Late filing I-751

[AllSmiles123]

Hello,

My husband came in on a tourist visa, we got married, filed for his adjustment of status, simple interview and he was approved for a green card, we had not been married for 2 years yet so we got the conditional card which everyone says is for 2 years. We just figured out that the green card had expired back in January 2021, so the length of the card was for one year. I of course panicked and went into over-drive mode. I have finished the I-751, got all evidence to support our bonafide marriage and consulted with several lawyers. Most charge around $2,500 to help us prepare our statement as to why we are filing late. I want to be honest, I know USCIS is no one to joke with however I talked to one lawyer who said I should be able to write my own letter, be honest and see what happens. We have received no paperwork for deportation/removal so we know we must act fast and be smart.

Anyone have experience with this or know someone who did?

[newacct]

So you are saying that the "resident since" date and expiration date on the plastic green card are one year apart? That definitely seems like a mistake. I don't think he should apply for Removal of Conditions right now because it might be rejected for being too early (a joint filing of Removal of Conditions is only supposed to be filed in the 90-day window before he has been a conditional permanent resident for 2 years). I think the right thing to do would probably to file I-90 for replacement due to incorrect data due to USCIS error (for which you don't have to pay a fee).

[AllSmiles123]

Thank you newacct for responding.
So they backdated our “resident since” to when we had first started the application which was Jan 2019 as opposed to the date that we were granted the conditional resident status in Jan 2020. So the cards validity was for 2 years. This is what threw me off, as I had never paid attention to the start date, and automatically assumed we had two years from having the green card in hand.

I spoke to a fourth lawyer today, she told me that I didn’t need to hire her. Bc all she would do is write exactly what I said to her on the phone. That I thought we had another year, life got busy and we are incredibly sorry. She told me that USCIS can be forgiving and I should get my stuff in ASAP. So I have 2 who want money and 2 who said I can do this without assistance.

[newacct]

That doesn't make sense. They shouldn't "backdate" the resident since date unless he was adjusting based on asylee status (and if he were adjusting based on asylee status, he shouldn't be a conditional permanent resident). He should be a permanent resident only from when the I-485 was approved. It still seems like the data on the card is wrong.

[AllSmiles123]

newacct Yes, we were very confused too as far as why we only had one actual year left on the card as opposed to the normal two years. One lawyer said that it might have been up to the officer who interviewed us to only give us one year as opposed to the normal two but we have an I-797 which says your card is valid for two years. Regardless, we are now late and I will just be writing my own letter to explain how we messed up.

Also, no he wasn’t in an asylee status before getting his green card. Just a normal tourist visa and then we married.

I hope that taking the honest route will prove to be the most effective.Yes

[newacct]

First, I don't think the officer has discretion to give a different length of conditional permanent residency. It is 2 years in the law. Second, it is clear here that the officer wasn't trying to do 1 year; it is clear that they were trying to do 2 years, but used the wrong starting date.

I think the correct situation is that he started the 2 years when his I-485 was approved, and he still has almost a year to go, and you guys cannot apply for Removal of Conditions jointly now because he is not in the 90-day window yet. So in my opinion, the correct thing to do would be to get the card corrected. If you just "go along" with the wrong information and wrong dates, his Removal of Conditions could be denied, or maybe they don't notice and approve it, but later when applying for naturalization they retroactively determine that he didn't properly remove conditions at the right time and that causes more problems.

[AllSmiles123]

This was our thoughts also but we were just going to go with it and submit the form. Now I am unsure what to do. It is impossible to get in touch with anyone from USCIS to ask them about back dating a card.

[AllSmiles123]

newacct Hello! I wanted to update you by telling you that I spent most of yesterday trying to speak to someone from USCIS. This morning I was pleased but still a bit shocked to find out that my husbands dates were in fact printed wrong on the card. We will be filing the I90 (as you recommended) to have the card corrected as advised by the USCIS officer we spoke with. And they will hopefully be able to bring him in to give my husband something temporary to show that he is still in status for his permanent residency. Thanks for your recommendations and for guiding us to push to figure out what the real problem is. We were totally about to file the I751 in a hurry.