Conditional Green Card - Renewal / Travel Abroad

[Maph]

Here is my scenario...

My wife has a conditional green card that we applied for after getting married. The green card expires May 1st of 2014. We plan on traveling to Thailand late May 2014 to have a traditional Thai wedding.

My concern is not that her card expires, its that the USCIS requires us to send in form I-751 to "Remove Conditions of Residence" (http://www.uscis.gov/i-751) 90 days before her green card expires. That puts us at February 1st as the earliest date we can send the form in. Given that the renewal process could take 6 to 12 months, its a little too close for comfort.

Towards the bottom of this guide I found (http://www.visajourney.com/content/751guide) it notes one should expect to receive a letter in response to the I-751 extending the permanent resident card one year; however, there is no mention on just how long it will take for that letter to arrive.

Has anyone had any experience with this? It would be lovely if I could send off the I-751 now, I really don't relish the notion of receiving no response and having to cancel our wedding and pay out the travel, hotel and other expenses for no reason.

[ubonjoe]

No personal experience with this.

But reading info on links you gave plus others it seems you cannot apply any earlier than 90 days or they will return the application.

At bottom of the page the 2nd link posted it reads.

You will receive a notice of receipt for the form stating that "Your alien card is extended one year - employment and travel authorized". Keep the receipt with your green card.

I would mail in application at the exact 90 day point and if you do not get the receipt within a reasonable period of time then contact them about your application.

As suggested by info found you should send application by registered mail or priority mail with delivery confirmation (best in my opinion).

Hope this helps. Plus it gives your topic a bump.

[sirineou]

I Had the same situation a few years ago when my wife was going through the same process, I don;t remember the specifics because it was several years ago, and I cant remember what I ate yesterday, ​ but i seem to remember that I called the USCIS told them that my wife's green card would be expired by the time we traveled and I was not sure if we will have our new one by then and I was told that it would be no problem,

We did travel and we had no problem except for a small one on our return flight , while connecting in Doha,which we quickly resolved .

If I remember correctly USCIS had provided us with a letter, or the letter for renewal we had from them was adequate.

So Call USCIS and they will give you the proper advice.

Edited March 10, 2013 by sirineou

[Maph]

Thanks to you both for the information and your time.

In the past I've not had much luck calling USCIS. When I call and ask a deliberately well crafted, concise question, I'm met with extreme resistance. It may simply be to confirm an appointment date after receiving conflicting letters or simply to ask if a certain document is needed for an appointment date and I wind up talking in circles. So in a nutshell, I try to avoid their hotline as it aggravates my wife and I verses help on a all ready stressful day.

It seems like the plan here is to apply as the 90 day expiration period hits, play the waiting game for a few weeks and if no response try calling USCIS. I don't relish the latter, nor do I relish the thought of being obtuse when on the phone with them, but it may be that or no wedding / trip to Thailand.

Again, thanks for your thoughts!

[ubonjoe]

I don't think you will have a problem.

I suspect that as soon as the have the application in hand they hit a few computer keys the receipt is then automatically generated and mailed.

[UbonDavid]

As correctly stated above, USCIS will not accept the application more than 90 days in advance. Friends of ours sent the application in 1 day early and it was returned.

When we applied we got a letter from USCIS within 1 month saying they had extended the validity of our "green card" 1 year. This letter, along with the "green card" worked everywhere we used it (DMV, air flights).

Good luck.

[flewis25200]

The Receipt of the I-751 should take two weeks to arrive by mail. The receipt will reauthorize her travel and work authorization for a one year period. If you submit copious amount of documentation about the authenticity of marriage, she may receive her permanent Green card with out another interview in a few month to a year (she should receive it before the end of the extension period - based on which office s adjudicating the application).