I751 Application and travel requirement

[myrina 0]

Hi,

I am new to the group, ran into it when I was doing a search on my status and figured you,experienced people might have more answers than some other web sites willing to give.

I have a Temporary greencard that expired on May 10,2008. I applied to remove the two year condition in February. I received Notice of Appointment for Biometrics scheduled for April and went to that. Then I got my passport stamped son after that. But so far, I have not received Receipt of Notice! I thought that was supposed to come as the first thing.

I thought I was set and would just wait for a year for the card the arrive and made arrangements to go to Turkey to see my family. I called the USCIS center just in case I have all the documents I need to get back in the country. The person on the phone said that I need the Receipt of Notice, because that is where it says "Case is pending, you can still work and travel". Without that she said, I cant come back.

So I told her if they can re-send it since I did not receive it. My request went to the Texas Service Center and they told me to wait for 45 days. I called on July 9th according to the records and a letter arrived just yesterday (August 15), saying that CR-89 can not be approved until I751 is approved. If I need an extension on my passport, I should take that letter and go to the appointment to get a stamp. But this is not "re-sending the Receipt of Notice". This is telling me to do the same thing I have done and told them several times on the phone that it has been done, I need to travel and if I really need the Receipt of Notice"

I am taking this as I really do not need that RON and I can go ahead and travel out-of-country and come back still since I have that stamp. Just wondering if anybody in this situation tried to travel out-of-country and got problems at the airport. It is so hard sometimes to get a straight answer on the phone ..and what is the use of it anyway since it is not a written response and cant prove it at the immigration desk at the airport

Thanks for reading!

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Welcome to the club! Between the end of January and early May TSC did not send out any NOA notifications. They were aware of the problem and were supposed to correct it, but when they started to send out notifications again they did not go back and fill in the missing ones. All of the files submitted to TSC have been transferred to VSC since TSC isn't - and hasn't been for about a year and a bit - doing I-751s. VSC did send out a few NOAs upon request to a few applicants but the majority of us, myself included, never received one. I too phoned and requested a copy of my receipt notice and one was promised to me within 30 days but it never arrived and it has been months now.

Basically, we have all just gone and had our passports stamped with the I-551 stamp and the USCIS centers were already well aware of the problems with the non-existent NOAs. I travelled to and from Canada 2 weeks ago with the I-551 stamp in my passport. Upon return to the US border the border guard asked our status (I was with my USC husband). We replied US Citizen and Canadian Citizen with US permanent residency. He asked to see my greencard and I said "I have the passport stamp instead". He looked at the stamp, handed back our identifications and said we were good to go - no problems.

Yes, the 1-800 line won't give you any useful information - it is not manned by USCIS immigration staff but only by low paid call center personnel. They have a script in front of them and can't give you any more information than is on the script. It is known more accurately as the 'mis-information line'.

So, no, you are fine with the stamp in your passport - that acts as your green card until you get your new 10 year card. Carry your expired greencard with you and a copy of your biometrics as back up but I doubt you would need it. US immigration personnel accept the stamp without a problem.

Edited August 16, 2008 by Kathryn41

[myrina 0]

Thanks a lot for the information. This is something they never told me - about not having sent the NOAs. i already travel with the copies of everything when I travel overseas so I can keep everything ready if they hold me at the airtport for a while.

Thanks for the reply. Made me feel better about traveling now.

Ilke