When can we file for citizenship: GC date confusion.

A

Anya4ever

Registered Users (C)
We had filed our employment based EB1 GC in Nov 2004. I, the primary applicant, was approved in Feb 2005 while my husband got stuck in the security issues and his I 485 application was only approved in Jan 2009. We recently went on a vacation, and that was then we realized that on my husband's GC, in the section RESIDENT SINCE; the date is Nov 2004- out filing date. The approval letter that came right before the physical GC says approval date Jan XX 2009.

1) Is this a serious error- should we get it corrected?
2) When does he become eligible for citizenship? In 2014 or now?

Thanks.
 
Obviously the date on the card is wrong. He should apply based on the date in the approval notice. So that would be on or after October 2013 (90 days before his 5-year LPR anniversary). Or earlier in 2013, if you naturalize this year and he chooses to apply based on the 3-years-married-to-USC rule.

Some people go ahead and apply based on the card date when they know the card date is months or years too early, and they always get denied. USCIS doesn't just look at the information on the card, they look at the A-file and other information in the system and they will catch it if you try to apply based on a card date that doesn't reflect reality.

1) Is this a serious error- should we get it corrected?
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It's not a serious error. He can travel with it as is. If he wants it corrected they'll make him pay, because now that it is so long since the card was issued, USCIS interprets the lack of correction requests to mean he has accepted the card information as being accurate.
 
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Bobsmyth said:
Call USCIS and ask them what their system shows as resident since date.
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That is not useful. Somebody on this forum in a similar situation went for Infopass and was told the same (wrong) date that was on the card. Applied based on that date, but got denied for applying too early. Infopass will only reveal one date somebody punched into the system in one place. But once you apply, they will figure out the real date based on the totality of the information.
 
Jackolantern said:
That is not useful. Somebody on this forum in a similar situation went for Infopass and was told the same (wrong) date that was on the card. Applied based on that date, but got denied for applying too early. Infopass will only reveal one date somebody punched into the system in one place. But once you apply, they will figure out the real date based on the totality of the information.
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You're basing your argument on one example?
I can equally argue that there was a past case where someone contacted USCIS via Infopass to confirm the date in USCIS system was different than date on GC and was eventually approved.
 
Usually the approval notice date is the one should go with. One other option (but it takes some months) is to ask for the A-file through a FOIA/FOIPA request to USCIS. The A-file should show when the visa number was requested and when the I-485 application was approved. I am not sure, but it looks like I-181 form which is memorandum of creation of record of lawful permanence residence should show the correct date (this is part of the A-file). The I-485 is also stamped with approval date. I think either the I-181 or I-485 should show the correct date when he became a permanent resident.
 
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Bobsmyth said:
But USCIS instructions state to use resident since date on GC.
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Agree with Huracan. The approval date is the official date....for PR status..it could be data error on GC. I also suggest go with the approval date. When you apply N-400, attach the copy of both I-485 approval notice and GC, make a note of discrepency.
 
Bobsmyth said:
You're basing your argument on one example?
I can equally argue that there was a past case where someone contacted USCIS via Infopass to confirm the date in USCIS system was different than date on GC and was eventually approved.
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Approved based on a GC date that was incompatible with reality?
 
Bobsmyth said:
But USCIS instructions state to use resident since date on GC.
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Which is the right thing to do when the date is correct, and it is correct more than 99% of the time.

They're not going to overly complicate the instructions by trying to explain how to know when the date is wrong and how to reconstruct the sequence of events and analyze the various documents to figure out what the right date is.

Anyway, it is the OP's and husband's money to waste, not mine. If they want to donate $675 to USCIS based on an obviously wrong card date, they are free to do so.
 
What if during the interview even the IO does not notice this difference and take the date on the GC for granted? Should the OP's husbabd
keep silence and hope too get thru or need to remind the IO:"Although my date on my GC is 2005 but I only got my I485 approval notice in
2009"?

Or the better, the OP's husband just make correct at the start of the interview and withdraw the application unless even the IO clearly say ignore
the I485 approval date and use GC date
 
Jackolantern said:
Anyway, it is the OP's and husband's money to waste, not mine. If they want to donate $675 to USCIS based on an obviously wrong card date, they are free to do so.
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How many people actually keep their I-485 approval letter and compare it with date GC to ensure they match? Better yet, how many get approved with different date on GC and I-485 approval? If the instructions state to use resident since date on GC (and not approval date on I-485 approval), I bet someone who is denied based on such an USCIS discrepancy can successfully appeal their case without having to pay the appeal fee.
As an analogy, if you were cited by police and they told you their system showed your driver's license expired a month earlier yet your DL showed it was still valid, wouldn't you contest their decision?
 
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Bobsmyth said:
How many people actually keep their I-485 approval letter and compare it with date GC to ensure they match?
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That is irrelevant. How many people think November 2004 is the actual approval date for this case?

When the GC date is obviously wrong, other means have to be used to figure out the actual date. Figuring that date precisely may be impossible, but it's easy to know that it can't be later than when the approval notice and physical GC were actually issued. And in this case, the approval notice is much more consistent with the sequence of events.
Better yet, how many get approved with different date on GC and I-485 approval? If the instructions state to use resident since date on GC (and not approval date on I-485 approval), I bet someone who is denied based on such an USCIS discrepancy can successfully appeal their case without having to pay the appeal fee.
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Instructions on a form do not make the law. No court would overturn a denial in such a scenario. You can't become eligible years before your time because of a clerical error.
As an analogy, if you were cited by police and they told you their system showed your driver's license expired a month earlier yet your DL showed it was still valid, wouldn't you contest their decision?
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Expiration date is an entirely different issue. Knowing an expiration date is wrong based on the sequence of events is much harder than knowing the issue date is wrong. And avoiding a penalty is a different situation than applying for something based on eligibility criteria. A clerical error doesn't make you become eligible for something that you wouldn't be eligible for if the information was accurate.

Think about it the other way ... suppose the GC was received this month, but it says "resident since 5/5/2015". Are you going to say they should wait until 2020?
 
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Bobsmyth said:
How many people actually keep their I-485 approval letter and compare it with date GC to ensure they match? Better yet, how many get approved with different date on GC and I-485 approval? If the instructions state to use resident since date on GC (and not approval date on I-485 approval), I bet someone who is denied based on such an USCIS discrepancy can successfully appeal their case without having to pay the appeal fee.
As an analogy, if you were cited by police and they told you their system showed your driver's license expired a month earlier yet your DL showed it was still valid, wouldn't you contest their decision?
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there is a difffernce between one/ 2 month discrepency and 5 years....OP must likely attended FP, other actions while awaiting GC approval notice in 2009. N-400 instruction says the applicant needs to LPR for 5 years (it does not say that needs to have GC with 5 year period). The strategy that you suggest is very risky. Also, OP will be under oath and when OP asks, have you been LPR for 5 years ...OP says "yes" (ignor I-485 approval notice? ) . Also, OP's is being non- LPR has been documented by the other documents, EAD, Visa, Travel Documents....


I do not believe that it is a sign of good moral character to claim Immigration benefits based on some obvious error.

Two ways i can see the way forward: 1) risk $675, apply and disclose the different approval date 2) Do not apply and make infopass appointment, clarify situation.

Otherwise, there is a risk that even you may get thru uSCIS system by error, then they catch it later...it could be more problamatic ...My 2 cents.
 
you are giving people wrong info! please stop this! i know tones of people got Citizenship depends on their card issued!!!! but best way either contect with uscis or an attorney
 
ysfrc said:
you are giving people wrong info! please stop this! i know tones of people got Citizenship depends on their card issued!!!!
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You know people who got citizenship based on an obviously wrong card date, where they would have been found ineligible if the date reflected reality?
 
ysfrc said:
yes i m the same guy because i have my own experience and with people around me!!!!!!
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As Jackolantern said, you can not claim the immigration eligibility based on the other people's using inaccuarte Green Card date (otherwise not eligible) .
 
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