Traveling on Extension Letter?

[sam27_1980 2]

Just got back from New Delhi (expired GC + letter) on United direct flight. United folks were familiar with extension letter. Indian customs officer commented that card had expired and he scanned the extension letter into their system. All went well. I was anxious about the trip. Wanted to share my experience to put other travelers at ease. 

[agripa 100]

Chiming in on my wife's experience flying back from Vienna, Austria on Lufthansa/United. 

 

• Lufthansa check-in counter in Vienna: The guy at the check-in counter noticed my wife's green card had expired, so we showed the extension letter. I don't think he was super familiar with it, but looked over it once and seemed to accept it. 
• US immigration check at connecting flight in Frankfurt: Our flight to the US was via a connection in Frankfurt, Germany. There was an immigration check prior to arriving at our gate; the woman noticed the expired green card and asked specifically for the extension letter. Later, as we were about to board our flight, they called my wife to the counter and asked to see the extension letter again. Both people looked at it and appeared to be satisfied.
• US immigration at SFO: In San Francisco, the immigration officer never even looked at the extension letter. In fact, he barely spoke to us. He just checked both our passports, scanned my wife's green card, and then asked for a finger print and photograph of my wife.

All in all, most people seemed to recognize the extension letter. The US immigration officer didn't even look at the letter and gave us no problems whatsoever.

[EvieMN 105]

Just a little update. 

I went to the Cleveland field office 10 days ago. Was in and out in 10 minutes. The officer already knew what I was there for, pretty much. I had an appointment set up by calling their call center. 

I got a temporary stamp to act as my green card valid for one year. So I will be traveling with that and my extension letter. I won’t be coming back into the US until March 10 so I’ll let you guys know how it goes then. 

[Ksenia_O 695]

1 hour ago, EvieMN said:

Just a little update. 

I went to the Cleveland field office 10 days ago. Was in and out in 10 minutes. The officer already knew what I was there for, pretty much. I had an appointment set up by calling their call center. 

I got a temporary stamp to act as my green card valid for one year. So I will be traveling with that and my extension letter. I won’t be coming back into the US until March 10 so I’ll let you guys know how it goes then. 

No an Extension Letter needed with I-551 stamp. 

 

Good luck and have a safe trip!

[cosmonauts 125]

Sharing my recent experience traveling from Chile to LAX, via Mexico City with Aeromexico (GC + Extension Letter)

 

Aeromexico check-in in Santiago: I was not able to check in online, so I did it at the airport. I had no issues, they recognized my papers.

US Immigration check at Connecting Flight In Mexico City: the flight was operated by Delta. They called my name on the speaker and asked to check my documents  at the gate. No problems at all.

US Immigration at LAX: Officer asked for passport, green card and letter, took my picture and that's it. No questions asked.

[Gordo2 23]

Made the trip up north to Vancouver, BC by road. Went through the Peace Arch crossing both ways. On the way into Canada I only presented the expired green card and all the Canadian officer was concerned about was weapons in the car.

 

On the way back I presented the expired card and the extension letter. The officer looked at both for an extended period of time but then waved us through. No issues whatsoever. 

[hcj2017 0]

Hi! I'm hoping someone here can help me with a question I have. 

During my two year conditional cr-1 visa, I travelled a lot and spent a total of almost 365 days outside the US. 
If my visa is extended by 18 months as I wait for the conditions to be removed, do I get more travel days?

Thanks!! 

[jenibaleeni 11]

update:

My wife left Chile with no issues on January 7.  The airline attendant didn't ask to see any papers prior to boarding.

Once she landed in Miami, she had to wait in the customs and immigration line for nearly 2 hours as apparently there were about 4 other flights that landed at the same time.  Since her green card was expired, she couldn't use one of the kiosks so she had to wait to see an actual person.  Once she was seen, she presented her expired green card and letter, and there were no issues.

 

She now has her 10 year green card! 

 

 

[Thegirl 224]

On 1/11/2020 at 8:03 AM, hcj2017 said:

Hi! I'm hoping someone here can help me with a question I have. 

During my two year conditional cr-1 visa, I travelled a lot and spent a total of almost 365 days outside the US. 
If my visa is extended by 18 months as I wait for the conditions to be removed, do I get more travel days?

Thanks!! 

I'm not sure what you mean by if you'll get more travel days. 

[reggie473 0]

We've been traveling with the 12 month Extension letter with no problems.

As long as you keep the original with you when you travel plus your Passport from country of origin.

And true, it is all stated on the extension letter you receive. 

[paracelsus 9]

Hello guys. Does anyone know if have  2 year green card what kind of travel is possible to have , 6 months in all this time,is cululative ? . Or up to 6 months  in 1 year ? Thanks , and sorry if this isnt topic here 

[Just Paul 4,591]

25 minutes ago, paracelsus said:

Hello guys. Does anyone know if have  2 year green card what kind of travel is possible to have , 6 months in all this time,is cululative ? . Or up to 6 months  in 1 year ? Thanks , and sorry if this isnt topic here 

You can be out of the country upto a year without a re-entry permit.  Typically others will advise 6 months or less at a time to avoid questions at the POE.

[RandB 156]

Traveled from Germany to San Francisco with United Airlines. My documents were checked twice before boarding. Once in the terminal (I checked in at a different airport), and then my name was called at the gate where they checked my documents again. At point of entry in San Francisco, I showed the agent all my documents, and she only asked me how long I'd been gone and if I had any food with me. A hassle free experience.

[TL2016 208]

Posted this in another thread but I’ll do it here too.

Both the airport in Germany and JFK were familiar with the extension letter. It was very quick and hassle free, as expected 

[MR_E 34]

I recently traveled to UAE on extension letter. I just presented both the card and the extension letter at every check point and faced no issues whatsoever.