RFE for late petition for i-751

[montu86]

Hello,
I initially got married on 31st July 2014. Later I got divorced due to some personnel reason in March 2016. I received my green card on 16 March 2015 till 15 March 2017. So I went to lawyer and she suggested me to come back 90 days before green card expires. So I went and we filed i-751 removal of condition on green card because marriage was good but doe to some circumstances I had to get divorce and all genuine evidences were sent with application. I filed i-751 petition on 20 Dec 2016 and USCIS received it on 21 Dec 2016 which is 87 days prior to my green card expires.

Now I receive an RFE asking that I filed petition 4 months and 20 days late. I need to provide a reason for good cause that why I filed late. After some research I found out that I should have applied before 31st July 2016 because by law I need to submit i-751 before 2nd anniversary. I never knew this. Not sure about my lawyer. Can someone help me what explanation I shall provide?

[Evilex]

This is from uscis website

You and your spouse must apply together to remove the conditions on your residence by filing Form I-751. You should apply during the 90 days before your second anniversary as a conditional resident. The expiration date on your green card is also the date of your second anniversary as a conditional resident.

Either they made a mistake, maybe a new recruit took your application as test, lest wait for one of the smart ppl from this forum to provide insight on this matter becausw if this is truth, many ppl are going to be screwed.

[newacct]

After some research I found out that I should have applied before 31st July 2016 because by law I need to submit i-751 before 2nd anniversary. I never knew this.

This is incorrect. Your 2nd anniversary has absolutely nothing to do with filing of Removal of Conditions. Your 2nd anniversary only matters for when you first become a permanent resident, for determining whether you become a conditional permanent resident or non-conditional permanent resident. Once you have become a conditional permanent resident, you get a 2-year card from that point no matter how long you have been married. If you are filing for Removal of Conditions jointly with your spouse, you must file in the 90-day window before your 2-year card expires. (So for example, if you became a permanent resident right before your 2nd anniversary, your 90-day window to file Removal of Conditions would be right before your 4th anniversary; you cannot apply earlier.)

It sounds like they made a mistake. You should respond stating that your 90-day period to file was Dec 16 2016 - Mar 15 2017, and therefore you did not file late.

[montu86]

Thank you so much for your input. I am contacting my lawyer and let's see what she is saying. I will update as soon as I have other information.