Emergency: spouse denied on flight, can I immigrate before she arrives?

[iwannaplay54 985]

2 minutes ago, Kor2USA said:

Yep. OP did DCF. They were living in HK together and had lived in the US before he gave up his initial GC. Their situation sounds similar to yours... 

eerily similar even to the surrendered green card LOL

Thank god her US passport came in last week and we’re done with all of this convolution

Edited January 30, 2022 by iwannaplay54

[Redro 4,601]

Just now, iwannaplay54 said:

eerily similar even to the surrendered green card LOL

I remember your posts from previous questions. I know you know your stuff when it comes to moving back to the US together. 

[iwannaplay54 985]

Just now, Kor2USA said:

I remember your posts from previous questions. I know you know your stuff when it comes to moving back to the US together. 

We do know how to get folks home 👍

[Crazy Cat 39,398]

15 hours ago, Steve2022 said:

Airline passengers have certain rights with situations beyond their control.  These rights have been beefed up during the pandemic.  I suggest you ask the airline to reschedule, as they will probably be held accountable anyway if they fly you to the USA without an actionable VISA.  They may reschedule the flight for you for at very low cost or no cost.   I would also call the USCIS directly at your intended entry airport and explain the situation to them and see what they say.   They may accept proof that your spouse is in transit to the USA as good enough. 

Rights?  No.  USCIS does not control the border.  

[Steve2022 41]

28 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

Rights?  No.  USCIS does not control the border.  

As far as rights, I was talking about consumer rights as an airline customer.  You can google it.  It helps to know  your rights when you are negotiating with an airline to change your ticket.  https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer

 

As someone else already pointed out, USCIS is not CBP is not ICE, but since I can't delete my post, I guess people will keep correcting me, over and over.

However, USCIS and CBP and ICE are all part of DHS.  So whatever!

Edited January 30, 2022 by Steve2022

[Timona 3,958]

@PJWhitby updates? We are all waiting 

[PJWhitby 17]

Thank you so much to everyone for the thoughts on this, and apologies for going AWOL - I’ve just landed in the U.K. after having to wait and get a new flight to the UK from Finland. My wife is due to land in the U.K. soon.

 

I’ve tried to just catch up on the above comments: people who flagged ‘scenario 1’ are correct - this was intended to be the first time back into the US for my wife as a relocation from HK (her work trip coincided with the leaving date so decided to go from her destination rather than have three weeks of quarantine if she’d returned to HK). I’ve only been able to communicate with my wife sporadically through text messages while this has been happening (which hasn’t helped, stress-wise) so I might get a bit more info on what happened at her airport once we reconnect. Her last message before her flight to the U.K. suggested her US passport had been invalid (?) or not accepted which caused the problem, rather than the storm in New England. As she has another, EU, passport she was able to get elsewhere, but not the US (IS citizens aren’t eligible for ESTA visas). Hence the panicked messages to me telling me not to go to New York…

 

As I say, I need to get the totally full story myself (though the bare bones of it provide the basic scenario on which people have been - incredibly kindly and thoughtfully - opining). For now, I’ve sorted a hotel in London, along with quickly arranging the necessary Day 2 COVID test and completing the government Passenger Locator Form etc. (I dread to think what might have happened without a mobile phone and the internet). We’ll regroup here and rebook flight to the US for as soon as possible…

 

Again, sorry for being offline, and thank you for the input above.

[iwannaplay54 985]

6 hours ago, PJWhitby said:

Thank you so much to everyone for the thoughts on this, and apologies for going AWOL - I’ve just landed in the U.K. after having to wait and get a new flight to the UK from Finland. My wife is due to land in the U.K. soon.

 

I’ve tried to just catch up on the above comments: people who flagged ‘scenario 1’ are correct - this was intended to be the first time back into the US for my wife as a relocation from HK (her work trip coincided with the leaving date so decided to go from her destination rather than have three weeks of quarantine if she’d returned to HK). I’ve only been able to communicate with my wife sporadically through text messages while this has been happening (which hasn’t helped, stress-wise) so I might get a bit more info on what happened at her airport once we reconnect. Her last message before her flight to the U.K. suggested her US passport had been invalid (?) or not accepted which caused the problem, rather than the storm in New England. As she has another, EU, passport she was able to get elsewhere, but not the US (IS citizens aren’t eligible for ESTA visas). Hence the panicked messages to me telling me not to go to New York…

 

As I say, I need to get the totally full story myself (though the bare bones of it provide the basic scenario on which people have been - incredibly kindly and thoughtfully - opining). For now, I’ve sorted a hotel in London, along with quickly arranging the necessary Day 2 COVID test and completing the government Passenger Locator Form etc. (I dread to think what might have happened without a mobile phone and the internet). We’ll regroup here and rebook flight to the US for as soon as possible…

 

Again, sorry for being offline, and thank you for the input above.

Smart move and safe travels.  This is exactly what you should be doing.

 

Good luck!

[Lisa and Ian 7]

8 hours ago, PJWhitby said:

Thank you so much to everyone for the thoughts on this, and apologies for going AWOL - I’ve just landed in the U.K. after having to wait and get a new flight to the UK from Finland. My wife is due to land in the U.K. soon.

 

I’ve tried to just catch up on the above comments: people who flagged ‘scenario 1’ are correct - this was intended to be the first time back into the US for my wife as a relocation from HK (her work trip coincided with the leaving date so decided to go from her destination rather than have three weeks of quarantine if she’d returned to HK). I’ve only been able to communicate with my wife sporadically through text messages while this has been happening (which hasn’t helped, stress-wise) so I might get a bit more info on what happened at her airport once we reconnect. Her last message before her flight to the U.K. suggested her US passport had been invalid (?) or not accepted which caused the problem, rather than the storm in New England. As she has another, EU, passport she was able to get elsewhere, but not the US (IS citizens aren’t eligible for ESTA visas). Hence the panicked messages to me telling me not to go to New York…

 

As I say, I need to get the totally full story myself (though the bare bones of it provide the basic scenario on which people have been - incredibly kindly and thoughtfully - opining). For now, I’ve sorted a hotel in London, along with quickly arranging the necessary Day 2 COVID test and completing the government Passenger Locator Form etc. (I dread to think what might have happened without a mobile phone and the internet). We’ll regroup here and rebook flight to the US for as soon as possible…

 

Again, sorry for being offline, and thank you for the input above.

Just a comment about the 2nd day COVID test in the UK. My British/American spouse just flew from the US to the Uk for a month-long business trip.  Arrange the 2 day test, but don’t expect the test to show up in 2 days. It is more like 4 days, if you’re having it mailed to you. Good luck. It sounds like you’re on the right track. 🙂

[milimelo 4,234]

Re: US passport issue - see if this is a solution: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel.html

Returning to the United States on an Expired U.S. Passport

If you are overseas and your passport expired on or after January 1, 2020, you may be able to use your expired passport to return directly to the United States until March 31, 2022.

You qualify to travel on your expired passport if all the following are true:

• You are a U.S. citizen.
• You are currently abroad seeking direct return to the United States.
• You are flying directly to the United States, a United States territory, or have only short-term transit (“connecting flights”) through a foreign country on your direct return to the United States or to a United States Territory.

Your expired passport was originally valid for 10 years. Or, if you were 15 years of age or younger when the passport was issued, your expired passport was valid for five years.

• Your expired passport is undamaged.
• Your expired passport is unaltered.
• Your expired passport is in your possession.

You do not qualify to travel on your expired passport if:

• You wish to depart from the United States to an international destination.
• You are currently abroad seeking to travel to a foreign country for any length of stay longer than an airport connection en route to the United States or to a United States territory.
• Your expired passport was limited in validity.
• Your expired passport is a special issuance passport (such as a diplomatic, official, service, or no-fee regular passport).
• Your expired passport is damaged.
• Your expired passport is altered.
• Your expired passport is not in your possession.

All other passport rules and regulations remain in effect. The Department of Homeland Security maintains discretion to reject any bearer in accordance with 22 CFR 53.2(b)(7) and 8 CFR 235.1(b)

 

 

[PandoraG 1]

On 1/29/2022 at 12:05 PM, PJWhitby said:

Thank you. We were travelling separately since she had a work trip and decided to fly onwards to NY from there. My route was different. Where she is has very infrequent flights to the US. Thank you for the ideas re: saving the money.

 

You know, the more I see if this COVID pandemic, the less I care for it… 😔

My husband needed me (I am USC) with him at immigration when we entered U.S.. if I wasn't with him, he would have been denied entry. You will definitely need her to enter.

[PJWhitby 17]

7 hours ago, milimelo said:

Re: US passport issue - see if this is a solution: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel.html

Returning to the United States on an Expired U.S. Passport

If you are overseas and your passport expired on or after January 1, 2020, you may be able to use your expired passport to return directly to the United States until March 31, 2022.

You qualify to travel on your expired passport if all the following are true:

• You are a U.S. citizen.
• You are currently abroad seeking direct return to the United States.
• You are flying directly to the United States, a United States territory, or have only short-term transit (“connecting flights”) through a foreign country on your direct return to the United States or to a United States Territory.

Your expired passport was originally valid for 10 years. Or, if you were 15 years of age or younger when the passport was issued, your expired passport was valid for five years.

• Your expired passport is undamaged.
• Your expired passport is unaltered.
• Your expired passport is in your possession.

You do not qualify to travel on your expired passport if:

• You wish to depart from the United States to an international destination.
• You are currently abroad seeking to travel to a foreign country for any length of stay longer than an airport connection en route to the United States or to a United States territory.
• Your expired passport was limited in validity.
• Your expired passport is a special issuance passport (such as a diplomatic, official, service, or no-fee regular passport).
• Your expired passport is damaged.
• Your expired passport is altered.
• Your expired passport is not in your possession.

All other passport rules and regulations remain in effect. The Department of Homeland Security maintains discretion to reject any bearer in accordance with 22 CFR 53.2(b)(7) and 8 CFR 235.1(b)

 

 

Thanks a lot - the issue apparently wasn’t with ‘expiry’ (its unexpired) but that the airline wasn’t accepting it for some very strange reason which wasn’t particularly clear (it sounds incredible, but the level of English wasn’t great and they were apparently quite adamant about the whole thing). I’m really not sure what that was about, so sorry that this all sounds quite vague. We don’t have any qualms about this for the subsequent flight to the US though…

 

16 minutes ago, PandoraG said:

My husband needed me (I am USC) with him at immigration when we entered U.S.. if I wasn't with him, he would have been denied entry. You will definitely need her to enter.

I wonder what happened to require that in your case? For my first green card (2012) I arrived in the US alone, some eight months after my wife relocated and I was fine - and this, as people above have said, is well within the rules and a very normal scenario (perhaps more so than arriving together, I suspect). 

[PandoraG 1]

2 hours ago, PJWhitby said:

Thanks a lot - the issue apparently wasn’t with ‘expiry’ (its unexpired) but that the airline wasn’t accepting it for some very strange reason which wasn’t particularly clear (it sounds incredible, but the level of English wasn’t great and they were apparently quite adamant about the whole thing). I’m really not sure what that was about, so sorry that this all sounds quite vague. We don’t have any qualms about this for the subsequent flight to the US though…

 

I wonder what happened to require that in your case? For my first green card (2012) I arrived in the US alone, some eight months after my wife relocated and I was fine - and this, as people above have said, is well within the rules and a very normal scenario (perhaps more so than arriving together, I suspect). 

My bad. I misunderstood your situation. My husband needed me to enter because we had just been married and he was coming here on ESTA. I had to go through immigration with him. 

[Lil bear 3,840]

3 hours ago, PJWhitby said:

Thanks a lot - the issue apparently wasn’t with ‘expiry’ (its unexpired) but that the airline wasn’t accepting it for some very strange reason which wasn’t particularly clear (it sounds incredible, but the level of English wasn’t great and they were apparently quite adamant about the whole thing). I’m really not sure what that was about, so sorry that this all sounds quite vague. We don’t have any qualms about this for the subsequent flight to the US though…

 

I wonder what happened to require that in your case? For my first green card (2012) I arrived in the US alone, some eight months after my wife relocated and I was fine - and this, as people above have said, is well within the rules and a very normal scenario (perhaps more so than arriving together, I suspect). 

Now that you are in the UK together you might consider flying into the US from Dublin, as US CBP does pre boarding immigration clearance there…  with CBP onsite  you can get everything sorted and cleared before you fly and  have peace of mind that you are ok to travel and enter ! 

[nastra30 2,005]

Great op was aware of this immigration nuisance from the get go, and took the corrective actions.