I want to share my steps I took to renew my green card.
On 10/2/2020, I applied the green card renewal online. I paid the fee of $540.
On 10/13/2020, I received the notice letter of I-797C. It contains the receipt number of the application.
As of 12/15/2020, since I still hadn’t heard from them yet, I called USCIS main office. The operator told me about I-551 stamp, which can be used as an extension of green card while waiting for their renewal process. The operator processed a request the interview at the local office for me. The operator told me I should receive a phone call from them to schedule an appointment within 7 business days.
As of 12/28/2020, I still had not heard from them. I called USCIS office again. The operator told me to wait one more day.
On the next day of 12/29/2020, I called them again. This time the operator was thoughtful enough to change my request status as “urgent” from “normal.” She said I should receive a phone call from them within 48 hours business day. I thanked the operator and hung up the phone. Tom my surprise, within 5 minutes, I receive a phone call from the USCIS representative. She scheduled the appointment on the next day; which is today; 12/30/2020.
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My husband wanted to take a day off from work and drive there for me. He worried about me for not getting lost in a big city. I appreciate my husband to concern about me, but he is still new to the workplace. I didn’t want him to get into any issue for taking a day off. So I told him not to worry about me.
Before I left my house, I prayed for my safe drive and “not to get lost.” But, as usual, I got lost. I usually get lost while driving at a new area. I lost 20 minutes for driving back and forth, but I could somehow arrived at the USCIS office 10 minutes before my appointment time.
Inside the office I needed to wait for another 20 minutes or so. The male officer was polite. He started off our conversation by thanking me for my patiently waiting for my turn. He put a stamp of I-551 on my passport page and told me the stamp works as a one-year extension of green card.
I am glad this issue was solved. At the beginning of the next year, I will need to go to DMV to renew my driver’s license with this green card extension.
three wisdom 