NewToAmerica

Thnx again does she will have problem if she goes out and cum back with this 10 year GC from usa?

No, this will not be an issue.

Thanks a lot i really appreciate for your amicable help. Have u seen any1 who has gone along with same GC 10 years and was denied citizenship? But anyways i really thnx u a lot from bottom of my heart.If we dont change it will she b facing problem while going out and then cuming back 2 usa

Yes someone on this forum (I can't remember who) brought their wife over to the US and she received unconditional instead of conditional status. They just left it as it was and then when she applied for citizenship three years later it was denied on the basis that she was in theory in the country illegally as she was issued the wrong status (even though it wasn't her fault and she didn't even realise) and hadn't removed the conditions. Two years later she is still appealing the decision. And all of this was the fault of USCIS but they basically went with the attitude that "not knowing the law doesn't protect you from it".

If you send back the GC with the I-90 (remember - no fee is required as it is USCIS error), a covering letter explaining the error, and a copy of your marriage certificate, you should get a replacement card within a couple of months.

Then, you can relax in the knowledge that everything is sorted and corrected as it should be, and can file two years later for ROC.

Good luck!

we got married on may 5th 2013 and category on her GC is F21

Ok, she has been issued the incorrect immigrant category and Green Card. She should have been issued category C21 which is what should have been issued by the US consulate on the immigrant visa, and stamped at the Port of Entry. She has been issued unconditional residence (and thus a 10 year green card) in error. If she just left this as it is, she would likely be denied US citizenship as they would go back and see that the status was issued in error (and they are not sympathetic to a USCIS error!).

You must as a matter of urgency complete form I-90 and send the card back to be replaced, along with a covering letter advising that her status needs to be changed to C21 and a 2 year conditional GC issued that reflects this category. It would be helpful if you include a copy of your marriage certificate so they can see that you have been married less than two years.

There have been many instances on this forum in which unconditional residence has been granted in error, and it has only come to light years later when they get denied for US citizenship and served with removal proceedings!

Thnks buddy i got it today my spouse got 10 year green card and i m f2a category so should i need to contact uscis or is it OK

How long have you and your spouse been married? Was the date of your marriage before May 27th 2012? And what category code is on her green card?

can u plz tell me how 2 login in elis website i m unable 2 do. My wife came on may 27th and i paid 165$ on May 23rd but still have not recieved GC but got SSN in first week

If you paid the $165 fee then you would have had to do this through the ELIS website so I am confused as to why you are asking how to access it as you must have accessed it in order to pay the fee?

Also, if your wife arrived on May 27th it is FAR too early to expect her Green Card. You should only start to think about contacting USCIS after 45 days have passed since her POE (Port of Entry) - in which case it would be from July 11th. So I would forget about it till then, including accessing ELIS.

Sorry, I disagree. People have reported many problems when they do not change their cards. I read a case where at ROC time, the person sent in their 10-year GC, explaining it was really a 2-year GC. It was rejected repeatedly at the Service Center, and the person kept getting the package sent back. Eventually they were over the deadline, and when that happens LPR status is automatically cancelled and removal proceedings are initiated.

You should send your card back to USCIS for a new one, with no fee, based on USCIS error, and get a I-551 stamp in your passport.

Good luck.

Well I suppose getting a new card won't do any harm. My endorsed visa acts as a temporary I-551 anyway and is good for another 10 months, so it's no big deal to send the card back and then at least I will have complete peace of mind then!

Ok - I have an interesting update on this further to my previous thread.

I had an INFOPASS appointment at Providence, RI, and took along my marriage certificate, all my paperwork/application forms, and also a printout of the relevant page from the INA that states a spouse of a USC or LPR married less than two years at the time of admission or AOS should be conditional. The IO was extremely friendly and helpful and after checking the regulations himself agreed that I should have status C21 (Spouse of a Permanent Resident - conditional) instead of F21 (Spouse of a Permanent Resident). He set about the process to change my status in the system to C21, and he said he is notarizing my file to state that I am indeed a conditional resident and that I have pro actively brought this to USCIS's attention in person (he said this would look good when I apply for naturalization under the 'good moral character' heading!).

He then said that there was no need to send my card back to get it changed as what mattered was what was held in their system, not what appears on the card. He said that I should ensure that I apply for ROC 90 days before the two year expiration date. I expressed concern about having an incorrect card but he said it doesn't matter at all as it what the actual system says that matters. He said I could apply to change the card if I so wished, but that it wasn't worth the hassle and the waiting for a new card and that to be honest it saves resources and money for USCIS. He said that when I apply for ROC they would see that I am a conditional resident under C21 and they would adjudicate the application accordingly. He said that they would know why my card says 10 years and F21 because he has noted it on the system, so it won't confuse them.

He then prepared a letter (typed it out there and then!) on USCIS headed paper that confirms my conditional status, the category (C21), the date my status expires, the date in which I should apply for ROC from, and the fact that I am holding a valid Permanent Resident Card, but with an incorrect status code and expiry date, and finally that I had brought this error to USICS's attention in person, with the date, time, and his name and agent ID!

AND....I even got offered a coffee! WOW!

So, there you have it. I am changed to conditional status in the system, but don't need to change my Green Card over.

Oh, and apparently the agent said that this was the preferred method by USCIS in these cases, rather than i) applying to change the card, and ii) leaving everything as it is and then applying for ROC with incorrect unconditional status (as this confuses USCIS and causes delays and more paperwork).

Sorted!

Ok - I have an interesting update on this. I had an INFOPASS appointment at Providence, RI, and took along my marriage certificate, all my paperwork/application forms, and also a printout of the relevant page from the INA that states a spouse of a USC or LPR married less than two years at the time of admission or AOS should be conditional. The IO was extremely friendly and helpful and after checking the regulations himself agreed that I should have status C21 (Spouse of a Permanent Resident - conditional) instead of F21 (Spouse of a Permanent Resident). He set about the process to change my status in the system to C21, and he said he is notarizing my file to state that I am indeed a conditional resident and that I have pro actively brought this to USCIS's attention in person (he said this would look good when I apply for naturalization under the 'good moral character' heading!).

He then said that there was no need to send my card back to get it changed as what mattered was what was held in their system, not what appears on the card. He said that I should ensure that I apply for ROC 90 days before the two year expiration date. I expressed concern about having an incorrect card but he said it doesn't matter at all as it what the actual system says that matters. He said I could apply to change the card if I so wished, but that it wasn't worth the hassle and the waiting for a new card and that to be honest it saves resources and money for USCIS. He said that when I apply for ROC they would see that I am a conditional resident under C21 and they would adjudicate the application accordingly. He said that they would know why my card says 10 years and F21 because he has noted it on the system, so it won't confuse them.

He then prepared a letter (typed it out there and then!) on USCIS headed paper that confirms my conditional status, the category (C21), the date my status expires, the date in which I should apply for ROC from, and the fact that I am holding a valid Permanent Resident Card, but with an incorrect status code and expiry date, and finally that I had brought this error to USICS's attention in person, with the date, time, and his name and agent ID!

AND....I even got offered a coffee! WOW!

So, there you have it. I am changed to conditional status in the system, but don't need to change my Green Card over.

Oh, and apparently the agent said that this was the preferred method by USCIS in these cases, rather than i) applying to change the card, and ii) leaving everything as it is and then applying for ROC with incorrect unconditional status (as this confuses USCIS and causes delays and more paperwork).

Sorted!

Hi apple21 what wud have happened if u wud have kept GC which is for 10 years and second thing is when I can expect my spouse GC she came to USA on may 27th and I gave online fee of 165$ on may 23rd when she got her passport back from embassy thanks in advance she already got her social security number

Well I paid $165 fee on 1st May, did POE at Washington Dulles on 17th May and I had my GC and SS card by 10th June.

I found that before but I didn't bookmark the site. For conditional, like mine, it should be CX1.

Got it: http://www.uscis.gov.edgesuite-staging.net/ilink/docView/AFM/HTML/AFM/0-0-0-1/0-0-0-26573/0-0-0-32054.html

CORRECTION: My visa and GC is FX1.

Did a little google-ing and it is for Spouse of Permanent Resident. http://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/FY2001%20app%20E.pdf

Mine is F21. There isn't a category though for 'Spouse of Permanent Resident (conditional)' though?!

2 years from date of POE.

Ok, I'm going to do it then as would rather sort it now than face problems later if and when I apply for naturalization.

Many thanks for your sound help and advice! Much appreciated!

Yup make an infopass like I did. The USCIS agents on the phone are either clueless or idiots anyway.

Don't wait for the ROC, much better to resolve it now. It is a hassle but it is what it is.

lol! ok will make INFOPASS.

When they reissue the GC do they make the expiry date for the new conditional card 2 years from the date of POE or 2 years from the date of the reissued card?

My visa and GC was F21 too.

You got the wrong card. The USCIS folks who printed the GC simply followed what the IO at POE stamped on your passport. The IO followed what the embassy stamped in your visa. Basically its the fault of the embassy.

Mmm, so should I make one of those INFOPASS appointments and discuss in person, or should I just leave it for two years then file to remove conditions stating that I am doing so because I am in fact a conditional resident despite what my file says? Seems a bit daft to change the GC now when I can just do it in two years as part of the removal of conditions process.

ya - you have a mis-print on your card and it's USCIS fault. can replace for no fee via I-90 but must be specific in a cover letter about it. plus other stuff. other folk have the same problem though not the same category as you...

Well not really - the card hasn't been mis-printed as such as all the details on the card represent the immigration status that I have been conferred with i.e. F21 PR status. I was issued this status at all stages of the process - the initial immigrant visa, IO at the POE, and the endorsement in my passport. USCIS said to me on the phone that I am a PR not a CR and that as this was the status that I have been issued (despite the length of my marriage) then I don't need to do anything further. Bizarre!

I know that there are issues of people being granted CR1 or C21 status and then getting 10 year GC's in which case it is a card printing error - but my situation is different as the actual GC has been issued correctly to reflect the status I have been issued. My main query is why I have been issued this status at all the various stages despite my questioning it! I even told the consular officer AND the IO the date of my marriage! In fact - I even told the IO at Dulles airport that we were due to celebrate our ONE year wedding anniversary the next day!

I am a British Citizen and have been together with my same-sex spouse for 7 years living in England, and we married in May 2013 and filed for F2A in July 2013 at US Embassy London as DOMA was struck down by the US Supreme Court which allowed my spouse to sponsor me for residence in the US. Before that we had been waiting for years in England for the law to be struck down so my spouse could return to the US with me. My LPR spouse was able to live in England and maintain his LPR status by means of a re-entry permit (he was on his third and final permit up till this year).

After medical exam etc I had interview in January 2014. When my visa was issued the category was F21. I went through POE at Washington Dulles in May 2014 and they checked all the paperwork, asked me some questions about my marriage etc, and then stamped the 'Immigrant Data Summary' page on the brown envelope and wrote F21 as the category code. They then stamped my passport across the actual visa, and wrote 'LPR' as the class of admission.

When my Green Card arrived the category code on the card is F21 and the expiry date is ten years from the date of admission. On talking to a fellow immigrant friend he said that I should have been issued a C21 category visa, and even if I was issued F21 the IO at the POE should have amended it to C21, and even if the IO didn't pick this up then USCIS should have done so when issuing the Green Card?!

I called USCIS and explained and they basically said I don't need to worry as I have been admitted as a F21 LPR at all stages of the process and I should leave it as that.

This all said, I have a friend who used to work as an immigration case adjudicator and she she said that believe it or not many consular officers and IO's at the POE can issue discretionary permanent residence instead of conditional residence if they 100% believe that the marriage is genuine and the petitioner and beneficiary's case file is low risk and doesn't raise any red flags. The very fact that we had been together for 7 years, had met before my spouse was an LPR (he won the DV lottery), had been living in England together ever since, and were from 'first-world' countries and had good jobs and good incomes, meant that the consular officer and IO would not bother issuing conditional residence.

I don't really know what to do as USCIS are adamant that I should just leave it be.

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated!