For people waiting for plastic card 6 mos +

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bw376

Registered Users (C)
I want to create this new thread for people like me who have been frustratingly waiting for the plastic card for over 6 months since getting passport stamped. It seems that these days the average wait time between the PS and card is about 3-4 mos. Unfortunately our wait time is longer. I hope people who have the similar experience can share their stories here so that we may be able to learn from each other.

I got my passport stamped at NYC in mid Aug 03. I knew I was going to move to a new address, so I gave my new address to the INS officer that day. In Dec 03, 4 mos after the stamping, I had not received anything - no card, no welcome letter, so I went to NYC INS to inquire. It turned out that they never updated my address. An officer updated my address on site, also wrote down my EAC number for me (my case was a family based application so I was never given EAC number before). Now it's been another 3 mos after that visit, still no nothing. I called the 800 INS customer service number and a service representative told me that the EAC number may not be a valid one - it is a card order, but it dated back to May 02 which was way before my case got approved.

As the service rep suggested, I filed G-731v inquiry to the Vermont center. I have not received a response yet. I am also thinking about going back to NYC INS one more time to inquire.

That's my story. I want to hear about your stories if you are or used to be on the same boat. Any suggestions will also be highly appreciated
 
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still waiting.

The wait could be a bit longer. At least here in California.

Currently, the CIS are still processing the FEB 2003 application. My application was submitted on APRIL 2003 of last year and got the stamp. Looks like they will not get to my application until this MAY of 2004. It seems that the new CIS is a lot slower because of the September 11th thing.

3-4 months would have been nice, BUT I have been waiting for almost a year now. Also according to the representative at CIS that I talked to, I will have to do a FINAL interview. Once they process my application in MAY of 2004, this year I hope (also hoping sooner than later), they will notify me about the FINAL interview. I'm assumming after the FINAL interview, I will have to wait for the Plastic Card, which could take another 6-9 months or even a year. Talking about slow...
:eek:
 
Thanks for the reply. But I am not sure whether we are talking about the same "wait". I was talking about the wait for the card AFTER the interview and stamping. The average 3-4 mos time period was for that wait. How could you get your I-551 stamp before the interview? If you are talking about the wait starting from the filing of application, my wait was much longer than yours. My application was filed back in May 2001. Waited for 26 mos for the interview. Got stamp on the interview day. Now waiting for the plastic card.
 
I believe we are talking about the same thing. I did have the last inteview and I got the stamp. That's before the changes in the new CIS (before it was called the INS). When I did the interview last year on July of 2003 I got the stamp and now only have to wait for the Plastic Card. I was told by my lawyer that the application was submitted on April of 2003 and got the interview in July of 2003. The interview was done and the lawyer said to go and celebrate. Now, just wait for the Plastic card. Oh, I was told the same thing usually 3-4 months, but because of the backlog, it will be 6-9 months.

Now this year, I was told by the CIS representative, I will have another interview. She called it "The FINAL interview", whatever that means. I thought I was done already, but now I hear I have another interview.

Now, I'm thinking after this FINAL interview, I will have to start all over and wait for the Plastic Card again.

Unless I got jinx, I don't really know what is going on. Besides waiting and waiting and waiting.... like forever and ever... LOL
 
I never heard that there's additional GC interview after getting the I-551 stamp. Who told you that? The 800 CIS customer service? You sure they got your case status right? I called them a few times and never got any updates on my case. Since I don't have an EAC number (NYC local office never assigned one), I asked them whether they can check my status based on my alien number, and they said no. All they told me was to file form G731v which I already did.
 
Yes, the 800 CIS customer service. I called and the 1st lady said I need the case receipt number. Can't check the status without the receipt. She told me they are currently processing the Feb of 2003 application. I told her, I already got the I-551 stamp and I am just waiting for my plastic card. She went on and said after they process my application, I will have to come in for a FINAL interview. (I was like... hmmm.... a FINAL interview...)

Next, I called my laywer and got the case receipt number. First, I went online and try to check my case status with the case receipt number. Mine starts with a WAC########## (The 13-character application receipt number). Anyway, it said "...cannot be found..." So I called the 800 number again. Talked to another lady and she asked for the WAC number. Then she asked me when I filed the application. I told her it was submitted on April of 2003. She told me, they are currently processing the Feb of 2003 applications. She said they won't get to the April until May or so.
 
Man, those customer service reps don't know s***. Someday, someone will take these morons to court over wrong advice.
 
jllag1, I hear you. the 1st lady customer service was somewhat harsh. I just asked a simple question nicely and she start giving me this authority tone. Telling me, the stamp doesn't mean jack, I don't have a permanent resident status, they can take it away anytime... after they look at my application, they can call me in for another interview, "a final interview" as she put it. she wasn't too nice.

maybe she had a bad day or something, but saying things like "the stamp doesn't mean you are a permanent, etc..." that scared me.

I can only hope that the service will improve. :(
 
I got my passport stamped on 07/28/03 and still haven't got the GC. I got the welcome letter about 10 days after the interview, so I know they have my correct address. In reference to a second interview, it is possible that you might get interviewed more than once, but that's up to the INS people. A friend of mine had only one interview. The C/S reps might not know what they are talking about. Actually I read in some place that the INS outsource the service from other companies. My GC is being processed in Texas. What is the # that your lawyer is calling to find out what applications are currently being processed?
 
It's the 800 CIS customer service. It's on their website.

The lawyer didn't call them. The lawyer was notified by the CIS about the update via fax. then my lawyer called me.

I believe in Texas it's more lenient than California. California law is a little more strict.
 
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Ok, I called that # some months ago. The girl who answered was nice but not very helpful. She never told me that I could check the status of my GC online. She only said that they had sent me the welcome letter and that's it. That she could not tell me anything else. I just found this forum yesterday. I read other messages that have given me a better idea of the whole process/timeline to get the card. Thanks,
 
what is your case?

i551china

What is your case? Maybe it is different from most of us. It What this second interview will be after you got stamp?

What do you mean by INS process April, 2003 cases? the cases stamped in April, 2003?

THANKS
 
about the interviews stuff, I think the customer service don't know what they are talking about.

for the application process. When you get your stamp on your passport (the date that you got the stamp), the INS's next step is to process your application, and then send you the physical green card. Since they are so slow, they haven't even processed the application from last year. I got the stamp back on April of 2003. So as of recently, they just got to processing the April of 2003 application/stamp.

:)
 
Hopefully, they will just process the application and if everything is fine, they can just send me the physical card. And I am done.

since I am married to a US Citizen, I can start my application for US Citizen next month. Funny that I am already applying for the US Citizen and I haven't gotten my green card yet.
 
Hey i551china, how can you apply for citizenship after only one-year after green card approval? I believe it's three-year after green card approval. Did you count the three-year from the marriage date?
 
In California, you have two stages of PR status. the first is the CR, which is the conditional resident(a 2 year temporary green card). you get this status for two years, after that you have to go back in for another interview. and if you are approved, they remove the CR and give you the PR, which is the permanent resident (the normal 10 year green card). So that makes 3 years.

INS are a lot tougher since many do the fake marriages in the past.
 
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That rule is not just for CA, it's the same rule for all states. Now I see the 2nd interview you talked about is probably for the removal of condition. I also applied GC through my husband who is a US citizen. But I don't have to go through two interviews because I waited for 26 months to get the I-485 interview (and approval), I was granted permanent PR status at the interview (since my wait time was over two years). But the 3-year wait time counts from the approval date, so I still have 2 1/2 years to go before I can apply for the citizenship.
 
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the approval date from the CR, right?

this is the case according to my lawyer. my lawyer said I can apply for US Citizen now.

although the N-400 form ask for the copy of the PR card, back and front. or the application for the PR. I didn't have either, so I made a copy of the pending stamp on my passport.
 
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