Help - How do I make an appointment with the USICS office at Boston?

[Cata&Ben 199]

I just  received a letter from USCIS notifying me that my green card has been approved, but unfortunately, I am unable to travel outside of the US until I receive the physical card in two months. I was wondering if someone could tell me how do I get an appointment with USCIS to obtain an I-551 stamp in my passport for travel purposes. Can you please guide me on how to book an appointment with the USCIS office located in Boston?

 

Thank you in advance for your help.

[Cata&Ben 199]

And what happens if I TRAVEL without the physical green-card?

[OldUser 5,112]

10 minutes ago, Cata&Ben said:

And what happens if I TRAVEL without the physical green-card?

You'll get stuck overseas and you'll have to pay for expensive boarding foil at US embassy!

[OldUser 5,112]

What makes you think it will take 2 months to receive your GC?

 

It took about 2-3 weeks for me to receive GC after I-751 been approved. 

 

Because of holidays, I'd think you'll get your GC in a month or 6 weeks max. Ia this before your trip?

[Cata&Ben 199]

Yes, I have a family trip in December and a work trip in January. I am very stressed out because of this.

[OldUser 5,112]

13 minutes ago, Cata&Ben said:

Yes, I have a family trip in December and a work trip in January. I am very stressed out because of this.

That's understandable.

 

In theory, you could try travelling on conditional green card and valid extension letter. But I cannot recommend it, as I don't know whether it's legal after 10 year GC approval. And the risk of getting stuck overseas is not fun.

 

Do you have USPS Informed Delivery set up? Sometimes you will get tracking for GC quicker than it's shown in USCIS case status.

 

Typically you'll see a mail from "USCIS- Lees Summit Production Facility" with tracking number.

 

Otherwise, if you don't receive GC soon you may need to change or cancel your family trip. I'd think you'll have GC in hand before January 2024.

 

You can try getting a stamp, but if you have GC approved, not sure they'll give you one. Call USCIS and ask for Infopass.

 

 

 

Edited November 30, 2023 by OldUser

[Cata&Ben 199]

17 minutes ago, OldUser said:

That's understandable.

 

In theory, you could try travelling on conditional green card and valid extension letter. But I cannot recommend it, as I don't know whether it's legal after 10 year GC approval. And the risk of getting stuck overseas is not fun.

 

Do you have USPS Informed Delivery set up? Sometimes you will get tracking for GC quicker than it's shown in USCIS case status.

 

Typically you'll see a mail from "USCIS- Lees Summit Production Facility" with tracking number.

 

Otherwise, if you don't receive GC soon you may need to change or cancel your family trip. I'd think you'll have GC in hand before January 2024.

 

You can try getting a stamp, but if you have GC approved, not sure they'll give you one. Call USCIS and ask for Infopass.

 

 

 

 

Thanks a lot. I will call USCIS.

[mindthegap 2,543]

Is your extension letter still valid (as in, within the stated time of validity beyond the expiry of your card)? If so, you can still use that in conjunction with your expired card. Thats if your new card doesn't arrive in time. 

 

If you do call USCIS to request a stamp, you will need escalating to a tier 2, and need to be stating the urgency of imminent and/or emergency/essential travel. If not urgent, they won't call you back within 30 days as it will just be a standard stamp request.

If it is is marked as urgent, then they will. You may or may not need to provide proof of this - some offices do require it, some don't. 

 

 

Edited November 30, 2023 by mindthegap

[OldUser 5,112]

59 minutes ago, mindthegap said:

Is your extension letter still valid (as in, within the stated time of validity beyond the expiry of your card)? If so, you can still use that in conjunction with your expired card. Thats if your new card doesn't arrive in time. 

How risky is travelling on expired GC and extension letter when 10 year GC is being produced?

 

I get it, airline is unlikely going to flag it as they're not aware of 10 year GC existing. CBP will have to let LPR in, the worst case hold them in secondary for some time?

 

 

Edited November 30, 2023 by OldUser

[Lemonslice 4,597]

9 minutes ago, OldUser said:

How risky is travelling on expired GC and extension letter when 10 year GC is being produced?

 

I get it, airline is unlikely going to flag it as they're not aware of 10 year GC existing. CBP will have to let LPR in, the worst case hold them in secondary for some time?

 

 

People have different tolerance to risk, but me, personally, with a valid extension letter, I see it as close to zero risk as possible [always the risk of meeting an untrained airline agent]. 

https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2023-Nov/Carrier Information Guide ENGLISH.pdf 

 

Page 10/92 [Arrival by air]

"B. U.S. RESIDENTS — must provide one of the following:
• Permanent Resident Card, Form I-551
• Expired Conditional Resident Card, Form I-551
accompanied by Original Form I-797, Notice of
Action indicating the card validity is extended"

 

If OP did not receive the approval letter, they would not even know that they should be expecting a new card shortly.   They are permanent resident, they currently have documents to show their status.  

 

@Cata&Ben, I am also in the Boston area and received my new cards really quickly (after entry, after ROC, and, more recently, after renewing my 10-year card). Make sure your name is on your mailbox (in case you get a new/overzealous mail person), register for informed delivery, but I received my cards in days, not months.  Wishing you the same quick delivery, so that all questions and worries are avoided!

 

 

 

 

[mindthegap 2,543]

5 hours ago, OldUser said:

How risky is travelling on expired GC and extension letter when 10 year GC is being produced?

 

I get it, airline is unlikely going to flag it as they're not aware of 10 year GC existing. CBP will have to let LPR in, the worst case hold them in secondary for some time?

 

 

 

Zero risk.

The A# input into API will check out as will the the expiry date of of extension letter put as card expiry (standard practice), and the extension letter plus expired card is valid for boarding as per carrier information guide. 

Worst case would be a quick visit to secondary (my entry last week took under 3 minutes) to verify status, but with a card + letter combo that  probably won't even be required and should be done at the desk.

They are a LPR (2 yr with pending or 10 year, it makes zero difference you are stamped in as LPR regardless) and have valid proof of that status, so there isn't an issue here. 

 

Put it this way, if it wasn't acceptable to use the extension letter to return in such circumstances, then there would be effectively a blanket issue on anyone with an extension for a pending I-751 travelling out of the country, as it could be approved at any time while out of the country, effectively stranding them overseas with an approval but no new card in hand.  That makes zero sense (granted, much like lots of USCIS) and simply isn't the case. 

Edited November 30, 2023 by mindthegap

[OldUser 5,112]

Great, so OP has a backup plan in case if 10 year GC doesn't arrive!

 

I wasn't sure if getting 10 GC approved invalidated conditional GC and using it was be punishible by laws such as "8 U.S. Code § 1324c - Penalties for document fraud" but I guess I'm overthinking 😅

[Cata&Ben 199]

 

Thank you so much for all your help.

 

I submitted an online request for an appointment with USCIS on Wednesday. I received a reply from them today, stating that they have already sent my green card and provided me with a tracking number for US UPS. I decided to track the number and discovered that my card was already being delivered at that moment!

 

I feel so relieved now.

 

Thanks for providing advice.

 

Cata

[OldUser 5,112]

2 minutes ago, Cata&Ben said:

 

Thank you so much for all your help.

 

I submitted an online request for an appointment with USCIS on Wednesday. I received a reply from them today, stating that they have already sent my green card and provided me with a tracking number for US UPS. I decided to track the number and discovered that my card was already being delivered at that moment!

 

I feel so relieved now.

 

Thanks for providing advice.

 

Cata

No worries, usually it's very quick between the approval and receiving GC. Glad it's a happy end. Make sure to make digital and physical copies of GC as soon as you receive it. In case if you lose it, it would be easier to replace it.

[Lemonslice 4,597]

45 minutes ago, Cata&Ben said:

 

Thank you so much for all your help.

 

I submitted an online request for an appointment with USCIS on Wednesday. I received a reply from them today, stating that they have already sent my green card and provided me with a tracking number for US UPS. I decided to track the number and discovered that my card was already being delivered at that moment!

 

I feel so relieved now.

 

Thanks for providing advice.

 

Cata

Great news!