48-Month Extension for Conditional Green Card Holders

 

Conditional residents who properly filed their extension applications will get 48 months of extension of their resident status, according to an announcement today by USCIS.  The filing receipt and the expired Green Card will serve as evidence of the extension.  The effective dates are as follows:

Conditional residents based on marriage: Starting 01/25/2023, the filing receipt of a properly filed Form 751 will contain language extending their green cards for 48 months.

Conditional residents based on investment:  Starting 01/11/2023, the filing receipt of a properly filed Form I-829 will contain language extending their green cards for 48 months.

USCIS will also issue new receipt notices to eligible conditional residents who have already filed their I-751 and I-829 applications. 

(Immigration laws and policies change regularly.  If you have any questions regarding this article, please visit www.1visa1.com to schedule a legal consultation.)  

Conditional Green Card Receipts for I-751 and I-829 Extended to 24 Months

Do you have a pending I-751 or I-829 with USCIS?  The processing time of these applications has increased drastiscally over the past year.  As a result, USCIS announced that, starting Sept. 4, 2021, the temporary extension of applicants' conditional resident status will be extended from 18 months to 24 months.  

Two applications are being affected:  

1) Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence:  This application is to remove conditional resident status of applicants who applied for a marriage-based green card.

2) Form I-829, Petition by Investor to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status: This application is to remove conditional resident status of EB-5 investors.

Conditional permanent residents who properly file these applications will receive a receipt notice (Form I-797C).  This receipt notice, when presented with the Conditional Green Card, can serve as evidence of continued status for up to 24 months past the expiration date on the Green Card.  

For pending applications that were filed before Sept. 4, USCIS will issue new receipt notices to the applicants. Those receipt notices will similarly serve as temporary evidence of  conditional status for 24 months after the expiration date on their Green Card.

(Immigration laws and policies change regularly.  If you have any questions regarding this article, please visit www.1visa1.com to schedule legal consultation.) 

Update for I-751 Forms Received May 1 to Sept. 9

USCIS announced an update last week regarding the processing of Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence. This form is for those who received their green card through recent marriage to apply for full permanent residence. This update is in reference to when the filing address for the form was changed to that of a USCIS lockbox facility on September 10, 2018. 

USCIS provides the following instructions for I-751 petitions received between May 1st and September 9:

If a Form I-751 was received by USCIS during this time, then the petitioner should expect a receipt notice by October 22nd. Petitioners that do not receive a receipt are instructed not to file another Form I-751 unless the CSC directed them to do so or if their petition had been rejected. 

In the event that a two-year green card has expired with no receipt notice, the petitioner can go online to schedule an INFOPASS appointment at the local field office. Any evidence of the courier service taking the form should be brought to the appointment. 

Petitioners/applicants should check the USCIS website for the most up-to-date filing addresses. 

I-751 Filing Address Change

As of September 10, 2018, I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence applications are to be sent to a USCIS lockbox facility instead of the California and Vermont Service Centers. Adjudication will be performed by the California, Vermont, Texas, and Nebraska Service Centers.

The I-751 form is for those who received their conditional green card through recent marriage. The application is to request the removal of conditions on their status and receive full permanent residence.

Delay in the Processing of I-751 Petition to Remove Conditional Status

Are you a conditional permanent resident waiting for your permanent green card?  If you are wondering when your I-751 petition will be processed, you are not alone.  The processing time of the I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence has become a lot longer during the past year.  Acknowledging the delays in processing the I-751 petitions, USCIS provides measures to conditional residents to extend their expiring green cards.  

The I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence is used to remove one's Conditional Permanent Resident (CPR) status.  CPR status is granted to a person when he applies for his green card based on marriage to a U.S. citizen and the marriage took place less than two years ago.  Conditional Permanent Resident status is only valid for two years and one must file a petition to remove the conditions within 90 days before the expiration of the conditional status. 

Currently, the California Service Center is taking approximately 15 months to process the I-751 petition while the Vermont Service Center is taking approximately 13 months.  Individual applicants may experience longer processing times.

When one files the Form I-751 petition, USCIS issues a Form I-797, Notice of Action, as filing receipt.  This document also extends the conditional green card for one year from the expiration date on the card.  However, the current lengthy processing times mean that many conditional residents have been waiting for more than one year for their permanent green cards.  With their one year extension expiring, these conditional residents need evidence to prove their legal status to stay in the U.S.  Without proof of legal immigration status, they will not be able to continue working, to renew their driver's licenses, and to travel internationally.  

Under current USCIS policy, conditional residents with a pending Form I-751 may request for further extension of their conditional status.   They can do that by requesting for a temporary "green card stamp" on their passport.  To do that they usually must make an InfoPass appointment with a local USCIS office.  They should bring their valid and unexpired passport,  InfoPass appointment notice, Form I-751 receipt notice, expired green card, and proof of residence (address).

The temporary green card stamp will typically be issued with a validity period of up to 12 months.  Individual USCIS offices may issue them for 3 or 6 months only each time but applicants may request for additional extensions.

If the USCIS website shows that there are no current InfoPass appointments available in a particular office, conditional residents may also walk-in and request for an emergency temporary green card stamp. USCIS states that conditional residents should not request a temporary stamp more than 30 days before the expiration of their conditional status.

(AILA Doc. No. 17111739)

Removal of conditions application (I-751) in marriage cases: filing location changes

As of 01/14/2015, the filing location for Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, for applicants living in Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas has changed from Vermont Service Center (VSC) to California Service Center (CSC).  Applications sent to the wrong service center will be rejected starting 3/17/15.  

A U.S. citizen may petition for his or her spouse to immigrate to the U.S. based on their marriage. However, if their marriage is less than two years old, the foreign spouse may only acquire a 2-year conditional residence status.  Within 90 days of the second anniversary of the spouse's conditional status, he or she must file a petition to remove the conditions.