Process and timing

Extension notice

Also called I-829 receipt notice, Form I-797 receipt notice, 48 month extension notice.

An extension notice is the Form I-797 receipt USCIS issues on a properly filed Form I-829 which, carried together with the expired conditional Green Card, is evidence of continued conditional permanent resident status, of work authorization and of the right to return after temporary travel abroad.

What it decides

Under 8 CFR 216.6(a)(1)(i) the status itself is extended automatically until USCIS has adjudicated the petition, so it is the paper rather than the status that carries an end date. Since 11 January 2023 USCIS has printed a 48 month extension on Form I-829 receipt notices, measured from the expiry date on the front of the card, and it reissued notices to holders of shorter extensions whose cases were still pending. USCIS states the period inconsistently, because the removal of conditions page for entrepreneurs still says six months or until processing finishes, whichever is longer, while carrying the 48 month alert above it. When the card and the notice period have both run out, or longer proof is needed, the Policy Manual directs the holder to call the USCIS Contact Center for a field office appointment, where an officer may issue an ADIT stamp, also called an I-551 stamp, which may be placed only in an unexpired passport or on a Form I-94 bearing a photo. USCIS has also mailed that stamped Form I-94 without an appointment since 2023.

Governed by 8 CFR 216.6(a)(1)(i) for the automatic extension of status; 6 USCIS-PM G.7(D), Extension of Conditional Permanent Residence While Form I-829 is Pending, current as of 5 August 2026, for the receipt notice as evidence of status, employment authorization and return travel, and for the ADIT stamp rule; USCIS alert USCIS Extends Green Card Validity for Conditional Permanent Residents with a Pending Form I-751 or Form I-829, released 23 January 2023 and now archived, for the 48 month figure, the 11 January 2023 start date for Form I-829 and the reissue of shorter notices; the USCIS page Remove Conditions on Permanent Residence for Entrepreneurs (Investors), last reviewed 23 January 2023, is good for repeating that alert but bad for the duration, since its body still says six months; USCIS alert USCIS Announces Additional Mail Delivery Process for Receiving ADIT Stamp, 16 March 2023, also archived, for the mail route.

Where this is explained properly

Pages here that go into extension notice rather than mentioning it.

I-829 Approval: Becoming a Permanent Resident Without Conditions

Related terms

Form I-829Form I-829, Petition by Investor to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status, is the petition an EB-5 conditional permanent resident files in the 90 days before the second anniversary of that status, asking USCIS to confirm the capital was invested and the ten jobs created and to make the green card unconditional.
90 day filing windowThe 90 day filing window is the 90 day period immediately preceding the second anniversary of the date an EB-5 investor obtained conditional permanent residence, and it is the period in which Form I-829 must be filed to remove the conditions; filing early gets the petition rejected and failing to file terminates status on that anniversary.
Conditional permanent residenceConditional permanent residence is the status an EB-5 investor and their spouse and children hold for the first two years: full lawful permanent residence, evidenced by a Green Card valid for two years, whose conditional basis must be removed on Form I-829 or the status ends.
Form I-797Form I-797 is not a form anyone completes but the family of notices USCIS sends about a case, a plain I-797 plus suffixes A to F, each carrying a different message, from a receipt to a request for evidence.
Form I-551Form I-551, the Permanent Resident Card or green card, is the document 8 CFR 264.1(b) lists as evidence of alien registration for a lawful permanent resident, and an EB-5 investor's first one is issued with a two year expiry because the residence it evidences is conditional.

Checked against primary sources on 10 August 2026. Back to the glossary