Can my wife travel after approval for Green Card

[DannyNoonan 0]

I have searched and I cannot find the answer to this. In the interview where my wife was approved we indicated we could wait for the green card as we thought it would come relatively quickly. But we are having a big wedding in two weeks and she need to go to Colombia to plan etc. I went back to the office as the office instructed us, and they said I needed an appointment. The first one was one day before the wedding so that will not work. The security guy said to keep trying. But now it say there are no appointments available.

My question is, as she has her approval I797 letter, if she were to leave and I were to bring the green card with me for when we came back, would we have a problem? We have been approved and Colombia will let her in. If it takes an extra week or so to get back, that is not really a huge issue. But we are very stressed and frustrated as they took ehr advanced parole card. She does have an advance parole stamp in her passport as she left and came back.

Essentially. can she leave without the stamp or green card and then come back once I or someone delivers the green card to her?

Make sense?

[Hypnos 6,576]

No, she should not travel without either her green card, an I-551 stamp, or her AP.

[DannyNoonan 0]

We even called the 1-800 number and they said she could travel as long as she had the green card when she came back in. I spoke to our attorney and they seemed to not know. But thye eventually said go get the stamp. But there are no appointments before our wedding. It is a problem.

[newacct 688]

If you manage to get it to her and she uses it to come back, yes, she can use it to come back. But why risk her not being able to come back if you don't manage to get it to her or something? She is eligible to get proof of permanent residency now.

Also, you said that she has AP. She should be able to come back with the AP if it is still valid.

[DannyNoonan 0]

They took the AP card in the meeting. Although she does have an AP stamp in her passport.

And I am happy to go get proof. But there are no infopass appointments fo the next two weeks. Actually, there are none accoring to the computer....which makes no sense. Especially when the guy told us if we needed a stamp to just come back. But we cannot.

[Hypnos 6,576]

Although she does have an AP stamp in her passport.

Unfortunately the admission stamp means nothing; that wouldn't even get her on the airplane to return to the US. She needs either her green card, an I-551 stamp in her passport, or her AP.

We even called the 1-800 number and they said she could travel as long as she had the green card when she came back in.

I would absolutely not chance this. What if the green card gets lost? What if there is a misprint on it? You would be rolling the dice by having her depart without a valid entry document already in her hands before she left.

Unless it's a matter of life and death, she should wait for her green card to arrive or until she can obtain an I-551 stamp.

Edited August 23, 2015 by Hypnos