Firstly here is my time line,,, receipt date of may 10, 2004, EAD approved August 2004, Green card interview Feb 2005 (approved)

Here is my question: On the green card it states that me and my children are permanent residents, but the expiration date on the card is 2007, does this mean that we are residents with conditions? And if so, when it comes time to renew the green card, will i only be renewing and submitting the fees for my card with the childrens following automatically? or do i also have to renew and pay for theirs?

Any information will be greatly appreciated.

If you gained your green card by marrying a USC then you were given a CONDITIONAL green card. 90 days before your green card expires in 2007, you have to file the I-751 to get your conditions removed on your green card and that's when the real fun begins. There has been so much written about the I-751 on this discussion board, that you won't have any trouble finding out about people's experiences and what you can expect. Once you get your conditions removed you will receive a 10 year green card. I'm not sure what happens to your children's green cards but I would assume that the fate of their cards is tied to yours as you are the parent

Paddy, thank you for your response, one or two more questions tho, what exactly are the "conditions" linked with a conditional green card, and why if all this has to be removed, did the interviewer tell me and my husband that in 3 yrs. I can apply for citizenship? Doesn't seem right that I would have to jump through still more INS hoops for a 10 yr. card only to turn around and a year later become a citizen. Am I seeing this wrongly or ????????????

The only "condition" on a 2yr green card is that your permanent resident status will be terminated and you'd have to return back to your home country if this condition isn't removed. By filing form I-751 90 days prior to the card's expiration you're doing just that. It could take up to a year to process this form.

As for citizenship, you can file form N-400 while I-751 is still pending.

Cheers.

Hi Shimmering2000, Sup is right with regards to the I-751. The only reason you were given a conditional green card was because you had been married less than 2 years prior to your AOS interview. The whole point of the I-751 is to give the USCIS a second chance to check to see if the marriage is still valid. When you file the I-751 you have to submit evidence similiar to the stuff you submitted for your AOS except this evidence has to cover the period since your AOS interview. Evidence could include, Joint Bank Accounts, Filing taxes jointly, affidavits from people who know the both of you and can atest to the validity of the marriage etc.

Now with regards to the length of time the I-751 takes to be approved, it can vary and no one seems to know why. If you read other people's posts on this board you will see that people have waited on average a year but some are still waiting more than 2 years. For my case, I followed very closely the processing times for the I-751 at the Vermont Service center which appeared for a long time to be severely backed up. However, completely out of the blue they approved it last May even though it stated on the USCIS website that they were only processing applications received in December 2003.

Sup again is correct about the fact that you can apply for your US citizenship while your I-751 is still pending. Depending on which state you live in will also dictate whether you run into any delays with your N-400 processing. It is certainly possible for your N-400 application to be processed and an interview set while your I-751 is still pending. However, they won't approve a citizenship application until your I-751 has been approved. But again it depends on the state because some places will approve the I-751 and N-400 at the same interview.
My experience of immigration up to now is that the USCIS does make you jump through hoops and the only sure fire way to cut the ball and chain is to see the process through until you become a citizen........immigration will be over in 2 weeks when I take my Oath of citizenship........its been a long haul but I'm glad that it is nearly at an end.

Now remember to mark your calendar with the date when you become eligible to file the I-751 and have everything ready to file by that date. Also, the USCIS will not send you a reminder to file the I-751, so if you forget to file in time you will be put in deportation proceedings.
Hope this info has helped and good luck