Officer at Thousand Islands says...

[MsZ 6]

Just what it says. H came through last night and the guy said he can't travel once his visa expires. The letter seems like proof that this isn't true, but we all know that IOs can do whatever they want.

Has anyone run into this issue and if so, how did you handle it?

Thanks,

Donna

[nane1104 146]

What visa did he use to try to enter the US?

[HeatDeath 430]

It sounds like he's in the middle of Removal of Conditions, and has been told by a CBP officer that they would or will not accept an expired green card plus the I-751 letter of extension/NOA1.

Substitute "visa" to "green card".

Substitute "IO" to "CBP officer". [iO's work at USCIS and in the consulates.]

OP: It sounds like the CBP officer let him back in anyways? If he was turned away and is still out of the US, I would go back and ask for a supervisor, or worst case scenario, try a different PoE. Many, many, many people have reentered the US just fine on a GC with an extension letter. It just sounds like this particular officer is a touch under-trained.

RoC applicants may want to take this as warning to avoid the Thousand Islands PoE if possible.

BTW, you probably want to update your timeline, so it's clearer to other people which stage of the process you are dealing with. Just sayin'.

Edited March 8, 2011 by HeatDeath

[MsZ 6]

You are right -- he's got a 2-year conditional (came in on an IR1) that hasn't expired yet, but will soon. So yes, he was allowed into the country. However, he's going to make several trips after his GC expires and we're concerned about him being hassled. We've had situations where the guard has given incorrect advice, but thus far they've all been really nice. So we're hoping that this is a non-issue.

I updated my timeline just after I posted. It should reflect ROC, though I don't have the exact date we mailed the form. The receipt date of the NOA is there though.

Anyway, thank you for interpreting my post. I don't speak Immigration very well.

It sounds like he's in the middle of Removal of Conditions, and has been told by a CBP officer that they would or will not accept an expired green card plus the I-751 letter of extension/NOA1.

Substitute "visa" to "green card".

Substitute "IO" to "CBP officer". [iO's work at USCIS and in the consulates.]

OP: It sounds like the CBP officer let him back in anyways? If he was turned away and is still out of the US, I would go back and ask for a supervisor, or worst case scenario, try a different PoE. Many, many, many people have reentered the US just fine on a GC with an extension letter. It just sounds like this particular officer is a touch under-trained.

RoC applicants may want to take this as warning to avoid the Thousand Islands PoE if possible.

BTW, you probably want to update your timeline, so it's clearer to other people which stage of the process you are dealing with. Just sayin'.

[MsZ 6]

See? I didn't even get *THAT* right. He came in on a CR-1.

You are right -- he's got a 2-year conditional (came in on an IR1) that hasn't expired yet, but will soon. So yes, he was allowed into the country. However, he's going to make several trips after his GC expires and we're concerned about him being hassled. We've had situations where the guard has given incorrect advice, but thus far they've all been really nice. So we're hoping that this is a non-issue.

I updated my timeline just after I posted. It should reflect ROC, though I don't have the exact date we mailed the form. The receipt date of the NOA is there though.

Anyway, thank you for interpreting my post. I don't speak Immigration very well.

[HeatDeath 430]

Yeah, the CBP officers, I think particularly at the smaller Canadian-border land crossings [i don't know if that describes Thousand Islands or not], often don't quite know all of the fine details until and unless they look them up. They memorize what they need to know for the vast vast majority of cases they get, but the weirder edge cases (which includes K-1 visas, at some places) stump them until they check the manuals.

When I PoE'd, the CBP officer [who took 90 minutes to process my K-1, thumbing all the while through reference binders, see above] told me in no uncertain terms that I couldn't leave the US until I had my GC. I knew that I could also leave if I had an AP document, but the officer was a little grumpy as it was so I didn't quibble.

Edited March 8, 2011 by HeatDeath