Traveling with expired green card and NOA I-797

[Heath 0]

Hello,

I applied to remove the conditions on my GC and its still pending, and i'm planning on going home for 3 weeks (Egypt), but my concern is with the Egyptian airport when its time to leave, are they gonna give me a hard time with the expired green card and the extension letter? are there any Egyptians here that went through the same situation?

would greatly appreciate any help, Thanks.

[aleful 1,905]

hi

the GC and letter is only used to enter the US, you are a LPR and the letter allows you to return to the US even though your GC is expired

[MsDDD 7]

Don't worry about Egyptian airlines and Egypt airport. Worry first about here. American Airlines in Dallas DFW airport didn't allow me to go OUT of country with this expired card and extension. Yeaaa,you reading right- OUT of country. Was hardly solved later with given excuses after 3 months.

When you have return ticket you should show the proof that you can go back and have entry docs put into the system.

Edited June 26, 2016 by MsDDD

[Heath 0]

hi

the GC and letter is only used to enter the US, you are a LPR and the letter allows you to return to the US even though your GC is expired

I understand but having an egyptian passport the egyptian officers want to see a valid visa/green card to let you out of the country, and i'm afraid they won't accept/understand the extension letter.

[Heath 0]

Don't worry about Egyptian airlines and Egypt airport. Worry first about here. American Airlines in Dallas DFW airport didn't allow me to go OUT of country with this expired card and extension. Yeaaa,you reading right- OUT of country. Was hardly solved later with given excuses after 3 months.

When you have return ticket you should show the proof that you can go back and have entry docs put into the system.

That's weird, i don't know why they won't let you out of the country.

[Leo7777 243]

I understand but having an egyptian passport the egyptian officers want to see a valid visa/green card to let you out of the country, and i'm afraid they won't accept/understand the extension letter.

It is not Egyptian government officers that will give you a hard time leaving the country.

It is the airline that you will attempt to board on your flight back to USA.

The rules are: If a person arrives at USA airport and USA immigration officers won't let them into USA; then the airline the person arrived on has to incur the expense to take the person on the next plane back out of USA.

Because of that potential expense; the airline you try to board in Egypt (or wherever) will try to check very carefully if you have documents that will allow you to enter USA. The one year extension letter is fairly rare relative to the thousands of other documents they are used to seeing, so it is not surprising that some airlines are not willing to accept the one year extension letter. It looks pretty suspicious to them; doesn't matter what the letter states, that it is printed on USA letterhead, etc. Such a document could be easily forged and produced by most anyone.

The one year extension letter is really a very stupid system and CAN (I am not saying will) cause great anguish to those who wish to travel outside the USA.

The one year extension letter can even cause problems for us INSIDE USA with respect to employment, drivers licenses, etc. But at least when you are inside the USA, there is a better chance that you can get the matter resolved although it may take some time. But OUTSIDE the USA, I certainly wouldn't want to be in that position. Doesn't matter how many people post here that they traveled out side USA and re-entered with no problem. Such experience by others will be of no comfort to the individual who is unlucky enough to get stuck in another country.

[Sukie 1,439]

Because of the potential risks involved with international traveling, the one thing you can do is "arm" yourself with information that the extension letter is accepted by the U.S. government. You can print this document from the CBP's website clearly stating on paragraph 5 that you should be able to board with an expired green card and the form I-797 extension letter. Keep it accessible on you in case you'd need to pull it out and show the airlines staff at the ticket counter. I'm not saying that this will help 100% but you are more likely to convince a skeptic airline official by showing such a piece of information rather than appear clueless and afraid. Good luck!

Excellent advice, Happy Chic. Also, "arm" yourself with the phone number of the local embassy/consulate. In fact, if you really expect a problem, CALL the US embassy/consulate while you are IN the foreign country, and see if they will give you a phone number to call in an emergency if you get to an airport and run into a problem. It is really important to be informed - and to present yourself as an informed individual. If you appear hesitant or afraid, you might be given a harder time.

I understand the "whys" for the two-year process for newly married individuals. In fact, I had to go through the exact same process in Australia when I got my Permanent Residency Card there. What I DON'T understand is why it takes 9 to 12 months to go from the 2-year to the 10-year. That's just not right.

Sukie in NY

[MsDDD 7]

In fact the airline will be not just responsible for your deportation if you will be not allowed to enter US back, there is flat fine for them-$20000. This is what CBP officer said for their excuse to me. Printing docs could maybe help, but they don't care, if they know only certain docs types of documents required for the travel. As also calling any place is fruitless, they will not call to airlines in your favor. In this country-run to CBP, in other if only they will read CBP quotes.

When I Visited USCIS office for infopass I got sense that they know about this could happen.

As about the length of the process I truly believe it's because one other agency is ruling the whole immigration process, and this is not the one you blame on.

[Heath 0]

Because of the potential risks involved with international traveling, the one thing you can do is "arm" yourself with information that the extension letter is accepted by the U.S. government. You can print this document from the CBP's website clearly stating on paragraph 5 that you should be able to board with an expired green card and the form I-797 extension letter. Keep it accessible on you in case you'd need to pull it out and show the airlines staff at the ticket counter. I'm not saying that this will help 100% but you are more likely to convince a skeptic airline official by showing such a piece of information rather than appear clueless and afraid. Good luck!

Thanks, i will make sure to have it with me.

[redat 1]

Did u go to egypt?? let me know what happen plzzz because am planning to go too

[Bombo 4]

Hey Egyptians,

 

Anyone tried travelling to Egypt with the Expired Green Card + Extension Letter?

 

Regards

[Ksenia_O 695]

On 6/25/2016 at 6:38 PM, Heath said:

Hello,

I applied to remove the conditions on my GC and its still pending, and i'm planning on going home for 3 weeks (Egypt), but my concern is with the Egyptian airport when its time to leave, are they gonna give me a hard time with the expired green card and the extension letter? are there any Egyptians here that went through the same situation?

would greatly appreciate any help, Thanks.

Hi..

Here is the link

 https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2017-Nov/carrier-information-guide-english.pdf 

 

The info you need on p.10. and p.38

 

You can print the document and have it with you, along with another one that CookieCat has advised. 

 

Good luck and have a safe trip!

 

[Bombo 4]

Thanks a lot, Ksenia!

[jeffenburg 9]

On 04/04/2018 at 2:59 PM, Bombo said:

Thanks a lot, Ksenia!

Hi @Bombo, how did it go, were you able to board the plane in Egypt without issues?