Renewing Green Card

Question:

There are 4 questions on the I-90 form that I am unsure of how to answer, so any help would be great.

1) City of Residence where you applied for an Immigrant Visa or AOS

2) Consulate where Immigrant Visa was issued or USCIS office where status was Adjusted

3) Date of admission as an immigrant or AOS.

OK, so for the city of residence, do I put where I live eg Green Bay? Consulate is Milwaukee? And the date as 11/12/03, as that's what it says on my green card for the "Resident Since:".

4) If you entered the US with an Immigrant Visa also complete the following:

I entered under my parents and their E-2 Visa, is that classified as an Immigrant Visa? I don't think it is, but I would like to be sure of this before I send the forms in.

Answer:

What is your status at the moment? If you entered on your parents' E-2 and have not adjusted status, you don't have a Green Card.

Sorry, my bad: reading and not thinking. Forgiveness please...

Anyway:

4) The E-2 is NOT an immigrant visa.

5) Where were you when you applied for the GC. That is the answer to this question.

6) I assume you adjusted status while in the US. Which office did you deal with when adjusting? Put that as the answer to this question.

7) Put as the answer here the date shown on your Green Card as "Date issued" or "Resident since" or whatever the wording is.

If I didn't have a green card, why would I be asking how to answer questions on the I-90 form?????

Forgive me for the question, but why are you filing an I-90 if you had your Green Card since 2003? Most people would file the I-90 only for GCs issued in 1995. The only situation where you file an I-90 at a different time is if you lost yours - but you imply in your post that you still have yours.

If you have a marriage-based GC (which does need to be renewed after two years), you want form I-751, removal of condition, instead.

Where did you live at the time the I-485 was filed? Since you say that you entered with an E-2, the immigrant visa probably does not apply.

Where was the I-485 approved (if it was marriage-based, the local USCIS office).

Where you lived in 2000 or so (when the I-485 was filed), not today.

Assuming that you didn't move, yes (at least I assume that has jurisdiction over Green Bay). Actually, it's not a consulate, but a USCIS office.

No, it's not. Easy rule here: if the answer to the previous question was "Milwaukee" (or any place inside the US), you don't have an immigrant visa. If the answer to the same question was some place outside the US, you do.

If you have a marriage-based GC (which does need to be renewed after two years), you want form I-751, removal of condition, instead.

After further reading, I have now filed out the right form! Another $200 check to the INS!!!!! Anyway, onther question whilst we're on the subject of GC renewal.

I read somewhere, don't ask where, that if you were married longer than two years when oyu had your GC interview, you didn't get the conditional GC, you got the permanent GC. Is this true? As my husband and I had been married for 2 years and 5 months when I received mine, and I have the conditional GC.

So I guess you've figured out that you are removing conditions from your PR status, not renewing a Green Card :)

In case you hadn't found it, here's the instruction page: How Do I Remove the Conditions on Permanent Residence Based on Marriage? http://uscis.gov/graphics/howdoi/remcond.htm

"Your permanent residence status will be conditional if it is based on a marriage that was less than two years old on the day you were given permanent residence. You are given conditional resident status on the day you are lawfully admitted to the United States on an immigrant visa or receive adjustment of status."

To find out if the CR class was properly given, compare your 'resident since' date with your wedding anniversary. Altho, to tell the truth, if you did not call this error to their attention at the time, it might be too late now.

Also, because you were on an E visa before, that conceiveably could've contributed. Some E visa holders are subject to conditional status as well.

If you'd rather try, you could make an InfoPass appointment and visit your Local Office to see about getting your status changed to IR if you were def. married +2years *on the date your adjustment of status happened*.

Otherwise, it's $200 + I-751 for you. Plan on waiting up to 18 months before you get a decision. If you are otherwise eligible for naturalization and want to apply, you may, even if the I-751 has not come back.

I hope you didn't make out the check to INS! That agency doesn't exist any more (and hasn't for several years now); you should now make out checks to USCIS or to Department of Homeland Security. I think they will probably still take the check, so it would not be a big problem.

You heard right. It is quite possible that USCIS made a mistake when they issued the Green Card. It doesn't matter, though, you should still apply for removal of condition. Although if for whatever reason you missed the 90-day window, you might be able to get out of the resulting mess by pointing to the fact that it shouldn't have been conditional in the first place. But if you'd rather do without the ensuing court battle, you should treat your GC as conditional regardless.

what id is required to renew green card and anybody see any problems with a 3 year absence between 2001 and 2004?

What do you mean by "renewing"? Are you talking about the GC expiring after ten years? In that case, you simply file form I-90. You can do that electronically, or I believe also at a local Application Support Center (in person).

An absence of three years will usually cause you to lose your Green Card, unless you have a reentry permit. Since you say it was until 2004, it seems you made it back to the US without losing your GC. Most likely, you won't have any further problems, but you may want to consult with a competent immigration attorney first, just in case.