Can I travel without a Greencard?

[winterpark2015 5]

I filed i-1751 back in August of 2015!! My greencard expired Step 2015!! I have been waiting over a year with no response from USCIS. I have filed 2 different case status updates with no response!! . I have called in and spoke with immigration agents 5 different times. Who just keep saying to be patient and wait. My mother in the Philippines has been ill for sometime and is now in the hospital. I want to go visit her but I am afraid I will not be let back into the USA since my 2 year temp greencard is expired by over a year and the original letter when filing only gave me another year allowance. I have been tring for months to visit my local uscis office but they only accept appts online, when I look online it always says all the appts are taken try again tomorrow, everyday says the same things for months now. I feel like I have been lost in the system. I am worried my mother my die and I won't be able to see her, because of being lost in the uscis system and no one seems to care.

What would happen if I go back to the Philippines to visit my family and UCIS decides to take some action on my case after doing nothing for the last year??

[arken 4,197]

You have to get the i551 stamp on your passport before you leave. Try booking the info pass appointment at 12:01 am just after midnight. People have said that the new booking opens at midnight and will be fully booked by daytime.

[chicha 9]

Errr I feel your pain. Mine is lost in the system as well. My thinking is, how likely is it for you to get a denial while you are abroad? (given the genuine case, denial due to USCIS mistake that you would have to fight while being present in the U.S. Denials also occur for administrative reasons like submitting wrong type of stuff, miss a deadline, documents lost in transit)

Usually, the next piece of correspondence is approval, RFE, or interview notice without RFE. The latter two will give you some time to respond, as long as you can find someone to guard the mailbox.

If I were in your shoes and had an urgent reason to go abroad, I would triple check the mail address on file is correct and have someone check the mail and be in touch with you constantly. that's just what I would do; I may not fully know the risks. Family emergency comes first before something is just uncertain, with very little likelihood of denial.

(The IO on the phone was nice enough to tell me 60 days are short, and RFEs take time to review...basically wait).

BTW I travelled abroad after I received an RFE, before I replied it, knowing I had status- Boston border officer was careful enough to check that my status is not terminated, seeing my extension letter.)

Edited August 9, 2016 by chicha

[TBoneTX 44,880]

Thread is moved from the ROC forum to the Working & Traveling forum -- topic is travel.