Worried

Hi All,

Any advice appreciated, i've been loosing sleep over this

I moved to the US after marridge to my american born spouse, and received
conditional residency. My green card expired 01/16/02.

I had originally mailed documents to remove conditional status along with a
check, approximately two months prior to the expiry date. I assumed that
this was normal 'processing time' and over time, forgot about the filing.
until...

My elegability for US citizen ship is due, and it's a process i'd like to
get started, but without any papers, and an expired greencard, I began
looking into the problem once again. Research tells me that the check was
never submitted to the bank for approval, which tells me... I have a
problem.

I didn't send the documents registered/certified (stupid, stupid, stupid)

With regard to my background, I am still married to the sponser of my i-130,
have two health children, one born immediately prior to my immigration (with
dual citizenship, uk/us) and the other US born. I remained gainfully
employed, currently working in law enforcement.

And here come my concerns. The INS website mentions that my local INS
office can restore my resident status at their disgresion... What does this
entail, and what are the chances of getting this done sucesfully.

Most importantly, will this affect my ability to remain employed. As the
only source of income for a family of four, this is a critical factor.

As i mentioned, any advise is welcomed. I will probably be contacting a
qualified immigration lawyer as soon as possible.

Many thanks.

PL