ian-mstm

What Meauxna and Rene said!

Ian

jeffreyhy

What Meauxna and Rene and Ian said. (sans the smiley)

SecretGarden

Um......what Meauxna, Rene, Ian, and JEff said.

~SecretGarden

Cadburys

I filed in June 2008 with the Vermont Service Center and still have not heard anything. There seems to be a backlog in the FBI checks that's holding up the process. Here's the press release:

USCIS Meets Another Milestone in Eliminating FBI Name Check Backlogs
Name Checks Pending More Than Six Months Now Completed

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that, working in close partnership with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the backlog for FBI name checks pending more than six months has been eliminated. This is the fourth milestone met by the agency as part of its joint plan with the FBI to completely eliminate the backlog of pending name checks.

Just 16 months ago, more than 349,000 name checks were pending; of that, nearly 150,000 had been pending for more than six months. All USCIS requests pending for six months or more as of February 28, 2009, have now been responded to by the FBI’s National Name Check Program (NNCP).

In April 2008, USCIS and the FBI established milestones prioritizing work based on the age of the pending name check. Priorities included processing all name checks pending more than three years by May 2008 (the FBI had already eliminated all cases pending more than four years); those pending more than two years by July 2008; and those pending more than one year by November 2008.

USCIS and FBI are on schedule to meet the next two goals: all name checks requests pending longer than 90 days to be completed by May 30, 2009 and, by the end of June 2009, the FBI will complete 98 percent of USCIS name check requests within 30 days and process the remaining two percent within three months. USCIS and the FBI will continue to focus on sustaining a rigorous and efficient screening of each name check request.

Elimination of the name check backlog is an example of USCIS’ commitment to making timely decisions about immigration applications and petitions, while maintaining the security and integrity of America’s immigration system.


Here's the release on the service center processing:

USCIS to Revise Filing Instructions for Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence

Form I-751 to be filed with the California or Vermont Service Centers

WASHINGTON-U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will soon be revising the filing instructions for the Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence (Form I-751) to require filing at the California or Vermont Service Centers, where all Forms I-751 are currently adjudicated. The adjudication functions for these petitions have already been assigned to these locations in anticipation of this change. Therefore, all petitioners filing a Form I-751 are requested to file the petition with the California or Vermont Service Centers, depending on the state in which they reside.

Form I-751 is used by individuals who were granted conditional residential status through marriage to a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident and who desire to petition USCIS to remove the conditions on their residence.

Petitioners who live in the following states or territories should file their Form I-751 with the California Service Center (CSC): Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, California, Colorado, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The mailing address for CSC is:

USCIS California Service Center
P.O. Box 10751
Laguna Niguel, California 92607-0751


Petitioners who live in the following states or territories should file their form I-751 with the Vermont Service Center (VSC): Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Washington, D.C., Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, U.S. Virgin Islands, and West Virginia. The mailing address for VSC is:

USCIS Vermont Service Center
75 Lower Welden St.
St. Albans, Vermont 05479-0001


Petitions filed with the Nebraska or Texas Service Centers after this announcement but prior to a change in the form instructions will be forwarded to the California or Vermont Service Centers, respectively, without any need for action by the petitioner. However, there could be a slight delay in the adjudication of the petition as a result of the transfer; so, petitioners are encouraged to file directly with the appropriate service center as outlined above. If a petitioner receives a receipt notice from the Nebraska or Texas Service Center, his or her case will be transferred to the California or Vermont Service Center for adjudication. The petitioner should receive a notice advising him or her that the case has been transferred.

jeffreyhy

C,

Nothing? Not even a Receipt Notice?

Regards, JEff

Cadburys

I got a receipt notification, then had the biometrics done on Aug 1st. Since then I've heard nothing. The USCIS website (Vermont) doesn't show the correct processing times so I hope my 1 year extension they gave me doesn't run out.

At the moment my GC is expired. This has caused a problem because when I tried to board a flight from London Gatwick I was asked to produce my GC. Before you know it, the US immigration guy is at the gate demanding to see my paperwork. What paperwork? All I had was a receipt notice saying I could travel and work for a year. It didn't say you must have this on you when you travel. So he caused a scene, making me feel guilty that I didn't think it was important to have this receipt notice with me and ofcourse he refused me boarding the flight!

Noorah101

Yes, you need the 1-year extension letter to travel overseas. So where are you now?

Rene

ian-mstm

I don't want to make you feel worse by pointing out the obvious, so I'll just sit here quietly. All I will say, is that the I-751 is likely the lowest priority application form, since your status doesn't change at all while it is being processed.

By the way, I love your chocolate!

Ian

Cadburys

My point on the I-797 Notice of Action, in response to a I-751 application, is that all it says is "Your conditional resident status is extended for a period of one year." It then goes on to state that information about the biometric process and what evidence you should submit to establish eligibility on the permanent residence etc. NOWHERE on this form does it say that if you leave the country you should carry this receipt with you. It also doesn't say that you'll get your balls busted if you don't. For instance, on the biometric appointment, it quite clearly states in bold and capitals that you need the appointment form when you attend. If this receipt is deadly important then clearly its missing some important language about GC holders leaving the US while their card is still expired. :curse:

I left the UK from T5 @ Heathrow I didn't have a problem showing my expired card there. Similarly border patrol at JFK didn't even raise an eyebrow when I came into the country. My conclusion was the guy was an arse at Gatwick !

jeffreyhy

C,

There are US Immigration officers at Gatwick?

I know there are US immigration people at Dublin and Shannon airports, but at Gatwick?

Regards, JEff

ian-mstm

Non-USCs have *always* been allowed to leave the US regardless of what status they have. The problem is getting back in! By law, non-USCs are required to carry proof of their status at all times... and an expired GC is, quite simply, not proof of that status. It's proof that, at some point, you were a PR... but it's not proof of your current status. To that end, the letter is required.


He very well might have been an arse... but he was also correct. What happened elsewhere isn't proof that the guy at Gatwick was wrong... it's merely proof that other people weren't as willing to apply the law.

Ian

Rete

Common sense would tell you that the extension letter is proof of status and needed for overseas travel and work permission.

Cadburys

Believe it or not Gatwick has a BA flight to JFK. There is 1 daily flight so in this particular instance I missed it.

On the letter point again, and I'm sorry to go on about this, it is really a receipt that says they received the paperwork and what steps are due next. Before I travelled, I checked this letter, saw that it there was no language in there saying it must be on you when you travel. Obviously in retrospect I should have just taken it anyway to alleviate the problems I incurred.

I must add though, that because I had someone looking after my apartment while I was gone and had my immigration papers altogether in a file, it was easy to direct the person to that file and actually fax a copy to me at the airport.

Therefore the moral to my tale is that anyone going through any kind of transitional phase of a visa application, have to hand the latest receipt (it can be a copy) paperwork from Homeland Security. Just with this info alone, it can save you from a great deal of hassle !!

** Another point. Anyone know why GC holders can no longer go down the US passport line? I had to go down the regular alien line and get fingerprints and pic just like everyone else on a tourist visa. Surely after spending $200 on several biometrics, where they have my entire fingerprint collection and portrait (!), this is unnecessary.

ian-mstm

It's all part of the US-VISIT program.

Ian

meauxna

I can guess that you're probably not interested in this now, but I'd encourage others to maintain their research after getting their initial visa, so they can be aware of things like this ahead of time. I'm sorry you didn't realize beforehand that it is common practice to carry the extension letter with the expired card.
I also misread you earlier where the officer gave you hassle; I thought that was in the US when you were leaving. It wasn't a US immigration officer who questioned you, but the airlines do contract uniformed people to check US entry documents--we encountered them while waiting in line to check in for our flight. The airline needs to know that you have the correct entry docs on hand.

The change of lanes at airports will vary; sometimes you will be able to go in the USC line, sometimes in the visitor line. They say they change them up depending on the flow of traffic to maximize everyone's time. You can read more about this in the Immigration forum here.

You should also know by now that they don't have a way to store all those fingerprints, so they will keep collecting them off of you. The ones at the airport will be used to check against.. ? .. what exactly.