I-751 filed on 06/07/2012. Can i travel to Italy?

[engineer21 51]

The concern is about those who are reading it for their situation and they will only read part of a content, and your post just stated they only needed their NOA1. This is vacation season and alots of others will have this same question. I would hate to see someone get stuck outside of the US, because they didn't wait to do their bio. It has happen.

Oh.. No I didn't mean that. Just wanted to stress the original is necessary for travels. As you covered the bio importance already.

[Justine+David 218]

Slight thread hijack as I've asked a similar question but had just 1 response and I'd like additional assurances...

We will file on 06/23 and DH's gc expires in September. He is going overseas to visit his parents in the UK in early July. Can he still travel? Probably will have NOA1 but not biometrics at that point...

[leonje 1]

Unless he plans to stay past his gc's expiration date, he wouldn't even need NOA1 to travel. We had a similar situation last year. We filed early May for removal of conditions and traveled to Italy and Spain for 3 weeks during the end of May/early June. My husband's gc expired end of July. We brought along the NOA, but we didn't need it. As long as the card is still valid, you don't need the NOA. You also don't have to complete biometrics before you travel. I think what the other poster was trying to say is that if you miss biometrics while you are outside the country, your NOA1 would no longer be valid as your case would be considered abandoned. Our biometrics letter arrived while we were in Italy (I had my mother watch the mail) and the date was sometime after we returned, so it wasn't a problem.

Slight thread hijack as I've asked a similar question but had just 1 response and I'd like additional assurances...

We will file on 06/23 and DH's gc expires in September. He is going overseas to visit his parents in the UK in early July. Can he still travel? Probably will have NOA1 but not biometrics at that point...

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

8 CFR 216.4 paragraph A 4

"Once the petition has been properly filed, the alien may travel outside the United States and return if in possession of documentation as set forth in § 211.1(b)(1) of this chapter, provided the alien and the petitioning spouse comply with the interview requirements described in § 216.4(b) . An alien who is not physically present in the United States during the filing period but subsequently applies for admission to the United States shall be processed in accordance with § 235.11 of this chapter."

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.f6da51a2342135be7e9d7a10e0dc91a0/?vgnextoid=fa7e539dc4bed010VgnVCM1000000ecd190aRCRD&vgnextchannel=fa7e539dc4bed010VgnVCM1000000ecd190aRCRD&CH=8cfr

[Massimo 0]

ok, now i 'm a little confused... can you please confirm that i have to receive NOA and do the Biometrics before to leave?

[docgee 0]

Hello everybody,

I have a similar question to the one that started this thread. Going send my documents for the removal of conditions on 6-13-2012, plan on going out of the country during the first week of August and my wife's greencard expires on 9-9-2012 - can I still make this trip? Haven't booked anything yet, but want to be completely clear that I will be able to without any interference to the application process.

[bigdog 376]

Wait till you get your letter, do the bio etc and then have a nice trip. I can't wait till my wife is a citizen to stop all this stuff. Good Luck.

[Darren And Crissy 11]

Hello everybody,

just filed my Petition to Remove the Conditions on Residence on 06/07/2012, my green card expire 07/12/2012.

Me and my wife bought tickets for Italy and we planned to stay from 08/02/2012 to 08/18/2012.

Now, my questions are: can i still go to Italy during this process?

Is there an application to fill out and have permission to go in Italy?

Thank you for your help

You should have your bio letter in plenty of time.

If when you get the letter the appointment is scheduled for while you are out of the country, write a letter asking to reschedule the appointment stating the dates that you will be out of the counrty and take it to the address on the bio letter.

When you get there tell them that you will be out of the country on your scheduled date and ask to do bio there and then. If you are not able to the bio, give them the letter to reschedule after you get back.

There is no requirement to do bio before travelling but you must make sure that you do not miss the bio appointment while you are out of the country or you will find it hard to get back into the USA.

Good luck!

[docgee 0]

Hey Darren and Crissy,

I was just reading your replay as above and it seems a feasible plan. The one question I do have to ask is that the last time I did the bioinformatics part of this whole application we had to drive a long distance. I have no idea where they would be sending us now unless it's in the same place and so just going all the way out there to have the date changed seems unreasonable don't you think? if understand from what you are saying as long as I don't miss that date I can leave to and from the country before my expected expiry of my green card. Can you leave the cntry after your free card has expired and you are still waiting on the permanent resident status?

[Mike B. 231]

ok, now i 'm a little confused... can you please confirm that i have to receive NOA and do the Biometrics before to leave?

You do have to have the NOA. You also need to be in the US at some point to do the biometrics. It is not an appointment that you can just skip -- doing so could cause them to consider the petition to be abandoned. You'll probably have the NOA1 by the time you leave. In fact, it would be strange for you to not have it a full two months after you've filed.

It's impossible to say whether or not the biometrics will be scheduled when you are away. If it is, be absolutely certain to reschedule it and get whatever confirmation you can that it has been rescheduled. Do not simply miss the appointment.

[Darren And Crissy 11]

Hey Darren and Crissy,

I was just reading your replay as above and it seems a feasible plan. The one question I do have to ask is that the last time I did the bioinformatics part of this whole application we had to drive a long distance. I have no idea where they would be sending us now unless it's in the same place and so just going all the way out there to have the date changed seems unreasonable don't you think? if understand from what you are saying as long as I don't miss that date I can leave to and from the country before my expected expiry of my green card. Can you leave the cntry after your free card has expired and you are still waiting on the permanent resident status?

I guess I was spoiled by living 30 mins from my local USCIS office.

I know that someone did early biometrics in Greer, SC but I am not sure about Charlotte, NC. You can always post the letter requesting a new date but for peace of mind I would take a day trip in the hope of sorting it out. I did this when my bio was booked for a time that I was on vacation in TX and any delay would have affected my naturalization interview. I am in CT but my closest ASC is 20 miles away in NY.

I managed to turn up a day late for my removal of conditions biometrics but that is another story

My biometrics letter was a couple of weeks after my NOA letter. The biometric appointment was a couple of weeks after the biometrics letter.

To get safely back into the USA you must:

1. Attend the ROC bio appointment or reschedule it for a later date

2. Carry your old green card until you get the 10 year one.

3. Carry your NOA letter which extends your old green card for 12 months if the old one will be expried when you return.

I would carry the NOA letter even if you intend to be back before the old GC expires (just in case you get delayed).

Unless it was an emergency, I just refused to travel internationally when my permanent resident status was in limbo.

The only part I am not clear on is what happens if you miss the ROC bio appointment and try to return on the old green card before it expires. Does abandon in this case mean abandoning PR status, or just ROC?

Thankfully that is all in the past now for me

[Mike B. 231]

I guess I was spoiled by living 30 mins from my local USCIS office.

I know that someone did early biometrics in Greer, SC but I am not sure about Charlotte, NC. You can always post the letter requesting a new date but for peace of mind I would take a day trip in the hope of sorting it out. I did this when my bio was booked for a time that I was on vacation in TX and any delay would have affected my naturalization interview. I am in CT but my closest ASC is 20 miles away in NY.

I managed to turn up a day late for my removal of conditions biometrics but that is another story

My biometrics letter was a couple of weeks after my NOA letter. The biometric appointment was a couple of weeks after the biometrics letter.

To get safely back into the USA you must:

1. Attend the ROC bio appointment or reschedule it for a later date

2. Carry your old green card until you get the 10 year one.

3. Carry your NOA letter which extends your old green card for 12 months if the old one will be expried when you return.

I would carry the NOA letter even if you intend to be back before the old GC expires (just in case you get delayed).

Unless it was an emergency, I just refused to travel internationally when my permanent resident status was in limbo.

The only part I am not clear on is what happens if you miss the ROC bio appointment and try to return on the old green card before it expires. Does abandon in this case mean abandoning PR status, or just ROC?

Thankfully that is all in the past now for me

I could be wrong about this, but I recall a thread in which a VJ member postponed his biometrics appointment, then attended the later appointment, and somehow USCIS screwed it up and sent him a letter saying, basically, "Because you didn't show up the the appointment (that was cancelled), your petition has been abandoned and now we can remove you." I think at the end of the day it wasn't that big a deal because they also recorded that he showed up to the later appointment and proceeded with the petition as if all was fine, but it was a scare for him.

But anyway, yeah, if you abandon your ROC then it seems to me that you're out of status.

[Massimo 0]

just received the I-797 one year extension...

first sentence of this letter: "Your conditional resident status is extended for a period of one year. During the one-year extension you are authorized employment and travel."

[menina 50]

I think your timeline looks doable. Just one more thing to consider. Shortly after biometrics, we received a letter for an interview. It was 2 weeks later. Our situation was very unusual from what I have seen on here as interviews are rare in ROC and usually months after filing, but it also happened for another January filer. You will want to be sure that someone is checking your mail in case you get an interview letter or RFE as well. I don´t know about all local offices, but our letter had an option on the back to check a box and write an explanation if for some reason we needed to reschedule the interview. I was shocked at how quickly the whole thing happened, but then of course they took over 2 months to approve us after the interview. Even though it is highly unlikely that the same thing would happen to you, just make sure someone is watching your mail in case.

[Massimo 0]

I think your timeline looks doable. Just one more thing to consider. Shortly after biometrics, we received a letter for an interview. It was 2 weeks later. Our situation was very unusual from what I have seen on here as interviews are rare in ROC and usually months after filing, but it also happened for another January filer. You will want to be sure that someone is checking your mail in case you get an interview letter or RFE as well. I don´t know about all local offices, but our letter had an option on the back to check a box and write an explanation if for some reason we needed to reschedule the interview. I was shocked at how quickly the whole thing happened, but then of course they took over 2 months to approve us after the interview. Even though it is highly unlikely that the same thing would happen to you, just make sure someone is watching your mail in case.

Thank you very much for your suggests... i got someone that will watch my mail...