N-400

[jattindc1]

N-400
Hi Folks this is first time I'm in this forum,I need some suggestions please advise.My story is very intersting and different.I had my PR interview on 13oct 98 and got the approvel letter in the mail that I-485 has been approved,and in the approved stamp date was 13th oct 97.
Now here is Interesting story, I did not received my plastic card till april 2002 and that had date of One year back, Now i want to apply N-400 on the basis of approvel letter because it says Your application for lawful permanenet residence has been approved your alien registration card will arrive in the mailwith in six months. Please don't travel outsige the US without first recieving a passport endorsement from INS.I did not get my passport stamped because I don't had one and I was asylee.
So Gururs please advise me what I can do to apply N-400.
Thanks in advance and good luck to everybody.

[jattindc1]

Thanks ****,that gives me lot of hope

[jattindc1]

Hi **** one more quick question : should I cont my time for citizenship from date of Ins issued a letter or the date in stamp which was a year before the letter was issued,Please reply.
Thanks a lot again

[Gilbert]

Permanent residence for people granted asylum is backdated one year. So you are eligible as of October 2002. Hurry up and good luck.

Originally posted by jattindc1
N-400
Hi Folks this is first time I'm in this forum,I need some suggestions please advise.My story is very intersting and different.I had my PR interview on 13oct 98 and got the approvel letter in the mail that I-485 has been approved,and in the approved stamp date was 13th oct 97.
Now here is Interesting story, I did not received my plastic card till april 2002 and that had date of One year back, Now i want to apply N-400 on the basis of approvel letter because it says Your application for lawful permanenet residence has been approved your alien registration card will arrive in the mailwith in six months. Please don't travel outsige the US without first recieving a passport endorsement from INS.I did not get my passport stamped because I don't had one and I was asylee.
So Gururs please advise me what I can do to apply N-400.
Thanks in advance and good luck to everybody.

[jattindc1]

Gibert thanks for replying,I already got my application back from Vermont office with a letter stating Not eligible till Nov 21 2005.
I visited my local office and same reply from there too .I guess have to wait till Nov 2005.
Thanks for reply

[Gilbert]

Jattindc1,

Did you say that they approved your case in 98 and did not send you the card until 2002? Or did they just interview you in 98 without making a final decision due to visa backlog? You said above that "the approved stamp date was 13th oct 97."
Thanks for making this clear.

[Gilbert]

The best source is the law itself.

go to this INS link

(b) Not more than 10,000 of the refugee admissions authorized under section 207(a) in any fiscal year may be made available by the Attorney General, in the Attorney General's discretion and under such regulations as the Attorney General may prescribe, to adjust to the status of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence the status of any alien granted asylum who -


(1) applies for such adjustment,


(2) has been physically present in the United States for at least one year after being granted asylum,


(3) continues to be a refugee within the meaning of section 101(a)(42)(A) or a spouse or child of such a refugee,


(4) is not firmly resettled in any foreign country, and


(5) is admissible (except as otherwise provided undersubsection (c)) as an immigrant under this Act at the time of examination for adjustment of such alien. Upon approval of an application under this subsection, the Attorney General shall establish a record of the alien's admission for lawful permanent residence as of the date one year before the date of the approval of the application.

Originally posted by ****
Interesting. I didn't know that. Do you have a link for that?

[Gilbert]

The link I gave you is from section 209(b), which deals ONLY with people approved for asylum. The original asylum applications are dealt with under 208.

Section 207 deals with refugees' initial admission to the US. Their green card applications are dealt with in section 209(a).

The difference between 209(a) and 209(b) is that in the former the green cards are backdated to the date they first come here. So if I am a refugee and arrived in 98, applied for my green card in 99 and the INS did not approve it until 2002 due to backlog, it makes no real difference because the green card is dated back to 98 so I can file my N400 in 2003.

When 209(b) comes into play for people granted asylum, the card is backdated for only one year so peple can apply after four years of having the gc.

[Gilbert]

It says "alien granted asylum", which can only happen under section 208. go to the regulations

8 CFR 209.2 is about the permanent residence of people granted asylum and it implements sectio 209(b) of the INA.

[jattindc1]

Gilbert
Yeah right I was interviewd and application approved in 1998 and received a letter from INS regarding approvel on Oct 98 and had a approvel stamp for Oct 1997.Please keep this alive may be this will help others also.
Thanks

[Gilbert]

People admitted as refugees or granted asylum ARE NOT permanent residents. To become a PR, refugees apply under section 209(a), asylees under 209(b).

Section 209 has three provisions. One deals with refugees, another with asylees and the last one grants some legal exceptions.

Originally posted by ****
Which in turn refers to INA 207:

I don't dispute that 207 handles the initial admission of refugees, and 209 handles the Permanent Residency for these refugees.
I am saying that not every asylum case is a refugee case. "Normal" asylum admissions are covered by INA 208. And since INA 209 doesn't refer to INA 208, INA 209 doesn't apply for these cases.
At least that's my understanding.

[Gilbert]

jattindc1,

If I understand you correctly then you should be considered a PR as of October 97 as a matter of law and you are eligible for citizenship in October 02.

Do you mind telling us where did you file your I-485 as an asylee? Section 209(b) puts a limit on the number of people who can get green cards on asylum. There has been a very huge backlog of applicants. For example, now they are approving cases filed in early 99. So one possible explanation is the officer who interviewed you was not following proper procedures. Perhaps she was supposed to tell you that final approval could not be given to you due to backlog and put you on a national waitlist.

[jattindc1]

I applied Asylum in 96 at San Fransisco Office and was approved in dec 96 and applied I-485 in Feb 98 at Arlington Virginia,had interview in oct 98,received approvel letter from INS in Oct 98 with approved stamp with hand written (AS6) as of 10/06/97.Received plastic card on April 2002 date of card is Feb 21 2001. Filed N-400 on Feb 2003 Received back all the papers from Vermont centre in April with a letter stating not eligible till Nov 21 2005.Talked to lot of Attornys everybody says date of green card is a date of PR.
Need a advice,Thanks

[Gilbert]

It could not have legally issued approval in October 98 for cases filed in February. They did it right the second time--cases file in early February were supposed to be approved 2002 (indeed if you apply today you will wait about ten years). Sorry that you had a lousy officer.

[jattindc1]

Gilbert Thanks for your reply here's a another forum that we discussed begining of this year ,if you back inthis forum you will see the whole scenerio.
Thanks
Al