OldUser

He was right. I-797 does not extend I-551 stamps, only physical GC. You're lucky you boarded planes before. You need to get fresh stamp when it expires.

It's sad to see there's still some cases in the tracker app filed in November 2021 with status "Case was updated to show fingerprints were taken".

Try requesting a 48 month one with link I provided

Hi @MichaelJuan.198 1. You can use an online tool such as Date Calculator to figure out exact date. Based on what you said, the earliest you can file I-751 is September 27th, 2023. But no harm if you file few days later. It's even better to ensure you're in 90 day window. 2. Photos are somewhat weak evidence. You should submit them, but more importantly, include: lease or mortgage with both names on it, joint bank account statements, utility bills in both names, flight and hotel reservations in both names, medical insurance with both names, IRS joint tax return transcripts, birth certificates of children and many more. Spend good time to prepare evidence. Strong evidence reduces chance of RFE or denial. 3. You can apply while I-751 is still pending. You don't have to wait to file for N-400 but it will only be approved when I-751 is approved. Yea, they still do combo interview, but not always. That's always been the case.

That's not outside the norm. If ex isn't nice, you could face more scrutiny. But hopefully your IO was just busy.

You seem to be focused on continuous residence, but do you remember about physical presence? To be naturalized under 5 year rule, one should spend in the US physically 30 months (913 days) over the last 5 years.

Very good point! Yes, if extension letter is expiring, you cannot travel without I-551 stamp in passport. I totally missed that, thought @CaseyBorne88 talked about expiring 2 year GC. One can argue that @CaseyBorne88's wife should have received a 48 month extension. Perhaps that also can be requested from USCIS - https://egov.uscis.gov/e-request/displayNDNForm.do?sroPageType=ndn&entryPoint=init

Hi @CaseyBorne88 Her original 2 year green card and original extension letter (I-797), in addition to valid passport is all she needs to leave and re-enter the US. Of course, if any countries besides her home country and US require visa for travel - she should get one. She cannot stay outside of the US for 6 months or more at a time - this will result in her breaking residency. If she needs to stay outside of US for 6 months but less than 2 years, she can apply for I-131. For naturalization purposes, if she plans to apply for citizenship under 3 year rule based on marriage to US citizen, she would have spent 18 months out of 3 years in the US. The calculations are all based on Residence Since date on her card.

You're overthinking this, take it easy! Affidavits I submitted were obtained in September-October, but I submitted I-751 end of November. Case got approved.

That's very unfortunate!

That would be ideal from immigration point of view. Extensions simply don't work. It takes over a year to decide on them.

Personally, I think both of these options are high risk low reward. At the same time, I cannot suggest overstaying, that's not a right thing to do.

I'd reach out to somebody living at / managing old addresses. USCIS sometimes ignore AR-11s etc.

To keep things simple, I'm a fan of doing it either before starting immigration (I-130/I-485) or during N-400. Everything in between is OK, but could be a bit confusing as name on the docs won't match.

You can file N-400 whenever you become eligible. Approval of N-400 depends on approval of I-751. But it doesn't mean you cannot file until your I-751 is approved. If you're still married to your US citizen spouse, you lived together all the time since you became a LPR, you had no breaks in residency (trips over 6 months) and you've been married AND LPR for 3 years, you can file for N-400 today.

Could take 4-6 weeks easily.

You can expect an approval, interview, RFE, NOID or denial. Lawfully doesn't take into consideration your specific case and its merits.

I-751 is what you're looking for. You can ask more related questions and read threads for your information in this subforum: https://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/86-removing-conditions-on-residency-general-discussion/

Plus keep the digital confirmation of your address change you will get after submitting AR-11 @Nazgulslayer

That's probably the approach I'm going to take too. I receive both physical copies and digital PDFs of bank statements for example. The reason why I keep physical copies is that for N-400 I won't have to print it myself. But once I'm done, I'll shred them and keep files only.

Ouch ! At N-400 you can be asked anything about your immigration history. Maybe file a FOIA to get at least some info in case if you need to answer questions about your past?

Why wouldn't you do both: upload evidence and provide the number? I don't think it hurts.

I wouldn't. You never know whether your descendants will ever need to trace how you became a citizen. Or if something horrible happens to your passport / naturalization certificate and you'll have to prove you are who you are. These are super important documents in my opinion. I'd scan them to digital files and store safely to say the least.

Best to change name now, before any paperwork is filed or much further at N-400 stage when she becomes a US citizen. Anything in between is not as smooth compared to the two options above. If she changes name now, she should get passport in new name, so that everything in her paperwork other than birth certificate will match.

That's a good idea actually. And with this stamp get unrestricted SS card / DL for I-9.