I-131 Needed to travel abroad after marriage?

[Jesse and Hema 2]

I was under the impression (mostly from other posts) that my fiancée would not be able to travel abroad after marriage until the I-131 (Application for Advance Parole) was approved. This was concerning to me, since it's possible that she might need to return home for a family emergency or something of that nature. (also possibly an overseas honeymoon)

I was looking at the I-131 instructions at http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-131instr.pdf and saw the following tidbit:

NOTE: If you are in the United States and wish to travel abroad, you do not need to apply for advance parole if both conditions described below in numbers 1 and 2 are met:

A. You are in one of the following nonimmigrant categories:

1. An H-1, temporary worker, or H-4, spouse or childof an H-1; or

2. An L-1, intracompany transferee, or L-2, spouse orchild of an L-1; or

3. A K-3, spouse, or K-4, child of a U.S. citizen; or

4. A V-2, spouse, or V-3, child of a lawful permanentresident; and

B. A Form I-485, Application to Register PermanentResidence or Adjust Status, was filed on your behalfand is pending with the USCIS.

However, upon returning to the United States, youmust present your valid H, L, K or V nonimmigrant visa and continue to remain eligible for that status.

I plan on overnighting that I-485 over to USCIS 5 minutes after we have our marriage certificate. Am I correct in thinking that travelling abroad after marriage for emergency or honeymoon won't be a problem, and that waiting for an I-131 to be approved isn't "really" necessary? Or since the K1 is only good for one entry, is it no longer "valid" for the above purposes once she enters the US to be wed?

I'm a bit confused about this, because information from various sources seems contradictory. If waiting on the I-131 is necessary, what if she leaves on emergency before that goes through? Hopefully that won't be too big a mess..

Thanks in advance!

[jundp 191]

I was looking at the I-131 instructions at http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-131instr.pdf and saw the following tidbit:

NOTE: If you are in the United States and wish to travel abroad, you do not need to apply for advance parole if both conditions described below in numbers 1 and 2 are met:

A. You are in one of the following nonimmigrant categories:

1. An H-1, temporary worker, or H-4, spouse or childof an H-1; or

2. An L-1, intracompany transferee, or L-2, spouse orchild of an L-1; or

3. A K-3, spouse, or K-4, child of a U.S. citizen; or

4. A V-2, spouse, or V-3, child of a lawful permanentresident; and

B. A Form I-485, Application to Register PermanentResidence or Adjust Status, was filed on your behalfand is pending with the USCIS.

However, upon returning to the United States, youmust present your valid H, L, K or V nonimmigrant visa and continue to remain eligible for that status.

If she is coming here on a K1 that is different. You cannot leave the US without AP after the wedding.

Edited November 1, 2007 by jundp

[~Nini~ 2]

I was under the impression (mostly from other posts) that my fiancée would not be able to travel abroad after marriage until the I-131 (Application for Advance Parole) was approved. This was concerning to me, since it's possible that she might need to return home for a family emergency or something of that nature. (also possibly an overseas honeymoon)

I was looking at the I-131 instructions at http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-131instr.pdf and saw the following tidbit:

NOTE: If you are in the United States and wish to travel abroad, you do not need to apply for advance parole if both conditions described below in numbers 1 and 2 are met:

A. You are in one of the following nonimmigrant categories:

1. An H-1, temporary worker, or H-4, spouse or childof an H-1; or

2. An L-1, intracompany transferee, or L-2, spouse orchild of an L-1; or

3. A K-3, spouse, or K-4, child of a U.S. citizen; or

4. A V-2, spouse, or V-3, child of a lawful permanentresident; and

B. A Form I-485, Application to Register PermanentResidence or Adjust Status, was filed on your behalfand is pending with the USCIS.

However, upon returning to the United States, youmust present your valid H, L, K or V nonimmigrant visa and continue to remain eligible for that status.

I plan on overnighting that I-485 over to USCIS 5 minutes after we have our marriage certificate. Am I correct in thinking that travelling abroad after marriage for emergency or honeymoon won't be a problem, and that waiting for an I-131 to be approved isn't "really" necessary? Or since the K1 is only good for one entry, is it no longer "valid" for the above purposes once she enters the US to be wed?

I'm a bit confused about this, because information from various sources seems contradictory. If waiting on the I-131 is necessary, what if she leaves on emergency before that goes through? Hopefully that won't be too big a mess..

Thanks in advance!

As you highlighted above, K3 spouse visas don't need to have AP in order to travel abroad, simply because they have a multiple-entry visa. A K1 is different because the visa is valid for only one entry.

If there's ever an instance for your fiancee to travel abroad in the event of an emergency, she can apply for an emergency AP at your local Infopass office. This can be done regardless of whether she's in the process of applying for a regular AP, and shouldn't have any affect on that application. However, if you both intend to go abroad for an overseas honeymoon, you'll both have to wait until the I-131 is approved.

[pushbrk 12,243]

I was under the impression (mostly from other posts) that my fiancée would not be able to travel abroad after marriage until the I-131 (Application for Advance Parole) was approved. This was concerning to me, since it's possible that she might need to return home for a family emergency or something of that nature. (also possibly an overseas honeymoon)

I was looking at the I-131 instructions at http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-131instr.pdf and saw the following tidbit:

NOTE: If you are in the United States and wish to travel abroad, you do not need to apply for advance parole if both conditions described below in numbers 1 and 2 are met:

A. You are in one of the following nonimmigrant categories:

1. An H-1, temporary worker, or H-4, spouse or childof an H-1; or

2. An L-1, intracompany transferee, or L-2, spouse orchild of an L-1; or

3. A K-3, spouse, or K-4, child of a U.S. citizen; or

4. A V-2, spouse, or V-3, child of a lawful permanentresident; and

B. A Form I-485, Application to Register PermanentResidence or Adjust Status, was filed on your behalfand is pending with the USCIS.

However, upon returning to the United States, youmust present your valid H, L, K or V nonimmigrant visa and continue to remain eligible for that status.

I plan on overnighting that I-485 over to USCIS 5 minutes after we have our marriage certificate. Am I correct in thinking that travelling abroad after marriage for emergency or honeymoon won't be a problem, and that waiting for an I-131 to be approved isn't "really" necessary? Or since the K1 is only good for one entry, is it no longer "valid" for the above purposes once she enters the US to be wed?

I'm a bit confused about this, because information from various sources seems contradictory. If waiting on the I-131 is necessary, what if she leaves on emergency before that goes through? Hopefully that won't be too big a mess..

Thanks in advance!

As you highlighted above, K3 spouse visas don't need to have AP in order to travel abroad, simply because they have a multiple-entry visa. A K1 is different because the visa is valid for only one entry.

If there's ever an instance for your fiancee to travel abroad in the event of an emergency, she can apply for an emergency AP at your local Infopass office. This can be done regardless of whether she's in the process of applying for a regular AP, and shouldn't have any affect on that application. However, if you both intend to go abroad for an overseas honeymoon, you'll both have to wait until the I-131 is approved.

Right. K3 is not K1. Honeymoons are not emergencies but from what I've seen, the emergency for emergency AP doesn't really have to meet a high standard. A friend of mine got one for his wife, so she could go on a business trip with him and visit her family on the return. I suspect they may have engaged in some honeymoon-like activities during the trip.

I would just make an infopass appointment for a day or two after your planned marriage. You can do that in advance instead of waiting until you're married to go online to schedule it.

We see many threads with sad stories of K1 people leaving for emergencies without AP. They start over with a spouse visa process.

[Jesse and Hema 2]

Thanks for the replies, folks! Like an idiot, I misinterpreted the comma in "K3, Spouse, " to mean K3 OR spouse! Which wouldn't make sense anyway.

Thanks for the info about the emergency AP! I'm just trying to be prepared for all the "what-if's". And I would have not expected the consequences of leaving without AP to be as severe as having to start all over again! Now I know not to do that, no matter what

You folks rock!