Will be travelling and reach USA after green card expired

[mcfei 0]

Hi there

I will appreciate if u can kindly advice for my situation below:

My greencard expire date : Sept 17, 2010

Planning to file I-751 date : Jun 18, 2010

Travelling period : Sept 2 to 22nd, 2010

During filing and waiting period for I-751 approval, can I travel outside of USA? What evidence or supporting document should I need in order for me to re-enter USA?

Is NOA1 document allow me to re-enter USA? Or I will need get a stamp in my passport from infopass?

Thanks for help and time.

[me&me 0]

Upon receiving the I-751 receipt notice, you will not have a problem re-entering the US with your expired green card and the original extension letter. Having said that, you will face a major problem with the air lines at your port of departure of the country you are visiting, as most of them do not recognize the letter of extension and don't consider it a valid document of re-entering the US, and their whole concern will be the EXPIRED green card, and then your journy of frustreation on explaining the whole thing will begin(Don't blame them as they are trained to do their job that way).

Then your only way of getting out of that country will be the issuance of (Letter of Transportation) and that's another whole story. You have to apply for it at the American embassy in the hosting country and you have to fullfill their requirements( and BTW it cost a good amount of them $$$ lol), it will take 2 weeks from the day applied, and depending on your interview (if you qualify and fullfill the requiremnts for that at first) an approval or denial will follow.

Good Luck

Edited May 28, 2010 by me&me

[w8inglongtime 29]

Upon receiving the I-751 receipt notice, you will not have a problem re-entering the US with your expired green card and the original extension letter. Having said that, you will face a major problem with the air lines at your port of departure of the country you are visiting, as most of them do not recognize the letter of extension and don't consider it a valid document of re-entering the US, and their whole concern will be the EXPIRED green card, and then your journy of frustreation on explaining the whole thing will begin(Don't blame them as they are trained to do their job that way).

Then your only way of getting out of that country will be the issuance of (Letter of Transportation) and that's another whole story. You have to apply for it at the American embassy in the hosting country and you have to fullfill their requirements( and BTW it cost a good amount of them $$$ lol), it will take 2 weeks from the day applied, and depending on your interview (if you qualify and fullfill the requiremnts for that at first) an approval or denial will follow.

Good Luck

Wow lets slow down a bit here. The OP should have no problem whatsoever coming back. What do you mean by (Don't blame them as they are trained to do their job that way).?

Ofcourse they must be blamed for not knowing what they are doing. If that's how they're trained, then they are being trained wrong and someone has to be held responsible. The extension letter clearly states that the bearer is allowed work and travel. If any one can't understand simple english at the departing airport, the OP has to ask for a supervisor.

His/her only way of getting out of that country will be a travel document from the embassy ONLY if they lose their greencard and extension letter while in the foreign country. No embassy will grant you a travel document when you have an expired green card and an extension letter that clearly says you can travel for another year.

This whole process is stressful enough so let's try not to make others panic unnecessarily.

[shawna7 4]

agreed!

Wow lets slow down a bit here. The OP should have no problem whatsoever coming back. What do you mean by (Don't blame them as they are trained to do their job that way).?

Ofcourse they must be blamed for not knowing what they are doing. If that's how they're trained, then they are being trained wrong and someone has to be held responsible. The extension letter clearly states that the bearer is allowed work and travel. If any one can't understand simple english at the departing airport, the OP has to ask for a supervisor.

His/her only way of getting out of that country will be a travel document from the embassy ONLY if they lose their greencard and extension letter while in the foreign country. No embassy will grant you a travel document when you have an expired green card and an extension letter that clearly says you can travel for another year.

This whole process is stressful enough so let's try not to make others panic unnecessarily.

[Yurika & Jim 77]

My greencard expire date : Sept 17, 2010

Planning to file I-751 date : Jun 18, 2010

Travelling period : Sept 2 to 22nd, 2010

Yes, you'll be fine with expired GC and NOA.

And according to your AOS local office (CA), I assume you are CSC filer.

CSC's processing time is currently 2 to 3 months.

If you are lucky enough, you'll receive your new card before your travel

[mcfei 0]

Hi there, thanks for the information.

With NOA for a year extension, would that be more secure to schedule infopass to have a stamp on the passport before I go on travel?

Kindly advice.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,235]

If you file by June 18, you should have your new Green Card by September 2. But even if not, the NOA1 extends the validity of your old Green Card until September 17, 2011 and I have never heard that somebody at an international airport can't read an English letter from the United States Citizen and Immigration Service stating exactly that. Thousands of immigrants travel like this for many years now. I think it's safe to assume that you won't have any problems either.

[me&me 0]

Well that was my 2 cents from my OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCE (as I've been there, done that), and good luck to all.

[w8inglongtime 29]

Well that was my 2 cents from my OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCE (as I've been there, done that), and good luck to all.

Can you elaborate a little bit on your experience? Which one of the examples you gave did you experience? Or both? You weren't allowed to leave your country because you had an expired green card and NOA? Or you had to pay LOTS OF $$$$ to get a travel document from the American embassy like you said.

You may have a case against the embassy if the embassy took your money knowing very well you had the appropriate documents to travel and didn't need any travel document.

Edited May 29, 2010 by w8inglongtime

[Okalian 41]

Hi there, thanks for the information.

With NOA for a year extension, would that be more secure to schedule infopass to have a stamp on the passport before I go on travel?

Kindly advice.

I tried to do this when I was leaving the US with NOA1 and greencard. I saw people who got a stamp even when they already had NOA1, so I was motivated and I scheduled an infopass to get a stamp. The IO told me she'd give me a stamp but she will take the expired GC and NOA1 away! That was the case in the Jacksonville office.

Ofcourse i chose to keep my GC. Went home and came back without any problems. Folks at the airport in both Egypt and Amsterdam totally understood NOA1. I don't know what kind of "negative experience" M&M is referring to.

Edited May 31, 2010 by Okalian