Thenaturalstate

2/12 - Submitted application at USPS (booklet and card, expedited with 1-2 day shipping)  

2/15 - Application package received by data entry and payment processing facility  

2/17 - Federal holiday observed  

2/20 - Status updated to "in process," and payment completed  

2/25 - Application approved  

2/26 - Passport shipped  

2/27 - Passport booklet delivered  

Passport Locator # 43 (New Orleans, LA)  

Total time from application to delivery: 15 days

Thank you all so much for your helpful input! My status just updated to "Oath Ceremony Notice Was Mailed"! 😃 I will be watching for the notice in the mail and online documents.

Thank you all. I hope the oath ceremony is scheduled soon. I will inform the USCIS rep at the ceremony that the officer took my GC during the interview. I hope everything goes smoothly. Fingers crossed!

8 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

They did this to my wife when she got her ADIT stamp after her CGC expired.  Did the IO give you an affidavit attesting to the fact that they took your GC, and did they put an ADIT stamp in your passport? 

Thanks for your input. After taking my expired GC, the officer didn't give me any documentation or stamp my passport. My I-751 receipt notice extends the validity of my green card for 48 months, which takes me to 2027.

My main concern is that I now don't have the physical, albeit expired, conditional green card. I'm worried about not having the physical card for the oath ceremony.

Also, I'm wondering if they only do this to specific applicants, and if so, is it a bad sign? Based on everything I've read, it just seems so unusual.

Did your wife face any issues for not having the physical card? 

I had my I-751 (Removal of Conditions) and N-400 (Naturalization) combo interview on January 17, 2025, and something unusual happened that I'm hoping to get some insight into.

Background:

• Filed I-751 to remove conditions on my 2-year green card.
• Then filed N-400 (3 years married to USC) with pending I-751.

The interview had a somewhat rocky start, but ultimately, at the end, the officer told me that both my I-751 and N-400 were recommended for approval. The officer gave me Form N-652, stating I passed the English and civics tests and that my N-400 application was recommended for approval.

Then came the unusual part: The officer kept my expired conditional green card, my expired EAD/AP combo card, and even my old, expired OPT card. The officer said I wouldn't need them anymore since I was recommended for citizenship.

I was surprised because I always understood that you surrender your green card at the oath ceremony, not before.

Current USCIS Online Case Status :

• I-751: Online status changed to "Case Approved" on January 17, 2025 (shortly after the interview). I received a courtesy copy of the approval notice online, which confirms the approval and says my new 10-year green card will be mailed in 60 days. However, it does say "Case Closed" on the left, which I understand is normal after approval, is that correct?.
• N-400: Online status changed to "Oath Ceremony Will Be Scheduled" on January 17, 2025. It says, "We placed you in line for your oath ceremony and will send you a notice..."

Now, I'm in a situation where I have no physical proof of my permanent resident status while I wait for my oath ceremony. All I have is an I-751 notice Letter with 48 month's Extension.

1. Has anyone else had an officer keep their expired green card, EAD/AP cards,  before the oath ceremony? Is this becoming common practice, or is it a potential red flag?
2. Could this lack of physical proof of status cause any issues while I wait for or when I attend the oath ceremony?
3. Is there anything I should do proactively? Should I be worried about this, or is it just an unusual but harmless occurrence?

I'd really appreciate any insights, similar experiences, or advice you all can offer. It felt very out of the ordinary, and I want to make sure I'm not missing anything. Thanks in advance for your help!

1 hour ago, GodisGoood2 said:

Timeline~Northern VA Area

Application submitted:06/5/2024

Appointment for biometric:06/6/2024

Biometric done :06/21/2024

Interview: 08/22/2024

Congratulations !!

Although We are ~18 months away to be eligible for I-751 filing. What proactive things we should do to have a strong removal of conditions case? Other than, Joint taxes, utilities, rental agreement, Auto & health insurance what other things are often overlooked? 

Our initial I-485 package was bleak just enough to get the application started. We scrambled for 2 weeks before the interview to gather all the docs, which was arduous and anxiety inducing. We want to run a slow marathon and start putting evidences together over the next two years. Any tips advice is highly appreciated. 

44 minutes ago, arken said:

Don't overthink and don't worry, enjoy the approval of your AOS. Those are general statements, not designed specifically for you. You are officially an LPR. Hopefully your GC will be delivered within a month or two.

Thank you! I was not aware that this was a general statement. 

24 minutes ago, Timona said:

🤦🏽‍♂️ Don't read too much. Relax. 

Haha, I am trying to. The language in the letter made me little anxious. 

Hello, We received our I-485 (Spose of US Citizen) approval notice letter. But I am little concerned about the language in the latter as it mentions: 

"The above application has been approved. Prior to receiving your permanent resident card you may be required to report for biometrics processing"

How ever I did complete my biometrics early this year and my combo card was issued based off the biometrics. Did anyone or know of anyone get a similar approval notice?  Can you please answer my queries: 

• Do I have to do an additional biometrics?

• Am I officially an LPR? What is my current status?

• Although, hard to predict, When can I expect my Card in the mail?

The last part of notice concerns me, which says:

"Although this application or petition has been approved, USCIS and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security reserve the right to verify this information before and/or after making a decision on your case so we can ensure that you have complied with applicable laws, rules, regulations, and other legal authorities. We may review public information and records, contact others by mail, the internet or phone, conduct site inspections of businesses and residences, or use other methods of verification. We will use the information obtained to determine whether you are eligible for the benefit you seek. If we find any derogatory information, we will follow the law in determining whether to provide you (and the legal representative listed on your Form G-28, if you submitted one) an opportunity to address that information before we make a formal decision on your case or start proceedings."

Thank you!! 

Had our interview yesterday at 7:45 am. The interview took around an hour. Very socially engaging. Light and happy. By the end, officer was laughing and telling jokes. It felt like we were were catching up with an old friend. The officer thanked us for the documents and verbalized approval and intention to complete it by the end of the day. 

By afternoon the case status was changed to " A new card is being produced" 

We had made photocopies all the originals we bought to the interview and had organized it with tabs the officer appreciated  it.

Questions asked were:

- How we met?

- What we do for living?

-Our address.  

- Asked us each others names and DOB

Best of luck everyone.

Thank you @Villanelle and @payxibka, We will get in touch with our Congressperson and ensure our address is updated with USCIS.

Thank you for your time.

18 minutes ago, Villanelle said:

This is rather unfortunate. Is there any way to delay the move until you have the interview?? See the thing is you are currently at the front of the line for an interview at your local office. Not sure why it was delayed but its probably related to staffing due to the pandemic. There have been cases where interviews have been canceled and instead of rescheduling they decide to simply approve it w/o interview. Maybe you will get lucky and this will happen but you shouldnt expect it to and need to be prepared for an interview to be held. 

 

USCIS has jurisdictions based on where you live. You can only be approved by the office who has jurisdiction where you live. Meaning if your case is in LA then LA can only approve you if you still live in LA. When you move to CT- CT now has jurisdiction so your case will need to be sent from LA to CT. Once it gets to CT you are then placed in line at the CT office to wait for an interview. You are not given priority because you waited in line at LA. So in addition to the wait time for them to get your file you will also wait for a slot to open there. 

 

Moving at this point will most likely be messy. You should submit your AR11 online as well as on paper form through mail. Send it to the address it dictates and send a copy as well along with a brief letter to the local office (LA) who recently canceled your interview letting them know you moved. You can also contact your congressman and ask them to verify your address has been updated in addition to them submitting the change of address for you as well. When submitting a change of address for 751s for online I believe you need to enter the case number from the biometrics NOA (like how you use that number to track your 751 progress) as well as listing the actual 751 case number. 

 

USCIS is known for having issues with address changes. The system is slow to update so theres a high chance you send your AR11 and it just doesnt make its way  into your case file so a second interview is set at the old office. Even if you travel and go to the old office they are not going to be able to approve you because you are no longer in their jurisdiction. The post office is also not suppose to forward USCIS mail so if an interview notice is sent to the old address it may get returned to them and you may end up seeing a case status of you missed your interview or mail was failed to be delivered so you are denied. You would then have to fix it which is a whole headache thats best avoided by delaying the move.   However if you can not delay the move then you cant so your only option is to update the address doing what was described above and hope the address change is acknowledged properly so the LA office does not reschedule you and the case is transferred promptly  to CT. Again your congressperson is the best tool to make sure this happens and if there is an error you will have documentation to help you correct it. 

 

The AR11 needs to be filed within 10 days of the move and you cant file it until you actually move.

 

Thank you for your advice; we will definitely submit AR-11 online and mail it as well. We will get in touch with the congressperson once in CT. Does this congressperson need a US congress or state congressperson member to reach out to USCIS? 

Unfortunately moving is inevitable for us.  We received the interview notice in 1st week of April but followed by a cancellation update online in 5 days. If we had our interview as scheduled (3rd week of May), we definitely would have tried to stay in LA. We are worried about the years-long wait.

On the brighter side, the housing in LA was corporate, provided by my spouse's employer, so we didn't have a lease or and utility bills together. 

Thank you for your time; I will follow your advice. 

My spouse and I are moving 1000 miles to a different state in 10 days (LA to CT). Our interview was scheduled 3rd week of May but was canceled due to unforeseen circumstances.

I understand there will be a delay in the AOS interview in the new state; how much of a delay should we expect? 3-4 months? 6- months or years? 

We had no option but to move or starve. I have my EAD/AP but worried about the long delay for the interview. 

Also, Can we file AR-11 2-3 days before moving to the new place? 
 

2 hours ago, randy32 said:

I think its too early to push the panic button less than 24 hours after the last update. Give it a couple more days. Lots of delays in mail delivery these days

I will do that. Thank you.

My EAD was approved and shipped on 4/7 to my attorney's office. It was supposed to be delivered yesterday, but the status changed to "Awaiting Delivery Scan." 

It further mentions, "The delivery status of your item has not been updated as of April 12, 2021, 09:10 pm. We apologize that it may arrive later than expected." 

The status has not changed since. Does anyone have any similar experiences?  How do I navigate this with USPS and USCIS? 

I have received EAD/AP approval notices, but not the card. I have seen few horror stories where the card never gets delivered and is lost by USPS. 

..

Two weird things happened this week:

My EAD status changed to New Card is Being Produced on yesterday. Today, EAD/AP status changed to "Case was approved". When can I expect the combo card to be delivered? 

My interview was scheduled on May 17th, today the status changed to "Interview cancelled & notice ordered. We will notify you by mail if the appointment is rescheduled, a decision is made, or if we need something from you" Has this happened to any one? What should I expect? 

On 3/17/2021 at 8:55 AM, ss.hendrix said:

New card being produced today! I had called them of Wednesday and complained that is was taking too long and they put in a request for me..not sure if that’s why—thankful nonetheless. How long does it take to arrive after it says “card is being produced” ?

Congrats! What did you tell them on the call?

Yesterday I spoke to a tier 1 representative, the rep informed me that the current EAD processing time is 3.5- 11.5 months, and I would have to wait. While AP processing is 3-5 months and the rep went ahead and filed for a service request. 

We filed for I-485 (Spouse of USC) in the first week of July 2020 with Biometrics in the 3rd week of January 2021. There has been radio silence since the biometrics. 

USCIS tier 1 representative informed me that the current EAD processing time is 3.5- 11.5 months, and I would have to wait. While AP processing is 3-5 months and the rep went ahead and filed for a service request. 

• Can anyone please tell me if one gets a combo card only after both I-756 and I-131 get approved?
• Will service request for AP expedite EAD as well? 
• Or, does one get them separately if only AP is approved? 
   

6 hours ago, ksh9256 said:

My wife finally got her EAD card last night. We got notice it was approved earlier this week, then next thing I know its showing as shipped, scheduled to be delivered tomorrow, but arrived two days early (Detroit area). So at least some good new finally.

 

Does SSN normally follow? Should I call the SSN office? Last time they told me there was nothing they could do.

 

Congrats! did you guys expediate EAD? What's your priority date? 

13 minutes ago, Celebi said:

I just had a miracle 🙏

 

 

 

 

New Card Is Being Produced

On February 25, 2021, we ordered your new card for Receipt Number MSCXXXXXXXXXX, and will mail it to the address you gave us. If you move, go to www.uscis.gov/addresschange to give us your new mailing address.

 

When did your case get approved? 

15 hours ago, Sinead91 said:

Hi everyone! Just an update;

I had my interview today and just got the notification that my new card is being produced

Congratulations!! 

19 minutes ago, iris@@ said:

When I saw the status of my e-request was "completed", I just felt so annoyed...What did they even do? What's the point of this e-request...

My location is California too, but in Orange County area. 

How do you put a e-request in? I spoke to a agent yesterday and the agent gave me a case number, which I assume is the request. How do I check the request status? 

Has anyone had success in getting touch with USCIS? I could not even talk to Tier 1 agent via Emma or phone call. I am still waiting on my Biometrics appointment. Can you please guide me with the same? 

Anyone had their Boimetrics at New Orleans ASC lately ?