worried about traveling soon

[rising spring 0]

hi everyone,

this kind of question probably gets asked quite often, but i don't have time to dig in he forum right now.

my GC expires september 27th. i sent in my I-751 packet yesterday. i am traveling to the bahamas from october 1st to the 8th.

my questions is this. do you think i will be getting some kind of receipt before i leave the country? if i don't, will they give me a hard time when i try to come back into the US with my expired GC?

thanks in advance.

[aidan80 9]

We're just about to send our packet in as well and I was thinking the same thing.. How long tell we get the NOA. I've no idea what the time frame is but I hope it's fast! I'm sure it'll get to you before your trip.. otherwise no trip for you I really wouldn't expect them to allow you back into the US if your card is expired and your status officially extended e.g. NOA.

If I were you I'd not leave the country without that NOA or an I-551 stamp in your passport if your card is expired.

Good Luck!

Edited September 17, 2008 by aidan80

[raymaga 25]

It usually takes 2 - 3 weeks to get the NOA for the Removal of Conditions process. If you only sent in your I-751 yesterday, it's doubtful (although not completely impossible) that you will have your NOA before you leave the U.S.

Without the NOA, which extends the validity of your GC for one year, you will NOT be allowed back into the U.S. upon your return from your trip. You could make an Infopass appointment to see if you could get a stamp in your passport, but a lot of local offices are not giving them anymore.

Good luck.

Edited September 17, 2008 by raymaga

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Make an Infopass appointment now for the week before you travel and if you don't have your NOA letter by then, go to the appointment. Bring copies of your travel documentation, your unexpired passport, your soon to be expired green card and your postal proof of its delivery to USCIS. Ask them for the I-551 stamp to be placed in your passport. If your application has been received and accepted they should be able to put the I-551 stamp in your passport. If it hasn't, they won't. If you do get the NOA, cancel the appointment.

You do need to have valid proof of your right to live in the US in order to return to the US. Without that proof, the airlines may not allow you to board the flight (they bear the costs of you being returned back to the originating destination if you are denied entry) or you may run into a hard time at immigration. With an expired green card you no longer have status in the US and would be unlikely to be allowed back in. If you can't get the I-551 stamp and your NOA doesn't arrive in time, you need to consider changing your travel plans if you wish to remain living in the US.

You're cutting it very close. Good luck.

Edited September 17, 2008 by Kathryn41

[antda 13]

Hi Vegangirl,

In answer to your question, as long as your green card is still valid, you can travel. However, after that, you will need an NOA extension letter after your green card expires. The NOA extension letter extends your green card for another year, while the I-751 is processing. If you do not have this NOA letter, you can get an I-551 stamp in your unexpired passport, which works the same way as the NOA letter. I don't think you can travel out of the country and then come back to the USA with an expired green card only, so you would need the additonal NOA or the I-551 stamp along with your expired green card before you go.

In my situation, I got my NOA extension a week after I sent and they recieved my I-751 application, so for you it shouldn't take that long either. And based on other VJ timelines, that I've looked at, others have recieved their NOA shortly (about 1-2 weeks) after they sent their application in.

As well, since you're also at the VSC, you can add your name and information to the following message thread list: "VSC I-751 Status List" (look for the last updated list on the last page), so you can see and track your progress too, compared to other VJers on the same long-waiting boat: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=110056

By the way, it's a co-incidence that I noticed that you're in the Buffalo, NY area as well. It's nice to meet another NYS VJer that is from the same area as I'm in too (though I'm actually 2-3 hrs away, but close enough). And it's a co-incidence too, that you're also from Canada like I am from. Wow, it's a small world after all, isn't it?

Have fun on your trip to the Bahamas (if you do get your NOA in time and can go).

Good luck too with the rest of your immigration journey.

Ant (Still waiting at the VSC, another fellow NYS VJer....)

hi everyone,

this kind of question probably gets asked quite often, but i don't have time to dig in he forum right now.

my GC expires september 27th. i sent in my I-751 packet yesterday. i am traveling to the bahamas from october 1st to the 8th.

my questions is this. do you think i will be getting some kind of receipt before i leave the country? if i don't, will they give me a hard time when i try to come back into the US with my expired GC?

thanks in advance.

Edited September 17, 2008 by AntandD

[rising spring 0]

Thank you for the answers everyone.

Pardon my ignorance though... Who do I contact about getting the I-551 stamp? My local immigration office? I need to figure this out ASAP. Someone mentioned that they don't give out those stamps anymore? Does anyone know for sure?...

Ant, I live in Erie, PA. So I am not directly in Buffalo either. Nice to meet another Canadian immigrant in the area!

Hi Vegangirl,

In answer to your question, as long as your green card is still valid, you can travel. However, after that, you will need an NOA extension letter after your green card expires. The NOA extension letter extends your green card for another year, while the I-751 is processing. If you do not have this NOA letter, you can get an I-551 stamp in your unexpired passport, which works the same way as the NOA letter. I don't think you can travel out of the country and then come back to the USA with an expired green card only, so you would need the additonal NOA or the I-551 stamp along with your expired green card before you go.

In my situation, I got my NOA extension a week after I sent and they recieved my I-751 application, so for you it shouldn't take that long either. And based on other VJ timelines, that I've looked at, others have recieved their NOA shortly (about 1-2 weeks) after they sent their application in.

As well, since you're also at the VSC, you can add your name and information to the following message thread list: "VSC I-751 Status List" (look for the last updated list on the last page), so you can see and track your progress too, compared to other VJers on the same long-waiting boat: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=110056

By the way, it's a co-incidence that I noticed that you're in the Buffalo, NY area as well. It's nice to meet another NYS VJer that is from the same area as I'm in too (though I'm actually 2-3 hrs away, but close enough). And it's a co-incidence too, that you're also from Canada like I am from. Wow, it's a small world after all, isn't it?

Have fun on your trip to the Bahamas (if you do get your NOA in time and can go).

Good luck too with the rest of your immigration journey.

Ant (Still waiting at the VSC, another fellow NYS VJer....)

[rising spring 0]

UPDATE:

i went ahead and scheduled an infopass appointment for next week. its out of town but i guess i have no choice.

does anyone know if they have been giving out the I-551 stamp lately? i just want to make sure this is not a waste of time.

thanks!

[antda 13]

Hi Vegangirl,

Good luck about getting your I-551 stamp. You should be able to make an infopass appointment, and get one at the local (lol...well maybe not too local in your case) Buffalo, NY location. The Buffalo, NY centre isn't too busy, so you should be able to get your stamp quickly then. Hope it's not a waste of time for you either, and you do get it done that day as scheduled, as you probably don't want to waste another long driving trip going there.

Who knows, maybe in the meantime you'll get your NOA extension letter too before your trip, so you might not have to worry about a I-551 stamp. But it's good to have both wiht you, just in case you have any problems while travelling.

Likewise, it's nice to meet another Canadian in the NYS/PA area too. It's odd how you live in PA and yet your local centre is in NYS. It does make sense geographically though, as Erie, PA is probably closer to Buffalo, NY (right on the NYS/PA border) than it is to other service centres in PA. I'm not from Erie, PA (I'm actually further east in NYS), but I do know where that is, and it's not way too far out of the way to Buffalo, NY (1-2hrs away, perhaps?). So it wouldn't be too long of a trip for you to go to the Buffalo, if need be, for immigration purposes.

Lol...funny how "Canadian" immigration seems to close, yet so far away, as one just moves over the border, and yet has to deal with immigration here in the USA. This is especially more evident so, to those who are living close to the Canada/USA border, which is quite rare. Do you go back and forth from the USA to visit Canada often since you are so close to tbe border?

It's a strange co-incidence too, that we both a) Live in more or less the same area, and have the same Buffalo, NY service centre b ) Are both from Canada c) And are both going through the same stage of the immigration process now (I-751). As I said before, "Small world, isn't it?". Definitely something to talk about further, indeed!

Anyways, Vegangirl, good luck with getting your I-551 stamp and your NOA and good luck too, with the rest of your immigration journey.

Ant (Still waiting at VSC....)

P.S. I'll be going next week too to Buffalo to do a "walk in" biometrics (hopefully I'll be successful at that, see other message thread for more info). Who knows, maybe we'll see each other at the service centre then without even knowing it...lol....

Thank you for the answers everyone.

Pardon my ignorance though... Who do I contact about getting the I-551 stamp? My local immigration office? I need to figure this out ASAP. Someone mentioned that they don't give out those stamps anymore? Does anyone know for sure?...

Ant, I live in Erie, PA. So I am not directly in Buffalo either. Nice to meet another Canadian immigrant in the area!

Hi Vegangirl,

In answer to your question, as long as your green card is still valid, you can travel. However, after that, you will need an NOA extension letter after your green card expires. The NOA extension letter extends your green card for another year, while the I-751 is processing. If you do not have this NOA letter, you can get an I-551 stamp in your unexpired passport, which works the same way as the NOA letter. I don't think you can travel out of the country and then come back to the USA with an expired green card only, so you would need the additonal NOA or the I-551 stamp along with your expired green card before you go.

In my situation, I got my NOA extension a week after I sent and they recieved my I-751 application, so for you it shouldn't take that long either. And based on other VJ timelines, that I've looked at, others have recieved their NOA shortly (about 1-2 weeks) after they sent their application in.

As well, since you're also at the VSC, you can add your name and information to the following message thread list: "VSC I-751 Status List" (look for the last updated list on the last page), so you can see and track your progress too, compared to other VJers on the same long-waiting boat: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=110056

By the way, it's a co-incidence that I noticed that you're in the Buffalo, NY area as well. It's nice to meet another NYS VJer that is from the same area as I'm in too (though I'm actually 2-3 hrs away, but close enough). And it's a co-incidence too, that you're also from Canada like I am from. Wow, it's a small world after all, isn't it?

Have fun on your trip to the Bahamas (if you do get your NOA in time and can go).

Good luck too with the rest of your immigration journey.

Ant (Still waiting at the VSC, another fellow NYS VJer....)

Edited September 17, 2008 by AntandD

[*JG* 2]

hi everyone,

this kind of question probably gets asked quite often, but i don't have time to dig in he forum right now.

my GC expires september 27th. i sent in my I-751 packet yesterday. i am traveling to the bahamas from october 1st to the 8th.

my questions is this. do you think i will be getting some kind of receipt before i leave the country? if i don't, will they give me a hard time when i try to come back into the US with my expired GC?

thanks in advance.

Look at my timeline. I think you are going to be fine. You should have the receipt very soon. That's all you need, along with your expired GC, and passport.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

If you are able to provide a valid reason for why you need the I-551 stamp prior to getting the receipt - ie - your imminent travel plans right after your card expires - AND the I-751 package has been received and accepted you should be able to get the stamp. You will probably be 'talked to' about cutting things so close with your travel plans, and there is a possibility if they show that the NOA has been mailed/issued already that they won't give the stamp but require you to wait for its arrival - that will be a discretionary decision by the agent you talk to. If that happens, hopefully you will receive your NOA before you travel. If you don't have the NOA and don't get the stamp, don't travel. (I know, not what you want to hear, but necessary to repeat). Good luck - I hope everything works out the way you want.

Edited September 17, 2008 by Kathryn41

[queendlee 1]

Its good to get the stamp just in case, my letter took almost 2 or 3 months to get to me... I applied 90 days before my expiration date and only got the letter days before it expired... and I was sweating bullets!

however, unless you get the letter or stamp, you will not be permitted back into the country