I 751 help

[bryan]

In july of 2004 my wife recieved her NOA for her I 751 extending her her alien card 1 year which will expire sept 20th 2005. In the mean time we have just recently submitted an N400 for citizenshp/naturalization as they said we could do so by sending in a copy of her temporary alien card and passport. So with both of those forms being submitted she has just recieved an approval of removal of conditions. This form says its a new classification symbol IF1 and says we must obtain a new alien registration reciept card (form I 551) by appearing at the INS office with 3 pictures and her passport. This came with a supplemental form I 926 saying to make this appoint through infopass and that the pictures had changed from 3/4 view to frontal.

The problem is that the office is a 7 hour drive and i would like to avoid that if possible. How will it effect the N400 if i ignore the steps of making the appointment through infopass and showing up in person to get the alien card? Do I need to proceed with the removal of conditions process in order for the naturalization process to proceed without delay? If anyones got an idea I would really appreciate the help, thanx in advance

Bryan

[Ray]

... in response to I 751 help, posted by bryan on Jun 17, 2005

Bryan,

You really should go to the CIS office and get the new Green Card processed. They need her to show up in person to extend her legal status. That N-400 could take a while and she will need the Green Card/Passport stamp if she needs to apply for a job, travel out of the country, etc. She will also need to submit her Green Card at her naturalization interview.

My wife waited over a year to get her I-751 approved, and now she has been waiting 15 months for the new Green Card to arrive (no, it hasn’t been mailed yet). In the mean time, she submitted her N-400 and FINALLY got an interview date next week, 15 months after applying. Apparently they misplaced her petition, but of course they NEVER misplace the fee check :-)

When you go to the I-751 appointment, they will take her old Green Card and stamp her passport (good for a year). Yes, 7 hours is a long drive. I guess we were lucky because the local CIS office is a 3-4 minute drive for us.

Ray

[stevjulietb]

... in response to Re: I 751 help, posted by Ray on Jun 17, 2005

Ray,  Juliet and I are facing the same problem, however we moved to Florida(Texas Service Center).  They told her to go to Kansas City CIS office to recieve her green card.  Our old address was in Missouri(Nebraska Service Center).  We reported the address change in August of 2004.  We filed the 751 in May of 2004.  I called them last week to check on the status of her 751 and to change our address(we bought a house in the same town).  They said her application would be processed in a month.  Three days later we got the approval letter stating to come to KC. The approval letter was sent to missouri address, the address which is 9 months old.  They must not know how to use a computer to update change of addresses. I guess we will call customer service and see if they can change the appointment to Jacksonville, Florida.  This department is part of Homeland Security, Kind of scares me!

Steveb

[Ray]

... in response to Re: Re: I 751 help, posted by stevjulietb on Jun 17, 2005

You’re right Steve, the CIS change-of-address procedure doesn’t work most of the time like it should. The form for changing your address doesn’t seem to make it into their computer system or something.

I know it’s probably too late for your case, but for anyone changing addresses while they have a petition pending, you should also notify the Service Center/CIS local office that is processing your petition. Send them a FAX and then write them just to make sure. Include your case number and A-Number. Even then it’s a toss up.

Good luck,

Ray

[bryan]

... in response to Re: I 751 help, posted by Ray on Jun 17, 2005

Heres my plan. Slowly.... get to the infopass site and make an appointmentr that will hopefully be months and months away. Meanwhile crossing my fingers that the N400 is going through like lightning. waddaya think.

What if we show up at an N400 interview with a pending removal of condition appointment. Do you think they would proceed. Or are you saying we HAVE to have her in status with the permanent resident alien card when we show up for the N400 stuff. Your always a big help thanx

[Ray]

... in response to Re: Re: I 751 help, posted by bryan on Jun 17, 2005

It looks like Detroit is taking around 5-6 months to process N-400s. Personally, I wouldn’t take a chance on screwing things up. When I recently made an InfoPass appointment, they didn’t leave much choice of dates and you couldn’t schedule anything beyond about 2 weeks, but that was San Diego.

https://egov.immigration.gov/cris/jsps/officeProcesstimes.jsp?selectedOffice=27

You never know when a family emergency might come up back home, so it's really good to keep the wife's documents up to date just in case.

Why not take a few days off and make it a romantic business/pleasure trip. Maybe if you hurry and get an appointment, Howard can get you free tickets to a Pistons playoff game (LOL)

Ray

[bryan]

... in response to I 751 help, posted by bryan on Jun 17, 2005


Here is some info Ray provided when I made an inquiry about this before we submitted the N400. It seems to me that at the moment she is out of status. If I want her in status I have to follow through on the removal of conditions and drve to freakin detroit. Or I sit tight and wait on a response to the N400 which seemed to be delayed in Rays case. Whadda ya think. Oh and sorry for chatting with myself

Posted by Ray on 04/16/2005
In Reply to: help posted by bryan on 04/16/2005:

After you filed the I-751, she should have received a Form G-854 in the mail extending her Green Card for one year. It is normal for them to take over a year to process those petitions. If it still hasn’t been approved after one year, then they should mail her another one-year extension. If she doesn’t receive anything after a year, then you can make an InfoPass appointment with your local CIS office to ask for their guidance. Forget about trying to phone your service center.

She can file an N-400 petition for citizenship when she has been a permanent resident for 3 years (can file 3 months before 3rd anniversary). The removal of conditions does not have to be approved first. The three years is computed starting from the “Resident Since” date on her Green Card and not from the date of her arrival in the U.S.

Ray

[bryan]

... in response to I 751 help, posted by bryan on Jun 17, 2005

Just for clarification we sent the N400 in just a week ago which was 3 months before her 3rd year date. We havent recieved any response to the N400 as of yet.