📄Immigrants who file I-751 Petitions (Remove Conditions on Residence) after Sept. 4 to remove conditions on their two-year green cards and get 10-year green cards based on marriage to a US Citizen will now have a 24-month extension of their status given automatically when filing the I-751 petition.
In the past, USCIS extended conditional green card status automatically for 18 months only and creates problems for applicants whose petitions took longer to process. They did not have evidence of legal status when the 18 months ended and USCIS still didn’t make a decision on their case, which was most people who filed.
☝This is because of the longer waiting times for I-751 happening within USCIS now.
I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on lawful permanent residence must be filed by a conditional 2-year green cardholder 90 days before their 2-year conditional status expires, together with proofs of the relationship (bona fides of the marriage such as joint tax returns, joint bills, joint leases, joint photos and witness letters) collected during the marriage.
🗂Until today, the I-751 USCIS Receipt Notice informed applicants that their conditional status is automatically extended for 18 months for USCIS to process and adjudicate the I-751 Petition, review all the paperwork and interview the applicant and their spouse.
USCIS said in its news release:
📢 « Starting Sept. 4, 2021, USCIS is extending the time that receipt notices can be used to show evidence of status from 18 months to 24 months for petitioners who properly file Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, or Form I-829, (Petition by Investor to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status)1. We are making the change from 18 to 24 months to accommodate current processing times for Form I-751 and Form I-829, which have increased over the past year. Conditional permanent residents who properly file Form I-751 or Form I-829 (will [now] receive a receipt notice that can be presented with their Form I-551 (plastic green card)2, Permanent Resident Card (also known as a Green Card), as evidence of continued status for up to 24 months past the expiration date on their Green Card, while their case remains pending with USCIS. »
Shepelsky Law Group Immigration
Tel: (718)769-6352
1 Form I-829 is for immigrant investors to petition to remove the conditions on their, and certain dependents’, permanent resident status which they obtained based on investment in a new commercial enterprise. The petitioner must submit this petition within the 90-day period immediately preceding the second anniversary of obtaining conditional permanent resident status.
2 Form I-551 is the formal designation of your permanent resident card (aka green card).