leeen21

Glad to see this started here! My husband's conditional GC expires September 23 and my two stepdaughters' on November 23, so we'll be filing one application for all three soon. I have a large amount of evidence already gathered and am still gathering more. I hate that we're having to interact yet again with USCIS, especially in the current political climate. Question in the I-751 that I'm stuck on: Part 1, Question 20 - Arrested, detained, charged, indicted, fined, or imprisoned My 15yo stepdaughter was found in possession of a vape at her high school in February. I was called to come pick her up; I was told by the assistant principal that if her dad or I could not pick her up, she would be taken to our local PD station. When I arrived, there was the PD officer there (works at the school), as well as the assistant principal. The officer said her charge was possession of paraphernalia and that we would receive information about a court date in the mail. Since then, we haven't received anything from the court; we've been told they are very backed up. I've called the PD station; they don't have any files on her since they sent them all to the court. I've called the court; they don't show anything in their system yet. The only paperwork I have about the incident is paperwork from her school for her disciplinary action (in-school suspension and alternative campus). An immigration lawyer I spoke with said that he would not consider that being arrested, detained, or charged, but I'm not sure. And how do you answer that question if the primary applicant is my husband, and his children are being included? His answer to Question 20 is definitive no, but it's hers that's up in the air. If anyone has any thoughts or experience, please let me know!! I'll definitely be checking back in here as we send in our package.

Agreed - I made it clear to her when she first gained residency that SHE needed to take responsibility of educating herself on what she needed to do to maintain her residency. I would be there to help, but she is an adult and needed to do her own research. That has not happened in the year and a half since, and frankly, after repeating to her so many times that she needed to DO something in order to keep her green card privileges, I'm done trying. I completely agree with everyone that it's her decision, and she should be the one putting the effort into it. I know that there's no way she will be able to afford a $750 fee (lives in an impoverished area, but also - despite much encouragement to do so - does not have a job), but I also don't believe it then falls on us to pay it. My husband and I have decided not to include her in his application to removal of conditions (her bio information yes, but he will indicate "no" on the ROC part). Thank you all so much for your input! I'm sure I'll be back with many questions as we put together our package.

Thank you all for your input and helping me realize that I actually *don’t* need to stress about this. I’m definitely way more stressed about this than she is or will ever be. So I can just… not file. Phew! My husband does have to include ALL children on the I-751, right? So, SD #3 will still be listed as his child, but he’ll check NO to the question of if this application includes her. Do I have that right?

In all honesty, I don't really want to pay an extra $750 fee to file her own application for it to be denied. And if it gets approved, I am 90% sure it would still be years before she would actually move to the US like we had hoped. It already pains me how much time and effort (and money!) I spent to get her the conditional residency, only for her to essentially use it as a visa. This is the side my husband takes - he thinks we should just not file for her at all.

So, it might look like.... Packet #1: Husband + SD #1 + SD #2 I-751 with husband and all children listed In Part 5, where SD #3 is listed, we would answer both "living with you" and "applying with you" as NO All evidence (birth certificate of our child together, joint deed of house we own, shared bills, tax return transcripts, etc. Packet #2: SD #3 I-751 with SD #3 only In Part 3, she would check 1b "my parent's spouse because I am unable to be included in a joint petition" Evidence? Similar to the evidence I provided for Packet #1? I don't have any joint evidence with SD #3 except for some photos together.

I totally agree, which is why I like the idea of having her own application. I don't want her residency being questioned and possibly ROC denial to affect the three others who DO live in the US.

I'll be curious if anyone chimes in about experience with that. Everything in the instructions indicates it has to be the same application. I wonder if both applications would go in the same package together with the same evidence?

Nope. She lives 15 minutes from the border in Mexico, and we live 15 minutes from the border in the US. She's only ever visited us and hasn't ever left the border region. I looked into a re-entry permit, but I didn't think it applied since she had indicated she was going to visit more frequently (and establish some sort of residency here), but that didn't pan out.

100% agree. Just needed clarification on the address. Can I do that? That honestly would be my ideal solution. For a separate application for SD #3, would she need to include an explanation of why she has not immigrated, or just submit the application with her address in Mexico and see what happens? To be honest, I'm more than a little burned out of dealing with her case. I filed for her because she was eligible when we got married, hoping it would open doors for her in the US. She hasn't made any effort to walk through any of those doors, despite my and my husband's encouragement to. She has children and has created her own life in Mexico, and I don't see her changing that any time soon. My husband and I have since had our own baby, and I really want to focus all my energy on the five of us (me, husband, 2 SDs, and baby), and not whether or not she's going to immigrate or not. All that to say, a separate I-751 application would be ideal (minus the extra cost... but worth it if it's more security for us).

We will be applying to remove conditions on my husband's and stepdaughters' 2-year green cards at the end of June. There are four applicants, all of whom received their conditional residency within 90 days of each other: Husband Stepdaughter (lives with us in USA) Stepdaughter (lives with us in USA) Stepdaughter (does not live with us, still lives in home country) My third stepdaughter is still living in Mexico, despite having received conditional residency in November 2023. At that time, she had a 1 year old son, and she has since had another baby. She has visited us on the US side of the border a few times, most recently in early November. As we are preparing for removal of conditions, I am questioning how to address her case on the I-751. We are filing ONE I-751 application since, per the instructions, all four immigrated within 90 days of each other (first husband, then stepdaughters). 1. Her permanent address with UCIS is our home address in the US - should I use that address for Part 5 (physical address) or her address in her home country? 2. If the Mexico address is flagged, would it affect ONLY her residency, or would it affect the other three applicants? I would really like to ensure that our application will NOT be affected by her decision to stay in Mexico, even if that means she is not able to remove conditions. I just don't know if they separate out cases like that that are on the same application. Any input would be very appreciated!

My stepdaughter (15) had a huge error in judgement and was caught with a vape at school last week. She was not arrested, but she was charged by a local PD officer at the school with possession of paraphernalia (class c misdemeanor), and even though the vape was not empty, they did not charge her with what they could have (felony possession of a controlled substance), so in that, she got extremely lucky. We will eventually get the court summons (they said March or April), and we will be seeking either immediate or deferred dismissal, after which we'll fight for expunction. We will be submitting our paperwork for removal of conditions for my husband's, hers, and two other stepdaughters' green cards in June. Because they are his dependent children who all entered the U.S. within 90 days of their dad, my understanding is that we will only need to submit one application and list the three children on there with their A numbers. Question 20 in Part 1 of I-751 seems to only reference the applicant. So, my questions: Because she is a minor, do we need to include this information on the application? If so, where? (possibly under "Additional Information?") If there is not an appropriate place to include it on the application, should we still include the documents in the package? What are the chances of this affecting her permanent resident status? Could they deny the I-751 only for her based on this? (particularly thinking about the current administration) This is a huge life lesson in actions/consequences for her, and I am not trying to skirt around anything for her. I just want to be sure that it would be required to disclose a minor's criminal history, and if so, where it makes sense to include.

That's what I thought, and thanks for confirming! The language "dependent children" always trips me up because it means different things in different contexts (under 18 vs. not, living under your roof vs. not, etc.). In this context, I believe it to mean children who obtained resident status under the parent, whether they are a minor or not.

This is still a ways off for us, but as with everything USCIS-related, we want to be as prepared as possible. My husband entered the U.S. on 9/23/2023, and my stepdaughters entered on 11/23/2023. Per the filing date calculator, we can file I-751 jointly starting on 6/25/2025. My questions/clarifications: Even though the 90-day window won't be open yet for my stepdaughters, they can be included on their dad's/my husband's I-751, correct? (pay 1 filing fee + 4 biometric fees) At the time of filing in June 2025, their ages will be 20, 18, and 15. They are still considered "dependent children" as USCIS refers to in the instructions, correct? They received their green cards as a result of their dad's marriage to me (USC). I'm confused by the new filing fees with the biometrics included for situations like this. Would we pay $750 for my husband (751 w/ biometrics included), plus $30 additional biometrics for each stepdaughter? ($840 total) Appreciate your help. Wouldn't have gotten this far in the process without VJ's help!

This was my experience too. I was able to take care of guardianship paperwork and "pre-enrollment" before my husband and stepdaughters arrived. They crossed on Thanksgiving Day, and the following Monday, I took them to their respective schools to register. It turned out they needed a few vaccines and a TB test before they could finish registering, but they were able to complete registration and start classes by that Thursday.

Yes! His social security card FINALLY arrived in our mail on 11/22/23, so it was 2 months from his entry into the U.S. to receiving it.

His name is the Mexican equivalent of John Smith, so that would make sense haha.

He handed his passport through the window, and the guy at SSA saw the CR1 stamp. We didn't have our marriage license with us. So, it's not out of the ordinary for the SSN to take longer when it's obtained through immigration?

My husband entered the U.S. on his CR-1 visa on September 23. He had checked "YES" on his DS-260 to automatically apply for his SSN, but three weeks went by, and it hadn't arrived, so we went to our local SSA office on October 13. They said it was never generated, so he applied for his number that day with them, saying that it should arrive in 7-10 business days. The two-week mark just passed, so we went back to the office today, and they told him that it's still processing and his application is "under investigation." (actually said in Spanish, "bajo investigación," so I don't know what terminology in English is used by SSA). They said that SSA would call us if they need any additional documents, and it could be another four weeks. On SAVE, it says there was a CaseCheck on October 13, and the case status is "Returned to Agency." My husband is very eager to start working, and even though his CR-1 visa stamp gives him authorization, every employer is saying they can't until he gets his SSN. He does have an ITIN from when we did our taxes this year. And he's obviously spooked at the term "under investigation." Has this happened to anyone else? Anything we can do?

Fellow TX/MX border resident here, though my commute has only been 45 minutes each way. Advantage of folks like us - we have the opportunity to see our spouses relatively easily during this process, while so many others don't. I tried to focus on that through our journey. Just wanted to give you some hope - though understand that our timeline was much quicker than most others I've seen - and also echo others that have said to get your travel documents in order as quickly as possible. We submitted I-130s (husband + 3 stepdaughters) on June 2, 2022. I sent off the I-129F for K3 a couple weeks after that. Our I-130s were approved on November 12 (5 months). Our NVC stage was super drawn out and not because we wanted it to be, and here is where I will encourage you to always err on the side of caution when it comes to travel documents. We obviously did not expect our I-130s to get approved in 5 months (for most, it takes about a year at least), so my husband didn't have his Mexican passport renewed yet, and my stepdaughters still didn't have Mexican passports -- we (naively) thought we had plenty of time! We also (naively) thought Mexican passports would not take that long to get -- we were wrong. By beginning of April, we finally submitted everything to NVC. At the time, we were kicking ourselves for not getting the passports done right away and wasting precious time. End of April 2023, we were DQ'd at NVC and expected it to be about a year to get our interview scheduled at NVC. Three months later in July, we got the email that our interviews would be in September (5 months from DQ to interview). My husband and one stepdaughter got approved on September 18, and we'll back at CDJ this week for another appointment for the other two stepdaughters (administrative processing). All that to say: 1. Yes, expect it to be a 2+ year process, but also know that it IS possible for things to move more quickly. I have no idea how our I-130s were approved so quickly or how we got an interview scheduled so quickly at CDJ, but it can happen. Be prepared for things to happen at any point. Keep going day by day, and eventually, you'll get to have your family with you on the US side of the border, and I promise you, the wait is so worth it. 2. Never assume the length of time it will take for a travel document (in any country) to be processed.

Apologies - we both live on the border. I'm in Texas; he and my stepdaughters in Mexico. It's about a 45-minute drive between our houses, just with the international border between them.

My husband and stepdaughters had their interviews at the CDJ consulate in Mexico yesterday, and my husband and youngest were approved! The two others were given the dreaded blue sheet for administrative processing, as well as a second blue sheet with what's required. Because there was a delay between when each of them were born and when they were registered with the Civil Registry (common where they were born), the consulate official told my husband it is protocol to need to provide more evidence of their blood relationship with him. When given the options, my husband asked which one is the quickest for them to process, and that is DNA testing. We've ordered the test kits, and they'll be sent later today to the consulate. Once received, the lab says that they're seeing about a 3-week turnaround to when applicants get their appointment to be tested at CDJ (thankfully, Mexico is one of the faster-moving consulates on DNA testing). Once the lab gets the samples back, they take 5 business days to send the results back to the consulate. The results will get sent back to the consulate officer who did their interview yesterday, and she will make a decision on the case, and if approved, they'll send the passport/visa to the city where we live via DHL. All that said, we're estimating this whole thing to take maybe 6 weeks, of course knowing that you never know with administrative processing. That being said, my husband and youngest stepdaughters' visas are en route to our city via DHL, and he is planning to cross right away to start looking for a job. My question is: are there any implications if he makes entry, but then there ends up being a big delay with the other daughters and they aren't able to make entry for 2-3 months, or longer? I know the 90-day rule for dependents on the I-751 to remove conditions, and it sounds like the biggest consequence there would be having to pay $595 per dependent if they enter 90 days or more after he does. Is there anything else we should be aware of when not making entry for the first time as a whole family unit?

It’s worth a shot. There’s no promise or guarantee it’ll speed things along, but she’s got nothing to lose. It’s just more paperwork, but at this point, I’m sure she’s used to that.

Just the postage to send the packet to USCIS (unlike the I-130s, there’s no electronic option). There’s no application fee when you’re filing the I-129f for your spouse as K3.

I echo this. I submitted my husband and stepdaughters’ I-130s on June 2, 2022, and we sent the K3 packet (I-129f) 11 days later. We got the receipt confirmation from USCIS 9 days after that. The I-130s were approved on November 12, 2022 — about 5 months after we sent them, which was much faster than what we expected. I obviously can’t say that sending the K3 packet helped, but it certainly didn’t hurt. ETA: We received the I-129f rejection some time after getting approved, maybe a month or so later.

Correct - no need to register it in the U.S. Your original marriage certificate and certified translation to English is all you need. What could get listed on your marriage certificate is each of your nationalities - Cuban and Russian. You'd have to check an example of a Cuban one, but on our Mexican one, it lists my husband's and my nationality (Mexican and U.S.), as well as the nationality of our parents and witnesses. But I can't see any reason why that would have any impact on your visa process. Your nationality is not the same as your citizenship, and you are a U.S. citizen, which gives you the legal right to petition your spouse for an immigrant visa. It all might be moot because as a Cuban citizen, even though you reside and are a citizen elsewhere, you may have to use your Cuban passport in the marriage process. And if that's the case, I wouldn't stress about it.