Reality check for GC renewal processing times
#1
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Reality check for GC renewal processing times
Don't wait!!!! I had my biometrics done in March 2017 and was told it would be several months until my new card arrived. Here we are in January 2018 and still no card. I was able to get an extension through December 2017 which thankfully covered my planned trip back to the UK in June of the same year (my card expired in April 2017). I now have an unexpected trip back this year, so that prompted me to think about my GC again. They are currently processing applications from December 2016!!! I can apply for another extension at no cost, thank goodness, but I must admit I never anticipated this length of a wait. So, if you are close to renewal time, and are planning a trip, DO NOT wait till last minute! Lesson learned. As of now I really don't know when my new card will arrive - sometime this year
#2
Re: Reality check for GC renewal processing times
Applying for citizenship can force the renewal/removal of conditions application to be adjudicated.
#3
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Re: Reality check for GC renewal processing times
Getting citizenship is well overdue (been in the US 30 odd years). If I filed the N-400 now, I would still need my GC to travel before that was processed, correct? My unexpected trip back this year isn't till December, so I still have time for my new card to come, but I was thinking of getting another extension just to make sure I was covered.
#4
Re: Reality check for GC renewal processing times
Getting citizenship is well overdue (been in the US 30 odd years). If I filed the N-400 now, I would still need my GC to travel before that was processed, correct? My unexpected trip back this year isn't till December, so I still have time for my new card to come, but I was thinking of getting another extension just to make sure I was covered.
If you file now you may be a US citizen before December and will need to apply for a US passport to travel.
#5
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Re: Reality check for GC renewal processing times
Thank you very much! That's great info to know.
#6
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Re: Reality check for GC renewal processing times
GC renewal delays are why I decided to go ahead and file N-400 instead. I was up for my 10 year renewal late 2018, but it's likely to take longer. N400 seems to take less time for most simple cases, and with the current political climate it seems better to have something stickier than GC.
#7
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Re: Reality check for GC renewal processing times
GC renewal delays are why I decided to go ahead and file N-400 instead. I was up for my 10 year renewal late 2018, but it's likely to take longer. N400 seems to take less time for most simple cases, and with the current political climate it seems better to have something stickier than GC.
#8
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Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 226
Re: Reality check for GC renewal processing times
Yes I was taken aback. There wasn't any sort of I-90 issuing delay as such, a decade ago. Right now, *average* I-90 processing times are trending close to a year long, according to the USCIS data. N400 average processing times are much shorter, 3-6 month less. There seems to be a concerted bid to understaff GC renewals to force naturalizations, which is fine since they've always sought that GCs naturalize.
Last edited by sun_burn; Jan 9th 2018 at 2:37 pm.
#9
Re: Reality check for GC renewal processing times
My son had to have his GC renewed last year when he turned 14. Nothing has happened since he had biometrics done in the middle of September. We are not expecting anything to happen for a while. Luckily we have no plans to leave the country, although he still has his original one as it has not expired.