Cruise Experience with Advance Parole

[thechosenone16 0]

Hey everyone,

 

I've been lurking on these forums for awhile and have use the information here to my advantage, so I figured I'd return the favor and possibly help someone else out.

 

My wife's I-485 application has been pending for nearly 2 years now (USCIS lost the application when we moved and we had to go through our Senator to find a solution). We didn't apply for AP originally because we expected a relatively quick adjustment timeline and didn't have any immediate travel needs. This summer we decided we were sick of waiting and wanted to travel. So we sent in the AP application in July and received the document in about 3 weeks (super fast!).

 

Similar to most of the experiences on here, we were nervous to use the AP but decided to book a cruise with some friends. It took us a few extra minutes to board at the cruise terminal (Miami) because the cruise employee had never seen the AP document before. She went and spoke with her manager and cleared us to board. When we returned, we went through the immigration line. The officer checked my passport and we gave him my wife's Mexican passport and AP. He told us we'd need to go to the secondary screening room so they could verify that everything was okay. We went to the room and sat there for about 10 minutes while an officer typed a bunch of info into the computer. He seemed kind of inexperienced with the AP document, but was nice about it. He asked us if we had been told when we were going to receive the green card and we told him we weren't sure, but hopefully soon. He returned the AP (both copies) without any stamps. I asked him if he needed to take a copy and stamp them and he said, "Nope, you're all set to go." So we grabbed our things and left.

 

It was a pretty relaxed entry process, and I'd imagine that airport entries are a bit more strict. But my advice to anyone looking to travel on AP is to go for it. It was quick and painless.

 

I'm curious, has anyone else had a similar experience with the officer not stamping documents? He did take my wife's I-94 (she had left it inside the passport), saying she didn't need it anymore with the AP.

[0310 10]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm gonna be using my AP for the first time in January (through the airport), hopefully no issues!

 

You and many others have mentioned about the cruise/airline employees not letting people board easily with AP documents. This doesn't apply to everyone, but for those with unexpired B1/B2 visas, I wonder if there would be any problem showing the tourist visa to the airline just to board the plane with no questions asked and then actually showing your AP when you are at the Point of Entry.

 

[Ivy1226 0]

I really hope you see this! My boyfriend is a member of DACA and we were wanting to go on a cruise this summer, but he would need to have the Advanced Parole document like your wife needed. How did she get the AP document approved to go on the cruise? Anytime I look up information on the Advanced Parole it says it can only be used for certain reasons, what reason did your wife say she needed Advanced parole for? 

Please reply, we want to go on a cruise so bad! 

 

[thechosenone16 0]

14 minutes ago, Ivy1226 said:

I really hope you see this! My boyfriend is a member of DACA and we were wanting to go on a cruise this summer, but he would need to have the Advanced Parole document like your wife needed. How did she get the AP document approved to go on the cruise? Anytime I look up information on the Advanced Parole it says it can only be used for certain reasons, what reason did your wife say she needed Advanced parole for? 

Please reply, we want to go on a cruise so bad! 

 

Ivy.. I’m not sure how the DACA process is for applying for AP. For us, all we had to do was send a copy of our receipt showing that we had a pending application for adjustment of status (I-485). We included a note saying we were planning on visiting family. 

[Boiler 43,434]

No AP for DACA, no status.

[crono_clone 213]

Do you know if the EAD/AP combo card is enough for visa-free entry into Mexico for a Philippine passport holder? I would love to take my husband on a cruise as well, but friends have told me that only a green card would let him enter Mexico in the first place.

[aaron2020 11,651]

29 minutes ago, crono_clone said:

Do you know if the EAD/AP combo card is enough for visa-free entry into Mexico for a Philippine passport holder? I would love to take my husband on a cruise as well, but friends have told me that only a green card would let him enter Mexico in the first place.

An EAD/AP card is not enough.  He needs a Mexican visitor visa or a US green card.  

 

An EAD is for work authorization in the US.  

 

AP gets a person back into the US to continue an immigration case.  Conveys no right to enter another country.  

[crono_clone 213]

40 minutes ago, aaron2020 said:

An EAD/AP card is not enough.  He needs a Mexican visitor visa or a US green card.  

 

An EAD is for work authorization in the US.  

 

AP gets a person back into the US to continue an immigration case.  Conveys no right to enter another country.  

Thank you!