I was wondering if anyone knew if you can travel immediately after an approved case at the marriage based interview. my husband and i have his interview june 4th and have plane tickets for the 12th. a lawyer told us he can travel with his passport and just an approval letter but I am not sure what to beleive. if anyone has any real knowledge about this i would really appreciate it. also i heard you can schedule an infopass appt. in order to get a stamp... can u do this?

If you're approved at interview, you'll need to make sure you get the I-551 stamp in your passport if you want to travel. They don't give you any sort of approval letter at the interview BTW, you have to wait for that to come in the mail, and it can take a few weeks.

Im going to travel to Europe 2 days after the Interview. She/he will HAVE to give me a stamp. I will manage that:)

And HOW do you plan on "managing" that?

I would take evidence of your planned travel to your interview and if you are approved you can ask for the I-551 stamp..... but you may not get it..... you CAN NOT TRAVEL WITH JUST YOUR PASSPORT AND AN APPROVAL LETTER.... you need either the Greencard or the I-551 stamp....


Kez

Agreed with Kez and Karen. Take the flight tickets/documents with you, but don't expect to get the stamp, hope to do so. Some offices will flat out refuse to give the stamp any more.

Why on earth would you plan a trip so close to your interview anyway?

Whatever happened to filing for Advance Parole?

Even if they had Advanced Parole, when they are approved at interview the AP papers are taken from you as you can not travel on AP once you are approved for AOS.... so they will need the I-551 stamp or the Greencard to re-enter the US...

Kez

As you can see in my time line I do have the Parole. I didnt know when the interview date when I booked the tickets.. I mean, excuse me..The USCIS dosent schedule MY life... I do it. I must go for some reasons. Do nt see any reasony why they should not stamp it since they have no cue whats going on in my life and no clue why and when I gotta travel....
I mean If I get approved I am approved. I just will not leave without the stamp

Yeah, good luck with that.

Sadly the fact is that USCIS does schedule your life during this process.

Well I know. They already did it.. its about time to get my life back I thought I ight be able to say I never received the Parole and just keep it. Ive read that some really didnt receive it and they just said they should destroy it after they receive it. But then I guess it wont work since I will be in the system then. (that I got approved and therefore cant actually use it).

They'll know if you have AP or not, I wouldn't try lying about that..... but Good Luck! Let us know if you manage to get it.

oh ok Well then. The I just gotta be very nice to the officer;)

Any reason why they wouldn't give the stamp to someone? I'm assuming they have the stamp and the ink readily available...Why wouldn't they stamp your passport?

I asked for a stamp at my interview, and my interviewer sternly told me: "We don't do that anymore because the Green Cards come so quickly." I tried to give her a reason for giving me the stamp, but she wasn't interested.

I meant...whatever happened to filing for AP when one files for AOS so you don't have to worry about such things?

We went to our interview and were told we were approved 'pending namecheck'. If we had wanted to travel right away, we would have been sunk.

Rebecca, even if the OP had AP, if they were approved at interview, but didn't get the stamp, they wouldn't be able to travel . So even with AP, you're not free to travel anytime you want during the AOS process.

I'm not sure about that Doc.

Well - let's put it this way. You need SOMETHING to travel on. AP or a greencard. Greencard trumps AP - if you have it in your possession.

Why can't one travel on AP until the greencard arrives? Does the AP have to be surrendered at the interview? Or is it more a question of opening one's mouth at the interview and explaining one has imminent travel plans?

It comes down to the type of entry.... if you use AP your legal self is left at the POE and is not admitted until you are approved at AOS interview.... Once you are approved and you enter with a greencard then both your physical and legal self admitted...

I was standard practice to stamp peoples Passports at approval until a year ago.... now because Greencards are arriving a lot faster most offices feel there is no need for people to have the stamp...

It has allways been the case for the interviewing officer to take both the AP and the EAD at an approved interview as there are no longer valid once approval has been given...

I see your choices as
1. ask for the I-551 stamp..
2. ask the officer to delay your approval until the day after your return...
3. reschedule your trip..

Hope you get it worked out

Kez

I believe AP becomes invalid after AOS is approved. The interviewer should ask for the AP and EAD if they approve on the spot. I don't know what the consequences would be of travelling on a AP that the interviewer forgot to take off you would be if your AOS is approved. I guess that you probably would get away with it, but it might cause some grilling at the POE.

Is there some notation in airport systems that CBP use to verify residency?

I believe that the CBP computers can be used to verify USCIS activity. I know a friend of mine was questioned at the airport because he had a pending I-130 and was entering on a VWP. They must have extracted this information from somewhere.

When they scan your passport it brings up a screen that shows all your entry/exit activity and your immigration status... it had my photo and thumb print on the screen and the date I was approved as LPR... he then asked for my greencard... scanned that and it then showed my last know address in the US and lots of codes with dates, dont know what they ment, but yes they know your status at POE..

Kez

OK. So that's where I'm coming from. This now has evolved into an educational discussion for me.

First - IS AP void once the greencard is approved? Actually void? It has no use whatsoever?

If one needs to travel before the greencard is in hand, but computer systems can prove you are a Perm Res, but just don't possess the physical proof, is it ok to travel?

Yes AP is void as soon as your AOS approval is entered in the system, same as EAD so they have no use what so ever...

No you need to have Greencard/I-551 stamp as you will not be allowed to check-in for your flight to the US unless you can show you are allowed to enter the US or have a visa... Even if you loose your Greencard while out of the US you will need a travel permit from a US embassy to allow you to travel Home...

Kez

Well there's always a way. I've known people who have managed to blag their way back into the USA with almost no paper work (I believe they had an NOA1, but their GC was approved). They have to spend hours in an immigration office at the airport, but eventually they got let in. I certainly wouldn't recommend this, but CBP does have a degree of flexibility, despite the hard line they like to portray.

Where is zyggy when we need him?

I was just thinking the same thing!

Oh - PS - Kezzie, it's not that I don't believe what you are saying.

I'm just wondering about this whole "I'm an approved permanent resident but I don't have any proof" thing.

i had wondered about this as well in light of the hubster leaving for a month this week. I thought i had read if your out of the country when your greencard is issued, there can be issues at the POE. heck if i know where i read that.

There will definitely be issues at the POE, and if you have a connecting flight, you better have a long layover, but my impression from people who have done this is that after a lot of waiting and heartache, they do eventually get let into the USA with a slap on the wrist telling them not to do it again.

hey well here's hoping for once the greencard ISNT issued

LOL....now you sound like me moaning about what looks like an approval before we've been married two years!

Yes, AP is voided when your Permanent Resident status is granted. This often has nothing to do with getting the card.

If you need to travel before you have the Green Card, you need evidence of status, aka an I-551 stamp in your passport.


IF (big IF) you get approved at your interview, AND you have imminent travel plans, bring proof of your upcoming travel and prepare to beg plead and grovel. And cross your fingers. Your local USCIS officer should give the stamp.

Alternately, change your travel plans. You should not leave the US without evidence of status when you are a PR.
Yes, you can beg plead and grovel at the POE on return, and deal with the fallout then. I think (paraphrasing here) the rule is that anyone who makes a claim of PR at entry has to be admitted, and scheduled straight away to see a judge to sort it out. I don't know if that admission is a true admission, or if they are paroled in on some sort of administrative category (ie it wouldn't be the usual parole that we discuss here).

Many said that one has to reschedule his/her flight then.. would be 300 bucks for me (600 ticket price) to reschedule it Not a good option tho since the USCIS isnt worth 300 bucks again.. my opinion

I cant even bring the ticket since Ive got an eticket and just have to bring to confirmation with me to the air port. Guess the confirmation should be enough for the officer as well.

Confirmation of what - your approval? If you leave the country without valid proof you could be facing serious issues! You'd risk losing your GC over $300?

I think he means to bring the flight confirmation, since it's an e-ticket, to his interview, since that's what he has to bring to the airport to get his ticket.