JKLSemicolon

Just wanted to add that this sounds a lot like the Sunk Cost Fallacy and you don’t want that to cloud your judgement. Try to lay out your alternatives objectively and weigh the pros and cons of each (this would be good to do during an attorney consultation if you end up getting one). I am saying this having in our case gone through the K-1 process and starting the Adjustment of Status before cutting our losses and starting over with a CR-1 visa. When your circumstances change sometimes that merits re-evaluating the path forward.

Your leaving in August is due to your husband’s taking a job in Vietnam and your essentially moving out of the country with him, correct? I am saying that given that, it makes sense to apply for the re-entry permit and complete biometrics before then, even if you do return at some point a few months after that. To me is less about ensuring you are able to re-enter the US on any given trip and more about justifying the (presumable) lack of evidence of a life together in the US after a certain point during the conditional residency period. Do give the I-407 route some serious consideration. If you search this forum you will find others who have gone that route and depending on the specifics, may be a better fit. Whatever you choose, put yourself in the shoes of someone adjudicating your case and think about the questions that they might have given your situation and how you can overcome that with quality evidence.

If you do plan on filing for removal of conditions, I would apply for the re-entry permit ASAP as if nothing else it serves as evidence that you intend to maintain permanent residency in spite of prolonged periods out of the country (which may be hard to justify and/or will create a large gap in evidence during the ROC process). A possible alternative would be to go to Vietnam, surrender the GC via I-407, have your husband petition for you again via I-130, delaying as needed at the NVC stage until ready to return to the US under the IR-1 category and receive a 10-year GC without the logistical complications of ROC. The obvious downside to that would be not being able to visit the US after surrendering the GC, which could possibly be remedied by applying for a B visa before filing a new I-130. The B visa is not guaranteed but you’d have a better chance after the I-407. Edit: the specific timing of when to surrender the GC via the I-407 would also be a factor when it comes to the possibility of travel to the US. There are pros and cons to each approach and you would have to compare costs, etc. but I think it’s at least worth laying out all of your options.

Just finished uploading some unsolicited evidence covering the time from our initial filing until the end of 2023. This was roughly 4 months of new evidence since we filed in September. Going forward, I think every 6 months could make sense, but I'm still on the fence about maybe just continuing with 4 months at a time. The upload was split into separate files covering different types of evidence during the period. Each file had footers with the petitioner's (i.e. conditional PR's) name, period of evidence, type of evidence, and page numbers (1 of n, etc.). The 12mb limit per file is pretty reasonable, but I did spend some time fine tuning the Optimize a PDF settings in Acrobat to make sure the quality wasn't degraded. My only piece of advice to those submitting multiple files would be to upload them one at a time. That way, you can make sure they appear on the list in the order you want. The most recently uploaded files appear at the top. I didn't heed my own advice and tried uploading 5 files at once; this made them appear on the list in the random order they finished uploading, which is slightly annoying after trying to be thoughtful about how to name/number everything. After having gone through the experience of putting together the first batch of additional evidence, I think it will be smoother the next time around.

Unless you have clear, written documentation from USCIS that supports what you were told over the phone, I don’t see how anything other than the fee as of April 1 could be accepted.

Have you tried a different e-file provider to see if the same thing happens when using the original dates? I would try somewhere else first with the same dates as before that allow you to exclude all of your income. If that doesn’t work, changing the dates as you suggested may be the way to go. If you qualify, maybe try another of the options here: https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/browse-all-offers/

This exact thing indeed happened to someone I know (unable to collect inheritance in a country that does not allow dual citizenship after becoming a US citizen). Hopefully @Jenna24 can let us know the country so we can know whether that applies.

Strictly from the standpoint of fees, I don’t see a reason to file before the changes go in effect in April. It looks like the cost of filing online will actually go down slightly (from $725 to $710) due to the $50 discount, and for paper filers although the regular fee will go up slightly (to $760), the reduced fee option ($380) will be available to a wider range of incomes than before (up to 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines): https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/outreach-engagements/2024FinalFeeRule.pdf https://www.uscis.gov/forms/filing-fees/frequently-asked-questions-on-the-uscis-fee-rule

When did you file the petition?

If they do the congressional inquiry and 45 days later there is still no progress, they could submit a request through the USCIS Ombudsman: https://www.dhs.gov/case-assistance

If you have/create an account on MyUSCIS and link the case once it’s received, you can always upload “unsolicited evidence” like this later if you wish. As others have said, I certainly wouldn’t delay filing because of it.

A mistake like that from your lawyers could have potentially had huge negative consequences for you. Might be time to start looking for someone more competent (if you think you need a lawyer at all).

I’m glad the card is arriving soon. In case anyone reads this later on I wanted to share a somewhat similar experience of a green card arriving while the GC holder was out of the country: After my wife entered for the first time with an endorsed CR-1 visa with an I-551 stamp good for a year, the physical card took 4 months to arrive and as a result came in the mail when she was out of the country. When she returned to the US, the airline rep was confused with the still-valid stamped visa and called the number for (I think) CBP where the person on the phone wanted to know why she didn’t have the GC that had been issued. Although it took some explaining, eventually everything was fine. She was told that the next time she traveled she needed to use the GC instead of the stamp. I don’t see why there actually would have been a problem traveling with the stamp again while it was still valid, but we didn’t need to find out. Based on that one would imagine that the expired GC and a still-valid extension letter would work the same way even after a new GC is issued, although if using that to travel it wouldn’t hurt to budget some extra time for the check-in process at the airport.

We did credit card payments three times and at least once I can remember having to respond quickly to a (texted) fraud alert from my bank in order for the payment to go through. The main reason was to get the credit card rewards on a larger expense. With our latest filing we sent a check from a joint account, which in my mind also helps as one small part of the overall picture of shared finances couples need to demonstrate.

Put yourself in the shoes of your spouse who at the moment: 1. Has no work authorization 2. Cannot leave the country even for something like a family emergency without starting over with an ~18-month visa process in order to return to the U.S. 3. Just left behind everything in their home country to start a new life here. And consider that every day you don’t file delays #1 and 2 further, and every day after the 90-day mark also adds to the fact that even something like a traffic stop could lead to being detained by ICE (there is a well-known thread about that in this forum) or even deported. Finally, consider that you have to pay the $1225 at some point, so if you truly don’t have the money right now, the only thing you’re saving by waiting is the interest on a loan or credit card payment for that amount. If you were the intending immigrant, what do you think would be more important: saving up for the filing cost or minimizing the extra wait and risk above? And how would you feel if your partner (who is supposed to be able to support you financially in this process) balks at what is only one of many fees needing to be paid during what is going to be a long immigration journey? This is not intended to be a personal attack; it’s just that it’s important to consider things from the perspective of the most vulnerable person here.

There’s a separate thread about it here: Rather than trying to speed anything up, we are approaching it more as a way to continue to provide evidence that we accumulate between the time of the initial filing and whenever USCIS makes a decision on the case. My personal opinion is that it can’t hurt and might help, and I’m willing to put in the time necessary for that. Your mileage may vary.

I understand you’re curious and @OldUser has tried to provide some answers to your questions but at this stage I would keep it simple and just focus more on gathering as much quality evidence as possible and make sure you are following the form instructions to the letter. In the end that is the part under your control and will be in your best interest later on, interview or no interview.

It’s strange, but having a USCIS online account does not necessarily mean you have a USCIS online account number (which is usually assigned by USCIS via a mailed notice). In our case, my wife has an account but still left Part 1, question 9 on the I-751 form blank.

Do you have any red flags that would prompt a visit? They are not the norm.

I wouldn’t solely rely on it, but myUSCIS also sends out email notifications when there is a change to the case status. I can’t remember if it is enabled by default or needs to be configured in the settings.

Ah right, disregard the SSN comment. I was remembering the difficulty of getting the SSN on a K1 during the pandemic in 2020 which was a unique mess that fortunately no longer applies. OP, we did both the K1 and CR1 process (see my profile/timeline) and I came away feeling, as most here do, that the CR1 is far superior.

Different state, but we found having a Social Security number (which is faster via the CR1 route) makes so many things easier.

27 months (per OP’s timeline) unfortunately seems to be right in line with current processing times. Congrats @gregoryagu

Just wanted to revive this thread and say that we’re planning to upload some additional “unsolicited evidence” on myUSCIS soon covering the period from submission to the end of the calendar year (i.e. September-December 2023). Depending on how that goes, we’ll decide whether it makes sense to continue to do that quarterly or every 6 months. Since this option of uploading evidence is available this will be our way of staying organized and having something (hopefully) productive to do with the wait. Will try to report back here and in the unsolicited evidence thread since I haven’t looked closely at the file size requirements, etc. and how that will affect what we end up submitting and whether it is broken up into multiple files, etc.

Just a few other thoughts: - As a general rule I wouldn’t expect anything useful to happen when calling USCIS unless you talk to a Tier 2 officer. - Based on experiences posted on this forum I would not expect much to come out of contacting elected representatives. Edit: and finally as mentioned earlier, you are still well within processing times as posted on the USCIS website (15 months).