Traveling process with AP

[toha 2]

Hello everyone! Thank you for your tremendous help!

Please tell me if this is a correct procedure of traveling to Ukraine and back with AP while avaiting AOS.

1. Book the flight with the maiden name from a Ukrainian passport (my wife, beneficiary, changed her last name to mine. Her AP car will have her new last name).

2. Get on the flight by using a Ukrainian passport and use it to enter Ukraine.

3. On return, use Ukrainian passport to board the flight.

4. At POE present AP card.

[ToddB 10]

She most likely will need only passport to leave the US, but on her return flight she MUST keep her AP (EAD) along with Ukrainian passport and copy of Marriage License as a proof of her new last name . I also would suggest to have the copy of NOA1 of her I-485. She will be asked for AP (EAD) at every airport, even during check-in in Ukraine. Also, if after arriving to the US she has a domestic flight, layover between flights should be about 3 hours because she will be "invited" for the second interview. Nothing to worry about, just some airports too slow processing the AP or can be busy at that moment and you never know how long it will take to go through custom.

It took for me 40 min in Minneapolis and almost 3 hours, coming back trough Detroit..

Good luck!!!! :)

[toha 2]

She most likely will need only passport to leave the US, but on her return flight she MUST keep her AP (EAD) along with Ukrainian passport and copy of Marriage License as a proof of her new last name . I also would suggest to have the copy of NOA1 of her I-485. She will be asked for AP (EAD) at every airport, even during check-in in Ukraine. Also, if after arriving to the US she has a domestic flight, layover between flights should be about 3 hours because she will be "invited" for the second interview. Nothing to worry about, just some airports too slow processing the AP or can be busy at that moment and you never know how long it will take to go through custom.

It took for me 40 min in Minneapolis and almost 3 hours, coming back trough Detroit..

Good luck!!!! :)

Thank you a lot for your reply and for clarifying! Now we will trevel without worrying. Although, we fly through Moscow by Aeroflot, and these guys stole my watch last time I flew... Right in the X-ray machine.. And now it is a bit scarier to fly with them

[Dave&Roza 748]

Thank you a lot for your reply and for clarifying! Now we will trevel without worrying. Although, we fly through Moscow by Aeroflot, and these guys stole my watch last time I flew... Right in the X-ray machine.. And now it is a bit scarier to fly with them

I would look for an airline that understands what the AP/EAD combo card is as it will be the airline that either allows your wife to fly or not. I would avoid Moscow, but that is because I ended up waiting 3 hours--from 4am to 7am--for my passport as I did not have a transit visa. Complications when one does not have standard travel documents--I.e. a visa or the GC--can happen and saving a few dollars can cause all kinds of problems. I would find a direct flight from the Ukraine to the US to avoid the possibility of any problems with someone not understanding what the AP/EAD combo card means. When she gets the GC, she can easily re-enter the US. There have been issues reported here on VJ about some airlines giving a person with the AP/EAD card a hard time in being allowed to board the flight back to the US. Hopefully your wife will have no issues.

Dave

[TBoneTX 45,537]

Definitely carry a copy of your marriage certificate.

[toha 2]

I would look for an airline that understands what the AP/EAD combo card is as it will be the airline that either allows your wife to fly or not. I would avoid Moscow, but that is because I ended up waiting 3 hours--from 4am to 7am--for my passport as I did not have a transit visa. Complications when one does not have standard travel documents--I.e. a visa or the GC--can happen and saving a few dollars can cause all kinds of problems. I would find a direct flight from the Ukraine to the US to avoid the possibility of any problems with someone not understanding what the AP/EAD combo card means. When she gets the GC, she can easily re-enter the US. There have been issues reported here on VJ about some airlines giving a person with the AP/EAD card a hard time in being allowed to board the flight back to the US. Hopefully your wife will have no issues.

Dave

Hi Dave,

I was under impression that a Transit Visa is required in Russia only if you intend to leave the airport International Zone, or if you stay there more than 24 hours. Can you please elaborate on what was your travel process, because of which they demanded a transit visa? I still have time to get one now.

[Dave&Roza 748]

Hi Dave,

I was under impression that a Transit Visa is required in Russia only if you intend to leave the airport International Zone, or if you stay there more than 24 hours. Can you please elaborate on what was your travel process, because of which they demanded a transit visa? I still have time to get one now.

I will point out that this was 2009. I will also point out that my original flight on BA was canceled and I was rebooked thru SVO on Aeroflot from LHR and then from SVO to ALA on Air Astana. Myself and two other USC were asked to come back at 0700 to pick up our passports. I did not "need" a transit visa as I was allowed to board the flight and continue on my way, but I was sitting in SVO for 3 hours without my passport. It just reminded me that when travelling internationally you are at the mercy of the immigration people, the airlines, the airport, and the weather. The better you prepare to not have any of these affect your trip in an adverse way the better. I now am willing to pay a little more money for direct flights on major airlines with the connecting city of my choice. YMMV.

Your trip has the EAD/AP combo card associated with it. Will there be a problem. I hope not, but not everybody understands what the AP/EAD combo card is for, but most everybody does understand what a GC is. Just be prepared and all will go well.

Dave

Edited September 17, 2015 by Dave&Roza

[KierenHby 899]

If available from Kiev, fly British Airways/Lufty, etc transiting thru London\Frankfurt, etc into the US. Avoid going thru SVO if at all possible with "secondary" travel docs.

I flew from Sheremetyevo years back on Aeroflot, and while the flight experience was great, my SVO airport experience left a lot to be desired. And this was with a full GC.