Went to Infopass today
So I went to Infopass today...
The officer gave me the most ridiculous answer I've ever heard:
"You should file your I-751 within 3 months before your 2nd anniversary of your marriage date. Since you filed late, you have to send a letter FOR WAIVER to the address at the bottom of your first NOA, explaining why you filed late."
I was stunned. Then she asked what visa I used to enter the U.S. (does it matter to the case?) and whether I have an unexpired passport so that she could give me a stamp (which is a good thing though). In the meantime while she was stamping my passport, I asked her if she could give me the filing instructions of I-751.
She handed it over to me and I looked at the instructions very carefully. On the 1st page of the instructions, under "When Should I File the Form I-751?", number 1, it clearly says:
1. Filing jointly. If you are filing this petition jointly with your spouse, you must file it during the 90 days immediately before the second anniversary of the date you were accorded conditional resident status. This is the date your conditional residence expires.
Well I think this is clear enough!
I asked the officer: "Sorry I'm a little bit confused, if you look at number 1 here, it says 90 days before the 2nd anniversary of your conditional residence expiry date which was March X, 2008. So I filed in December 2007... should be in a right filing period right?"
She replied, "NO - your case is based on marriage so it is the 2nd anniversary of your WEDDING DATE 'coz the computer shows they put a note on your case, and it says
PENDING RECEIPT OF FILING PETITION OR WAIVER. Now what you need to do is, send a letter to this address, on the letter you put
I FILED LATE BECAUSE... explain why you filed late so that you can get a waiver."
OK I think it's pointless to argue with her. So I just say thanks after getting my passport stamped. And I got her name too.
Now I'm puzzled 'coz I don't know if that note is a STANDARD note to all pending I-751 cases, or if the officer put a wrong note on my case by mistake (which is what I worried most).
I'm planning to send a letter to CSC and let them know I got such information from the infopass officer and I'd like to know if it is a mistake because I didn't file late. I'm gonna attach copies of my GC, NOAs, and the I-751 instructions.
This is a nightmare.