Lapo44

Hello everyone! It's been years since I started this thread and the time finally came when I can post an update. I've finally got my green card in the mail today! In February 2020 I chose to file I-485 along with my US citizen husband's I-130 petition for me as his spouse. I added a copy of my existing green card at the time, denial notice for N-400 and a cover letter describing my situation and asking them to help me fix an issue and apply whatever procedure was applicable in such case. Our field office is Fort Myers, FL. this office is obviously a busy one as we were waiting for 4 years for an interview to be scheduled and those are normal processing times for this location according to USCIS website. But the time came and we had our marriage based interview on February 28, 2024. Once we walked in the room with an officer and sat down I knew she was clearly aware of what was going on and that she was going to take an action on it. I'm going to mention that an interview was previously scheduled and cancelled on the same day about 8 weeks before the new interview date was scheduled. Not sure if they needed extra time to review the case of if there was another reason. The officer told me that my old green card wasn't good as it was not properly issued and offered me two options. First, was for USCIS to rescind my LPR status, second, for me to give it up voluntarily. Didn't make any difference for me so I told her whichever is faster and easier process, I was willing to go with that option. Voluntarily giving up my green card that was. An officer then told us that it might not happen that day as she had to request a form from their headquarters that I will need to sign, she said she requested it but wasn't sure if she gets it by the end of an interview. We said we were willing to stay and wait if possible to cut on time, because otherwise we would have to wait for them to mail the form to us and the me mailing it back with green card. She then proceeded with marriage based interview and I-485 questions, took some paperwork from us, I-693, few pictures for the case etc. By the time we finished with an interview, the form was available. It was acknowledgement of abandonment of green card, it sounded like it was tailored for my case. It stated that I am willing to give up my green card, because it was issued erroneously, but that I was not willing to give up my LPR status; that I understand that if my new I-485 is approved my legal permanent residency is going to start from the new date when it's approved. An officer explained that even though I might be put out of status for some time when my green card is cancelled and the case isn't approved yet, that shouldn't be a big deal because they know why it happened. We didn't expect them to process it so fast. in two weeks after the interview I got an update that cases were approved. It took another two weeks for card to arrive in the mail. I wanted to share my experience. I've seen a few lawyers over these four years trying to find a solution for my problem, none of them were able to advise on how to proceed. What they were saying is - you're in a limbo, there is no way out of this situation, last one called it an immigration hell.. I had an advise from legal worker who was friend of a friend to give a try to marriage based application and a couple lawyers on avvo supported that idea. My ex-husband was asked about my issue during his naturalization interview and officer interviewing him said this issue might only be fixed in immigration court. Hope it helps someone!