Traveling outside of USA before receiving green card (merged)

[Kitta&Owen 22]

Hello,

 

My husband is still waiting for his green card to be delivered in the mail. We have no idea where it is as we can not track it. He entered the USA after his interview  December 2020. We are wanting to travel to Mexico next month, but we were not sure if he is allowed to travel outside the USA before his green card arrives. We would appreciate any help we can get. Thanks!

[Ayrton 965]

2 minutes ago, Kitta&Owen said:

Hello,

 

My husband is still waiting for his green card to be delivered in the mail. We have no idea where it is as we can not track it. He entered the USA after his interview  December 2020. We are wanting to travel to Mexico next month, but we were not sure if he is allowed to travel outside the USA before his green card arrives. We would appreciate any help we can get. Thanks!

Assuming he entered with a CR1/IR1 visa, the officer at POE stamped his passport and that serves as a temporary GC valid for 1 year.

[Kitta&Owen 22]

11 minutes ago, Ayrton said:

Assuming he entered with a CR1/IR1 visa, the officer at POE stamped his passport and that serves as a temporary GC valid for 1 year.

Yes he did, thank you so much for your help! I wanted to make sure before we booked anything

[Kitta&Owen 22]

23 minutes ago, Ayrton said:

Assuming he entered with a CR1/IR1 visa, the officer at POE stamped his passport and that serves as a temporary GC valid for 1 year.

Just checked his passport, the CR1 he got after his interview, it expires on May 25th 2021. So does that mean he cannot travel until his green card comes in?

[Crazy Cat 39,749]

6 minutes ago, Kitta&Owen said:

Just checked his passport, the CR1 he got after his interview, it expires on May 25th 2021. So does that mean he cannot travel until his green card comes in?

Are you talking about the visa, itself?  or the endorsement stamp he received at the POE in the US?  

6 minutes ago, Kitta&Owen said:

Just checked his passport, the CR1 he got after his interview, it expires on May 25th 2021. So does that mean he cannot travel until his green card comes in?

The officer should have stamped his visa to endorse it  when he entered the US.....that stamp is a temporary Green Card which should be good for a year.

Edited May 5, 2021 by Lucky Cat

[Kitta&Owen 22]

16 minutes ago, Lucky Cat said:

Are you talking about the visa, itself?  or the endorsement stamp he received at the POE in the US?  

The officer should have stamped his visa to endorse it  when he entered the US.....that stamp is a temporary Green Card which should be good for a year.

The visa itself says it expires 5/25/21. He also received a stamp at the POE in the US. So I am just needing to make sure there will not be any issues if we travel outside of USA as he does not have GC yet and visa will be expired. Sorry if I am not using correct terminology. Thanks!

[Crazy Cat 39,749]

4 minutes ago, Kitta&Owen said:

The visa itself says it expires 5/25/21. He also received a stamp at the POE in the US. So I am just needing to make sure there will not be any issues if we travel outside of USA as he does not have GC yet and visa will be expired. Sorry if I am not using correct terminology. Thanks!

The visa itself was voided when he entered the US.   You can disregard it.  However, the officer should have stamped his passport (usually near the visa).  That stamp endorses his visa.....and serves as a Green Card until the plastic one arrives.  It has all benefits as a plastic Green Card.  He is good to travel...

Edited May 5, 2021 by Lucky Cat

[Kitta&Owen 22]

2 minutes ago, Lucky Cat said:

The visa itself was voided when he entered the US.   You can disregard it.  However, the officer should have stamped his passport (usually near the visa).  That stamp endorses his visa.....and serves as a Green Card until the plastic one arrives.  It has all benefits as a plastic Green Card.  He is good to travel...

Okay perfect that sounds good. I have attached a photo of the stamp, can you confirm this is the correct one? Thank you!

[Crazy Cat 39,749]

Yes, that is the endorsement for his CR-1 visa.........See the statement on this example.  He can use his passport as a Green Card.....which will allow him to enter the US.

 

Edited May 5, 2021 by Lucky Cat

[Kitta&Owen 22]

1 minute ago, Lucky Cat said:

Yes, that is the endorsement for his CR-1 visa.........See the statement on this example.

 

Perfect, thank you so much for your help!

[Chancy 6,233]

24 minutes ago, Kitta&Owen said:

I have attached a photo of the stamp, can you confirm this is the correct one?

 

That means your husband's visa + stamp is valid as his GC until Dec 18 2021.  The expiration date on the visa itself is irrelevant now.

 

[Just Paul 4,591]

Not an issue at all for a CR1/IR1 - we did that for 6 weeks when Mary first got here.

[Nitas_man 3,100]

15 hours ago, Kitta&Owen said:

Hello,

 

My husband is still waiting for his green card to be delivered in the mail. We have no idea where it is as we can not track it. He entered the USA after his interview  December 2020. We are wanting to travel to Mexico next month, but we were not sure if he is allowed to travel outside the USA before his green card arrives. We would appreciate any help we can get. Thanks!

Visa expiration and validity at entry are two different things.

“Visa” expired when he entered.  He is an LPR as of entry date and the visa serves as temporary proof of LPR status for one year after entry.

Did you pay the green card fee either before or after he entered?

Edited May 6, 2021 by Nitas_man

[Kitta&Owen 22]

My husband and I came to Mexico. He did not have his physical green card but we were told his CR1 stamp was valid for a year. We are not stuck at airport because they said he can not enter USA. Please help what do we do?!

[Kitta&Owen 22]

On 5/6/2021 at 5:46 AM, Nitas_man said:

Visa expiration and validity at entry are two different things.

“Visa” expired when he entered.  He is an LPR as of entry date and the visa serves as temporary proof of LPR status for one year after entry.

Did you pay the green card fee either before or after he entered?

PLEASE HELP!!

they are not letting my husband back into USA. We are stuck in Mexico. He does not have physical green card yet, but the CR1 stamp is still good. What do we do?!

On 5/5/2021 at 2:21 PM, Lucky Cat said:

Are you talking about the visa, itself?  or the endorsement stamp he received at the POE in the US?  

The officer should have stamped his visa to endorse it  when he entered the US.....that stamp is a temporary Green Card which should be good for a year.

Just now, Kitta&Owen said:

PLEASE HELP!!

they are not letting my husband back into USA. We are stuck in Mexico. He does not have physical green card yet, but the CR1 stamp is still good. What do we do?!

PLEASE HELP!!

they are not letting my husband back into USA. We are stuck in Mexico. He does not have physical green card yet, but the CR1 stamp is still good. What do we do?!