Removing Conditions on Green Card

The first green card that I received after successfully going through the fiancé visa process and applying for permanent residency had conditions attached to it.  Essentially, that just meant that it was valid for only two years rather than ten years (which is the norm for green cards).  That meant that I had to apply for a new green card before the two years had elapsed.

Up until now, everything that I had applied for with regard to the visa and residence had been achieved at first attempt without any additional difficulties or problems, but this time I faced some extra hurdles, which caused me stress, as you will read below.

Sunset over the Atlantic - I would end up flying to the UK knowing that I'd have to re-enter the US with an expired green card!

The Application Process – Form, Evidence, and Fee

Given how long it can take the USCIS to process applications, it would be nice if you could apply for the removal of conditions well in advance, but the rules stipulated that I had to do it no more than 90 days before the conditional green card was due to expire.  It took me nearly a month to gather together all the evidence, however (and I still didn’t send enough the first time – see below).  Plus the fee was substantial: $ 505 and in addition there was another $85 for the biometrics, which made a total of $590.

The document that I needed to fill out at this stage was Form I-751.  The form was fairly succinct and straightforward to fill out, but along with the application, supporting evidence that the marriage is genuine has to be supplied.  

If you’ve been through the fiancé visa process already, then you’ve already done something similar before, but it’s important to note that this time they are specifically looking for evidence covering the relationship for time period since you got married.  (If your marriage is no longer intact, you can still apply in many cases, but obviously the evidence you supply will be different).

Some examples of evidence  that you can give to show genuine marriage is listed below.

Examples of Evidence Required for the Removal of Green Card Conditions: 

1. Birth certificates of children born to you and your spouse.
2. Mortgage contracts or leases showing joint ownership or residency of a property.
3. Financial records of joint bank accounts, loans etc.
4. Copies of jointly submitted tax accounts.
5. Documents that show your spouse as a beneficiary of pensions, insurance policies etc.
6. Joint utility bills.
7. Affidavits signed by American people who know you, testifying that you are a genuine romantic couple.

Gathering evidence wasn’t straightforward for my wife and I.  We haven’t had any children together and we don’t have much by the way of joint ownership, partly because we were both in middle age when we married.  My wife already owns the property where we live and there didn’t seem much point adding me (although if and when we moved, we’d probably put both our names on the document).  My wife wants to pass on her life insurance to her daughter, which is perfectly understandable. 

We therefore relied to a greater extent on things like affidavits, joint tax return, utility bills, etc.   

I sent off the application in June, two months before my green card was due to expire.  I had a plane booked to take me to England in late November, so that I could visit friends and family, which I figured should be enough time to get the new green card.

Not long after I sent in my application, I received a letter saying that my green card had been extended for a year, whilst my application for the removal of conditions was processed.  This letter is important, and you need to hold onto it in my experience – scan it and copy it!

Green Card Problems

My conditional green card expired at the end of August.  I didn’t worry about it too much as I had the letter (secured safely at home) saying that my status had been extended for a year.  That said, I knew that legally, you are supposed to carry a valid green card on you at all times, if you are a permanent resident.

In September, I went on a long road journey to participate in a tennis tournament.  It involved traveling from Florida to Tucson, Arizona, passing through the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and New Mexico en route.  I wasn’t concerned about the green card situation as I was traveling within the US and not leaving the country.

What I didn’t know, however, was that there are internal “customs posts” in New Mexico and Louisiana.  These are there mainly to try and catch illegal Mexican immigrants coming into the US via Texas, I believe.  Anyway, I had to pass through them, knowing that I had an out of date green card in my pocket.  Luckily, they waved us through both times without questioning me or checking my documentation.  (If you’re picked up without a green card, you risk long delays and a fine).

Me out in Arizona

After that, I made sure I kept a copy of the letter from the USCIS saying that my residence had been extended for a year in my wallet at all times, as well as my old (expired) green card!

Just over a week before I was about to leave for the UK, I got a letter from the USCIS.  I assumed that it was my replacement green card and felt a huge sense of relief.  But when I opened the envelope, it wasn’t a new card, it was a letter telling me that I’d not sent enough evidence and they needed more.

That effectively meant that I had to travel to the UK with my old expired green card and the USCIS extension letter, and hope that I wouldn’t have any problems getting back into the USA! 

More Evidence

My wife sent off the additional bundle of evidence in early December, whilst I was still in the UK.  This time, we included copies of documents that showed my wife had changed her name after marriage: her social security and driving license; we also gave copies of health insurance showing that we were both included, plus more documents to show that we both lived at the same address.  

The first time round, we have covered just part of the period since we got hitched, but this time we made sure that we covered the entire period, for instance, including joint tax returns for the two years, rather than just the one.  We also included some personal material, such as photos of our marriage, and photos of us holidaying, spending time with friends and family etc. from the period since we got married.

A Family Photo

New Green Card at Last!

I arrived back in the US in late December.  The customs officer did question me pretty thoroughly and keep me waiting a little, but he did let me through after I explained in detail why I had an out-of-date green card and showed him the USCIS letter.  

I got back to my Florida home.  Then it was just a case of waiting for my new green card to arrive in the post.  I must admit that I was more than a little nervous – had I given them enough evidence this time?  A rejection might mean having to make an appeal and there was no way that my wife and I could afford expensive legal representation.  We had given the USCIS all the evidence that we could think of (with the exception of maybe sending some more affidavits from friends saying we were a genuine couple - we sent two, but you can send up to twelve, according to what I read later).  

However, to my relief, I did finally receive an acceptance letter and my new green card in late January.  This card entitles me to 10 years of legal residence and working.  In August, I have the option of applying for US citizenship, should I choose to.  

I am just happy to have a break from all the application stress and expense for the moment, however, as I’m sure most of you will probably understand!

My green card processing timeline

As I mentioned earlier, once I had obtained my K1 Fiance visa, there wasn’t much of a rest before I arrived in the USA, gotmarried and began the next phase of the immigration procedure which included more form filling, appointment attending and evidence gathering for the USCIS.  As the green card processing went on over a period of months, I thought it might be useful to write a summary of it as a chronological list - so here is my green card processing timeline.

IMPORTANT: Be aware that not everyone’s application follows quite the same pattern as my own.  I have read various accounts and the time delays can vary considerably, as can the order of events (for example, unlike me, many people receive their temporary work and travel permits before they get their green card).

January 14^th – My wife and I got married.  This fulfilled the requirements of my K1 fiance visa.  To become a permanent resident and obtain the necessary documents for getting work, however, I needed to apply for a green card next.

February 2nd - I received my social security card after applying for it at a social security office 10 days earlier.  Although it is not essential to the process of getting a green card, doing anything official can be difficult in the USA without a social security number, which is used as a form of I.D. proof, as well as for tax purposes.  The card had written across it that I could only work with DHS authorization.

January and February - My wife and I make up a list of everything that we would need as evidence and began gathering it together for my green card application.

February 25^th - Attend a medical and get my I-693 form filled out (confirmation of my vaccine records by a US doctor).

March 14^th - Put in the application for greencard (I-485), along with applications for a temporary work permit (I-765) and travel permit (I-131), all our evidence, a check for the fee, and a green receipt card for the USCIS to stamp and return to me.

March 18^th – Received the green receipt card I sent with package back, stamped by USCIS Chicago.

March 25^th - Received notification that my forms and fee money had been received (including receipts for the temporary work [I-765] and travel [I-131] documents as well as the green card) – but also informed that I’d forgotten to include payment for the biometrics appointment and I needed to send them the money before my case would proceed.

April 3^rd - Received confirmation that they’d received the money for the biometrics and that they would send me a date for my biometrics appointment in due course.

April 17^th - Receive a “Transfer Notice”, informing me that they have transferred my case to the California Service Center to speed up the green card processing.

June 30^th - Invited to attend a biometrics appointment on July 20th.

September 18^th - Receive notification that my green card application has been accepted and they will send me a green card shortly.

September 20^th - Received my green card in the mail.

Now that the green card process was complete and I had my green card, I requested that my social security card be changed to remove the writing on it that stipulated I could only work with DHS authorization.  Received my replacement card on September 26th.

I can take a breather now regarding immigration bureaucracy until my green card runs out in 2 years time and I have to replace it.

USCIS Green Card Approval

I should point out at the start of this post that, as usual, this is an account of my own personal experience, it is not an official guide.  Your experience of getting USCIS green card approval may well be different to mine.  My account does, however, give you a general idea of the sort of things that can happen and where possible, I mention other possibilities that I have read about in my research, which didn’t happen to me personally.

As I mentioned in my post on the biometrics appointment, I didn’t received temporary work and travel permits, despite applying for them – instead I was “fast-tracked” straight to getting my USCIS green card.  “Fast-tracked” is a relative concept in this case, however, as it still took months before my green card was processed.

(Getting the temporary work and travel permits normally isn’t much of an advantage, anyway, as they usually take almost as long to process as the green card for most people in my situation, according to the research that I had done.  So I didn’t feel that I had missed out on anything by not getting them.)

One good thing, however, was that I went straight to the approval letter stage and I didn’t have to attend a USCIS green card interview.  From what I know, the green card interview is no more difficult than the K1 visa interview, but I would still have had the hassle of having to ask my wife to take time off work and drive us up to the USCIS office in a neighbouring city, as we had to do with the biometrics appointment.

Anyway, as I said, I got my green card approval letter, which welcomed me to the USA and explained that I would be receiving my USCIS green card within three weeks (as it happened, the card actually arrived just three days later).  My green card is only valid for two years, however, and I will need to apply for a permanent replacement before it runs out.  (Obtaining the replacement is a relatively cheap and easy process, I believe).

Once I had my green card, I went to my local social security office and applied for a replacement social security card.  This was because my original card was stamped: “VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION”.  Now that I had a green card, I was able to swap it for a regular social security card without the stamp on it, free of charge.

The USCIS Biometrics Appointment

Four months after I sent off my I-485Green Card Application, as well as my applications for temporary travel and work permits, known as the I-131 Advance Parole (AP) and the I-765 Employment Authorization (EAD), I received a letter inviting me to attend a USCIS biometrics appointment. 

It was good news, as it meant that I was getting closer to obtaining my green card, but also a bit of a pain as it meant my wife taking time off work to drive me to the nearest USCIS office, which was an hour and a half away. There was a stark warning on the USCIS biometrics appointment letter warning me that my application would be considered abandoned if I missed the appointment, so we set off an hour and a half early, giving us plenty of time to find the USCIS center and also some leeway in case there were any unforeseen travel problems.

The biometrics appointment is pretty straightforward and essentially just about getting your photo, fingerprints, iris scans, etc. taken.  In my experience, it is essentially the same information as was collected from me at customs when I entered the US for visits (except this time I had paid the USCIS for the privilege).

We got to the USCIS office without problems.  After coming through security at the door, I was given a form to fill out and told to wait.  There were lots of people booked for the same time, so they gave people waiting numbers according to a first-come-first-served basis.  Like with the London Embassy, there were security restrictions on electronic devices, so my wife and I left our ipods etc in the car and took in some books to read.

I was only kept waiting for ten minutes, however, and then sent through to a backroom where a lady collected my biometrics.  One worrying thing that she pointed out, that I hadn’t realized, was that my USCIS biometrics appointment was only for my green card.  Normally, she told me, she processed two lots of biometrics for people in my situation, one for the green card application and one for the temporary travel and work permits.  She asked me if I had received any other letters and I told her no.  She explained that it was therefore possible that I might be invited to go for a second biometrics appointment at some point in the future. 

I was less than happy at the prospect of my wife having to take another day off work and both of us traveling to the USCIS office again.  Plus it could cause a delay in the process.  I tried to get some advice and information off the biometrics lady, regarding what I should I do, but she said that she was unable to tell me anything more  and I should just wait to be contacted by the USCIS (to be fair, I think she just had the task of collecting the biometrics and had no access to my files, or knowledge of my case).

Despite my wife having taken an entire day of work, the actual biometrics appointment only took about 25 minutes.  I was still thinking about what the biometrics lady had said when I got home.  Then I remembered that I had received another letter from the USCIS a couple of months earlier, telling me that they were transferring my green card application to California to speed it up (I live in Florida).  Taking into account what the lady at the biometrics had said, my guess was that the USCIS were maybe skipping the temporary work and travel applications and just focusing on sorting out my I-485 green card.  My guess would later turn out to be correct.

(I wasn’t too disappointed with this situation. Although my research had recommended putting in the I-131 Advance Parole (AP) and the I-765 Employment Authorization (EAD) applications in with the I-485 Green Card Application, basically because they are free to apply for if submitted this way, my research also suggested that the temporary work and travel permits usually take almost as long to process as the actual Green Card, so were of very limited practical value to me anyway.)

I-485 Green Card Application and I-684 Affidavit of Support

Unfortunately, the bureaucracy didn’t stop for me once I had entered the US with my K1 Fiance Visa and got married.  The K1 Fiance Visa can only be used once, so having entered the USA and got married, its use was essentially over, although I did, of course, keep all my documents in case they were needed for proof further down the line (the I-94 inside my passport, for instance, was essential later for proving that I had entered the country legally, as was the I-797 approval notice that was received by my wife at the end of the I-129 petition process).  Anyway, I was now ready for the next stage after getting married in the US (Florida), making my I-485 Green Card application for permanent residency, known as an adjustment of status or AOS.  If that was successful, then I would receive a USCIS Green Card and be classified as a resident alien by the USCIS.  Along with the I-485 Green Card application, I also applied for Advance Parole (AP) and Employment Authorization (EAD), as there was no fee to pay if I filed them at the same time as my application for adjustment of status (AOS).

The I-485 Green Card application is a thick form with lots of questions, but I had got used to filling out those when undergoing the K1 Fiance Visa Process.  What was a pain about applying for Adjustment of Status, in my wife and I’s experience, was putting together all the masses of evidence that was needed to go with the accompanying I-684 Affidavit of Support.  As well as providing proof that we were are married, my wife also had to present proof that she was financially solvent and able to support me.  This basically involves collecting together piles of tax returns that have to be sorted through and copied, as well as letters from my wife’s boss and months and months of bank statements, amongst other things.  I also had to include the I-693 vaccination supplement, a copy of my I-94, the I-684 Affidavit of Support, along with copies of all the bank, employment, and tax documents.  We also included evidence of our relationship, including: copy of marriage license, wedding cards and photos, letter from bank showing we had a joint bank account and a few other things, such as the I-797. 

As I mentioned, as well as the green card application, I also put in applications for temporary travel documents and temporary employment permission, known as I-131 Advance Parole (AP) and the I-765 Employment Authorization (EAD), so that I have the option of traveling and working while we wait for the adjustment of status application to be processed, although in practice the AP and EAD can also take months to be processed.  I thought it was worth putting them in, however, as there were no extra costs, given that they were filed with my I-485 and I-684.

The whole package of five application forms and status adjustment evidence was so big and heavy it cost us $14 for the postage!  (That was on top of the $980 we had to pay for the processing of the application!)  There is also a small fee at this point that you have to pay towards the biometrics that you will have to get later.  We actually forgot to include this the first time round and were sent a letter saying that they wouldn’t start processing our forms until they had received it.  They also send letters acknowledging receipt of the various forms.

The next stage after this is the biometrics appointment.  They send a letter inviting you when they are ready.  It took over four months for me just to get the I-131 Advance Parole (AP) and the I-765 Employment Authorization (EAD), never mind the Adjustment of Status, so try to keep patient!

Getting married in the US (Florida)

The first thing that I should point out about getting married in the US is that each state has its own laws and costs.  Even within a state, there can also be minor differences between the different counties, so it is always best to check and double check the relevant info and regulations in advance.  My specific personal experience was getting married in Florida, so bear in mind that although there are bound to be lots of similarities with other states, there will also some differences too.  Given my very positive experience, I would certainly recommend getting married in Florida.  My wife and I were married in north central Florida in the city of Gainesville, a college town which is home to the University of Florida.

Background to getting married in the US

Getting married to a US citizen and obtaining a marriage license was a requirement of my K1 Fiance Visa, but my wife and I never lost sight of the fact that were mainly getting married because we loved each other and wanted to live together as man and wife.  The K1 Fiance Visa was purely a tool for achieving that.  Given the logistical problems that would be involved with getting all our respective families together, my family from across the Atlantic in the UK and my wife’s family from the north east of the US, we opted to have just a small intimate ceremony, rather than a big wedding.  Because neither of us are particularly religious, we also decided that we would go for a civil ceremony, rather than getting married in a church.

Arranging the ceremony, getting the license and getting married in Florida

I am a UK citizen, so I can only really make comparisons with getting married in England, where I am from.  Compared to the UK, getting married in the US seems cheap when it comes to paying for a civil ceremony.  Getting married is also much quicker, although there is a three day waiting period in Florida (unless you either do a short pre-marital course, or you live outside Florida, in which case the three day waiting period is waived).  As my wife and I didn’t want to do the premarital course and we both live together in Florida, we were liable for the waiting period, and so decided to apply for our marriage license at the start of the week and arrange with the court for getting married in Florida on the Friday.  The fee was $93.50, which at around £65 seemed relatively cheap to me.  We had to go together to get the marriage license and I had to use my passport as I.D.  The marriage license they gave us was valid for 30 days, but as I mentioned we arranged for our wedding to take place just four days later.  It was all very straightforward, partly because neither of us had been married before, so we didn’t have to prove that we were divorced or widowed.

The marriage ceremony and afterwards

As I mentioned earlier, we kept the number of people at the marriage ceremony small, just inviting a couple of friends, plus my wife’s daughter.  If you are getting married in the US, be aware that because of the gun culture there and the threat of terrorism, there is much stricter security at public buildings such as court houses – I was somewhat surprised when all of us were searched for weapons when entering the courthouse on our wedding day, albeit in a friendly way.  All in all, however, I thoroughly enjoyed my wedding experience and would heartily recommend getting married in Florida.

Getting married meant that we had fulfilled the requirements of the K1 Fiance Visa by getting married in the US within 90 days.  This meant that I was now able to put in an adjustment of status application for a US green card.

The I-129 petition process

This article is not intended to be any sort of official guide (you should contact the USCIS for specific details of the rules and procedures relating to visas).  Rather it is a personal account of what my wife and I experienced when we filed a USCIS I-129 petition and began the fiance petition process, as the initial part of the K1 visa application process.  From my account, you should hopefully get a good idea of what was involved for my wife and I, however, both practically and psychologically.

My wife (fiancee at the time) and I had been involved in a relationship for three years and were engaged to be married by the time we decided to get a USCIS K1 visa.  After some discussion we had decided that I would move to the USA, rather than her moving to the UK (I am British).  This was because firstly, my wife has an adolescent daughter and secondly, I fancied the adventure of moving to the USA and beginning a new life in Florida.

After weighing up all the visa options, we decided that we would go for a k1 fiance visa.  This would allow me to live in the USA indefinitely, after we were married and I’d applied for an adjustment of status.  I’d also be able to get a US social security number when I arrived in the USA and a green card at the end of the entire process, by us doing things this way.  After we’d made our decision, we researched the process regarding K1 visas on the USCIS website and also on British expat forums.  We were, however, a little naïve with regard to how long it would take and all the effort and money that would be involved.

Once you know that you meet all the various criteria for a K1 visa (the main ones usually being that one of you is a US citizen and you are in a bona fide relationship), the first step is for an USCIS I-129 petition to be filed.  This is done by the member of the couple who is a US citizen.  In the visa language, they are ‘petitioning’ the USCIS to consider allowing their foreign partner to move to the USA to marry and live.  In my case, it was my future wife who was the petitioner.  It doesn’t make any difference if the genders are reversed and it is an American man petitioning for his female partner to come to the USA, as far as I’m aware (although then presumably it would be then be a ‘fiancee petition’, rather than a ‘fiancé petition’!).

The burden is very much on the petitioner at this stage.  They have to provide proof that they are a US citizen, and lots of financial evidence to show that they can support their partner, once they’ve moved to the USA.  The fiance on the other hand, me in this case, just has to provide some basic biographical information and some proof that the relationship is a real one and not a sham.  The forms aren’t always east to fill out, however, and any mistakes you make could lead to a delay, or in extreme cases, rejection, so you have to be very careful when filling them out.  Neither my wife or myself are wealthy, so there was no question of us getting a lawyer or attorney to help us.  We just did it ourselves, referring to the USCIS guidelines and information that we’d researched online.

Some of the proof can take a lot of time to assemble and organize.  But it’s worth the effort, in my opinion.  The last thing that you want is for the whole process to be extended further.  There is also a large fee of several hundred pounds to pay when you’re finally ready to send off your USCIS I-129 form.

In some ways, the worst bit is waiting.  Once you’ve sent off your USCIS I-129 petition with all the other forms and evidence, they send you a receipt to say they’ve received it, then you just wait and wait.  If you’re anything like my wife and I, you begin to wonder if they’ve forgotten about you, or there’s been some major bureaucratic error.  Over three months had gone by when we received our notification (a form called an I-797) that the I-129 petition had been accepted and all the necessary documentation would now be passed on to the National Visa Centre.  It’s apparently not unusual for people to wait longer or shorter than we did, it all depends on how busy the USCIS are.

About a month after we'd received the I-797, the US Embassy London contacted me in the UK with instructions for filing the K1 fiance visa application forms.