The Immigration and Naturalization Service has issued a memorandum addressing the ever-increasing processing times for I-751 cases. These are cases filed by persons who gain conditional permanent residency by marrying American citizens. Those persons are issued green cards with two year expiration dates. In order to convert the two year status to unconditional permanent residency status, the alien must file the Form I-751 Petition to Remove Conditional Residence Status within 90 days of the two year anniversary of receiving conditional permanent residency. Current INS policy requires these cases to be decided within six months of applying. However, the INS blames an increase in the receipt of N-400 naturalization applications and I-485 adjustment of status petitions for a significant slowdowns in I-751 processing that are making the six month test impossible to meet.
To address the slowdown, the INS is now informing applicants that the processing time on these cases is now one year. If the case is not decided within a year, each case must be expedited for interview and adjudication within five working days of the date an applicant requests an extension of the validity of their green card or the applicant requests an interview. Applicants will receive notification that there temporary green cards are extended for an additional year during which employment and travel are authorized. For those applicants with cases pending for more than six months already, interviews will be expedited to five working days if they request an extension of the validity of their green card or they request an interview.
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