't get any stamps in my passport. 

[geowrian 22,335]

You remain a permanent resident unless you abandon that or an immigration judge revokes it.

A green card is only evidence of LPR status, not the status itself.

 

An I-551 stamp is a stamp on a passport (or other document if the passport is expired) that acts as a green card for up to 1 year.

Form I-551 is the green card. The I-551 stamp essential transforms the document into a green card as well, and can be used the same way.

 

They stopped generally giving an I-551 stamp at the AOS interview years ago.

[eckoin 211]

15 minutes ago, geowrian said:

You remain a permanent resident unless you abandon that or an immigration judge revokes it.

A green card is only evidence of LPR status, not the status itself.

Thanks! So the two year conditional portion is just for the card itself, meaning, you're officially a permanent resident and will remain one unless a judge takes it away or you abandon it in any way? 

 

Say I apply for ROC in just under two years, my two year card expires, I'm waiting for the 10 year. I will not be lying if I said I'm still a permanent resident, and it's unlikely that I'll be denied loans due to the fact that I'm only a PR for two years? 

 

I ask because I was denied a 5-year car loan while on TN, because it was set to expire in 3 years and none of the banks would sign off on anything over 3 years. If I try to get a 5-year loan now, would a bank consider my 2 year card as temporary? Obviously every bank is different, so I'm wondering about the general rule. 

[aznhouston 124]

I knew many students were able to secure a car loan while on F1 visa. It all depends on how much of a risk you are.

And usually, car loan through dealers is eaiser to get. Banks are pretty picky  

Financially speaking, 5-year loan is too much for a car. If you can’t pay it off in 3 year, pick a cheaper car. 

[geowrian 22,335]

1 hour ago, eckoin said:

Thanks! So the two year conditional portion is just for the card itself, meaning, you're officially a permanent resident and will remain one unless a judge takes it away or you abandon it in any way? 

 

Say I apply for ROC in just under two years, my two year card expires, I'm waiting for the 10 year. I will not be lying if I said I'm still a permanent resident, and it's unlikely that I'll be denied loans due to the fact that I'm only a PR for two years? 

 

I ask because I was denied a 5-year car loan while on TN, because it was set to expire in 3 years and none of the banks would sign off on anything over 3 years. If I try to get a 5-year loan now, would a bank consider my 2 year card as temporary? Obviously every bank is different, so I'm wondering about the general rule. 

Short version: Correct. Unless you abandon permanent residency or an immigration judge revokes it, you remain a permanent resident. This applies even if you have no evidence of LPR status.

While waiting for the green card during ROC, you remain an LPR. You should receive an extension letter that extends the validity of your current green card as well.

 

Added note:

If you do not file for ROC, technically this terminates LPR status automatically. But if you file for ROC late, you are entitled to evidence of LPR status while they adjudicate the form.

[eckoin 211]

4 hours ago, geowrian said:

Short version: Correct. Unless you abandon permanent residency or an immigration judge revokes it, you remain a permanent resident. This applies even if you have no evidence of LPR status.

While waiting for the green card during ROC, you remain an LPR. You should receive an extension letter that extends the validity of your current green card as well.

 

Added note:

If you do not file for ROC, technically this terminates LPR status automatically. But if you file for ROC late, you are entitled to evidence of LPR status while they adjudicate the form.

Perfect, thanks! That makes sense. You're a VJ treasure

 

5 hours ago, hoangthaihuy said:

I knew many students were able to secure a car loan while on F1 visa. It all depends on how much of a risk you are.

And usually, car loan through dealers is eaiser to get. Banks are pretty picky  

Financially speaking, 5-year loan is too much for a car. If you can’t pay it off in 3 year, pick a cheaper car. 

It's not about securing the loan in this case, but specifically the validity timeline of the status. I could get a 3 year loan without issues. And it's a bit silly to provide subjective financial advice. There are plenty of reasons to opt for a 60-month auto financing deal, including better terms for 60 vs 36 months. It's like saying that everyone should go for 15 year mortgages over 30 year. Everyone does what makes financial sense to them. Are you better off getting a house you can pay off in 15 years rather than 30? Sure. But if you don't intend to live in it for all of 15+ years, then it may make more sense to get a different house that will appreciate more. Same with cars, except you pick one that depreciates less. 

[Newcron 6]

On 12/12/2018 at 6:35 PM, eckoin said:

It's not about securing the loan in this case, but specifically the validity timeline of the status. I could get a 3 year loan without issues. 

I also don't think this is about the timeline, but more about the risk factor, likely related to one's credit score and length of credit history.

 

Note that I'm not saying you're the one who's lying. I believe you that is what you're told. I'm saying that they lie to you exactly why they didn't approve you.

 

I know many cases (at least half a dozen people who I know personally) with international students on F1 visa getting a 5-year car loan without a problem. However they all have close to 800 credit scores (using the max of 850 scale) with 5-10 years of excellent credit history.

[eckoin 211]

1 hour ago, Newcron said:

I also don't think this is about the timeline, but more about the risk factor, likely related to one's credit score and length of credit history.

 

Note that I'm not saying you're the one who's lying. I believe you that is what you're told. I'm saying that they lie to you exactly why they didn't approve you.

 

I know many cases (at least half a dozen people who I know personally) with international students on F1 visa getting a 5-year car loan without a problem. However they all have close to 800 credit scores (using the max of 850 scale) with 5-10 years of excellent credit history.

I know plenty of people on TNs with 5-10 years of credit history, not particularly excellent, getting loans and mortgages without issues. However, I was new to the US, with a three year temporary visa, asking for a 5 year loan because "I swear I'll buy it out if I need to." I could use my Canadian credit history to qualify for loans, but it was the three year temporary part that disqualified me. That's why I went with a 3-year without further issues. 

 

I wasn't asking about my ability to get a five year loan per se, anyway, I was just wondering if a two year conditional card is treated similarly (no proof you'll even be here after two years), but that's not the case, so all good

[Villanelle 4,121]

Well TN is a work visa where you are now under family visa/permanent resident so to speak. Work visas are not designed to be permanent. So I can see some banks declining because it was under a temporary visa category. Some people have reported trouble with mortgage banks with a conditional GC (or extension letter situation). They usually just try another bank and are successful. All loans are subject to bank approval- there is nothing federal that would prevent a conditional GC holder from getting loans- most loans just require you prove legal status- but the banks will have their own criteria. If one bank refuses you, try another one. Some banks are known for being more 'immigrant friendly' then others. 

What kind of car are you looking at getting? (just curious). 

[eckoin 211]

@Damara

 

Yeah makes sense. I didn't really feel like shopping around then (and frankly, their reasoning made total sense to me), but I'm guessing now that I have more options it'll be a bit easier to find the right lender. 

 

I'm actually not looking to buy a car at the moment, I just brought up that experience as an example. I'll keep this one for a while, I took good care of it

[Newcron 6]

33 minutes ago, eckoin said:

I wasn't asking about my ability to get a five year loan per se, anyway, I was just wondering if a two year conditional card is treated similarly (no proof you'll even be here after two years), but that's not the case, so all good

Yes, sorry about going off topic. I often do this drive-by commenting, passing by just reading things and decided to pick on one specific thing to reply to although it has nothing to do with what the thread is meant to be about  

[Ontarkie 13,902]

~~moved to ROC from AOS form Work, student and tourist visas~~