On June 13, 2018, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) stated that its “California Service Center is experiencing a delay in initial data entry for Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence” [PDF version].

As a result of the delay, Form I-751 petitioners who filed their petitions with the California Service Center “may experience a delay in receiving a receipt notice for a Form I-751…”

The USCIS instructed petitioners who filed a Form I-751 with the California Service Center in May 2018 and who have not yet received receipt notices to not file a duplicate Form I-751 unless they “have received a rejection notice or have been instructed to do so by the [California Service Center].”

The USCIS explained that the California Service Center is working to resolve the issue and is targeting completing data entry of the Form I-751 petitions in questions “by the end of June 2018…” The USCIS will publish a web alert once the initial data entry for Form I-751 petitions returns to normal.

Petitioners will receive receipt notices once their Form I-751 data is entered into USCIS. The USCIS expects that petitioners will receive these receipt notices by early July.

Petitioners whose two-year Permanent Resident Cards have expired “may schedule an INFOPASS appointment for [them] and any eligible dependents at [their] local field office.” If possible, the USCIS asks a petitioner to “bring evidence that [he or she] sent [his or her] Form I-751 via USPS or courier service, such as FedEx.”

The Form I-751 is the form used by conditional permanent residents who obtained status as the beneficiary of a marriage-based immigrant visa petition to remove conditions on their permanent resident status. Please see our recent article on the USCIS’s announcement about new receipt notices for Form I-751 petitioners to reflect changes in the length of time that status is continued beyond the expiration of the petitioner’s Permanent Resident Card upon the filing of the petition [see article]. Please see our growing selection of articles on the Removal of Conditions [see category] and Family Immigration [see category] to learn more about issues related to the Form I-751.