I-751 September 2016 Filers

[tiglon 5]

When I got my I-551 stamp (12-15-2017), they did not take away my expired green card. It seems to me that it depends on every officer the second inspection. Is there anybody more with an I-551 stamp that passed throughout a second inspection entering the country?

[CLWA 19]

3 minutes ago, tiglon said:

When I got my I-551 stamp (12-15-2017), they did not take away my expired green card. It seems to me that it depends on every officer the second inspection. Is there anybody more with an I-551 stamp that passed throughout a second inspection entering the country?

I've only come back by car from Canada, and the officer just told me "you're still waiting??!!"

The entire thing couldn't have been more than a minute.

[BFP XX 62]

3 minutes ago, tiglon said:

When I got my I-551 stamp (12-15-2017), they did not take away my expired green card. It seems to me that it depends on every officer the second inspection. Is there anybody more with an I-551 stamp that passed throughout a second inspection entering the country?

I traveled with the letter last year for a cruise. Although the officer had never seen one, and had to verify it with her supervisor, I had no issues after that. I haven't traveled with just the stamp yet.

 

I got a six month stamp, and they clipped the corner of my GC, and returned it to me... Although it seems to be different for everybody. I've heard that others have got a 12 month stamp, and had the GC and letter taken away from them. It must be office dependant.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about traveling with the stamp - That's your legal proof of residency. There may be times when inexperienced officers are not familiar with the stamp, or need to verify it/perform a second check, but it's legit, so you have no need to fear that they won't allow back into the U.S. My advice would be to prepare for secondary checks each time you travel. It may be an inconvenient truth, but it is what it is. Hopefully within a couple of months, we'll all have approvals, and this won't be an issue anymore

[zuluweta 250]

2 hours ago, sddude89 said:

What airport?

 

When you got the I-551 stamp, didn't they take away the GC from you? Presenting the I-551 stamp plus expired green card may have made you look suspicious to the officer. Presenting the green card was unnecesary as the Passport with stamp is enough by itself.

I have traveled with stamp in and out of LAX with no problems, no secondary inspections, nothing.

I came through SFO international airport.

 

The next time I travel, hopefully it’s with the 10-year GC or a US passport. I noticed another woman with GC and kids also in secondary.

 

I was asked questions about my USC spouse. It appeared the CBP officer wanted to know if we still lived together. I was also asked about my work.

 

Anyhow, it’s my first time ever in secondary inspection and it was unnerving because I couldn’t tell for sure what’s wrong with my travel documents. The USCIS officer told me I was good to travel after he stamped my passport with the I-551 stamp.

[yvy23 11]

19 minutes ago, zuluweta said:

I came through SFO international airport.

 

The next time I travel, hopefully it’s with the 10-year GC or a US passport. I noticed another woman with GC and kids also in secondary.

 

I was asked questions about my USC spouse. It appeared the CBP officer wanted to know if we still lived together. I was also asked about my work.

 

Anyhow, it’s my first time ever in secondary inspection and it was unnerving because I couldn’t tell for sure what’s wrong with my travel documents. The USCIS officer told me I was good to travel after he stamped my passport with the I-551 stamp.

You are good to travel with the I-551.  But they have to verify that the stamp is genuine just the same - and that's done in secondary.  Not because there's something wrong with your travel documents, but because there is the potential for a passport stamp to be forged.  As long as your stamp is genuine, you're good to go after they verify that.  SFO seem to be particularly tough at the moment - we were stuck there for over 2 hours earlier this year when I was traveling on my expired GC and extension letter.  We came in through SeaTac in early December with the I-551 stamp and, although I was sent to secondary for it to be verified, we were processed and out in under 20 minutes.  When it comes to questions about your spouse, my spouse and I go to secondary together if I get sent there...that puts a stop to most of those sort of questions.

[yvy23 11]

3 hours ago, sddude89 said:

What airport?

 

When you got the I-551 stamp, didn't they take away the GC from you? Presenting the I-551 stamp plus expired green card may have made you look suspicious to the officer. Presenting the green card was unnecesary as the Passport with stamp is enough by itself.

I have traveled with stamp in and out of LAX with no problems, no secondary inspections, nothing.

I was specifically told by the officer who issued my I-551 stamp that he wasn't going to take away the GC or the extension letter in case I got someone at CBP who wasn't familiar with the stamp.  The entire idea is so that you can show everything and provide what is basically a full history of your status with just those documents.

[dudeinTriBeCa 38]

Okay one, last year I got my I-551 stamp 6 months before the expiration date (Sept 2017) of the extension letter. Two, I was given a one year stamp still valid until March 2018. Three, my expired GC was returned back to me. Four, I went on vacation with no issues but upon arrival at JFK I was sent in for secondary inspection despite the fact I had presented the stamp and expired GC to the CBP agent. I was in there for like an hour and that definitely wasn’t funny at all...

[Texans_99 24]

When I came to IAH in November 2017, I was sent to secondary too. I just presented my I-551 stamp and the CBP officer demanded I show him my expired GC. You can find my post detailing about the same somewhere in earlier threads. 

But a week before my arrival at IAH, I cleared immigration at Toronto just by showing the I-551 stamp. So it really depends on the CBP officer unless something has changed. 

[Ketsuban 1,034]

27 minutes ago, Texans_99 said:

When I came to IAH in November 2017, I was sent to secondary too. I just presented my I-551 stamp and the CBP officer demanded I show him my expired GC. You can find my post detailing about the same somewhere in earlier threads. 

But a week before my arrival at IAH, I cleared immigration at Toronto just by showing the I-551 stamp. So it really depends on the CBP officer unless something has changed. 

That officer needs to go back to first day training because most people have their expired green card confiscated when getting a stamp. Hopefully if an officer tries denying entry to an LPR, they at least get a hearing before a judge with two brain cells who will throw the case right out.

[hopefulls 8]

13 hours ago, zuluweta said:

I am praying that CSC starts approving our ROCs. I had to undergo secondary inspection as I came through immigration at the airport today. This cost me more than an hour of my time and anxiety and stress wondering why I was brought to secondary, given that my I-551 temporary GC stamp is valid until August 2018.

 

I could hear immigration officers interviewing people on visitor visas then the visitors being denied or grilled with detailed questions about their travel history. When I asked the CBP officer why I had to undergo secondary inspection, he said it was because my GC has expired and is not a valid travel document. Also, they had to verify my temporary GC stamp and its validity. He also warned me that until I get the 10-year GC, I should expect secondary every time.

I have experienced the same, if there is no GC, the immigration officer asked you to wait in a room to be processed.

I have traveled with a valid I-551 stamp in my passport, most of my travel is to Europe and I find it extremely irritating after a LONG flight and jetlag to be sitting in a room especially when the officers take breaks in between and engaged in a conversation with fellow coworkers neglecting that they have us waiting. This happened both at Miami and Ft. Lauderdale Airtports. I hope those of us waiting will get our GC soon and file for citizenship so we can eliminate the stress of immigration.

[4444510 33]

9 hours ago, zuluweta said:

I came through SFO international airport.

 

The next time I travel, hopefully it’s with the 10-year GC or a US passport. I noticed another woman with GC and kids also in secondary.

 

I was asked questions about my USC spouse. It appeared the CBP officer wanted to know if we still lived together. I was also asked about my work.

 

Anyhow, it’s my first time ever in secondary inspection and it was unnerving because I couldn’t tell for sure what’s wrong with my travel documents. The USCIS officer told me I was good to travel after he stamped my passport with the I-551 stamp.

What other questions were you asked? Did they ask why wasn't your spouse with you? Did they request to call him/her? From what I've read the vast majority of people had no issues travelling with the stamp. However, reading about situation like yours I made a decision not to travel at all unless I get my 10Y GC. But  I guess it's my personal fear. I had stoke interview in my case and some more, so I don't want to jeopardize all I had to go through.

[zuluweta 250]

48 minutes ago, hopefulls said:

I have experienced the same, if there is no GC, the immigration officer asked you to wait in a room to be processed.

I have traveled with a valid I-551 stamp in my passport, most of my travel is to Europe and I find it extremely irritating after a LONG flight and jetlag to be sitting in a room especially when the officers take breaks in between and engaged in a conversation with fellow coworkers neglecting that they have us waiting. This happened both at Miami and Ft. Lauderdale Airtports. I hope those of us waiting will get our GC soon and file for citizenship so we can eliminate the stress of immigration.

I know, right? I traveled non-stop for more than 12 hours then waited in line to go through immigration for 30-45 minutes, excited to get to my house and watch Netflix on our new smart TV and sleep on my own bed only to be told I have to go through secondary inspection. 

 

The CBP officer who interviewed me at secondary was an Asian man with an accent and I was thinking to myself the whole time how come this man has the power to deny me entry to the US when I went to graduate school here with a STEM degree, I speak better English than him, I contribute to America by educating its future scientists and performing scientific research,  I’m a legal permanent resident with a valid green card stamp, and the only difference between his citizenship and mine is that I held off filing the paperwork for my US citizenship because I’m waiting for the US government to finish processing my ROC (something beyond my control)??!!

[zuluweta 250]

14 hours ago, yvy23 said:

I was specifically told by the officer who issued my I-551 stamp that he wasn't going to take away the GC or the extension letter in case I got someone at CBP who wasn't familiar with the stamp.  The entire idea is so that you can show everything and provide what is basically a full history of your status with just those documents.

We’re in the same boat. My expired GC was returned to me by the USCIS agent after he stamped my passport with the I-551 stamp. I thought by showing my expired GC and I-551 stamp, it would make the CBP officer’s job easier as it would show my immigration history. I guess I was wrong.

[marinadf 0]

Hi guys! Just received the update that my card is being produced. I'm CSC filer but I'm not on the list. My NOA is 09/01/16 and biometrics 10/14/16. Card ordered January 17th. 

Good luck all!

 

[Texans_99 24]

I checked my status today and it changed to "new card being produced". Ideally, I should get excited and celebrate, but there have been some changes in my life since I filed my Joint ROC. I have filed for divorce while my I-751 was pending approval. My attorney sent request to amend my joint roc to divorce waiver. She spoke to level 2 officer and they confirmed that the amendment was received. Ideally, I should have got RFE asking for a divorce decree and then after I respond to the RFE, the I-751 should have been approved as a divorce waiver. But, now I am approved without getting RFE so I am assuming they approved my joint petition? So looks like I will have to file a new application again as a waiver because I don't want any problems during N-400? I dread waiting for 1.5 years more!!