10-yr green card saga - finally over... {long summary}

I received my 10-yr green card this morning (see Appendix 2 regarding a receipt # that accompanied it). Here are the details on our experience starting with the submission of my I-751 and all of the twists and turns that we endured. I have not reported the entire story previously in the spirit of keeping things simple. Little did I know how much more there would be to our USCIS story -- even after sending in the I-751 to remove conditions.

Here is my I-751 timeline (I'm not including the AOS or conditional green card stuff, nor the naturalization timelines). The I-751 saga in of itself is complicated enough...

4/15/03 Sent I-751 to TSC return receipt (see Appendix 1 for what we included)

4/16/03 TSC signed for and received package

4/16/03 NOA generated - extending I-551 for one year

4/28/03 Received NOA in the mail

3/10/04 Sent in AR-11, letter to TSC (service center), letter to JAX (local office) indicating that I was moving from Florida to Vermont. Used PO Box for new address.

3/15/04 Received return receipts from all 3 addresses to my new Vermont address.

3/17/04 Received letter from TSC to Vermont address stating that they had received my change of address and reminding me to submit an AR-11 if I had not.

3/19/04 NOA generated by TSC and sent to my new address in Vermont. Unfortunately I was temporarily on training in California and I had a temporary forward in place with USPS -- the NOA did not get forwarded because the envelope said "Return Service Requested". Returned back to TSC with a yellow sticker saying "temporarily away".

4/9/04 NOA and envelope put into a new envelope without any "Return Service Requested" on the front and mailed from TSC to my old Florida address. The mail was successfully forwarded to my permanent Vermont address and then subsequently forwarded to my temporary California address. Unfortunately, this NOA was sent in error (after all of this - see next entry).

5/3/04 Received NOA welcome letter from TSC stating that I would receive my green card in the mail and that I had been granted conditional permanent resident status. This particular letter seems to be a glitch in the system - when pending I-751 petitioners send in an AR-11 it appears to trigger this NOA to be sent in error.

5/3/04 I sent a letter to TSC stating that I had received the NOA in error.

6/25/04 Received letter from TSC stating that my conditions were being removed and that I should report to Boston office for processing. Note that I received the letter from my old service center (TSC) but they directed me to my new local office (Boston) which is in the VSC jurisdiction. I did not tell them anything about transferring my file.

7/8/04 Processed at Boston and passport stamped with temporary I-551 stamp.

10/1/04 New I-551 received in mail from VSC. Card mailed to my old address in Florida (after all of this they still issued it to my old address). The envelope did not have "Return Service Requested" on the front thank goodness so it was forwarded by USPS to our Vermont PO Box. See appendix 2 regarding the receipt number that accompanied the card.

So now we are just waiting to be called for the naturalization interview. Who would think that filing an I-751 could be so complicated. Moving certainly did not help the process (but it was unavoidable).

Appendix 1

We included the following in our original I-751 packet:

Check for $145.00
Form I-751
Copy of Permanent Resident Card
Affidavit - friend #1 (and notarized)
Affidavit - friend #2 (and notarized)
Copy of Marriage Certificate
Copy of joint credit cards (same acct numbers and address)
Copy of joint bank account (same address, shared bills)
Copy of IRAs showing respective spouse as beneficiary
Copy of jointly filed income taxes - 2002
Copy of jointly filed income taxes - 2001
Photo of us on vacation 8/9/02 in Arizona
Photo of us on vacation 8/13/02 in Arizona
Wedding invitation from a relative addressed to us showing we have the same joint address
Copy of flight itinerary to said wedding (listed in #14) for both of us (showing same billing address, same flights)

Appendix 2

The green card was attached to a printout that included a Receipt #

I entered the receipt number and the following was generated in the online status. Of course, there is no way to obtain this receipt number until the green card is sent but interesting nonetheless:

Receipt Number: EAC*********x

Application Type: CRI89, CONDITIONAL RESIDENCE I-89 CARD RECEIVED AT SERVICE CENTER

Current Status:

This case has been approved. On September 21, 2004, an approval notice was mailed. If 14 days have passed and you have not received this notice, you may wish to verify or update your address. To update your address, please call the National Customer Service Center at (800) 375-5283.

We did not receive any approval notice. It was probably sent to our old address in Florida.

Posts: 746 | Registered: 05-06-2004

Kalla

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