Rete

Thanks, perfect explanation.

kbales

Sorry I've been a bit confusing! Yes, I forgot the correct terminology of "removing the conditions." It's so hard to keep track of what everything is supposed to be called! Let me see if I can clear it up a bit.

My husband and I got married on June 4, 2017. We applied for the CR1 visa while he was in England during that time. After his visa application was approved and issued on January 15, 2019, he flew in to the US on January 28, 2019 and had his passport stamped. You all have taught me that this stamp is good for a year, but in his passport the visa (or whatever the new page that has been added is called with his picture on it) says that expires on June 19, 2019. Is this not because we will have been married for two years by that point? I thought I remember that being the rule...that you are issued the CR1 visa when married less than two years, and then after the two year anniversary you remove the conditions.
Regardless, there is a page in his passport that says: "Expiry: June 19, 2019" and this is what my husband's job is very concerned about.
I had assumed it is because that will be shortly after our two year anniversary, and that removing the conditions was the solution.

Thanks for all of the help again!

Rete

KB, the visa is a one use only document. It is good for use until the 6th month expiration of his medical in the UK. The expiration date on the visa has absolutely nothing to do with your marriage anniversary or for the removal of conditions. He used the visa on January 28th and the visa is now null and void. It had to be used by June 19, 2019. Forget about the visa ... it has no bearing on his status and his ability to work.

Both the employer and he/you are confused with the dates. He entered the US before your 2nd year wedding anniversary. His status at the POE is Conditional Resident-1 and he needs to file for removal of those conditions via form I-751 90 days before expiration date on the green card. The green card will be good for 2 years = January 28, 2019 til January 28, 2021. So he applies 90 days before January 28, 2021 for removal of conditions.

The date he and his employer should be looking at is the date on the I-551 in his passport. It will say January 28, 2019 - January 28, 2021 (or perhaps January 27, 2021).

Noorah101

OK, so your marriage was less than 2 years old when he entered the USA using his Immigrant Visa. Therefore, he was admitted as CR-1. This means that you will have to remove conditions during the 90-day window just before his 2nd year as a US PR (that would be January 2021. So you can forget about the removal of conditions for a while, as that's a long way off. So skip anything to do with that for now.

The immigrant visa itself has a validity date of 6 months from the date his medical was done. The June 19, 2019 date sounds like the date of the visa expiration (5 months after the issue date of January 15, 2019). He has now used the visa, so it's no longer valid, and the expiry date of the visa (June 19, 2019) now means nothing. It's been used. So you can forget about that date, as it now means nothing.

When he arrived, that visa should be been stamped with an I-551 legend which says "valid as proof of US Permanent Resident for 1 year" (or something like that). Look carefully at the visa page to see a reference to "1 year". That means at the POE when he became a US PR, that stamp is proof of his US PR status. The stamp itself is valid for 1 year (bringing the date to January 2020). He continues to be a US PR after that date, by which time he should receive his plastic I-551 (green card) in the mail.

Your husband's job need not be concerned about anything. He is a US PR, with valid proof (the I-551 stamp in his passport) at least until January 2020. When his plastic green card comes in the mail, it should be a 2-year green card with an expiration of January 2021, and he can then show that to the employer.

I know you recently did a change of address. Call USCIS at their 800 number to double check they have your correct current address.

For now, look carefully at the visa page in the passport (or the page next to it), looking specifically for an I-551 number or the words "valid for 1 year".

Rene

SpoogleDrummer

I moved to the US about a week before my second anniversary and can confirm it's 90 days before your 2 year green card expires not 90 days before your 2 year anniversary so you should have a year and a half of not dealing with USCIS before you have to worry about removal of conditions.

kbales

Ahhh that makes so much more sense!! Thank you all so much. I will have him clarify with the job, and hopefully they will understand (his boss is English and is in the US on a green card...you would think he might be a bit more understanding!) Also great to know we have a little more time before removing the conditions and more paperwork

Alba2018

Nice write up, it's much appreciated and congratulations .. my turn soon I hope in a year or so lol

kbales

Thank you so much! I feel like I was in your shoes not long ago...it seems like it takes forever and then everything happens very quickly! You can do it

kbales

Hello again! I have a bit of a rant to go on. My husband still hasn't received his green card in the mail, and just like in my most recent post, his boss is still insisting that if they do not see his "official green card" in person by June 19th, he will not be able to work. I got on the USCIS website tonight, and used the live chat tool (I would have much rather talked to someone on the phone but I couldn't find the phone number). The whole conversation could have taken less than 5 minutes on the phone, but instead took around 30 minutes back and forth through the messages. When we finally got to the point of learning the status of his green card, the service representative said, "So it looks as if you should have received your green card by now but they never sent it to production so i have to send that office a notice." What!!!! To say the least, I was not impressed. By the end of the conversation, he said that he had sent a notice to the office that should be producing the green card, and also said that we should be receiving a call in 24-72 hours about an appointment at our local office to give my husband "temporary evidence" until we receive the green card in the mail. Overall, the experience was upsetting, from the time it took to go back and forth in the messages, to finding out that the green card itself should have already been here, but somehow just didn't get made. I'm still trying to figure out what to do about his boss, hopefully this "temporary evidence" will suffice. If anyone has any advice, we'd greatly appreciate it.

Rete

I'm sorry your husband has had this problem. His employer is wrong. Your husband's I-551 stamp in his passport is his green card and proof of his status for one year.

Why haven't you or he printed out this information about the I-551 stamp from the USCIS website and given it to his employer? It would save hassle and save the employer from a possible lawsuit by your husband for dismal of employment for unlawful reason.

BTW the only temporary evidence they will give him is another I-551 stamp in his passport.

From the USCIS website: https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/te...amps-and-mrivs

kbales

Rete, thank you so much for the advice. This evening I had him reply to his boss with basically word for word the advice you and Noorah gave on my last post concerning the same thing. His boss still keeps referencing the June 19th date, which you both explained is only relevant for his visa to enter the US, which obviously is no longer relevant. It's all very frustrating, especially to think about that we should have already received the green card in the mail.

civilservant

This might have been mentioned before, but what state are you in? 'Right to work' states are a PIA.

Rete is of course correct the I-551 stamp in the passport IS a green card for 1 year, and the USCIS website states as much. I think you just have to remember that the penalties for employing an illegal worker can be severe, so the boss is just trying to cover his a**.

kbales

We finally received an email from USCIS. It says, "A search of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) records indicates the Immigrant Visa (IV) Fee has been received. However, it appears that USCIS has not received your Department of State issued IV Packet, which should have been submitted by the Port of Entry (POE) when you entered the United States. USCIS requires a completed Lost Visa Packet in order to process your Permanent Resident Card (PRC). In order to get the Lost Visa Packet completed you must visit your local USCIS Field Office." It goes on to explain the process of how to make an appointment, and what is required to bring to the appointment - copy of the email, proof of identity, copy of birth certificate, and two passport photos. It says that, "Your local Field Office will reconstruct the IV Packet and either complete an I-89, Card Data Collection Form, with photos or send you to an Application Support Center to have biometrics taken. The full packet with all the information will then be mailed by the Field Office for processing."


So!!! Not thrilled about this to say the least. My husband's POE was Orlando. I believe he was one of the first on this forum to have the electronic packet, rather than the "big white envelope." Not sure if there's a glitch in the transition to electronic or if it is solely someone in Orlando's fault. Either way, it's pretty irritating. Luckily my husband's job has backed off from needing his "real green card" after he sat down with them and explained all of the dates and things. The problem is now that he'll have to go to what sounds like possibly multiple appointments, and he is not able to have any days off from work. We are living in El Paso, Texas which is obviously a huge immigration location nationally, so hopefully we have all of the offices here that we need - otherwise we'll have to travel pretty far, considering we're in the middle of the desert and close to no other cities.

If anyone has experienced this, or has any advice or words of wisdom, please let me know! I guess in the grand scheme of things this isn't a huge deal, but it's still annoying to know that we've done everything right and it's just something they've done wrong.

**Just to update this, my husband and I just tried to follow the link to make an appointment at our local El Paso field office. The link says that our local office "is not accepting walk-in requests or scheduling InfoPass appointments." Going back to the email, it says if we're unable to make an online appointment to call a phone number. We were just on the phone for 45 minutes and have been basically told nothing. The man on the phone repeatedly said the words "one moment please" and "thank you for calling, just one minute please" over and over. It was the weirdest phone call I've ever heard. Ultimately he barely explained that we would now be receiving another phone call in two days or so to make an appointment at this office that says it's not taking an appointment. Overall, I'm very frustrated and confused.

kbales

Another update: We had the appointment at our local field office today. Overall the experience was fine, all of the employees were very kind and looked like they were actually enjoying their jobs (laughing and making jokes with all of the visitors). While we did end up getting everything sorted, it is incredible to see how much is left up to human error. During the appointment (lasted about 30 minutes) the woman helping us made 3 separate mistakes that I or my husband had to correct her on. To think that if we hadn't noticed the mistakes and that his green card would either just not be made again, or sent to the wrong location, is very frustrating. In the end, though, it all looks fine and she gave him a hand written extension in his passport while we wait for the green card in the mail.

Harveyspecter

AR-11 form is the form you need for the change of address. You'll need to update any address changes you do between now and when your hubby becomes a citizen.

As a fellow spouse visa immigrant back in 2016, congratulations!