My deepest sense of gratitude to everyone for providing their feedback here - it is indeed very helpful. We will try to factor arriving in after our 2nd anniversary date - its just that its been way too long a process to get through the I-130 application and now a further delay adds up to your frustration. We have a 4-month old child now and trying to make sense of everything with my very patiently waiting spouse. Thanks again everyone.
Overall, the I751 ROC is just a royal pain. @Mike E summed it up very well, and my feelings are very similar. Like others have stated, if possible, have your spouse enter after the 2nd wedding anniversary. The CBP officer should stamp the visa with an IR1 notation even if the visa says CR1, but if this does not happen, USCIS should still issue a 10 yr GC. If USCIS screws up, you can file an I90 for free to get the card corrected. My only other advice, if your spouse does enter after the 2nd wedding anniversary, have them pay close attention when being processed, and even though no one is required to offer information to the CBP officer(s) (only need to answer their questions honestly), it doesn’t hurt to remind the officer at the POE that you have passed your 2nd wedding anniversary.
We can deduce this from the fact that USCIS explicitly sets service level objectives for I-485 and other petitions and I-751 is not on the list.
Why would USCIS move from 12, to 18, 24, and to 48 month extension letters if I-751 was a priority?
Note that what USCIS is doing is not what Congress intended when it introduced conditional LPR status in 1986. The intent was a 90 day adjudication that completed before the 2 year GC expired. And if you look at ancient timelines on VJ, you will see this was the norm.
USCIS now uses I-751 as a cash cow to pay for petitions that lose USCIS money.
2. Most conditional LPRs will naturalize.
USCIS apparently prefers, at apparently most field offices, to not take up an I-751 until N-400 is filed. This is why Mrs @Crazy Cat had only a 44 month I-751 wait. Had she not filed N-400, she would still be waiting.
3. DHS would prefer LPRs just go away if they will not naturalize.
The C in USCIS comes before the I. Before 9/11, the I in INS came before the N.
If conditional LPRs never file I-751, eventually DHS will find them and deport them (not by this administration, but eventually). If they leave the U.S. they will not be able to board a flight home with an expired 2 year GC
It is not just I-751. I-90 (for renewing 10 year GCs) has a 2 year wait now.
Don’t get me started on the hassles LPRs have in several states to get drivers licenses. If REAL ID is ever enforced, at least hundreds of thousands of LPRs will be unable to fly.
DHS welcomes immigrants but that welcome wears out after 9.5-11.5 years.
One DHS officer put it colorfully yet succinctly:
So I'm sitting here next to my coworker, a very good buddy of mine, and posed him this question: "hey, why don't we like LPRs?" (legal permanent residents)
his response: "because half of them don't speak english, and the other half are criminals."
