On 8/13/2018 at 10:23 PM, Damara said:

First I want to clarify something I received a PM about.

When I said 'refiling will put you back in auth stay' I wasnt very clear.

When your 751 is denied your status is terminated. They will send you a NTA. But technically you do have a status is just not that of an LPR. Its a temporary status to allow you to stay in the US while you are in court proceedings. Do NOT leave the US. When you are in court like this you can not leave the US - its a 10yr ban. You can also go to infopass and get a 551 stamp.

 

So you are not illegal when the 751 is denied and your status terminated. However you are not a permanent resident either- they terminated it. You can still legally work if you are employed- The time between your status being terminated and your status being reinstated by either the judge ruling in your favor in court or submitting and getting a new 751 approved does not count as out of status. Your clock for natrulization also goes back to when the GC was first issued. If you are not reinstated it is considered out of status time.

 

If you do not fix the denial (judge rules against you) you will be subject to deportation. So you can fight the denial (this involves submitting a new 751 and asking Judge for time for USCIS to review and approve it and/or presenting evidence in court and getting a favorable ruling so the old 751 will go back to USCIS for approval) or you can not fight the denial and ask for your conditional status to be closed so you can apply for AOS through new spouse. (and also to not deport you once they close it)

 

Its important to note that these matters are complex and small details matter. Immigration is governed by laws, policies, memos and court decisions. Also there are various circuit courts in the US. Depends where you live. An attny can review the specifics of your case and advise you of the best path to take. For most people this is refiling because it goes through USCIS again. Your situation may be different. Speak to your current lawyer and then speak to other lawyers and see what they have to say. All I can do is give you general information. I am not well versed on court procedures nor do I know anyone on this forum that is. This is a DIY website geared towards general filing- and your case is not DIY.

 

Anyway you cant just submit the same exact 751 packet again. The denial letter should outline the specific issues they had with you. You need to address the issues. You can use a new waiver category but if you use the same category you need new evidence. If you file a new AOS the 130 goes to USCIS to be approved and then I believe the 485 is approved by the Judge. Some time through out the lengthy court process both marriages are looked at and both need to be bonafide.

So many likes and blind following to this mess. 

You keep telling people they are terminated yet they can work and if the judge “reinstate” it, it doesnt count as a residency “break”. So why use a false and harsh word like terminated when it does nothing like it sounds. 

these are all scare tactics. 

I know you dont see it but your answers are full of errors and full of judgement a lot of the times. Thats why we need judges to have the final answer on things based on the laws written. I read so many time how you judge “liers” etc. when you give immigration advice youre suppose not judge the story. Just give the immigration advice pertaining to the situation. I saw you deport so many people on this sub and I bet most if not all of them are citizens by now or atleast LRPs

Again for those afraid and stressed. If you have your PR, dont listen to ANYONE and i mean ANYONE but the judge about your status. 

USCIS is an AGENCY. They give the benefit s as a SERVICE to those who are ENTITLED to it by LAW. They also cant take a benefit because thats not a SERVICE. Only a judge can take from citizens in this country whether its your status, money, freedom or even your life. 

No ONE else can legally take from you anything without a judge having a final answer. 

The DMV doesnt give you a driver license, the state laws do. The DMV is the place where you fill the paperwork so they can see if you qualify under the LAW. 

This is why immigration lawyers give all these weird answers. Because lawyers are almost useless when dealing with USCIS because they are just filing paper work and giving them to an agency that collects paper if they are ever needed in court (thats why we have files)

lawyers however are your only hope infront of a judge to increase your chance at KEEPING your LRP Because law talk is not the same as street talking.  

17 minutes ago, ApplyingforN400 said:

Not true. If your I751 is denied, you can submit a new one immediately and USCIS has to honor another year extension. 

Edit: I just saw you wrote “authorized stay”

that is mental loops for immigrants who are stressed out. 

When you become a PR, you are a PERMANENT RESIDENT of the US until a judge says otherwise. There is no inbetween regardless of who tries to scare you to get you to confess something for the judge to use against you. 

It is important to know that it is the LAW who grants immigration benefits not USCIS, USCIS is only a paperwork collection agency to be used in immigration court. They DO NOT grant immigration benefits, they just provide the service which means they can NOT remove your PR status given to you by LAW, they can reject paperwork and then that paperwork is taken to court to get looked at in the most just manner in the country. 

LAWS grant immigration benefits, LAWS are made by congress and reviewed by judges. USCIS is paper collection agency with people trained to build a case against you in court. That is why we call congressmen so they can tell the agency “why arent you following the laws I created” and judges decide everything even for illegal immigrants caught at the border. Something trump wants to change but he cant. Because a gov agency is just that. A service agency they can never be just like the courts. 

On 8/12/2018 at 7:02 AM, Damara said:

Generally you are a LPR until a judge says otherwise however conditional GCs are treated differently then unrestricted 10yr GCs. 

 

If or when USCIS denies a 751 your status is immediately terminated and you are sent to removal proceedings in court. You can not appeal. The judge will review the denial and USCIS has to prove they were correct in denying you. So when your 751 is denied the first thing you should do is file another one because you have no status and refiling will put you back in 'authorized stay' until its approved (and you can keep working).

 

Now I know this makes no sense. If your status is terminated then how are you able to refile? Its because the law allows you to file/refile (repeatedly if needed) the 751 up to a removal order being issued. Does that make sense?

 

For the OP- Im sorry you are going through this. An attny will be helpful to you.

 

You were just denied yesterday. So you are now out of status/no work auth. You need to file something if you want to remain in the US. USCIS's policy is once denied the 751 they send you a letter explaining why and send you to court. The letter can take up to 30 days to get but you should get it sooner. (unless your attny already got it) Then you wait for the NTA. (notice to appear). You MUST appear. But be advised it can take them a long time to send a NTA or it can come quickly. There is no min or maximum timeframe for them to get the NTA to you.

 

In court you can renew your 751 and the judge will review it and if you are successful it will get sent back to USCIS for approval. (judges cant adjudicate 751s)  If you are unsuccessful removal proceedings will go forward and you can request them to be stopped due to the fact that you are eligible (and applying for) another benefit (marriage AOS).

 

If you choose not to purse the 751 renewal in court basically skip the first sentence of the last paragraph. File the 130 packet. Removal proceedings will go forward and you need to get them stopped to proceed with AOS.

 

Court proceedings can take years to be resolved.

 

You do need to be aware that if you file for AOS after a 751 denial you have to prove BOTH marriages were legit to get approved for the new AOS.  They do not allow a new marriage/AOS to be used as a work around for a 751 denial. So remarriage does not make the problem go away.

 

If you were denied the 751 because of fraud or suspected fraud you will not be able to AOS. If it was denied because of lack of evidence you need to overcome this and prove the marriage was legit (and then prove the new marriage is legit)

 

This is just general info. An attny can review your case and advise you of the best path to take.

 

Not true. If your I751 is denied, you can submit a new one immediately and USCIS has to honor another year extension. 

You are a permanent resident in the system until a judge says otherwise. 

Which means you cant file a new I130. Your second marriage has zero relevance to your immigration for now. Right now you need refile a new i751 waiver with better evidence, hope for an interview where you can plead your case or hope it gets approved with better documents. (Texts, emails, anything that could push it to the green)

If not, you’re going to have to wait for the judge to decide your case, your second marriage wont come into play until this point.  

On 8/9/2018 at 1:37 PM, Emmahello said:

i wrote something wrong on my application about time out side the usa. i wrote wrongly about the date. should i mention it during my interview. or just wait for the IO asks me. so confused. Thanks

They dont care about the exact dates since they have their own print out. They want to see if you are hiding any long trips etc. even forgetting small trips doesnt trigger any redflags. 

Travelling outside the US is only looked at seriously when it looks like you might have spent 6 months to a year outside.  

6 hours ago, Russ&Caro said:

No. The N400 interview is in 2 weeks. They set it about 7 weeks from when they notified us. I'm hoping in that intervening 7 weeks they're reviewing the ROC application. Most of the reports I've seen is that interviewee's are mostly approved at the interview and sometimes a few checks need to be made on the ROC. Anyway, the light is visible at the end of the tunnel, I think.

Can you point us to some of these reports pls. 

Also what do you mean by some checks for ROC?

Can anyone post the 6 civic questions being posted these days?

thank you. 

6 hours ago, Natonstan said:

Ahh! I didn't realize you were on here, that is really odd they interviewed you, especially with 2 children! But yes thankfully all went well, Congratulations!

Its not odd. There is a percentage that is picked at random. 

Random will always be a system that can not be beat, you can implement all security protocols in the world and you cant know for sure they are foolproof so you add randomizer in there, eventually it helps them catch something they didnt think of before. 

Here’s a thought, babies can actually be a form of payment, there are billions of different lives in the world. 

6 hours ago, Alabamak1 said:

you case sounds like a matter for an immigration lawyer. not a plain vanilla case. you would need to see what was the cause of issuing a second Alien number under your name. Overstaying a visa and doing AOS is not a crime, since they require you to pay a fine for overstaying and that clears your path for immigration. I forgot the name they use for overstaying the tourist visa. I think only a immirgration violation, but not a crime in terms of a felony (administrative blablabla)

He explained what caused the other number. While he was going through AOS, CPB made an alien number for his tourist visa overstay to refer the case to the judge. It could be a name varation or alien numbers were created in same week etc making the system not catch it until later. 

It can happen. An immigration lawyer would be able to make a judge delete the other number, its a system error. You were going through AOS, and they didn't catch that. Period. 

25 minutes ago, Going through said:

Is it possible to be approved in your parents' situation?  Yes.

Is it possible to be denied in your parents' situation?  Yes.

 

Trick is proving that they lived in marital union over the past 2 years----it's normal for couples to be separated temporarily due to finances, etc.  What will cause extra scrutiny, is that he left as soon as the conditional GC was approved (literally the same month it was approved), and then resided out of the country for the entire 2 years....and then as soon as the ROC is approved, he plans on leaving immediately and residing outside of the US again.

 

In your favor, you have the tax returns and other evidence to show he has been financially supporting the family whilst outside of the US.

Not in your favor is the amount of time he has been permanently residing and working outside of the US---I understand he is close to retirement which is probably why he didn't want to leave his employment----which is not what the GC is for.  Except extra scrutiny for the ROC due to this.

 

Best of luck.

I wonder what USCIS considers supporting family vs paying the stepmom for the service she offered. 

NOT saying its the case here. Just wondering how the determination between the two is made. 

10 minutes ago, aneeth said:

We dont have kids, all i am worried is questions that i have to answar in the interview to IO office. i was faithful but if i can prove she has cheated on me and its in the Divorce degree, will it make my case easy.

 

That is the only reason i want to file divorce on the basis of adultry. 

This is already problematic thinking. You’re worried about immigration more than your marriage while trying to prove that the marriage was not for immigration purposes. 

Im not saying that it is at all, im saying you are creating a paradox for yourself. 

You go with one thing at a time that you have control over. You file for divorce and get your decree, after that you refile with it. And you answer the IO with the true events that happened. You dont have to elaborate unless asked, and always answer truthfully and briefly, no stories. You’re not going to know what he will ask you until he does, thats why the truth is the only way to be prepared. 

4 hours ago, aneeth said:

Divorce is no fault basis and i am not showing that she has cheated on me in the divorce, Should i file the divorce on the basis of Adultry?

If you want to go broke with lawyers and court, sure. 

Divorce court is only to split finances and kids. If you want more money from her than you file based on adultry and hope the judge sides with you. If you want custody of kids, adultry is something you could use to help. 

If you guys can figuring out finances saparate and have no kids, then you go with no fault divorce, because the judge is not gonna shout at her or put her in jail and if she fights the accusation, be ready to pay your lawyer a lot of money as she counter attacks and you guys get in a nasty divorce. 

54 minutes ago, Scazy said:

I belive approvals are totally random in terms of case numbers. For example, I see tons of approvals on 30 May and it’s all over - some at the begging of the month, some is at the middle and up. I must say I got really anxious seeing approvals / RFEs wrapped around my case yet no movement in mine, then I discovered there is tons of cases from the first week of December are still untouched as well. I kind of wish I never got a case app at the first place as it gives me anxiety. Let’s pray and hope we all get good news soon. 

Didnt you say you applied for the N400? no NBC transfer will be getting approval through CSC it seems like. Different time line if you were transferred to NBC. 

I dont know why people give advice like “game over”

first, what the person means by “game over” is, that they suspect fraud, if thats the case, you have a battle ahead of you but not game over,  in most cases it takes around 10years before i751 is fully gone through denial process and appeals etc etc etc all the way to deportation. You can read some case laws about this. 

If your story is legitimate and you fell out of marriage in the months leading up to interview, you’ll need send a letter rescheduling the interview and explaining the separation, then start the divorce proceedings. 

At this point, lot of things can happen, and the most common one is, they deny you, and it would take around 2 years to recieve NTA, in that time, you are legal resident, finish your divorce and apply with a new waiver. With good proof, you can even get approved without an interview.  

1 hour ago, evapaula said:

yes, I read some of those stories, reminded me of a nasty officer at POE the first time I visited to see my then-boyfriend. She asked me for the purpose of my visit, and when I told her about "this guy", she asked if there were no more men left in my country :)) I almost told her that actually, he was born in my country, but I didn't want to anger her. 

 

Oh trust me I know and have similar stories. 

We tend to never think of IOs and POE as Americans with opinions (sometimes nasty) about immigrants and immigration in general. 

I wouldnt be surprised that some took that career path because of backward ideas about “mostly evil people coming to this country” and how they gonna catch so many of them then they get bitter about not “catching” anyone and realizing 99.99% are just trying to get by and live peacefully, so we get drips of their opinions about us. 

Good luck on your interview and congrats on getting close to the end. 

16 minutes ago, evapaula said:

do you know of cases where they did that? They were about to postpone my friend's interview because the husband wasn't there. She was able to call him and they waited, but I don't know of ROC interviews without the spouse present. 

I cant recolate them from top of my head but before the may NBC transfer there were many cases were people went without their spouses and sometimes the IO would glance at the I751 or sometimes they dont mention it at all and they get approval and oath. 

Before NBC transfer it seems like it was a mess and it was dependant on how the IO you get sees things, some even got mad at the applicant for filing the N400 with I751 pending. 

But it seems they have been briefed on combo interviews and finally realized that all combo apps are a god send to remove some of CSC backlog  

4 minutes ago, cococandy said:

Wow, congrats. Will you bring your spouse to the interview with you?

From what Im reading it seems all NBC transfers are going to have to bring their spouses. 

It seems like they went through the mess with different scenarios but now that they seem to have gotten their act together, transferred all N400 combos to NBC and you have to bring a spouse if you have an I751 pending. 

While they are still missing letters for some that mention the spouse, I dont even understand how they approved some I751 through intetview without the spouse present which is fully againt their own rules.

48 minutes ago, evapaula said:

@Name O Boy i'll eat my words, I just got an update:

Interview Was Scheduled

On May 31, 2018, we scheduled an interview for your Form N-400, Application for Naturalization

Congrats. Do you mind me asking what your estimate timer was saying before you had the interview view scheduled?

53 minutes ago, UnknownH said:

 

Hi guys, I got a good news!

On May 29, 2018, we approved your Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, Receipt Number WACxxxxxxxxxx. We will mail your approval notice. Please follow the instructions in the notice. If you move, go to www.uscis.gov/addresschange to give us your new mailing address.

Guys, this was mentioned before and should be stickied. We are happy for all approvals but this is a forum to gather data and patterns on how, why, where and when things are getting approved. 

Commenting you got approved means nothing to further the discussion, we need what center you filed, when, joint or waiver, interview or not, transferred to NBC or other place, filed for N400 or not etc etc

with this, your casing can help us get a glimpse of whats going on and what to expect. 

On 5/21/2018 at 2:14 PM, AH&JH said:

 

The conditional period is two years, after those 2 years (or 2 years - 90 days to be more exact) you sent your joint ROC documents. Sometime after that your relationship deteriorated and you are getting divorce. you were not getting divorce in those 2 years, you are getting divorce after having filed jointly. As you said, there is not guidelines but everyone agrees you must inform so you don't have issues later on. 

 

If you were getting divorce before filling ROC  you needed to use a divorce waiver and attach your divorce decree, but you filed jointly and just now (more than a year later) are getting divorce, send a letter informing them. 

 

My letter was more or less :

 

name

address

phone 

email

 

date

 

To: The Adjudicating Officer, USCIS

 

Re: Name, A#, I-751 Filing

 

On X date, I, (name), A# filed a joint petition with my spouse (their name) with the X service center (where you mailed it). My case number is X (I-751) & X (CRI-89). My conditional green card expiry date was mm/dd/yyyy. The marital home address was xxxxxxxxx

 

This year, explain what happened/your situation/why are you divorcing. Because of this, I left the marital home on -Date- and I have updated my new address on the USCIS website online.

 

On X date (spouses name) and I filed/will file for divorce/divorced. I will update you of my situation as I find out more.

 

Signed

dated

 

*Keep a copy for your records and mail it with a tracking number to the same service center you sent the original ROC packet to.

 

 

Just to let you know, this info MIGHT not be true. 

If the I751 is joint, if you are requested for an interview your spouse HAS to come with you or you will be denied 100%. The IO can not approve you without the presence of the spouse in a joint I751. 

If you get approved without an interview thats a different story, I think you are safe if you informed them (hopefully you kept reciepts for sending then letter). But even in this scenario some IOs in N400 interview or border patrol officers might hassle you in the future causing you a headache. 

7 hours ago, Snorlux said:

Applied at Dallas Lockbox on Dexember 2017 and my local office is Newark NJ. My i751 was being processed in California until it moved to NBC on May 3rd.

I remember my time line is exactly like yours. I was convinced thats whats going to happen and after NBC transfer its going depend on our local offices. 

my Local offices processing is excatly like yours too, I could assume my interview is coming soon but even you’re not close to the 9.5 average. So I wouldnt be Surprised if a couple of months or more for my interview.   

One thing is clear though, we are kissing that 10 year green card good by, will never see it. 

I would have thought interviews for this section would be a daily thing, these 3 super large offices dont have much movement as I thought or is it just me?

besides the average processing time posted on USCIS site for LA. What seems to be the average for the site here? Atleast to have an interview scheduled?

2 hours ago, Snorlux said:

Hey guys,

 

N400 Combo Interview Scheduled!!

 

I was in the bunch of people who had their i751 transferred to NBC. I just got a notification on my N400 saying that Interview is scheduled seems like combining with N400 wasn't that bad of an idea after all.

Nice congrats, if Im not mistaken you got scheduled way faster than your office average, correct? Gives the rest of us hope. 

18 minutes ago, JCCIS said:

Just wanted to give an update - my wife received a Form I797 Notice of Action in the mail dated 5/21/18 that said her application and payment was received.  This was not very specific and kind of confusing because it didn't provide any update on status or approval.  Then yesterday (5/29) her case status was changed online to New Card Is Being Produced.  Finally seems like the end is in sight.

 

Also it's disgraceful and embarrassing that this application review and approval process would take this long (18 months) and reflects poorly on our country.  I can't believe anyone would defend it.

As a Canadian, this is the sentiment I get from my American friends, while the country is still full of opportunities, lot of things need work and fast. 

Many things from laws to systems to infrastructure are outdated and need work. 

I see people defending USCIS here all the time and obviously as someone going through immigration I understand why, they want to be thankful (amazing) but at a certain point it becomes bending over rather than being thankful (Not what America wants from its citizens and future ones) 

Another big thing is, many immigrants come from countries where constructively criticizing the gov is a foreign concept and sometimes down right dangerous, so they live in a state of paranoia, while themselves are angry at the RIDICULOUS wait time, they have this fear that USCIS is just watching these forums and punishing criticizers. 

Anyway, congrats to your spouse. Enjoy each other extra this weekend 😉

Also let this be the “shut your mouth” moment to anyone who keeps telling us, the I751 is a “low periority” benefit. 

Imagine losing your dream house that you worked so hard for as any American because someone decided to sit YEARS on our “low periority” cases. 

They call us Permanent residents, yet people with temporary visas have proof of longer and much more professional proofs.  

If I751 is low periority to you, your life is low periority to you.