Conditional Green-Card holder not living in the USA I-751

[Mr. Twister]

Hey all,

I've read this thread and I am stressing a little bit about the removal of conditions...Allow me to explain.

We got the Conditional Green card in August 2010, and since that time have not really "lived" in America. We just aren't ready yet, although we do plan on making the permanent move either late this year or early 2014. We have travelled back to America once each year and stayed for about 2 months each time.

The reason I am stressing is I'm not sure I can be present in America for the interview/biometrics and all that. Basically, what I want to know is this:

After you file the I-751, how soon will they typically schedule the biometrics and interview?

I was planning to submit the application at the end of May then go to America in mid-June and stay about a month and hope the biometrics and interview would fall in that month timeframe. Does it not work like that? From reading this thread, it seems like they call you for an interview anytime in the year after you apply then you have like a week or two to show up for it.

I know I haven't exactly "played by the rules" but believe me we are not trying to game the system; we still INTEND to move to America, we just aren't ready just yet.

Anyway, any advice/feedback from personal experience would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

[dnoblett]

The bio tends to be a month or so after filing the I-751, as for interview, it can happen anytime after BIO or no interview, my wife only had two interview, once for her K-1 visa, and then 4 years later when she interviewed for citizenship, we had no interviews for I-485, or I-751.

 

Seeing all the time away, they can simply pull you in for an interview and ask questions about the fact that you are not being a permanent resident, Green-Card is for permanently residing in the USA, it is not a fancy permanent "visa" for the convenience of residing elsewhere and "visiting" the USA from time to time.

 

Why not simply abandon the green-card and then apply for a spouse IR-1 visa when you are ready to move to the USA permanently? If US Citizen spouse holds residence in China, it is a simple 2-4 month process of filing the I-130 petition to getting interviewed for the spouse visa. I have seen some have no problems getting a B-2 visa to visit the USA, and showing abandoned residency should show no intent to immigrate, and having been to the USA and returning to China should work in favor of getting a B-2 visa. Abandoning the green-card and doing spouse visa later will save you the expense and hassles of the I-751.

[Mr. Twister]

The bio tends to be a month or so after filing the I-751, as for interview, it can happen anytime after BIO or no interview, my wife only had two interview, once for her K-1 visa, and then 4 years later when she interviewed for citizenship, we had no interviews for I-485, or I-751.

 

Seeing all the time away, they can simply pull you in for an interview and ask questions about the fact that you are not being a permanent resident, Green-Card is for permanently residing in the USA, it is not a fancy permanent "visa" for the convenience of residing elsewhere and "visiting" the USA from time to time.

 

Why not simply abandon the green-card and then apply for a spouse IR-1 visa when you are ready to move to the USA permanently? If US Citizen spouse holds residence in China, it a simple 2-4 month process of filing the I-130 petition to getting interviewed for the spouse visa. I have seen some have no problems getting a B-2 visa to visit the USA, and showing abandoned residency should show no intent to immigrate, and having been to the USA and returning to China should work in favor of getting a B-2 visa.

 

 

I do know the Green Card is not a fancy tourist visa, and believe me we have only used it that way up to this point and don't intend to do so much longer. I have always been told the most important thing is to show you have not abandoned the INTENT to immigrate to America, and we have done our best to show we keep ties to America; filed taxes jointly, joint bank accounts, joint insurance policies, etc. I worked hard for this Green Card and would hate to give it up when we are so close to actually using it the way it was meant to be used, with both of us living in America together.

 

Back to my question, though... So if I submit the application on, say, May 29th, and I am present in America from June 21 to July 21, there is a pretty good chance the biometrics will fall in that time frame? And I could still try to walk in early if it starts cutting it too close, right?

 

And when I submit the I-751, do I just load it up with info and there may be no need for an interview (probably a pipe dream in my case, I know, but just asking...)

 

And finally, if she does get the conditions removed, does she need to be present, or does it just vest automatically on her green card?

 

Thanks again for the help!

[dnoblett]

1) Yes, that time frame is reasonable.

 

2) Yes, I-751 involves a lot of evidence showing living together in a bonafide marital relationship, this is what the conditions on the 2 year green-card is about, if the evidence satisfies the adjudicator at the service center, they tend to approve without interview.

 

3) Once approved, they issue a new 10 year green-card and mail it to your residence, if you have someone picking up your mail, you can have them forward this to you. Should also be able to use expired card and I-751 extension letter to re-enter the states to retrieve the 10 year green-card.

 

One issue some encounter is travel with the extension letter, some officials in the Chinese airports do not know how to handle the letter, and the advice is to get an I-551 stamp in the passport prior to leaving the USA.

[Mr. Twister]

Although actually, thinking about what you said....

 

Given the cost of applying for a new green card vs the cost/stress of removing the conditions, it almost WOULD make more sense to abandon the green card and get the unconditional one later when we are finally ready to move, wouldn't it? I applied for the conditional green card while living in China and you're right, it's fairly painless, I applied in March and we had/passed the interview in June. I saved all the info, so it should be pretty easy to re-use a lot of it (minus getting a few new "white books" and whatnot...)

 

Here's something: I read somewhere you can schedule a B-2 visa appointment and walk in there with your green card and some form filled out with the intent to abandon the green card, and they can "convert" the green card into a multi-entry B-2 visa. Can anyone verify this?

 

Sorry for ranging off topic a bit...Should I start another thread or something?

 

Again, thanks for the help!

[dnoblett]

Abandoning green-card is a process of filing an I-407 at the nearest US Consulate or US Embassy in Beijing.

 

http://guangzhou.usembassy-china.org.cn/abandonment_of_lawful_permanent_resident_status.htm

 

Applying for a B-2 is handled online, and for a first B-2 would involve a quick interview at a consulate, again showing playing by rules goes a long way to getting a B-2.

[Mr. Twister]

Abandoning green-card is a process of filing an I-407 at the nearest US Consulate or US Embassy in Beijing.

 

http://guangzhou.use...dent_status.htm

 

Applying for a B-2 is handled online, and for a first B-2 would involve a quick interview at a consulate, again showing playing by rules goes a long way to getting a B-2.

 

 

I'm a bit torn.... From what you said, we have a pretty good shot of getting the conditions removed without the interview as we can provide mounds of evidence of a bonafide relationship, but I do worry they'd call us for an interview just to give us a hard time about not living in the states full time yet. I guess it would be a bit of a gamble.

 

Whereas abandoning it/converting to a tourist visa until we are truly ready to move would probably be a little less stressful... But maybe a bit more work in the long run, oddly enough. For the record, before we were married, my SO did apply for a tourist visa, but was denied. So we went ahead and got married and got the green card, and we did/do intend to move the America, just not right away after getting the green card.

 

Personally, what would YOU do? You can see my dilemma, right? We're really not trying to break any rules, we do still INTEND to move to America.....

 

Thanks!

Edited January 3, 2013 by Mr. Twister (see edit history)

[dnoblett]

Abandoning green-card is a process of filing an I-407 at the nearest US Consulate or US Embassy in Beijing.

 

http://guangzhou.use...dent_status.htm

 

Applying for a B-2 is handled online, and for a first B-2 would involve a quick interview at a consulate, again showing playing by rules goes a long way to getting a B-2.

 

 

I'm a bit torn.... From what you said, we have a pretty good shot of getting the conditions removed without the interview as we can provide mounds of evidence of a bonafide relationship, but I do worry they'd call us for an interview just to give us a hard time about not living in the states full time yet. I guess it would be a bit of a gamble.

 

Whereas abandoning it/converting to a tourist visa until we are truly ready to move would probably be a little less stressful... But maybe a bit more work in the long run, oddly enough. For the record, before we were married, my SO did apply for a tourist visa, but was denied. So we went ahead and got married and got the green card, and we did/do intend to move the America, just not right away after getting the green card.

 

Personally, what would YOU do? You can see my dilemma, right? We're really not trying to break any rules, we do still INTEND to move to America.....

 

Thanks!

Personally I would probably abandon the green-card rather than dealing with the issues at POE, and all the other state-side immigration issues, and go for another B-2, once the consulate sees the situation I would doubt they would deny a B-2.

 

Ultimately it's your decision.

[Mr. Twister]

Abandoning green-card is a process of filing an I-407 at the nearest US Consulate or US Embassy in Beijing.

 

http://guangzhou.use...dent_status.htm

 

Applying for a B-2 is handled online, and for a first B-2 would involve a quick interview at a consulate, again showing playing by rules goes a long way to getting a B-2.

 

 

I'm a bit torn.... From what you said, we have a pretty good shot of getting the conditions removed without the interview as we can provide mounds of evidence of a bonafide relationship, but I do worry they'd call us for an interview just to give us a hard time about not living in the states full time yet. I guess it would be a bit of a gamble.

 

Whereas abandoning it/converting to a tourist visa until we are truly ready to move would probably be a little less stressful... But maybe a bit more work in the long run, oddly enough. For the record, before we were married, my SO did apply for a tourist visa, but was denied. So we went ahead and got married and got the green card, and we did/do intend to move the America, just not right away after getting the green card.

 

Personally, what would YOU do? You can see my dilemma, right? We're really not trying to break any rules, we do still INTEND to move to America.....

 

Thanks!

Personally I would probably abandon the green-card rather than dealing with the issues at POE, and all the other state-side immigration issues, and go for another B-2, once the consulate sees the situation I would doubt they would deny a B-2.

 

Ultimately it's your decision.

 

Yeah, I'm leaning towards this... The only question I have is what would it do for her SSN and the bank accounts? Would she just get a new SSN once she got the new GC, or could she keep her old one somehow?

 

You have no idea how much I appreciate this help.

[dnoblett]

Yeah, I'm leaning towards this... The only question I have is what would it do for her SSN and the bank accounts? Would she just get a new SSN once she got the new GC, or could she keep her old one somehow?

 

You have no idea how much I appreciate this help.

Nothing needs to be done with regards to anything else, the SSN is assigned permanently to a person for life and never changes, and keep and maintain the bank accounts for future domicile evidence.

 

Also continue filing joint IRS returns using the SSN.

[Mr. Twister]

Yeah, I'm leaning towards this... The only question I have is what would it do for her SSN and the bank accounts? Would she just get a new SSN once she got the new GC, or could she keep her old one somehow?

 

You have no idea how much I appreciate this help.

Nothing needs to be done with regards to anything else, the SSN is assigned permanently to a person for life and never changes, and keep and maintain the bank accounts for future domicile evidence.

 

Also continue filing joint IRS returns using the SSN.

 

Does that include her U.S. driver's license? Can she still drive legally with it?

[dnoblett]

 

Does that include her U.S. driver's license? Can she still drive legally with it?

Drivers licenses is a "Tenth Amendment states rights thing", every state is different, for the most part I suspect can continue keeping it and use it when visiting your home state without issue, and that state probably will still consider non-resident alien a resident of their state for tax and other issues.

[Mr. Twister]

Ok, I think this is my plan of attack:

 

I'm gonna schedule the B2 interview in Beijing, and when they call my wife up I'll have her submit the I-407 right then and there with her Green Card, and I could write a small cover letter explaining the situation.

 

One final round of questions, if you don't mind: Once she gets the tourist visa, how soon does she have to travel to the U.S.? Would it be multiple entry? How long could she keep it before she'd need another one?

 

Really, thanks!

[dnoblett]

 

 

Ok, I think this is my plan of attack:

I'm gonna schedule the B2 interview in Beijing, and when they call my wife up I'll have her submit the I-407 right then and there with her Green Card, and I could write a small cover letter explaining the situation.

One final round of questions, if you don't mind: Once she gets the tourist visa, how soon does she have to travel to the U.S.? Would it be multiple entry? How long could she keep it before she'd need another one?

Really, thanks!

B-2 tourist is a 1 year multi entry visa, just needs to use before expires at 1 year, after that simply reapply for another by mail, no interview needed.

 

B-2 now is valid for 10 years which is even better for this situation.

Edited March 3, 2016 by dnoblett
10 Year B-2 (see edit history)

[Mr. Twister]

 

 

Ok, I think this is my plan of attack:

I'm gonna schedule the B2 interview in Beijing, and when they call my wife up I'll have her submit the I-407 right then and there with her Green Card, and I could write a small cover letter explaining the situation.

One final round of questions, if you don't mind: Once she gets the tourist visa, how soon does she have to travel to the U.S.? Would it be multiple entry? How long could she keep it before she'd need another one?

Really, thanks!

B-2 tourist is a 1 year multi entry visa, just needs to use before expires at 1 year, after that simply reapply for another by mail, no interview needed.

 

B-2 now is valid for 10 years which is even better for this situation.

Got it! Ok, that's a huge load off my shoulders. Guess we'll get right on that!

Cheers! Edited March 3, 2016 by dnoblett
B-2 now is valid for 10 years which is even better for this situation. (see edit history)