ALIENRJ187

@goodsoohe5919 a number of people including myself only got notified on the tracker app of card being mailed.  I'd honestly still expect it to come within a week or so like others have.

@Sean and Kristina and others today, congrats on approvals and cards mailed.

@starsky i haven't heard of this status update before, sounds very odd.  Is it possible it got sent to your local office for an interview?  I have heard from our USCIS officer in 2016 when we did our AOS interview that maybe 5% of I-751 cases go to interview.  The fact they are making you wait for the letter for more info makes me kind of think that way.  Just an opinion, either that or RFE.  Both bad thoughts but at least they did something.  I hope it is something easy to get going and get it approved quickly.

1 hour ago, Aare K said:

Haven't even gotten the mailed notification yet, only that it's being produced. So that means I still got some time to  go right?

I've heard of people getting the notice one day, then the next day getting the card.  Also heard of people getting the card before the notice.  It should be within 7 days after you get the CARD BEING MAILED message.  Pretty close for the trip, but I hope it comes in time for you.  Where are you going?

16 minutes ago, Aare K said:

How long does it take from when one gets the card being produced to actually receiving the Card? My card being produced notification is dated February 22nd. My approval notice is dated Feb 25th. I have a trip coming up on March 7th and i'll love to have my card in hand before then. 

Thanks,

We went from card being mailed to in hand in 6-7 days, total of 4-5 business days.  We got the notice online on Friday, notice in mail on Saturday, card in hand on that Friday six days later.

Thank you @GBOS for the details, it kind of puts things in perspective for me.

@GBOS How does it the USCIS system address the basket situation if you have multiple forms at the same time, such as I-751 and N400?  Since one would be filed before the other, do they find your I-751 file in the basket, stick the N400 inside it and keep your place in line as it were?

54 minutes ago, SSKK said:

Good morning, 

 

I believe the "Action" is referring to my address change notice. I have read that USCIS priorities applicants who also have applied to US citizenship (Correct me if it's wrong) 

 

 

Based on the trends for just the Feb 2018 filers,  it seems most, if not all of the approvals from CSC have not applied for N400 citizenship yet.  I heard the same rumor as you did about prioritizing, but it doesn't seem to be happening that way for the most part.  I was wondering if the people who did apply for N400 are going to face extra scrutiny which might delay their cases for awhile.  Could explain why they are not going chronologically based on receiving the files.

43 minutes ago, redstripe54 said:

Hi Cosmos22, I also got an RFE which is quite annoying as I also put lots of evidence in to my package,

I do wonder if they actually even read my submission, I feel we have been picked out like an audit and just randomly sent an RFE just to have  quota of checks done! 

Because as we know on this process, there is no logic or system, I received my green card after AOS in less than 7 weeks, so now i must pay my penance and have it delayed....lol 

I gave them 4 affadavits, utility bills, car documents, tax returns, lived in the same house since moving here...etc,,,etc

They asked me for more commingled finances, so they will now be besieged with every single bank statement from me and my wife for the last 4 years! 

Tell me what you think! 

Did you or Cosmos22 ever file taxes as married filing separately?  I've heard that can cause a trigger for RFEs.  Then again the way things are going with the RFEs is almost random.  Maybe due to all the shuffling around of files to other service centers.

Got our notice 2/15, card came in today 2/22.  Never got tracking number and it didn't show up in the informed delivery from USPS.  We have just been checking every day in case it came, and it popped up just now.  So about 4-5 business day turnaround which is pretty good from USCIS.

1 hour ago, ch3john said:

We received the approval letter on a Monday and the card arrived two days later. You will have the card early next week. Congrats!

That is very comforting to know, thanks!

Got our approval letter in the mail today, got the online approval notice yesterday.  Letter says not to travel outside the country without the card and the card can take up to 60 days to receive.  Our trip is in less than 3 weeks.  The letter says to get a passport stamp if we have to go out of country before getting the new card.  What's the average wait time from notice to getting the card in hand?  Should we get an infopass appt if we don't get the card like a week before our trip?

Also I have USPS mail notice which shows the pics of what is coming in the mail today, the letter was not in the email the post office sent out today.  They've been slipping on that lately too.

So on the Case Tracker app got notice today that:

On February 15, 2019, we mailed your new card for your Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, Receipt Number WAC18104XXXXX, to the address you gave us.  If you do not receive your new card by March 2, 2019, please go to www.uscis.gov/e-request to request that we send your new card to you.  If you move, go to www.uscis.gov/addresschange to give us your new mailing address.

I checked on the egov.uscis.gov website to confirm and that confirms it as well with the same information.  I also went to my.uscis.gov where we have an account, but that one hasn't been updated since we initially sent our case in Feb 2018.  I've been following several numbers before and after ours via the app and every number before us has had updates by now, and everyone after us is still waiting on updates.  So they must separate the numbers into sub categories somehow to follow up on it chronologically based on case type.

We are going out of the country in 3 weeks so this is amazing news and timing for us and we are super excited.  I expect the card will come in next week.  Filed at CSC if it helps.

One other thing, I got a notice from the Case Tracker app that there was a system wide maintenance last night on Valentine's Day between 9pm and midnight so tracking wasn't available at that time, maybe they are righting the wrongs in the system right now.

6 hours ago, redstripe54 said:

Damn,  just got an update stating that a RFE is on way dated 2/9/2019, unbelievable, I sent in so much evidence, can't believe they want more! This is the first RFE I have got since starting the whole K1 visa process! 

Im sorry to hear that Red.  What types of evidences did you submit with your application?  I remember talking about how much my paperwork weighed with sone other members and thinking our application at a little over two pounds of paperwork seemed on the light side, especially when some people were sending 4 pounds or more.

So I downloaded the app mentioned here and checked out the case statuses of the 5 cases before and after my wifes.  All 5 before hers have been been approved, new cards produced or RFEs sent in the last 2 weeks.  All five after hers haven't been updated in almost a year.  Hopefully hers will be updated after this weekend with some good news.  We have an international trip in less than a month so a new 10 year card would be great to have.

Please be aware everyone that the current version the N400 expires on 3/31/2019.  So if you are waiting to turn it in or pre-filling it out in advance, just be aware the new version will be needed after march 31.

Looks like my local office processing time for an N400 is 12-18 months.  I would hate for my wife to have to possibly wait that long after waiting for almost a year already for a combo interview.  Maybe better to just wait until she gets the 10 year card and then file for N400.  I wish there was a way to know for sure if they just tack on another 12-18 months from when they get the N400 or if they streamline your process since you've been waiting a year already.

8 minutes ago, EmilyRosePF said:

I have no idea what the official policy is, but the last time my wife and I travelled internationally, I waited with her and didn't go through the USC queue. We were coming back from the UK and were told at Heathrow that they want families together regardless of immigration status for passport control (she's a UKC), so we just did the same thing coming back into the US. The CBP officer didn't bat an eye at my presence there.

That's good to know.  That sounds like a perfect plan then, thank you!

Now just to wait for April so we can file for her N-400

19 hours ago, starsky said:

My wife and I visited Costa Rica and returned to the US yesterday without issue using the I-751 extension. I did have a delay while checking-in for my United flight in Costa Rica, the agent seemed a little bemused by the letter and seemed to think it should come with a photo. I think she was confusing it with a Visa, which obviously this extension letter is not. I assured her that this letter along with my passport and the expired green card is all I was required to bring and should suffice. 10 excruciatingly stressful minutes later, she returned from speaking with a border agent and told me everything was in order. I then had no other issues, even returning back into Houston, which almost always leads to additional scrutiny and questioning went seamlessly. I'd go on another trip in a heartbeat! Roll on January when I can apply for citizenship. 

Glad your trip went well.  When you came back to the US did you and your wife both go through the same line in customs despite one of you being the US citizen?  We have a trip planned in March and I figured we both would just go through the same line at customs "for noncitizens I think", despite one of us being the USC who could go through the electronic checks section on our own.  Don't want to be away from her in case something happens you know?

4 hours ago, starsky said:

Those who have not received an 18-month extension letter, is your understanding that we will eventually receive one? Reading the various news entries that some folks here posted, it looks like most of their "catch-up" work has concluded. My understanding, however, was that they were going through all current I-741 filers and reissuing them with 18-month extensions. Is that not the case?

 

Most of us here as February filers, I presume, are several months away from an expiry of that initial 12-month extension (mine would be early April 2019), but I just fear it expiring on its own and not receiving anything between now and then. If that were to happen, I presume that we would schedule an infopass appointment and get a stamp for the 18-month extension?

I was going to go the route that @Danielle and Jake went if we didn't get an updated letter by November 1.  It seems like that would be best to do that if you haven't gotten your letter in the next week or two.  I believe they got their letter, then a few days or a week later they started sending out "corrected" copies to many other people at that time.  @starsky you never got the 18-month letter at all, even the error one back in August?  I'd definitely be calling them this week then since almost everyone else got one.

From @Danielle and Jake

So just a minor update / frustrating experience. We finally got the actual 18 month extension letter, after having just the "courtesy copy" for about 2 months.

About 2 weeks ago Danielle called USCIS to bring up how she had only received the "courtesy copy" and had yet to receive the actual copy, and she also brought up the fact that we have heard absolutely nothing in regards to biometrics whatsoever (no appointment letter nor a notice saying they will reuse the old ones). For the biometrics thing, they looked into her case and said the usual "processing times are taking longer, so you may not receive one at all, but our records show that you haven't been scheduled for one so you haven't missed anything", so that was good.

As for not receiving the actual 18 month extension letter, Danielle was told that "oh since you have a receipt number, I can't tell you anything about your case", and the representative ended the call. This made absolutely no sense considering they just told her something about her case in regards to biometrics. Anyway, when I got home from work I had Danielle call them again, and then give them permission to talk to me (since they won't talk to anyone but the applicant unless the applicant is present) and I told this representative about Danielle's previous call and what that representative said and they were completely dumbfounded and said "that doesn't make any sense, why would they say that to you?", and then she proceeded to look into our case, and put in an inquiry about us not receiving the 18 month extension letter, just the "courtesy copy", and gave us a reference number for when they give us an update on this inquiry, so we were relieved after speaking with that representative.

So then after a few days, we get the standard email from USCIS after they put in an inquiry and they update it. It contains a summary of why you called and the action they were taking. I was a little concerned, because in that summary it sounded like we said we hadn't received any notice whatsoever after sending in the I-751, and nothing about the 18 month extension was mentioned in the summary, which was frustrating because I was on the phone with the representative as she was typing it and she was reading it out loud to me as she typed it.

So we were getting ready to call USCIS yet again this past week to discuss this because we want to make sure they are looking into the right thing, but we lost track of time the one day during the week where Danielle and I have free time during their hours of operation. Then yesterday in the mail, we got the actual copy of the 18 month extension letter!

So I guess the takeaway from this here, and it falls in line with some other posts I've read, is that if you've only just received the "courtesy copy" of the 18 month extension letter, and it'd been more than 30 days, then it's probably best to call them and get them to look into it. No idea why this is the case, but then again, this whole process is anything but convenient. Good luck everyone!

8 hours ago, Danielle and Jake said:

We just received another official (green paper) copy of the 18 month extension letter, about a week after we received the first one (which I believe was from us calling them telling them we hadn't received one by then).

I like to think it was because of your hard work that the rest of us who only got gray copies are now getting legit green copies that we can use for travel and other things.  Getting two copies isn't that bad, good to have a spare.  After reading your post a week ago we were going to call by November 1 if we didn't get the actual 18 month letter by that time.  I'm glad you got yours figured out even though it shouldn't have taken nearly this long.

Our notice today was the revised notice, green paper, 18 month official.

Got a letter coming today from USCIS, probably the 18 month extension instead of the notice only.  Still, it will be nice to have.

USCIS reissuing 18 month notices https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-reissues-receipt-notices-extensions-conditional-permanent-resident-status

Helps make sense why I hear about some people here and in other threads getting proper 18 month notices now.  Hope to get ours soon as well.

1 hour ago, singaporekeith said:

False alarm.  It was just an original of the 18-month extension letter.  ch3john, you were correct.  Back to waiting..... 😃

Still waiting on our original, maybe it'll be coming soon since you just got yours.  Got our gray version notice months ago.

On 9/21/2018 at 4:37 PM, Slowloris said:

So, here is my update. Earlier in the thread I mentioned that I got an extension letter but it was on white paper. Then someone suggested it might have been a courtesy notice. I went back and checked  and it was. The courtesy notice stated that the original letter had been mailed to the address I specified on form G-28. However, I would only file the form if I had an attorney, which I never had. So I called USCIS, talked to the tier 2 officer, because tier 1 was completely clueless. The tier 2 officer had no idea where my actual letter went and asked me what I wanted, I said I wanted the original 18-months extension mailed to me. All of this transpired at the end of August. I received my actual extension yesterday, dated 9/14. I was getting ready to FOIA USCIS to find out where they had e-mailed my extension. Makes me uneasy to think someone has all that info by mistake.

Our 18 month letter was just the courtesy letter as well.  Since we still have 6 months at least before it expires, should we just wait for them to mail the 18 month letter or contact USCIS and get the actual 18 month letter?  I was under the assumption that we would get the actual 18 month letter once it gets closer to the 12 month one expiring.

On 9/18/2018 at 6:49 AM, Alex08 said:

Hey guys, I have a question. I know everyone is going to file for citizenship during the three year mark but I was wondering if there are any risks of not filing it right away. I do not intend on filing for the citizenship for at least another 5 years, will this cause any issues once I finally decide to do so?

My coworkers mom just applied after 30+ years here, went without issue.  We are applying as soon as possible so we don't have to deal with the waiting, excess cost and uncertainty that comes with a green card.  The political climate always makes you wonder what if?  Easier to apply for citizenship and be done with USCIS once and for all.