I-751 Approval (divorce case)

D

diavon

Registered Users (C)
Hello All :)

I received my I-751 approval today from the CSC. It was a divorce case. I applied for a waiver of the joint filing requirement. The waiver was based on a good-faith marriage that ended in divorce.

Time line is something like:
Conditional GC Approval - Feb 2003
Divorce - Jan 2005
Applied to remove condition (I-751) - Feb 2005
RFE - Jan 2006 (basically requested the whole application again)
I-751 Approval - July 2006


I have a few questions:

  1. The approval is not on the usual I-797 form. It is just a letter sized paper with no official insignia of any sort. On the top it is typed "United States Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service" :D Isn't that bizarre??? Shouldnt it say "Department of Homeland Security"? Has anybody else gotten a casual approval notice like this? :confused: It almost looks like a prank letter! :D
  2. What kind of photos do I need to take? The approval notice states, "bring three recent photos of the same type as on your present alien card." But I believe the photo requirements have changed since. So what do I follow? :confused:

Thanks
 
Last edited by a moderator:
diavon said:
Hello All :)

I received my I-751 approval today from the CSC. It was a divorce case. I applied for a waiver of the joint filing requirement. The waiver was based on a good-faith marriage that ended in divorce.

Time line is something like:
Conditional GC Approval - Feb 2003
Divorce - Jan 2005
Applied to remove condition (I-751) - Feb 2005
RFE - Jan 2006 (basically requested the whole application again)
I-751 Approval - July 2006


I have a few questions:

  1. The approval is not on the usual I-797 form. It is just a letter sized paper with no official insignia of any sort. On the top it is typed "United States Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service" :D Isn't that bizarre??? Shouldnt it say "Department of Homeland Security"? Has anybody else gotten a casual approval notice like this? :confused: It almost looks like a prank letter! :D
  2. What kind of photos do I need to take? The approval notice states, "bring three recent photos of the same type as on your present alien card." But I believe the photo requirements have changed since. So what do I follow? :confused:

Thanks
Click to expand...

Hi there,

First, let me congradulate you with the end of the ordeal! Well done!
Second, I've got the same letter of approval a couple of weeks ago - just a white piece of paper, no seals on it, no nothing. Apperently, that's what everybody's getting now days.
Third, the photos for your 10-year card need to be in passport format. No more wired 2/3 head turns and exposed right ears - they do not accept this shit anymore. Although the letter states that photos must be the same type as on your current GC. The thing is those of us who got it in 2003 have the old version, which is not issued anymore.
Well, hope I answered your questions.
 
Thanks Dani. You seem to be the inhouse 751 expert.

Anyway... lets hope they send me the actual card pretty fast. Have you received your plastic card?
 
diavon said:
Thanks Dani. You seem to be the inhouse 751 expert.

Hell yeah, I am :) I've been wating for 12 months for that freaking thing

Anyway... lets hope they send me the actual card pretty fast. Have you received your plastic card?
Click to expand...

I haven't got mine yet. Last time when I was watign for conditional to arrive, it took 'em 2 days after the Welcome letter. This time - who knows. I think because I've already applied for naturalization they won't even bother issuing new plastic. Seems like CSC in conjunction with SF Do are working fast.
 
Is there a specific form that I need to fill out when applying for the plastic card?

My conditional came within 2 weeks of the welcome letter. My local office is San Jose. I havent applied for naturalization. So I wonder how long it will take this time around. :cool:

One thing that really helped was that I used the same address for the whole process. I am sure if I had moved, this whole ordeal would have dragged on a little longer. My most important advice to anyone going through an immigration procedure would be "don't move!" ;)
 
diavon said:
Is there a specific form that I need to fill out when applying for the plastic card?

They will give you a paper to fill out when you'll show up for your infopass appointment with your old green card and photos for the new one. When you do that, also bring Cal issued ID and your social security.


My conditional came within 2 weeks of the welcome letter. My local office is San Jose. I havent applied for naturalization. So I wonder how long it will take this time around. :cool:

People who applied in May getting their interviews in August (both San Jose and SF).


One thing that really helped was that I used the same address for the whole process. I am sure if I had moved, this whole ordeal would have dragged on a little longer. My most important advice to anyone going through an immigration procedure would be "don't move!" ;)

That's true!
Click to expand...
 
Moving whilce on cond GC

Dani,

what evidence did you submit for your waiver? did you have to file it when you sent the removal application or did you show your evidence when they called you for your interview ?

Thanks
 
"People who applied in May getting their interviews in August (both San Jose and SF)."

Dani, what interview are you talking about here? My petition has been approved. Is there still an interview??? Or are you refering to the infopass appointment as an interview?
 
bps01 said:
Dani,

what evidence did you submit for your waiver? did you have to file it when you sent the removal application or did you show your evidence when they called you for your interview ?

Thanks
Click to expand...

I didn't apply for the waiver. I am still married to same USC.
 
diavon said:
"People who applied in May getting their interviews in August (both San Jose and SF)."

Dani, what interview are you talking about here? My petition has been approved. Is there still an interview??? Or are you refering to the infopass appointment as an interview?
Click to expand...

Sorry mate, I got you all confused. I was referring to N-400 applicants.
 
diavon

Hi diavon

what evidence did you submit for your waiver? did you have to file it when you sent the removal application or did you show your evidence when they called you for your interview ?

Thanks
 
Bump

diavon : could you plz share your experence of when you submitted the info and what all you submitted.

Thanks
 
This is what I submitted:

- Form I-751
- My affidavit (basically explaining all the events right from the time we started dating till divorce)
- List of Exhibits

Exhibits:
  1. Copy of front and back of Conditional GC
  2. Wedding invitation from my side
  3. Wedding invitation from her side
  4. Marriage License
  5. Marriage Certificate
  6. Wedding Pictures
  7. Ticket stubs from rides/events/concerts/movies we went to
  8. Residential Leases
  9. Jointly filed Federal and state tax returns
  10. Monthly Statements from joint bank accounts
  11. Proof of Auto insurance with names of both on it
  12. Proof of medical insurance with names of both on it
  13. 401k enrollement form which designates her as the beneficiary
  14. Letter from marriage counselor that we attended counseling
  15. Final divorce decree
  16. Affadavit from two people who knew my situation

I should mention that I have a JD (law degree), so I wrote the all the affadavits and stuff myself. Acutally its pretty easy and as long as you can write clearly, you can do it yourself. Otherwise get someone else to draft the affidavit. It is important that you clearly explain why and how your marriage was a good faith marriage.

After a couple of months they sent me an RFE which basically asked me to submit all this again. I did.

The rest as you know is history. :) Got approval without an interview! :D
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi there,

Congratulations on your approval.

BTW I have a couple of questions about "after I-751 approval".

1. Did you make an appointment using InfoPass to get a new GC? If so, what is a receipt number for InfoPass of I-751 "approval"?

In spite that I also got the letter of approval which is a just simple white paper, there isn't any receipt number except my file number(or A #).

2. Does it mean that I should use the receipt number when I had received for "applying" I-751 one year ago?

3. If I make an appointment today, how soon can I get the date?

Thanks.
 
diavon said:
This is what I submitted:

- Form I-751
- My affidavit (basically explaining all the events right from the time we started dating till divorce)
- List of Exhibits

Exhibits:
  1. Copy of front and back of Conditional GC
  2. Wedding invitation from my side
  3. Wedding invitation from her side
  4. Marriage License
  5. Marriage Certificate
  6. Wedding Pictures
  7. Ticket stubs from rides/events/concerts/movies we went to
  8. Residential Leases
  9. Jointly filed Federal and state tax returns
  10. Monthly Statements from joint bank accounts
  11. Proof of Auto insurance with names of both on it
  12. Proof of medical insurance with names of both on it
  13. 401k enrollement form which designates her as the beneficiary
  14. Letter from marriage counselor that we attended counseling
  15. Final divorce decree
  16. Affadavit from two people who knew my situation

I should mention that I have a JD (law degree), so I wrote the all the affadavits and stuff myself. Acutally its pretty easy and as long as you can write clearly, you can do it yourself. Otherwise get someone else to draft the affidavit. It is important that you clearly explain why and how your marriage was a good faith marriage.

After a couple of months they sent me an RFE which basically asked me to submit all this again. I did.

The rest as you know is history. :) Got approval without an interview! :D
Click to expand...

Hey Diavon,

I also have a question about this and I'm glad I finally found someone who knows about this.

I might have to go through the same thing you have soon. My wife and I are having problems and we might decide to get divorced. This January we would file for the undconditional greencard, but his might now be cancelled if we choose to get divorced. In that case i'll have to do it myself as well, using the waiver based no a Marriage in good faith.

My question is if you have any ties to your former spouse at all after the divorce and subsequent approval of your uncondidional green card. My wife think she might still be responsible for me in some way, financial or otherwise. Even if we would divorce and I get the approval on my own. I thought she would be clear of all ties a liability for me after this, but now I'm not sure. Do you know anything about this?
 
Diavon congrats, well done. Im actually in the same situation right now, though I have not submitted my paperwork as of yet, the divorce is final now and we are just getting all the paperwork together and my ex-wife is definitely helpful in that too. Its refreshing to see that there are cases like this with positive outcome.
 
diavon said:
This is what I submitted:

- Form I-751
- My affidavit (basically explaining all the events right from the time we started dating till divorce)
- List of Exhibits

Exhibits:
  1. Copy of front and back of Conditional GC
  2. Wedding invitation from my side
  3. Wedding invitation from her side
  4. Marriage License
  5. Marriage Certificate
  6. Wedding Pictures
  7. Ticket stubs from rides/events/concerts/movies we went to
  8. Residential Leases
  9. Jointly filed Federal and state tax returns
  10. Monthly Statements from joint bank accounts
  11. Proof of Auto insurance with names of both on it
  12. Proof of medical insurance with names of both on it
  13. 401k enrollement form which designates her as the beneficiary
  14. Letter from marriage counselor that we attended counseling
  15. Final divorce decree
  16. Affadavit from two people who knew my situation

I should mention that I have a JD (law degree), so I wrote the all the affadavits and stuff myself. Acutally its pretty easy and as long as you can write clearly, you can do it yourself. Otherwise get someone else to draft the affidavit. It is important that you clearly explain why and how your marriage was a good faith marriage.

After a couple of months they sent me an RFE which basically asked me to submit all this again. I did.

The rest as you know is history. :) Got approval without an interview! :D
Click to expand...

1/ What is 401k enrollement form?
2/ What is the difference between Marriage License and Marriage Certificate?
3/ Affadavit from two people who knew my situation - you meant since you and your spouse married or why you divorced?

Thanks alot!

My case: http://immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?t=230843
 
diavon said:
This is what I submitted:

- Form I-751
- My affidavit (basically explaining all the events right from the time we started dating till divorce)
- List of Exhibits

Exhibits:
  1. Copy of front and back of Conditional GC
  2. Wedding invitation from my side
  3. Wedding invitation from her side
  4. Marriage License
  5. Marriage Certificate
  6. Wedding Pictures
  7. Ticket stubs from rides/events/concerts/movies we went to
  8. Residential Leases
  9. Jointly filed Federal and state tax returns
  10. Monthly Statements from joint bank accounts
  11. Proof of Auto insurance with names of both on it
  12. Proof of medical insurance with names of both on it
  13. 401k enrollement form which designates her as the beneficiary
  14. Letter from marriage counselor that we attended counseling
  15. Final divorce decree
  16. Affadavit from two people who knew my situation

I should mention that I have a JD (law degree), so I wrote the all the affadavits and stuff myself. Acutally its pretty easy and as long as you can write clearly, you can do it yourself. Otherwise get someone else to draft the affidavit. It is important that you clearly explain why and how your marriage was a good faith marriage.

After a couple of months they sent me an RFE which basically asked me to submit all this again. I did.

The rest as you know is history. :) Got approval without an interview! :D
Click to expand...


Hey Diavon,

Would it be possible to provide a template of the affidavitz you used? You say you wrote all events, how detailed did you make it? Did you include when things went bad and what happened?

Also, did the affidavitz of others also include the part where things went downhill, or just a general letter saying they had experiences with you as bona fide married couple?

I found some info and examples here http://www.visajourney.com/faq/k1k2visa-removeconditions.html#7.8.1 but they seem kind of general. Is this something like what you used?

Your help is greatly appreciated!
 
Hi there... whomever is reading this. I would like to know does anyone, besides having marital problems and wanted to get divorce before the condition removal process, that also have issues with living separately?

After we got married, my wife and I decided to move from Hawaii. However, due to her almost completed MBA courses and her father's health, I ended up moving first to seek for a better job so that I can help move her over when things get better. However, she got her dream job not long after getting her MBA so now we live in separate state. One in Hawaii and one in Washington.

Any good suggestions on what I should do? The file is till remain in Hawaii and I am thinking having it move to the local office since I am already hear and most likely will not move back to Hawaii anytime soon. She is not willing to move now that she is "able" to support herself. Frankly I think she is afraid of moving to an unknown location like I did at the beginning.

I have mostly everything, documents wise, except for any mortgages... we are very pour even though our combined income is over 80K due to all the student loans that we accumulated. I have a MBA as well and she is on her way to her PHD! Crazy right!?

Any help or suggestion would work. I am not sure if I have the most complicated situation but sure feels like it.

Thanks
 
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