laowainelson

On 12/24/2020 at 11:08 AM, Gods-faith said:

Hey guys, I just have a question for anyone with insights that can maybe help me out. So I send my Form I-751 package to removed condition on residence to USCIS and it has been 6 weeks since it was delivered to their lockbox facility, however, I haven’t heard back from USCIS at all. I did not receive an NOA/ form I-797C. Should I be worried? Or is that normal for uscis to take this long to respond? I try calling uscis customer service but since I don’t have a case number I am unable to speak to a representative. The automated telephone system won’t give me the option to speak to a human. I do have an online account, up on checking that account I saw nothing on there. Also I had ask my bank about a week ago if the check I sent uscis was cashed and I got an answer of “no” . Does anyone know of a way to maybe get on to USCIS representative?

 

thank you so much for your response in advance!

Hi,

I think there are two things that you can do:

- If your check has been deposited by USCIS, you likely already have a case number. However, because you don't know your case number, you will not be able to initially get help over the phone. What you have to do is get in touch via live chat on the USCIS website. Log in to your account and you should see the Contact Page, follow the prompts and so on. Please note that USCIS will only speak to your wife, even via live chat, so she should be present while you do this.

OR

- If your check has not been deposited, then you  likely do not have a case number yet. If so, you will have to email the lock box to which you sent your packet to inquire about your packet and case. I believe everyone sends this type of application to Arizona, but you should check the USCIS official website and the email address should be there.

I followed the first step, because I was able to see on my online banking that USCIS had deposited my check but we had not received a I-797 and my wife's PR card was about to expire shortly. I contacted USCIS via the live chat but was turned down because my wife wasn't present. We reached out to them a second time once she was next to the computer and we were able to get our case number, request that a new I-797 be sent (we have yet to receive any mail communication from them about our case). Eventually we insisted with USCIS, were given an infopass appointment and got a passport stamp as evidence that we are in the process of removal of conditions.

I hope this helps.

7 hours ago, Gods-faith said:

Hey guys, for anyone that has filed their form I-751 did you receive your  I797 form? And how long did it take? We filed ours since November 16 and it’s December 8th as of today and still nothing. I was just wondering. 
 

thanks!

Hi,

Yes indeed they are supposed to mail you an I 797, but keep in mind that they are running on serious delays. In our case, they stated that they mailed the I 797 about 33 days after they received the package. Keep an eye on the check (cheque) that you mailed with the application. Is it a personal check? Have they cashed it?

58 minutes ago, Faith2020 said:

Did you get the answer for removal of condition ? How does it work and was she under deportation ? 

Hi, this "Removal of conditions" is for those of us that went through the permanent resident process and our marriage was less than two years old. Initially our spouses receive two years conditional resident status. 90 days before the expiration of those two years, there's an extra step to remove those condition and "convert", so to speak, their status to permanent resident without conditions.

Hope this helps!

9 minutes ago, Gods-faith said:

Hey guys,  I submitted my wife’s package of Removal of Permanent Residence, it was delivered today in Phoenix AZ. The 18th of November will be the start of the 90 days for my wife to file. I hope the package being delivered 2 days before the 90 days start time is not an issue. 
 

Btw, I have a question for anyone that has submitted their package already. How long will USCIS takes to open that package and send out a letter? If you have gotten that far already. 
 

Thank you for your response in advance! 

Hi,

I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but your application in all likelihood will be rejected due to applying too early. And due to the current government's rules, you are not even due a notice to let you know that your application is not accepted. For us, it took them about a month to actually open the package and cash the check (I believe I posted my timeframes on this thread), but the receipt date is the day the envelope arrived to the service center. I think it is very important for you to consult with a lawyer now, to see if you should send a new application or if you should wait and see what the outcome of this one is.

In regard to the I-797, according to them, they sent it shortly after opening my package (2 days later) and cashing the check, but I never received it and it was a true nightmare to get in touch with them, obtain our receipt number and request a replacement letter. We requested the replacement letter three weeks ago and we have not received it yet, but the case is visible in our online profile.

9 minutes ago, Gods-faith said:

We never received form I-797 either and the time is coming soon to file petition to remove residence. We will be mailing our package very soon even though we have not gotten any notice. Are you going to mail yours in as well without the notice? 
 

You won't get any notice advising you to file. You should file as soon as your time comes up.

The I-797 is a receipt after you file. In our case, we didn't receive it. We files in early September but the application wasn't accepted until late September. They cashed the check, but never mailed us a notice or it got lost in the mail.

This caused us to not know our receipt number, and we weren't able to get help over the phone. Their new phone system is a true nightmare.

Group,

We never received form I-797 and it was very difficult to get an answer from USCIS. The phone system would not transfer us because we did not have a receipt number, but we did not have a receipt number because we didn't receive the I-797. Finally I was able to reach them on live chat and they gave me a receipt number, the notice seems to have been lost in the mail since 9/23.

Hi fellow January 2018 filers, as an update for our removal of conditions application:

USCIS received our packet on September 3rd, and they have only deposited the check today, September 22nd. There are definitely serious delays happening, so plan accordingly.

5 minutes ago, Gods-faith said:

I still haven’t received any letter from USCIS yet telling us to file. Did you guys receive one prior? Also did you send lots of evidence in your package? If you don’t mind can you please say what are some of the things you send? Thank you so much for your time!

My pleasure, happy to help.

We actually didn't receive any letters or notice advising us to file. And looking at how USCIS and the government in general are doing, we didn't expect one.

We went by the "resident since" date and filed a few days after the allowed date to avoid being rejected for "filling too early".

Besides the forms and check/cheque for the correct amount, we included copies of the permanent resident card, copy of our driver licenses/ID's showing the same address, copies of recent bank statements of our joint bank accounts, copy of our 2019 tax return (you should include the transcript if you can), a few pictures of ourselves from over the course of two years. Also evidence of our joint credit cards. We also have a business together, but I decided not to include that to avoid any confusion, as that kind of paperwork lends itself to interpretation.

If there is any follow up from them, I am ready to ship a second packet with that kind of information.

1 minute ago, Gods-faith said:

I am actually close to starting the process for my wife. Have to submitted documents around mid November. 

I shipped ours last Tuesday Sept 1st and they received the envelope on Thursday Sept 3rd. As of today (Tuesday Sept 8th), they have not deposited the check. I will share the progress just in case it can be of help to anyone. 

I'm a bit worried about all the news reports about the financial situation of USCIS and what it can mean for the process.

Hi Jan 2018 filers!

It's been a while since the last post on this group.

Has anyone gone through the removal of conditions process already?

Dear all,

Happy New Year!

Is anyone already at the removal of conditions stage?

17 hours ago, SlimLisa said:

Good Afternoon everyone!  Well our Evidence has been confirmed received and we are back in the race again!  They started the re-reviewing April 8.   The Attorney states you never know these days.  They could deny at this stage for misrepresentation, but usually it will go to NVC, follow the normal process and day of interview high chances to be denied.

Praying for a Miracle!  

I'm hoping to read your good news soon

7 minutes ago, Keyra26 said:

Had my interview today everything went well me and my daughter were approved.

Congratulations! And welcome to the United States.

9 minutes ago, lily90 said:

thank you!!

No worries. Everything will be okay and hope you can share your good news with us soon.

2 hours ago, lily90 said:

hello im trying to find information about evidence of support. my fiance send me irs transcrip and the tax return. he download from the webpage, i want to know if all the pages must to be signed. because i have like 100 pages and only two say sign here

Hi. The transcripts do not need to be signed. Just have them ready and organized. 

1 hour ago, Russ&Caro said:

Yes, yes, yes! Get your maximum refund with MFJ for all back tax years possible. Sending an amended return is a snap and they'll process it in due time. By the way, I did this exact thing when I had to file MFS, 5 years ago, due to not having an SSN nor ITIN for my wife.

 

Not really sure why others in this thread are reluctant to give you this sound tax advice.

I see. Then I think I will look into filing an amendment. Thank you for your reply.

And also thank you all who left a comment.

Just now, Roel said:

You don't have to do that.  Honestly jointly or separate doesn't matter that much. As long as you filed as "married" not "single", you're fine.

Thank you for your answer. What about if my refund for 2017 will increase as a result of the amend?

My wife and I married in 2017. For my 2017 tax filing, I had to file as "married filing separate" due to the fact that my wife did not have an SSN or ITIN as she was residing out of the country at the time.

She is now here with me in the US as a PR. Is it advisable to amend my tax return for 2017 to change our status to married filing jointly?

Very thankful in advance for your advice.

7 minutes ago, R&<3 said:

Hola, tengo una duda, después de tener la entrevista y ser aprobado  cuanto tengo de plazo para dejar mi país?.  Entiendo que el plazo de 90 días para casarte corre desde que llego a USA, pero quiero cuanto tiempo tengo para viajar . Más estoy viendo el tiempo de contratos que tengo con mi empresa y hasta cuanto es el proceso. 

Gracias por la ayuda. 😃 

La fecha de caducidad de su visa está indicada en la parte inferior derecha. Tiene hasta ese día para viajar e ingresar a los EE.UU.

Por ejemplo, la visa de mi esposa era una CR1 y tuvo una validez de 5 meses y 12 días, así que tampoco confíe que tiene disponibles exactamente 6 meses.

Saludos cordiales y bienvenida/o.

Two weeks at the latest. My wife's SSN card arrived in about one week.

32 minutes ago, Scott Rusticus said:

Are tax transcripts from the IRS acceptable at the interview if the original 1040’s are not available? I sent my fiancee the transcripts from the last three years that the IRS sent to me. 

Tax transcripts are better evidence than 1040's.  I sent 1040's with W2's to NVC but two days before the interview I was reading on this forum about it and decided to send the transcripts to my wife by email.

The day of the interview, the documents collector at the embassy asked my wife specifically if she had more information regarding my income, to which my wife replied yes and handed over the transcripts. The lady employee said this was what she was looking for. This happened on November 2018.  This was my experience, I believe you should be okay with the transcripts alone.

8 hours ago, EandH0904 said:

You can do either married separately or married jointly. The ITIN process is pretty straightforward but it will require she sends you paper documents, she signs your joint tax return and she will need to sign a refund check if you get one too. 

 

I got an ITIN for my husband and it only took about 3 weeks to get the number then three weeks to get the refund but the most difficult part was the bank not cashing it until he signed it cause it was made out to my name AND his name. 

 

You can always run the numbers and see which is most advantageous then go from there to decide 

OP, I was in your same situation last year.

I got married in November 2017. After looking at all the options I determined that the easiest way was not to apply for an ITIN for my wife and file as "married filing separately". I had to print paper copies and I used Priority Mail to send both my Federal and State returns.

Maybe I was overly cautious but due to the fact that we were only married for a couple of months during 2017, I did not want/need a consular officer scrutinizing my tax return from 2017, or an IRS review later down the line.

Consider your options, this is what worked for me. This year she is here in the US and she has an SSN so we will file jointly.

2 hours ago, SlimLisa said:

HAPPY 1st Anniversary to my husband and I.....Wish we could be together, sadly since our filing date 01/12/2018.....Sadly, nothing, no request further further information, no denials....just nothing.    Looks like this is going to be a long road ahead, harder than the first year. 

I hope you hear good news soon.

36 minutes ago, Marta Proniagina said:

oh, okay. Got me scared for a while! 0

Marta, I think you have nothing to worry about. I worked as a Medicaid, SNAP (food stamps), and TANF (Cash assistance) case worker in Texas HHSC until about 5 years ago. We were instructed to advise our applicants that medicaid and SNAP had no repercussions on immigration proceedings. The only applicants that were advised about a negative impact on their future naturalization and asked about their I 864 sponsor were people applying for cash assistance (In Texas the maximum benefit was marginal,  close to $200 per month at best at the time, it may be a little higher now).

Medicaid, while it varies from State to State,  has generally higher income limits for pregnant women as compared to "regular medicaid". Some States, such as Texas, have no medicaid for adults at all, other than pregnancy medicaid for low income women.

In any case, there may be a program for pregnancy in your State that is not medicaid and has some costs associated with it. If it makes you feel better, you could inquire about that with the office where you applied and ask to be transferred to it if possible. I used to do this for parents who qualified for medicaid for their children but choose to ask to be transferred to CHIP instead, which has some marginal annual fee and also some co-pays associated with it but it is not considered "medicaid". That's an option, but you should be okay with pregnancy medicaid. There is no need to bring up anything about sponsors or I 864 while applying. If they have seen your green card, they have seen your date of admission and also know that you are an LPR.

My knowledge may be a little outdated but there has been no major change in the laws of medicaid and healthcare since the ACA and no change in immigration laws since.

Be well and please take care of yourself during your pregnancy. These worries are not good for you.

8 minutes ago, Keyra26 said:

Were you present at the interview 

No, at the Guangzhou consulate only the intending immigrant is allowed inside.