MsElui

Hi all
I looked for GC renewal info in the wiki and didn't find anything.

Our 10 year Green cards expire in August and Oct of 2019. We do intend to apply for citizenship.

I dont know what the current timelines are like so i do not know if we should apply for citizenship now and hope its done by Aug 2019 - or apply now and if we get to Feb or so of 2019 (6 months prior to gc expiry) and then apply to renew the green card if we dont hear about citizenship by then?

OR if our application for citizenship is in process - do we get a pass on the green card renewal?

any insight or tips anyone can offer?

EricK

Here is my timeline - N400 submission March 2018. Biometrics April 2018. Citizenship test July 2018.

retzie

From recent BE posts, timelines are all over the shop. I submitted mine in May and the system is quoting a 12 month wait. I assume this is about as 'reliable' as any other USCIS estimate...

Definitely apply now - even with the times that are being quoted, you will have a pretty good chance of making it. In terms of where this leave you with regard to green cards, it looks like this question has disappeared from the Guide to Naturalization . Once upon a time, it said you didn't need to renew as long as you filed the N400 at least 6 months before green card expiry. I have no idea if this is still valid or not.

EricK

Both my Wife and my initial notifications said 12 months. Her process beginning to end was 6 months (applied November 2017) and mine is 5 months.

Rete

With ICE picking up LPR's for legal infractions, I would not wait to apply for naturalization if you are planning to remain in the US. I know it is expensive but you have children who are under the age of 18, so once one of you become a US Citizen, your children will be US citizens, as well. You can apply for their US passports at the same time as the new US Citizen applies for theirs.

Note that the N600 for the Certificate "proving" their citizenship is also very expensive. It does NOT have to be done immediately. Their US Passport serves that purpose perfectly. However, many people feel that it is better to have the certificate. I honestly do not know why since their argument of the passport being lost means they can't prove their citizenship is not a valid reason. Make a copy of the front page of the passport, keep it separate from the passport, and if you need to replace the passport, the photocopy will give you all the information you need to get a replacement. I had to do that last month. You can apply for their certificate at any point in their lives.

If you are concerned about your green card expiring before naturalization takes place, please put that worry out of your mind. You do not have to provide your employer (I know you work) with your green card and unless you are planning on traveling overseas you are fine and if traveling, then make an infopass appointment and get an I-551 stamp in your passport.

Remember; THE CARD EXPIRES NOT YOUR LPR STATUS

MsElui

Thanks all - i was mainly worried as i had heard bits and pieces about it taking much longer and didnt know if we would hit the 13 months toimefrmae before the gc would expire. you have set my mind at rest.

Jerseygirl

I suppose it depends on how far they want to delve into your past. 11 years ago our 20 yr old daughter’s took 3 months from sending in the application...to citizenship ceremony. Although the 3 of us applied at the same time...ours took 6 months.

Rete

It doesn't matter. The green card will be taken from you at the time of the oath ceremony and as others here have been in the same circumstances, they were fine with accepting your non-renewed green card at the time of the ceremony and at the interview.

Rete

DH's took 3 months. September to the first week in December. Unfortunately, that was 16 years ago.

MsElui

and oh wow - i just completed the N400 online for myself and its soooo much easier than filling out the form bu hand.

sun_burn

You're in Dallas ? I don't like to be the bearer of unpleasant news, but that's one of the most heavily backlogged USCIS field offices at the moment. Dallas and Houston report processing times of between 12-18 months for N400 applicants, on trackers elsewhere.

sun_burn

I'm not sure how that worked out for you. But I was under the impression that one's residential address maps you to a particular field office, given by this site:
https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-.../field-offices

TX has 5 field offices: TX USCIS field offices

Dallas and Houston are heavily backlogged - they have the largest backlogs of any field office in the country: USCIS quarterly performance data

Jerseygirl

Apologies. Just remembered that was for our first US passports. I have deleted my misleading post.

sun_burn

Ah, ok I have no idea how the passport process works, since I am getting through my own N400 process at the moment - my interview is next week. This thread was of interest to me since I had a similar choice to make, after ~10 years with a GC. I chose to naturalize.

My understanding of the rules was that if you had more than 6 months of validity on your GC at the time of application, you did not need to renew it - you could get an I-551 stamp on your passport through an Infopass appointment if the N400 process took longer than expected - which is likely to be true for Dallas.

username.exe

For info (or anyone else speculatively looking at this thread for timelines), I submitted my N400 application online in early November. Biometrics completed mid December. Interview scheduled for mid July. I hear that they schedule to oath ceremony pretty quickly after the interview. However, processing times vary wildly according to the local processing office.