is it a bad idea to travel during the 90 day period

[vince_w 0]

My green card expires on 4 June 2009 and I'm looking to file the I-751. My wife and I want to go abroad for the next few months on 8 March 2009.

Is it a bad idea to leave the US without having filed the I-751, and come back before 4June (for e.g. 26May) and then file the I-751? Will we have trouble with immigration at the airport if I have a GC that's expiring in a few days and I don't have an extension letter?

The reason we don't want to file now before we leave is that we don't want to miss the biometric appointment if the date is set during the days we're out of the country. Does anyone have recommendations given my timeline? We're feeling very lost and stressed since we don't know who else to ask.

[YuAndDan 153]

As long as you enter the country before the card's expiration you will not have a problem.

Perhaps mail the I-751 package 2 weeks to a month before returning to the USA.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

You should be alright. Make sure you have the bulk of the work done before you leave so that you just have to fill in the last minute details (copies of your travel itinerary of your recent trip, for example) and get it in the mail asap just in case there is a problem and the file is returned to you making its re-submission late. You don't want to miss your filing date. You absolutely have to be back in the country prior to your green card expiring though regardless of overseas emergencies so make sure you don't cut things too close to the wire.

Edited February 23, 2009 by Kathryn41

[46]

As long as you can make it back with a week to spare, you're fine. That said, do you want to risk it? I once had a friend who was trapped in Nepal for two weeks when the King declared Marshall Law.

Don't you have a friend who could shove your completed package in the mail for you on May 20th or so?

[Italian_in_NYC 259]

I re-entered the US 18 days before my GC expired last October.

No question asked.

[maya62 7]

I agree with Gerard...

You didn't say if you were going to Nepal, but either way, travel can be unpredictable, and that goes double in Nepal! I've had too many flight delays and schedule changes in my trips back and forth, including a delay of several days in 2005 after the "coup". And the current govt is not really that stable, imho.

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, eh?

Best of luck,

Maya