mew5280

I will update our status. We had our interview and verbal approval at the local office on 03/20/08

Absolutely nothing since. We were told we would have an approval letter in 5 days. No letter. Our status on the USCIS.gov is still showing what it has for one year and 4 months: received and pending. It's like we just dreamed about the interview.

Everytime we go to call, we press the number for "case has been approved" (though I'm not sure it was or not, he said he would recommend approval), we get a message "if it has been 30 days since your case has been approved"

So it's not any better. Next week will be 30 days. We have to take vacation time to make an appointment and go to the office. This is getting incredibly ridiculous.

OK, here's our update! My husband received a letter the beginning of March asking us to come for an interview on March 20. We went to the interview last week, with all our additional evidence and it was all of 10 or 15 minutes long where we were only asked very basic questions, name, address, name of children. The officer got a little upset that neither of us had our SS cards with us (OOPS) I though passports were good enough. But he took the number off our tax forms and was fine. The only evidence he wanted was out last 2 years of income tax. Nothing else, we left with a file folder full of "evidence" hoping to never need it again. At the end of the interview, the officer said that he was recommending approval and that he would enter it into the computer that afternoon and we should have a letter in about 5 days.

SO, we have no letter but it hasn't been 5 business days yet. Also, the USCIS online status has not changed, still says "pending" so I'm guessing the NSC and the local offices aren't connected that well.

Anyway, sounds like good news but would love to have something official that says we're approved.

mew5280(CAPG)......01/06/07..........01/16/07......02/15/07........--/--/--.....I-551 stamp for 6 months, interview on 3/20/2008, verbal approval, waiting for official notification and/or the GC

I'm curious to know how your interview went! Please post! My husband and I are leaving in 15 mins for your interview and my stomach is in absolute KNOTS. I feel like I've provided so much evidence each time asked, and not only that but I provided it very organized with a table of contents, etc. This time, I had a huge project at work and had to travel out of town and come back early and had no time to organize.

I will report back how it was, I don't know why we were selected to interview, that's the part that makes me nervous. We have NOTHING to hide, so why am I so nervous? Oh yeah, because the AOS interview was so incredibly unreasonable. They spent the entire interview asking my husband intimate questions about his ex-girlfriend whom he had been split up from for 10 or more years. He was SO puzzled, I guess something about that didn't ring right with them. It's very insulting to me. Anyway....

Hoping you have good news Canuck.

I wanted to update our status, Peter T. if you want to add to the chart for CAPG:

December 27, 2007 - received I-551 stamp in passport good for 6 months.

February 28, 2008 - Received letter asking us to appear for an interview re: Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence (I-751) on March 20 (next week)

It is annoying that we have to accumulate all the "evidence" for the 4th time now but after reading everything here, we are extremely grateful that they have even acknowledged us. I don't know if this is the reason why but, my husband has a business contact at the DHS who told us in January that he would have our local CIS director submit a service request. He recently checked back with my husband about 3 weeks ago to find out if anything happened, he replied that no, we had not heard a single thing.

That was 3 weeks ago and I'm wondering if he pushed it forward somehow or if it was just a coincidence that we have the interview scheduled.

I can't decide if we were randomly selected for the interview or if they have some reason to doubt our marriage so I'm probably going to be really obnoxious and submit every single possible piece of evidence I can think of going back the past 2+ years as they request.

OH and I was asked to go on a business trip next week and the interview is putting a crimp on that. Of course there is no way I would ever even attempt to reschedule the interview but my boss is not happy that this is getting in the way. BTW, the letter that we got about the interview has no phone number, does not say anything about "if you need to reschedule..." It does say If you do not come to the interview your application may be denied.

And lastly, I love this wording: "Bring those documents that will best prove your valid continued marital state." I don't know about anyone else but to me, the definition of marriage is something that cannot be documented. Maybe I should videotape an argument, hehe, if that doesn't prove a marriage I don't know what would.

Well, we submitted as much evidence as we could think of, all the joint accounts, bills, etc. AND affidavits from a neighbor and a friend and after waiting one year and 3 months, we got called to an interview. I have no idea why but am just tired of proving something that is so obvious in our lives. So interviews do happen. I don't know if it's random or what but I'm hoping this is the last time I have to copy all that information. A lot of people haven't heard back on the I-751 so I consider that we are lucky to even be looked at right now.

Hi, my husband had an Infopass when his GC expired AND the one year was almost up since he had applied for removal of conditions in Denver, they gave him the stamp no problem but good for 6 months, not one year.

UPDATE on my husband's Removal of Conditions....

In January, a friend of my husband's who works for the Dept of Homeland Security, asked someone the director of our local office to file a Service Request (we have been waiting since Jan 2007). We heard nothing. Last week this person contacted my husband to find out if the SR helped and he told him NO.

Today in the mail we received a letter for an interview on March 20. Although I am ecstatic to have information, I am seething to have to provide, one more time, all that evidence, all the papers, all the copies of tax forms, etc., etc., etc. You send it to them, why do they want it again?

This time the paperwork did ask for more, they want evidence that we have been living together since the date of marriage through the date of our interview. I don't know if that's standard, probably is. ANYWAY... I should not complain, my husband will be ecstatic (he is actually out of the country, his first visit to his Mom in 4 years, btw, he went on the I-551 stamp)

I will update you all when we have the interview in 20 days.

Thank you for giving us hope and congratulations to you! Looks like they are taking over a year to process now, sheesh.

ZYGGY said:

The USCIS can't just flip a switch and have adjudicators just appear out of thin air... it takes a year or two to get an adjudicator trained and fully fuctional. There is only a limited amount of adjudicators to go around with double the caseload... the management of NSC has decided to place those resources to places they feel are the highest priority. I-751's aren't it... and honestly shouldn't be ... we can still lives our lives here with minimal disruption...

Um, can you answer the question then, WHY does the USCIS state on their status page that the NSC is filing I-751s dated Feb 10, 2007 when there are people in Dec 06 and Jan 07 who have not had any feedback on their cases? In spite of the fact that I disagree with what you said, they seem to be lying about where they are in the processing. IF they would admit they are behind, at least we wouldn't be worried that something was wrong because it's now been 6 weeks since they said our case was "finished".

My husband's one year extension expired 1/16/08. We made an infopass appoint for Dec 31 and he got the stamp in his passport good for 6 months.

He is so upset by all this. He works with a lot of immigrants who have told him that something is very wrong as it should only take 5-6 months, he has people in his office who said it only took them that long and they also applied last year. We've never received any request for additiona info, we've been to the local office, called the 800 number, we had a service request put in last week but nothing on that either.

I don't quite understand since I was born here but it's straining our relationship. He somehow feels that he is not legal, even though the law says he is. He just wants to have a GC AND mostly he would like to apply for citizenship but that will be delayed, he'd rather have the approval in hand first.

He asks me daily if anything is new. Just this morning he called me at work, asking about it. I'm about to lose it.

It would be OK if the website said they were processing dec 07 cases but it says they're on Feb 10, 2007 and his is dated Jan 16, 2007, #######? It makes no sense. and the status is pending. Pending. Received and pending. I would rather not have status online than to have such incorrect and unhelpful status. It's EXTREMELY misleading and my husband has been tied to that status date for months. Then when it passed his, he went ballistic.

AND, if you notice, the web page says it was updated as of Jan 15, OMG. So they should be 2 weeks further than they say.

Service requests are a waste of time. If anything comes out of them -- and frequently nothing whatsoever does -- it's always a some scripted, tell-me-something-I-don't-know BS to the effect that "your petition is currently being processed" and that you will be notified when processing has been completed. Inquiries via one's senator don't yield much more -- usually a made-up processing time passed on to the senator's office by the service center's congressional liason.

That's kind of what I expected, unfortunately my husband thinks this is going to magically move his case forward.

Thanks for the replies.

Hi everyone, I notice one of the people on this list has a service request, I couldn't find a post about it and was wondering what date this was placed?

My husband has a contact in Homeland Security that contacted someone in our local office to place a service request. I have no idea if this will make any difference, it seems that it doesn't since that person is still on the list here.

Just wondering if anyone has had any action on a service request? My husband is expecting miracles, I however am skeptical.

The wording is different here:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...0004718190aRCRD

"The processing times are for applications that have been just completed."

Yep, that's what I saw too. Doesn't matter though, they can say what they want, apparently. I just looked at the list above here and it looks like the only approval took 1 year 9 months, so is that what we can expect? Sheesh.

Thank you so much! That will make him feel so much better. I read another thread about people traveling without final paperwork and it sounded risky but the I-551 stamp sounds solid. I will let him know. He hasn't seen his mother in over 3 years and she's very sad.

Mary

Has anyone traveled outside the US on an I-551 stamp because their removal of conditions went beyond the 1 year GC extension and still hasn't been approved? My husband needs to visit his mother and it has now been 3-1/2 years since he left her and he wants to go next month. He thought for sure he would have his new GC but alas, he is being processed (so they say) at the NSC which apparently shreds their documents instead of processing them (joking of course).

I told him he would probably be OK as long as he took his expired GC and the 1 year extension letter on the I-741 and his passport with the I-551, all 3 of those SHOULD allow immigration to let him back into the US, anyone else have experience with this?

Thanks...

I would be steamed as well. From what I can tell, it makes no sense. You don't know whether to a) send the same info to a new SC or B) send different info. If I were you, I would call the CS number OR make an infopass appt to answer that question. Submitting what they don't want always confuses the issue and those of us on this board who think clearly and are logical cannot begin to guess what the seemingly illogical SCs want! Good luck to you, I feel for you big time. When I think of how many times we have submitted items to show we engaged, that we are married, that we are together, that we have been together and still they want more, more, more. I want to say to them "Do you know how hard it is to be married to someone from another culture? No matter how much you love them, would I do this just as a favor to get someone into our country? ABSOLUTELY NO WAY. hehe

Hello, I am so glad to find this topic! My husband filed for removal of conditions with an I751 of 1/16/2007 and we have heard of others who filed THIS summer and already have their renewed GC (NOT at the NSC though). He is going through the ceiling with disbelief at how this could take so long.

Feel free to add him to the list as CAPG. I751 Notice Date: 1/16/2007, biometrics 2/15/2007

Here's what we have done so far. A few weeks ago we called the NSC and found that the Customer Service Reps knew less than we did, they just read from some sheet of paper exactly what we could already read on the web and on our paper form. Called again about a week later, same exact experience. This person did express surprise that the online status had passed the 1/16/07 date and we hadn't heard anything.

Then he made an InfoPass appointment, we went there last week. There were less helpful there. They did give him the stamp in his passport so he could travel but got testy when asked why it was taking so long, she had NO information as to why or what or anything.

My husband also contacted an immigration attorney he told me to wait until 30 days past the receipt date, I doubt an attorney will be able to do anything.

As for the person who said the online status is the date the apps are put on someone's desk, that is not correct according to the website: The easiest way to monitor our processing time is on our website, where we post the filing dates of cases that we are now completing. We list this information for each kind of case and for every USCIS office and service center. This lets you project how long it will be before your case is completed.

So as the Orig Poster stated, they are being less than honest.

I'm thinking that having a passport is probably best which means for us at least, my husband cannot travel anywhere outside the US until he is eligible for US citizenship and gets a passport OR he decides to go through the hassle and expense ($600 I think is the current cost) to get a new passport from Cuba.

OK, sorry, I had this information in my post and somehow it did not show up, I'll try again. The US State Department lists all foreign entry requirements here: http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/brochu...hures_1229.html

For example:

MEXICO - *Passport, or proof of citizenship (such as original birth certificate or naturalization certificate) and photo ID. Tourist card is required.

BAHAMAS - Proof of U.S. citizenship, i.e., a passport (if you are using an expired passport it cannot be expired more than 5 years) or original or certified copy of a birth certificate with a photo ID, and onward/return ticket required for stay of up to 8 months.

ARUBA - Passport or proof of U.S. citizenship (original official birth or naturalization certificate and photo ID) required. Visa not required for tourist/business visit of up to 90 days.

(yes, I realize the Caribbean is made up of islands of many nations, my husband is from a Caribbean island in fact)

SO, the only problem with the US State Dept info is that it is directed to US Citizens, not perm residents.

So I still hold the question open.

You need to read up on being a greencard holder and your rights.... USCIS website is a good place to start....

Yes you can travel outside the usa as a greencard holder... you need a valid passport from your home country and your greencard to get you back into the USA...

I'm curious where you are getting the information that you must have both a permanent resident card AND a passport from your country? If you look on the USCIS website on the new passport regulations and the customs and border patrol website, it states clearly:

U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs)

must provide one of the following:

* I-551, Permanent Resident Card (“Green Card”)

* Machine-Readable Immigrant Visa endorsed with a CBP Admission Stamp

* Temporary Residence Stamp (ADIT stamp) contained in a passport or on Form I-94

* Valid Reentry Permit

* Unexpired Immigrant Visa

It only mentions ONE document is needed for re-entry to the US. http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/alerts/w...ents_needed.xml

I'm trying to find out if my husband, who is not yet eligible for citizenship but has an expired passport from his country and a valid permanent resident card, can travel to Mexico or the Caribbean for a one week vacation and re-enter the US using only his green card. To renew his passport is now taking 8-12 months and costs $600.

From the websites, it seems he only needs his green card but when I have mentioned this to people, they get so alarmed and insist this isn't possible, so what's up? Even the Nebraska Service Center was wrong. I asked them clearly about a one week vacation to Mexico and they told me on the phone that he needed to file the I-131 ($170, 4-6 month timeframe) for a travel document but after reading the form instructions in detail I notice it said:

If you stay outside the United States for less than one

year, you are not required to apply for a reentry permit.

You may reenter the United States on your Permanent

Resident Card (Form I-551).

http://www.uscis.gov/ - (go to the forms section and look for I-131, you have to download it to read the instructions)

So to cometaj, you might want to verify all this before you go to lengths renewing your passport, not sure it's needed from what I found but I would still like to know for sure from someone who has actually done it, though you would think the government websites I listed above are providing accurate information.

How do you think he will enter the foreign country without a passport?

The information above is concerning re entry to the USA. The foreign country however will require a passport to enter it and no airline will let you board without the correct documentation.

Mexico and the Caribbean do not require passports for entry. It is the US that has changed it's entry requirements, not Mexico or the Caribbean. I would definitely check with the country you/we are visiting first.

You need to read up on being a greencard holder and your rights.... USCIS website is a good place to start....

Yes you can travel outside the usa as a greencard holder... you need a valid passport from your home country and your greencard to get you back into the USA...

I'm curious where you are getting the information that you must have both a permanent resident card AND a passport from your country? If you look on the USCIS website on the new passport regulations and the customs and border patrol website, it states clearly:

U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs)

must provide one of the following:

* I-551, Permanent Resident Card (“Green Card”)

* Machine-Readable Immigrant Visa endorsed with a CBP Admission Stamp

* Temporary Residence Stamp (ADIT stamp) contained in a passport or on Form I-94

* Valid Reentry Permit

* Unexpired Immigrant Visa

It only mentions ONE document is needed for re-entry to the US. http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/alerts/w...ents_needed.xml

I'm trying to find out if my husband, who is not yet eligible for citizenship but has an expired passport from his country and a valid permanent resident card, can travel to Mexico or the Caribbean for a one week vacation and re-enter the US using only his green card. To renew his passport is now taking 8-12 months and costs $600.

From the websites, it seems he only needs his green card but when I have mentioned this to people, they get so alarmed and insist this isn't possible, so what's up? Even the Nebraska Service Center was wrong. I asked them clearly about a one week vacation to Mexico and they told me on the phone that he needed to file the I-131 ($170, 4-6 month timeframe) for a travel document but after reading the form instructions in detail I notice it said:

If you stay outside the United States for less than one

year, you are not required to apply for a reentry permit.

You may reenter the United States on your Permanent

Resident Card (Form I-551).

http://www.uscis.gov/ - (go to the forms section and look for I-131, you have to download it to read the instructions)

So to cometaj, you might want to verify all this before you go to lengths renewing your passport, not sure it's needed from what I found but I would still like to know for sure from someone who has actually done it, though you would think the government websites I listed above are providing accurate information.