dunebuggy

I think its not worth it to pay $660 dollars for a reentry permit....Also, there is no guarantee that the biometrics appointment gonna be in 5-6 weeks. It can take, 4 months, for example, or they can just "waive" ( re-use ) your fingerprints
I really don't believe that you gonna have any problem returning to the US without a reentry permit ( travel under 12 months )
 
My experience: my job sometimes needs me to stay long time overseas.
 
Im got my green card in 2018. in 2019 I stayed 11 months overseas..... in 2021 I stayed, again, 11 months overseas...
They did not ask me anything coming back....
 
but...
 
This year ( 2023 ) I stayed 4 months overseas, when I came back ( last week, ) the CBP agent  first question was( and that was super weird ) : - do you still live here? ( was weird because he asked me that before he "scanned" my documents /  ( I really believe they have face recognition and he knew my situation before I gave them my documents.....maybe not...but it was super weird ). then he asked me where I was going, why I was overseas, and If Im leaving the country, again, soon.
 
So I decided to apply for a reentry permit coz if my company decides to send me overseas again, I get some "protection" with the reentry permit
 
But Im just sharing my experience...your situation is very different. 😄
 
 
 
 
 

Yes, because CBP generally suspects abandonment of LPR status after 181 or more consecutive days of absence.
 
That soon? IMO most are never approved before the 24 months.
 
Any way it does not matter. You can leave the U.S. once you have your I-131 receipt,
 
When you enter 11 months later, have the receipt ready if CBP complains about your 11 month absence. Refuse to sign I-407. If they take your gc they must give you an I-551 stamp and a notice to appear (NTA) in immigration court. Your re-entry permit application receipt is solid evidence you did not intend to abandon your LPR status. You will win in immigration court. 

Welcome to the forum.
 
1.  If you have a receipt notice for your application, you can show it to the CBP agent at port of entry, and you might be granted re-entry without much hassle even after more than a year away.
 
Have you opened an inquiry with your Congressman's immigration liaison?  Doing so may pry the case loose.

We finally got our card printed! Went to the interview in Portland, Oregon, but were denied entry before security due to having traveled outside of the US within the last 10 days (even with negative PCR test). 
 
Then a few hours later, received the notice. I suppose all's well that ends well 😊
 
Application Type: I751, PETITION TO REMOVE CONDITIONS ON RESIDENCE
 
Your Case Status: Card/ Document Production
 
On April 16, 2021, we ordered your new card for Receipt Number MSCXXXXXX, and will mail it to the address you gave us. 
 

This is a different issue than keeping your green card. This is regarding the continuous residence requirements for naturalization. However you can be confident that if you meet the conditions to rebut the presumption of a break in continuous residence then you will certainly not have a problem re-entering, as the requirements for doing this are more stringent than the requirements for maintaining your green card. Which, again, is a requirement to return with less than a year’s absence. (But don’t forget to file your tax return either.)
 

Here's a follow up in case it helps someone... 
 
1. Got the boarding foil from the consulate in our country. Pretty smooth, make sure you have at least one page completely empty for the foil. 
 
2. Immigration at SFO - the CBP agent was nice but pretty skeptical of our story. She asked if we're planning on living here, we said yes and that we're trying to move back but it was delayed due to Covid-19... She asked a few more questions and don't think she totally bought it but she let us in anyway. I showed her our i-551 travel document but because it expired in 2019 she kept it, no worries I suppose. 
 
 

So here's how it went... the theme of unnecessary drama continued....
 
Immigration at SFO - the CBP agent was nice but pretty skeptical of our story. She asked if we're planning on living here, we said yes and that we're trying to move back but it was delayed due to Covid-19... She asked a few more questions and don't think she totally bought it but she let us in anyway. I showed her our i-551 travel document but because it expired in 2019 she kept it, no worries I suppose. 
  USCIS ROC "Interview" (Portland, Oregon) - showed up a bit early, they told us to come back 15 mins before the appointment time. Once we came back, before going through security, there was a sheet of paper with several declarations we needed to make, including that we had not been outside the US within the last 10 days. When we declared that we had, they wouldn't let us pass security and told us our appointment would be automatically rescheduled. This was NOT what we wanted to hear, especially after a looooooong flight.    Then, about three hours later, I received an email that the new card was being produced! USCIS truly works in mysterious ways... we already had an interview before receiving the initial GC, so we were a bit disappointed we were called for another one. I suppose all's well that ends well, but you won't catch us celebrating until we have that little green card in our hot little hands! Thanks to everyone for your assistance and wishing others a less dramatic process  

So here's how it went... the theme of unnecessary drama continued....
 
Immigration at SFO - the CBP agent was nice but pretty skeptical of our story. She asked if we're planning on living here, we said yes and that we're trying to move back but it was delayed due to Covid-19... She asked a few more questions and don't think she totally bought it but she let us in anyway. I showed her our i-551 travel document but because it expired in 2019 she kept it, no worries I suppose. 
  USCIS ROC "Interview" (Portland, Oregon) - showed up a bit early, they told us to come back 15 mins before the appointment time. Once we came back, before going through security, there was a sheet of paper with several declarations we needed to make, including that we had not been outside the US within the last 10 days. When we declared that we had, they wouldn't let us pass security and told us our appointment would be automatically rescheduled. This was NOT what we wanted to hear, especially after a looooooong flight.    Then, about three hours later, I received an email that the new card was being produced! USCIS truly works in mysterious ways... we already had an interview before receiving the initial GC, so we were a bit disappointed we were called for another one. I suppose all's well that ends well, but you won't catch us celebrating until we have that little green card in our hot little hands! Thanks to everyone for your assistance and wishing others a less dramatic process  

So here's how it went... the theme of unnecessary drama continued....
 
Immigration at SFO - the CBP agent was nice but pretty skeptical of our story. She asked if we're planning on living here, we said yes and that we're trying to move back but it was delayed due to Covid-19... She asked a few more questions and don't think she totally bought it but she let us in anyway. I showed her our i-551 travel document but because it expired in 2019 she kept it, no worries I suppose. 
  USCIS ROC "Interview" (Portland, Oregon) - showed up a bit early, they told us to come back 15 mins before the appointment time. Once we came back, before going through security, there was a sheet of paper with several declarations we needed to make, including that we had not been outside the US within the last 10 days. When we declared that we had, they wouldn't let us pass security and told us our appointment would be automatically rescheduled. This was NOT what we wanted to hear, especially after a looooooong flight.    Then, about three hours later, I received an email that the new card was being produced! USCIS truly works in mysterious ways... we already had an interview before receiving the initial GC, so we were a bit disappointed we were called for another one. I suppose all's well that ends well, but you won't catch us celebrating until we have that little green card in our hot little hands! Thanks to everyone for your assistance and wishing others a less dramatic process  

True story... many within USCIS make it up as they go, lie, and deceive - largely because they can, and for the most part are accountable to no-one. There are some good honest people there, but others are frankly scum and have no business in the position they are in. 
 
The 50+ page service motion request & complaint I recently sent regarding my recent second denied I-751 due to a very clear failure to follow policy and procedure is a perfect example of this, but I predict it will be ignored.....mainly because they can. 
 
 

All done! My interviews went great and it was a really fast and painless process for me (This was the PDX field office).
Got there a bit early and just had to wait outside until we were at 15 minutes before appointment time. Went through security (very few people, very clean, everyone wearing masks!)
Husband and I promptly got called in at our appointment time. 

The officer we had was super friendly, upbeat and really nice. We started off with the RoC appointment, the whole thing lasted all of maybe 5 minutes.
We were asked when we got married and if we were still married, what our mailing address was (for the sake of notices being sent), we mentioned we just bought a house and were moving in 3 weeks, he congratulated us and mentioned that he thought that should be fine in terms of getting any further notices, we were then asked
how we met (we rambled a little bit) and mentioned we have a baby due in August and also confirmed where I immigrated from. Officer was satisfied with all that and seemed happy with just the "still married, bought a house and having a baby", and did not ask for a single document to prove anything. The only thing we were asked for was ID (husbands license and I was asked for my expired GC). We made a little bit of small talk outside of that. 
We were then told I was approved for my ROC, that he'd need 5-10 minutes to process it and we would be sent back out to the waiting room, after which he'd call me back for my naturalisation interview. 

Waited about 10 minutes and was called back alone for my naturalisation interview. He confirmed all my details again (name, DOB, marital status, country immigrating from etc.)
We then did the civics test, I was asked 6 questions and then made to do the reading/writing portion (all on an ipad, I just had to read out a question and then do the written answer. Super easy).
After that it was just going over all the usual questions confirming things like no acts of terrorism, never been arrested for anything, not lied about anything etc. 
We made small talk while he processed some things. All in all, it was probably only 5-10 minutes long. Again, no documentation required at all, he just took a quick look at my expired GC again.
I was then given a printout and was told he was recommending me for naturalisation and that had I passed the interview  

Oath ceremony will be in a few weeks and I'll be notified of an exact time and date through the mail!

Glad to hear that the boarding foil worked out. An expensive lesson for you!
 
Good luck...
 

As an update, we received the boarding foil and fly out tomorrow morning. Port of Entry will be SFO. Our removal of conditions interview is Friday. Crossing fingers we make it 🤞🤞🤞

Quick update and PSA in case it helps someone: you need at least one completely blank page in your passport for the boarding foil! The last two pages don't count apparently. Perhaps this seems obvious but it wasn't mentioned on the official website instructions... need to get a new passport now and will be cutting it very close🤷‍♀️

As an update, we received the boarding foil and fly out tomorrow morning. Port of Entry will be SFO. Our removal of conditions interview is Friday. Crossing fingers we make it 🤞🤞🤞

Hello, 
 
I have been in Canada for a a few months due to Covid and it's now time for me to return home to New York. My greencard expired on 2/25/19 and my extension letter expires this month, on August 25. I HAD airline travel booked for the 24th but it has now been cancelled, and I'm finding it very difficult to get a flight out of here before then now. I am definitely going to keep trying my hardest to leave before then.
In the event that it's impossible for me to do so, do I have any options, especially during COVID? I know that my *status* doesn't expire, just the extension letter and therefore the proof of my status expires. Is there any option for me to get the stamp in my passport from an embassy or consulate here in Canada? Will I have a lot of trouble at the airport or would it be a scenario of some extra chatting and the immigration officers looking up proof?
 
Any help appreciated!

Your wife's status does not expire when the extension letter does.  Only her evidence of her LPR status expires.  If she needs evidence of her LPR status (for travel, work, etc.), she can get an appointment at a local USCIS office to get her passport stamped.
 
By the way, my wife's extension letter expires in December 2020....😀  We filed her I-751 in March 2019......waiting for interview since May 2019.
 
I see no need for an attorney.

If your Green Card has expired, you will need the ORIGINAL extension letter and your plastic card to even board a flight.  I suggest you contact the nearest US embassy/consulate and attempt to get a boarding foil.  If you can get to the US border, you will, likely, be allowed into the country.  The only other option I can think of is to contact USCIS and wait for them to re-issue an extension letter.  That could take a long, long time.

Finally after 20 months of waiting! Card is being produced!
 
April 5, 2021 New Card Is Being Produced June 16, 2020 We transferred your Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, to another USCIS office that now has jurisdiction over your case. June 15, 2020 The fingerprints relating to your Form I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, were taken. June 15, 2020 Your Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, was transferred to another office for processing. August 7, 2019 We received your Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence.

ROC packet sent 07August2020. 
Biometrics waived. 
29March2021 received I-797 advising removal of conditions was approved and 10 year green card will be sent within 60 days. 
7 months from start to finish. 
Good luck to everyone still waiting. They’re screaming fast now. 

Definitely. 
Where are you now?

Yeah, I understand that. For those of us coming from a European country, the value of a US Green Card/Passport may not appear to be as high for some other. But I guess it all depends on what you guys want to do in the future. I would be eligible to apply for citizenship in less than a year by meeting the 3-year rule, but it's difficult for me to know what to do. Like your husband, I've got a Swedish passport.
 
We are going to stay in the US until foreseeable future because of my wife's employment. That was a major reason why we even decided that after getting married I would apply for US residence, rather her coming to Sweden. I make peanuts (well, unemployed for a year now thanks to Covid), and I hate here how little hard-working employee are valued here--and we live on the West Coast where the minimum wage is much better than the federal minimum wage! I have struggled, and still struggle, a lot with kind of home sickness (WHERE is home?), especially since finding employment here has been such a pain. And unless you live in a big city, you're stuck without a driver's license (me). At least in Sweden if you live in an urban area, you can manage getting to places with public transportation.
 
I wouldn't mind living abroad in the future, but on the other hand I don't want to ever have to be dealing with USCIS again. Just with the curveballs so far during our removal of conditions process, I'm already fed up with their ineffectivity and how they seemingly are not responsible to anyone for their errors... I don't want move somewhere else, and then go through the whole IR-1 process again, UGH. On the other hand, I don't want to deal with filing for US taxes. Everyone just has to find what works in their situation, I suppose 

at this time, my husband has no desire to get US citizenship. He is from Sweden, and has a "better" passport then ours. And he hates the political atmosphere here, so doesn't want to be tied to such negativity. Shoot, there were times when I was living in Mexico, I would tell ppl I was Canadian. 

The US address for sure to reduce the probability that the gc holder is given a notice to appear in immigration court.  
 
Note I wrote “reduce” and not “eliminate” This pattern is high risk regardless.  Hopefully the gc holder has a reentry permit.  

We may be in a pickle: we are currently abroad and have an expired green card AND expired extension letter (2 yr GC expired Aug 11, 2019; 18 month extension letter thus expired Feb 11, 2021). We need to travel back to the US for a I-751 interview in April. Has anyone else been in this situation with "double expiration"? Thanks