Anyone get a I-551 stamp after their AOS interview?

[Loren Y 2,755]

Quick question, have a round trip flight booked for my wife and I to return to Thailand ( Her home country) leaving November 8th or so. She currently has a valid EAD AP card to leave and return from the US. Problem I am going to have is that we have a layover in mainland China both ways on our flight. For me, a USC it's not a problem to transit thru China without a Visa. For her since she has a Thai passport she is required to have a transit Visa to even just transit thru China, unlike about 53 other countries that can get at the minimum 24 hours of visa free transit, Thailand is not one of them. I have checked with entry and exit bureau in China, and they have confirmed that a Visa is required. I just left the travel agency that does China Visa's for you. Everything is good other than since she does not have the actual green card yet, just EAD AP card that the Chinese consulate will not accept that as proof of permanent residence here in the US for her to get a Visa issued according to him? Anyone get a Chinese visa issued with an EAD AP card? We will try anyway as it is only 5 bucks to submit the application if they reject it. He said it will be no problem if she has a I-551 stamp in her passport. This is where it gets interesting. Assuming AOS interview goes good on October 3rd and we are approved, I have read you can get a I551 stamp after the interview while you are at the local USCIS office to show proof of status. We can then take her passport with the stamp to get the visa issued. Has anyone else gotten a I551 stamp after their AOS interview? The other option is to hope the green card arrives within about 3-4 weeks max after the interview on October 3rd, then use it to get the visa. Worse case scenario is it possible to get the actual green card in the mail within a month of the interview? The way they work it might take a few months to get the actual green card, and that wouldn't work for us. If I can have the card by November 3rd or 4th I can still pull off the Visa with an in person application at the Chinese consulate. I really don't want to drive all the way to the consulate in San Francisco from Las Vegas, but will if I have to. Another option is once I see approval on the USCIS case tracker, can I pull off an infopass appointment to get the stamp while waiting for the actual green card. I know you have to call and get an infopass appointment, has anyone done this? And how far out is the infopass appointment after you call? Just looking for some one who has recently had their AOS interview, and how long it took to get the actual green card in the mail. Sorry for the long post, but I am looking for options before I have to buy her a new ticket. Thanks in advance.

Edited September 21, 2019 by Loren Y

[USS_Voyager 1,972]

33 minutes ago, Loren Y said:

the Chinese consulate will not accept that as proof of permanent residence here in the US for her to get a Visa issued according to him?

That is wrong somehow. Why does China care if she has permanent residence in the US or not. It is none of their business. Her admissibility to the US will be determined by the US CBP. The airline when you board might give a little hassle since they (and mostly it’s the agent on the ground at check-in) are not familiar with the whole EAD/AP thing. 

 

37 minutes ago, Loren Y said:

Assuming AOS interview goes good on October 3rd and we are approved, I have read you can get a I551 stamp after the interview while you are at the local USCIS office to show proof of status.

While that is possible, I don’t think it’s a sure thing. She becomes the LPR the moment the I-485 is approved, not the moment she “passes” the interview. From my experience, some of the officers have the ability to approve the I-485 right there on the spot, and some officers it takes them few days to few weeks to formally approve the I-485, either because they lack the ability to do so and have to submit to their supervisor to approve or there are other administrative things that need to happen before formal approval. So certainly there have been cases where people walk out of the AoS interview and I-485 was approved but there are many cases where they were told to go home and approval came after few days or few weeks or a month or two. 

 

If I were in your shoes, I would play by ears after the interview and see what happens. If the I-485 is approved before the travel date, I will try to get the stamp. If travel date comes and no news on the I-485, I would just go using the EAD/AP combo card. 

 

My own experiences:

-I did use the combo card to travel back then several times and only one time the airline agent had a hard time because he didn’t know what the combo card was. According to his computer, AP should be a piece of paper ( which it is, just the normal AP alone), and not a card. After a little back and forth, he offered me to sign a paper saying I would be responsible for my own transportation back if the US denies my entry, which I gladly signed. This was Vietnam and the airline was Korean Air.

 

- I did transit through China once at Shanghai, but I carry a Vietnamese passport so no transit visa was needed through China.

 

[Ontarkie 14,280]

~~Moved to Working and Traveling, from K1 P&P - The K1 process is now over and the OP is asking about AOS and traveling.~~

[Loren Y 2,755]

59 minutes ago, USS_Voyager said:

That is wrong somehow. Why does China care if she has permanent residence in the US or not. It is none of their business. Her admissibility to the US will be determined by the US CBP. The airline when you board might give a little hassle since they (and mostly it’s the agent on the ground at check-in) are not familiar with the whole EAD/AP thing. 

 

In order for the Chinese consulate to issue the visa here in the United States, she is required to prove she has legal status here. This is how it is for just about any visa you get at any embassy, even when you are abroad. They won't issue you a visa if you are in the country illegally without status. If she was in Thailand, she could easily walk into the Chinese consulate there, and get a Visa issued. I have applied for visas in many different countries to travel to many other countries while on vacation, and I always had to prove I was in the country legally. Usually it is just a copy of my entry stamp into said country as a USC I usually don't need a visa for a short stay depending on the country, but sometimes I do. For example I was in Thailand a few years ago, and had to go to St. Petersburg Russia at the last minute, so I had to go get a visa for Russia at the embassy in Thailand. I had to include a copy of my Thailand entry stamp in my passport, along with passport to get the visa issued. For me it has always been that way from my experience. I have never seen a embassy issue a visa without you showing you are in the country you are applying for the visa in legally. Maybe it is different, but I have never come across it. I've applied for Visas in UAE, SIngapore, China, Europe, etc. and always had to show legal status to be in said country.

Edited September 21, 2019 by Loren Y

[USS_Voyager 1,972]

3 hours ago, Loren Y said:

even just transit thru China, unlike about 53 other countries that can get at the minimum 24 hours of visa free transit, Thailand is not one of them

From the website if the Chinese Embassy in Washington:

 

“A foreign citizen who is transiting through China by air is exempted from a visa if he/she will stay only in the airport for no more than 24 hours and has a valid connecting ticket with confirmed seating on an international flight.”

 

http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/visas/zgqz/

 

 

[Loren Y 2,755]

3 hours ago, USS_Voyager said:

From the website if the Chinese Embassy in Washington:

 

“A foreign citizen who is transiting through China by air is exempted from a visa if he/she will stay only in the airport for no more than 24 hours and has a valid connecting ticket with confirmed seating on an international flight.”

 

http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/visas/zgqz/

 

 

And if you check the actual list of countries that is approved for the 24 hour transit visa you will see the following in the actual details.....

 

Who are eligible for the 24-hour TWOV of China?

National of most countries are eligible for the 24-hour visa-free transit, while there are exceptions in certain airports for some nationalities.

1. Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Yemen passport holders transiting in Xiamen require a visa.

2. Syrian citizens transiting in Guangzhou are not eligible for the 24-hour visa-free transit.

 

The whole problem is our flight transits thru Xiamen, or I would not have this problem. The lists of airports that are eligible changes almost monthly, and what really has made it difficult is that China ( Due to certain recent tariffs enacted by a certain US President) Has really pissed off the Chinese government, and needless to say, anyone from the US traveling thru China is subject to lets just say "Unfavorable" treatment at the minimum.

[Falcon Cara 378]

7 hours ago, USS_Voyager said:

From the website if the Chinese Embassy in Washington:

 

“A foreign citizen who is transiting through China by air is exempted from a visa if he/she will stay only in the airport for no more than 24 hours and has a valid connecting ticket with confirmed seating on an international flight.”

 

http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/visas/zgqz/

 

 

Don't believe that

 

I am US Citizen, I got kicked out of the airport and put on plane by police back to USA when my flight from to Philippines only had 30 minutes to board, they said I didn't have enough time to catch my next flight. 

 

Air China on the flight from LAX to Bejeing I had 2 bags missing and filled out a missing luggage report in Bejieng airport, then went to catch my final flight to Manila.   They said I didn't have enough time to board the plane and they found a US carrier going back to US and put me and my wife on it.  

 

 

[Going through 5,671]

10 hours ago, Loren Y said:

Assuming AOS interview goes good on October 3rd and we are approved, I have read you can get a I551 stamp after the interview while you are at the local USCIS office to show proof of status. We can then take her passport with the stamp to get the visa issued. Has anyone else gotten a I551 stamp after their AOS interview?

Now this was years ago in 2005...but immediately after my AOS interview, the IO stamped my passport with the i-551.
Don't know if that's still the common practice today, however.

[USS_Voyager 1,972]

4 hours ago, Loren Y said:

The whole problem is our flight transits thru Xiamen, or I would not have this problem. The lists of airports that are eligible changes almost monthly, and what really has made it difficult is that China ( Due to certain recent tariffs enacted by a certain US President) Has really pissed off the Chinese government, and needless to say, anyone from the US traveling thru China is subject to lets just say "Unfavorable" treatment at the minimum.

Then sounds like it’s more problem than it’s worth. Sorry, maybe best to rebook. 

[Loren Y 2,755]

I know, I booked back in February before all this nightmare began, but airline doesn't care, you can't be grandfathered in to policy, they have to use policy in effect when you board the plane. The airline is another tragedy in itself that I don't have enough room on these forums to write about that. I'm going to send in the EAD AP card next week and see if they will issue a Visa with it, I got an email from the US department of state saying back in 2011 they straightened this out with a official notice sent to the ministry of foreign affairs in China, and their state department also because they stopped about a hundred Chinese Nationals that were coming thru Beijing with their AP cards, and they wouldn't let them board the flight to the United States saying the EAD AP card wasn't an official travel document. It was a nightmare just before Christmas of 2011. 

[geowrian 22,337]

3 hours ago, Going through said:

Don't know if that's still the common practice today, however.

It's not. I can't think of the last time I saw somebody state they got the stamp at the interview...it's been years as far as I can recall.

[Loren Y 2,755]

4 hours ago, geowrian said:

It's not. I can't think of the last time I saw somebody state they got the stamp at the interview...it's been years as far as I can recall.

Thanks for the input. Your right I couldn't find anything current where they got the stamp at interview, it was all back in the late 2000's like @Going through posted above. I'll play it by ear at the interview and if it goes well and I can get a nice enough IO officer, maybe I can squeeze a I551 stamp out of them at the end of the interview if I can show I have a trip thru China a month after the interview( I'll bring my flight conformation with me, I'm already bringing a stack of paper that will need a dolly for LOL , so whats a few more pages) and explain they won't issue her a visa without proof of permanent residency maybe they will have mercy. Or they can set up a return appointment a few weeks after interview so I can return to get the stamp if everything is approved but before green card arrives. Has anyone set up an infopass appointment for after their interview while they are at the office? Guess we will see if this is possible also when I get there. Thanks everyone for their input on this, I appreciate any help or advice.

[geowrian 22,337]

1 minute ago, Loren Y said:

Thanks for the input. Your right I couldn't find anything current where they got the stamp at interview, it was all back in the late 2000's like @Going through posted above. I'll play it by ear at the interview and if it goes well and I can get a nice enough IO officer, maybe I can squeeze a I551 stamp out of them at the end of the interview if I can show I have a trip thru China a month after the interview( I'll bring my flight conformation with me, I'm already bringing a stack of paper that will need a dolly for LOL , so whats a few more pages) and explain they won't issue her a visa without proof of permanent residency maybe they will have mercy. Or they can set up a return appointment a few weeks after interview so I can return to get the stamp if everything is approved but before green card arrives. Has anyone set up an infopass appointment for after their interview while they are at the office? Guess we will see if this is possible also when I get there. Thanks everyone for their input on this, I appreciate any help or advice.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes and enjoy the trip.

[HRQX 4,145]

1 hour ago, Loren Y said:

if I can show I have a trip thru China a month after the interview

After I-485 approval she can try calling USCIS: https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/field-offices/nevada-las-vegas-field-office "If you need help with document services (such as passport stamps and advance parole) or have an emergency, call the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283."

[DeepakChani 738]

On 9/21/2019 at 12:20 PM, Loren Y said:

Thanks for the input. Your right I couldn't find anything current where they got the stamp at interview, it was all back in the late 2000's like @Going through posted above. I'll play it by ear at the interview and if it goes well and I can get a nice enough IO officer, maybe I can squeeze a I551 stamp out of them at the end of the interview if I can show I have a trip thru China a month after the interview( I'll bring my flight conformation with me, I'm already bringing a stack of paper that will need a dolly for LOL , so whats a few more pages) and explain they won't issue her a visa without proof of permanent residency maybe they will have mercy. Or they can set up a return appointment a few weeks after interview so I can return to get the stamp if everything is approved but before green card arrives. Has anyone set up an infopass appointment for after their interview while they are at the office? Guess we will see if this is possible also when I get there. Thanks everyone for their input on this, I appreciate any help or advice.

Any update? Were you able to get the stamp??