This video will talk about what can you do if you have a conditional green card and you
file for an extension, your 751, and now, you have your 18 months extension. What are
you going to do now? Well, watch this video and I'll tell you more. So, I'm getting so
many inquiries right now from people that have their conditional green cards. They file
for extensions, they got the 18 months extension paper but now, it's coming to an end. But
guess what? Immigration is shut down. Everything is locked. How do you extend this? How do
you maintain your status for work purposes, for any other purposes? It's a big concern
for many people. And in this video, I'm going to address what you can do to resolve this
issue and maintain your green card status when the extension is expiring. Before that,
if you're here for the first time, first of all, welcome to our channel. I'm very grateful
that you're here. Make sure you subscribe to the channel. Click that bell to be notified.
We produce and release videos every single week. And also, give us that like. If you
don't like the video, apparently YouTube is not going to show it to anyone, and it's too
bad, right? Nobody's going to see that information. So, my name is Jacob Sapochnick, and I am
an immigration attorney. I'm based in San Diego, California. And we practice immigration
in all 50 states. We help clients just like you to resolve their immigration issues, provide
information, and help you stay informed, especially during these crazy Corona time, pandemic uncertainty.
And that's why we're doing all these videos. So, let's talk about solutions for green card
holders that currently filed their 751, Removal of Conditions applications, and they received
this 18 months extension, it's an automatic extension, but that extension is coming to
an end. And typically, what people do is they'll make an appointment with USCIS. They go down
to the local office. They'll get a stamp in their passport. It's called an I-551 stamp.
With that stamp, it's a six months extension, and they're going to be able to stay in the
US with the six months extension until they either get an interview or the green card
is approved in the mail but now, USCIS is shutdown. They're shut down until June 4th,
at the moment, and who knows, maybe it's going to be extended further. So, what do you do?
So, according to guidance that we received from USCIS, one of the things that you can
do is you can call them and still make an appointment because USCIS is still working.
They're working, they're not open for regular appointments but you can call them and you
can explain to them that you have this extension that is about to expire, that your green card
is about to expire, and that there is an emergent circumstance, something that is beyond usual.
It could be something like… it cannot be just because you extension expired. It has
to be something more than that. So, typically, it could be… you may lose your job because
your job needs to verify your employment, right? So, you need that for job verification.
Or you need to travel internationally, there's something emergent, some immediate family,
you have to leave the US and you won't be able to travel because you don't have a green
card to prove that you have a permanent residency. So, those two things could be good examples
of what is an emergent circumstance that could basically convince a USCIS officer to give
you an appointment. We can show up, even today, at the USCIS office and get that stamp in
your passport. Now, it's really important to make sure that your 18 months extension
is not going to expire. So, even if you don't get an appointment, you have to at least try
to document that you tried to call the USCIS, maybe by phone, or write to them requesting
an appointment to extend your extension. We’re hoping that USCIS is going to reopen on June
4th. And therefore, it's not too far away from now, and people are going to be able
to get normal extensions. But if you are needing an extension right now and USCIS is shut down,
I would call USICS and give them a few reasons. Whether it's a job that is at stake, or you
need to travel, maybe some sort of medical issue that you have but try, definitely, it's
worth to try calling them and trying to get that appointment to be able to get the stamp.
So, hopefully, that answers the question. We have a lot of people that are actually
asking that question. They’re concerned as to how they can stay in the US when their
extension is about to expire. So, that's just one way to do that, by calling the USCIS and
letting them know that you have some sort of a situation that is beyond just the fact
that the extension is expired, and then try to get that appointment. And once you have
an appointment that is so easy. They will just stamp your passport for another six months
and will give you some peace of mind whether it's a work or any other thing that you need
a green card to verify that you are a green card holder. So, hopefully, this information
is helpful. And a lot of people are asking that question so that video should be used
to answer the question. And then, if you know somebody who is in that situation, please
share the video with them. And if you’re here for the first time, subscribe to our
channel. Once again, click that bell to be notified. And also, we have a Facebook group
that is a private Facebook group. We started it a few… about a month ago. It's a safe
place for people to talk about immigration, to share concerns like that, and to share
your experience. We answer questions there every single day. So, make sure you join that
group. The link is in the description of the video. And I want to see you there. I want
to continue to engage with you even outside of YouTube, in this video. So, thank you for
watching, and I'll see you on the other side.