EllisAndRenz

1 hour ago, Lemonslice said:

The document has been updated since 2017.  

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

 

Which documents did your permanent resident spouse present at boarding?

Her Philippine passport, her (expired) green card and the I-797 extension letter showing it's validity.  Korean immigration refused to recognize the letter as valid.

After we were denied boarding to South Korea because the Korean immigration authorities would not accept the extension letter, we applied her for a Visa from the Korean consolate.  

Today we got back a rejection because they too fail too recognize the extension letter.

Is there any way to get a replacement GC with a valid expiration date?

Failing that I'll have to apply her for an N-400 and see how long that takes.  😞 

Open for thoughts.

On 4/26/2017 at 12:54 PM, Derwood said:

There have been quite a few posts recently regarding traveling on an expired GC with the one year extension letter.

 

Page 38 of this document provides some reassurance:

 

https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Carrier Information Guide- English.pdf

 

It also makes clear that the 12 month extension is from the card expiry date, not the receipt date of the I-797.

Interesting that CBP took down the above document.

7 minutes ago, Chancy said:

 

@OldUser is correct -- your wife will lose her Philippine citizenship the moment she takes her US oath.  Her Philippine passport becomes void by PH law at that point.  But she can reacquire her PH citizenship and apply for a new passport with a visit to the PH embassy in Washington DC.

 

Yeah, she's refusing to believe that ... (but she's stubborn as I've discussed earlier).  

She'll figure it out and deal with it as it happens.

I'm just hoping to get my long-term spouse visa to the Philippines before she loses her citizenship.  LOL

2 minutes ago, OldUser said:

She can keep it, but not automatically. She'd need to file some forms with Philippines government. Folks on this forum who went through US naturalization can give you set of steps. I'm not from Philippines so cannot comment.

 

Cc @Chancy

No worries. I appreciate the advice.  

She's happy to be American.  She'll figure the rest out.  (Only so much I can do)

4 minutes ago, OldUser said:

Make sure your wife goes through each question after you fill it. Ultimately, she's the one responsible for the answers and has to go through naturalization. 

 

Good luck and keep us updated!

 

Also, once she naturalizes in the US, she'll lose her Philippines citizenship. If she's interested in keeping it, she'd have to fill forms with her home country. 

 

Don't plan trips around naturalization interview and oath, or shortly after. She'll have to get a US passport first.

Actually a question:  She says she keeps her Philippine citizenship as well.  Is this not true?  
(I've considered getting Philippine citizenship for retirement ... but I'd have to give up US Citizenship .. as I understand it, that's not true in reverse).  Maybe I'm wrong.

3 minutes ago, OldUser said:

Make sure your wife goes through each question after you fill it. Ultimately, she's the one responsible for the answers and has to go through naturalization. 

 

Good luck and keep us updated!

 

Also, once she naturalizes in the US, she'll lose her Philippines citizenship. If she's interested in keeping it, she'd have to fill forms with her home country. 

 

Don't plan trips around naturalization interview and oath, or shortly after. She'll have to get a US passport first.

Oh, I get it.  She *always* sits next to me when I do this stuff.  (She just hates computers)

We travel to places she's good for, (her home, SE Asia, etc). she wants her US passport.  

15 minutes ago, OldUser said:

I don't think it's the case. I answered all questions based on your scenario and it showed eligible. You either answered something incorrectly or she's not eligible on some criteria based on your answers.

 

Remember to answer everything from your wife's perspective. She is the one applying for N-400. She's the petitioner and beneficiary  Did you answer question about being married to US citizen correctly?

 

My answers if I was your wife based on 3 year rule:

 

- Were one or both of your parents a U.S. citizen when you were born?

- No

 

- How old are you?

- 18 or older

 

- Are you a member of the U.S. armed forces?

- No

 

- Are you a lawful permanent resident?

- Yes

 

- When did you become a lawful permanent resident?

- Between April 28, 2019 and April 28, 2021

 

- Are you married to a U.S. citizen?

- Yes

 

- Have you been married for 3 years or longer?

- Yes

 

- Has your spouse been a U.S. citizen for 3 years or longer?

- Yes

 

- Have you left the United States in the past 3 years?

- Yes

 

- Have any of your trips outside of the United States been longer than 6 months?

- No

 

Result:

 

"You may be eligible to apply for naturalization."

 

I don't think this form would ever tell you "Yes, you're eligible". It says "may be eligible" because there are other neuances to immigration process and form cannot evaluate everything.

 

 

 

My answers to the questions:

Q: Were one or both of your parents a U.S. citizen when you were born?

A: No

Q: How old are you?
A: over 18

Q: Are you a member of the U.S. armed forces?
A: No

Q: Are you a lawful permanent resident?
A: Yes

Q: When did you become a lawful permanent resident?
A: Between April 28, 2019 and April 28, 2021

Q: Are you married to a US Citizen?
A: Yes

Q: Have you been married for 3 years or longer?
A: Yes

Q: Has your spouse been a U.S. citizen for 3 years or longer?
A: Yes

Q: Have any of your trips outside of the United States been longer than 6 months?
A: No

... AND now this time it says eligible. Maybe a glitch earlier?  No idea.  

Either way I'll submit the form (and the fee $$) 

Getting her a US Passport will be so much better than what we are dealing with.  She's been amazing thru this process.  (As have all of you with the support)

16 minutes ago, OldUser said:

Or the OP hasn't been a US citizen for the last 3 years which he should, since she went through K-1

I was born here.  🙂 

35 minutes ago, OldUser said:

Not guaranteed either, unfortunately.

You mean they might not let her back in the country with that letter?  
I really wish they'd just issue a new card. 

20 minutes ago, OldUser said:

1. Did she have any trips over 6 months outside of the US since becoming an LPR?

2. Are you a US citizen?

3. Did she answer questions correctly?

1. NO

2. Yes

3. I filled it out correctly on her behalf.

I did some more digging.  Apparently, that form will always kick back "may not be eligible" for anything under five years.  But following their "path to citzenship" link, it clearly states three years if married to a US citizen.  So I guess I'll just get her to submit it.  

4 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

I used the N-400 eligibility tool.  I marked this range:

Naturalization Eligibility Tool | USCIS

That's the range I plugged in as well.

Follow-up question on this thread:

I just went thru the N400 eligibility tool.  Wife's green card is dated 10/13/20.  Tool says she is not yet eligible.  I thought it was three years?

18 minutes ago, OldUser said:

Why do you only have 2 year extension? USCIS been sending 48 month letters for newly filed and pending cases for a while now.

I had to pull it out and look.  You are correct.  It's 48 months.  

FYI: Republic of Korea didn't recognize or honor the letter and instead went by the expired date on her green card.  Denied her admission.  So be careful.  Seems the only country guaranteed to recognize it as a valid extension is the USA.

3 hours ago, Dashinka said:

You do not have to wait for the ROC to be completed to file the N400 if you desire to naturalize.  Sometimes filing the N400 kick starts the ROC (YMMV), but in the end, if naturalization is the ultimate goal, there is no reason to wait to file.

I think we will do this.  I am reading here that there is an online application form?  I don't need to mail a stack of papers and documents this time?  

We are past three years, but we are still *STILL* waiting for her removal of conditions to be processed.  We are on the 2 year extension letter and it seems it will never happen.  😞 

On 1/7/2024 at 12:14 PM, OldUser said:

Print the Carrier Information Guide to show to airline staff if they're confused. Also, always call for manager, many of them are trained better than others on their team. 

Airlines pay a lot of $$$$ if they make a mistake boarding somebody who's not eligible to enter the US. That's why they sometimes erroneously deny people not to take a risk of financial loss.

The problem was they called immigration in South Korea who wouldn't approve boarding with the letter.  I already had the manager involved at the airline.  

It cost me a lot of money ...  I wish I could have avoided it.  

On 1/7/2024 at 12:05 PM, 854Turbo said:

This is incredibly frustrating. Who ever thought that it was a good idea to deputize airline employees as U.S. immigration officials? I have upcoming international travel in a couple of months and will be traveling with the expired GC and i-797 extension. I hope I don't run into issues, and if I do that I would be able to argue successfully (since the letter LITERALLY says that it extends the applicant's ability to work and travel).

My wife's letter stated the same.  It didn't matter to the ROK officials at Inchon who wouldn't give the green light for the airline to allow us to board.   Hard to argue when you can't even get to the same country to see the official.  

7 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

This is great.

This is the easiest part of the process, and well worth it in multiple ways.

It's been great going thru this process with everyone here.  

2 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

Ellis, what a story!  Thanks for returning with the details.  Your positive attitude (especially considering the extra $$$) is admirable.  Better luck next time, and hopefully with an actual card and appropriate visas in hand.

Yeah, thanks for that.  I appreciate it.
But what are you going to do?  This was our much delayed honeymoon.  I wasn't going to let anything spoil it.  

What was nice is that I used to go to Thailand so much for work (and oddly, they still remembered me) that the hotel was awesome when we came back from the airport.  We told them what happened, and they went way out of their way to make the rest of our stay amazing.  I'm forever grateful.  Wife fell in love with Thailand (she had never been before).  In fact, we are going to go back at the end of this year after we visit her family in the Philippines.  

Things did turn out amazing for us ... even if we had to work for it.  🙂 

Hopefully, they will process her green card soon.  I'm about ready to apply for naturalization for her.  

On 12/24/2023 at 8:46 PM, OldUser said:

Sorry to hear about that. What ports denied I-797? Please share your experience for others to be aware. I personally never had big issues with extension letter.  Wishing you happy holidays and a speedy approval!

Republic of Korea (Inchon).  They specifically said they wouldn't take the extension letter if the date on the card was expired.  The embassy subsequently told me that was incorrect, but that really doesn't help.

(I just made another post about that ..)

On 12/29/2023 at 3:49 PM, namle138 said:

Hi @EllisAndRenz! How did your trip go? Any update on the Korea leg?

Yeah, since you asked.  

Prior to leaving for the trip, I called the Embassy in Atlanta and they assured me we woudln't have a problem.  

When we got to the airport and were ready to board Asiana they called immigration in Korea.  The immigration officer there wouldn't accept the extension letter so long as the expiration date on the actual green card was expired.  So, we were denied boarding.  Asiana showed us as "abandoning the flight", so we couldn't even get a refund.  

(I've since contacted the embassy again about this matter, and they said the ROK immigration officer was wrong, not that it's any recourse).

All wasn't lost.  We spent an extra three days in Thailand and had a great time.  But, I had to buy a new ticket home.  Due to the last minute booking, it cost me an extra $2400 which wasn't expected for our trip.  Making matters worse, it was a long flight.  Bangkok - Abu Dhabi - Dublin, Ireland and then back to Florida.  (Qatar seats were REALLY uncomfortable).  Air Lingus was much better, but it's the first airline that I can recall that charges you for everything on International.  

That said: When we got to Dublin we learned that the airport doesn't have a "transit" area so we also had to clear immigration.  Wife didn't have an EU visa.  We explained it, and the immigration officer was REALLY nice.  He granted her a 24 hour Visa rather than being deported.  (So we got to see Ireland for a few hours during our 10 hour layover).  

All of this could have been avoided if the USA would have just issued a new card with a current expiration date.  

We are actually applying for her to get a tourist Visa for Korea now so she can go and visit.  (Technically she shouldn't need one, but this time not taking a chance).

We are well over two years at this point.  I have to look and see when, but I fear we are going to hit the end of the extension letter.  
(That extension letter by the way is often rejected at foreign ports of entry, they should have sent us an updated card)

Frustrating.

So I just read the entire doc again.  It looks good.

I'm going to send a question with the document over to the embassy for validation and wait for their reply.  (Best to be safe and verify)

8 minutes ago, Boiler said:

The plan is now to transit and not stay 3 days?

Staying three days.  Page 2 of that document says "Visa Status and Period of stay: Tourist Transit (B-2), 30 days."  

So essentially the same as USA Visa Free arrival.

3 minutes ago, OldUser said:

@EllisAndRenz the page you posted doesn't have any occurence of word "visa".

 

I found this page:

https://www.visa.go.kr/openPage.do?MENU_ID=1010201

 

It says yes, green card holders can transit through Korea visa free if flying to or from the US. However, there's asterisk saying it's suspended due to COVID-19. I'd double check with other source.

 

Good catch.  That's a private company and may be outdated. Korea lifted their COVID restrictions.

I just found on the embassy page this:  (It says the policy resumed on April 30, 2023)

https://overseas.mofa.go.kr/us-en/brd/m_4500/view.do?seq=761063&page=1

１. Visa Free Entry for Third Country Transit Passengers .

      (Resume April 30, 2023)

  □ Eligibility (excluding nationals of 23 countries* that are not granted visa free entry to Jeju)

     * Syria, Sudan, Iran, Cuba, Kosovo, Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Ghana, Yemen, Gambia, Senegal, Bangladesh, 

        Kyrgyz, Pakistan, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Nepal, Cameroon, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Egypt

    ◦ Nationals of countries that need a visa to enter Korea, and meets either ① or ② of the below 

       ① hold a visa (including permanent residency, re-entry permit) to enter either the U. S. (including Guam and Saipan), Canada, Australia, or New Zealand and △ transit through Korea to enter one of the abovementioned 4 countries or △ has stayed in and departed from one of the abovementioned 4 countries and transit through Korea bound for the country of origin or a third country 

So here is an update.  I inquired about a "visa free tour" at Incheon airport.  I got this reply from the airport crew.  It's not the embassy, but I would think their information is accurate.  (The first line of their message is key, I hade it bold and underlined).  

She shouldn't need a visa if we are headed to the USA and she holds a green card.  W00t!  

Some days you are good, some days you simply dodge bullets.  

Thanks all for the input.  One of you all said something that triggered me to look out to the airport, so thank you.

---

1 minute ago, top_secret said:

I'm almost certain that US green card holders who are flying an itinerary to or from the US are exempt from South Korean visa requirements for up to 30 days.

Subsequent to our above conversation, I did find that on the Korean consulate page.  It's a 30-day Visa Exemption, for US, Canada, Australia and NZ.  It seems to say (paraphrased) if the passenger is destined for the USA while transiting thru Korea and holds a valid Visa or Residency to enter (the USA) they are waved from the Visa requirement.

Now I'm trying to get an embassy to confirm this.  I can't get anyone to answer the phone.  There is also a blurb that the Visa must be affixed to her passport, but she's a green card holder (with an extension letter).  So I have NO idea what to expect.  

Hopefully I'll get ahold of someone soon.  I am surprised the Embassy didn't mention this when I was corresponding with them.

Thank you.  This trip *might* be salvageable.