traveling with pending I-751's... requesting I-551 stamps

[maya62 7]

We are getting ready to return to Nepal for a 2 week visit, and have NOA-1's for my husband and son, in addition to their expired greencards. As the time approaches, I have read everything I could find about I-551's and would feel much more secure (perhaps falsely so) if we had something more than just a letter. I think I'd rather lose my passport than those letters! Yeesh.

I am just wondering if anyone has had any luck, in the same situation, with making an Infopass appt in Fairfax and requesting an I-551 stamp in their passport? We are traveling in mid-June, so now would be the time to do it, but I don't want to make the effort if others have been consistently unsuccessful, and it seems like USCIS, on the whole, is very inconsistent from one local office to the next (and maybe even within a given local office) about granting I-551 stamps.

Any feedback?

Thanks!

Maya

[YuAndDan 153]

You can always try, the worse they can do is tell you that this is what the letters are for.

[LastSurvivor 0]

All you need is the letter. Not sure why you want to bother with the hassle.

LS

[ELW 5]

If I were in your position, I would try anyway. Officially yes, the extension letter is enough. But just recently on this forum someone entering the country with it got pulled aside, questioned whether the letter was a fake, and had to wait while they looked it up on a computer system. Go ahead and schedule in Infopass and ask. As YuAndDan said, worst that could happen is they tell you the letter is enough. Worth the risk, if you ask me!

[maya62 7]

Thanks guys, for the feedback.

Eileen, I saw that thread and it was one of the things (that and the fact that our departure date is fast approaching) that made me think pretty much what Yu and Dan said... what can it hurt to ask? I think I will try, just for one more layer of insurance.

Thanks again...

Maya

Edited May 8, 2009 by maya62

[Imua 0]

Good luck - looking forward to meeting you guys.

[maya62 7]

Just thought I'd update this thread...

On Friday May 8, we recieved letters from our local USCIS office (Washington DC/Fairfax, VA) saying that the 10 greencards had been approved and we would get them in the next 60 days. Since we are going back to Nepal in about 30 days, I have been hoping they would arrive before our trip. Well, they arrived last night! Yay!

It is curious, imho, that the approval letter came from our local office, but the cards themselves clearly came from VSC in St. Albans, VT. I wonder if that is true for everyone who goes through VSC? And what role does the local office play in the Removal of Conditions?

So we are happily and busily preparing for our trip back to Nepal. And Dolma-bahini, we are looking forward to meeting you too!

VJ meetup in Kathmandu at the end of June! Be there or be somewhere else!

Thanks everyone for all the good advice and hand-holding...

Maya

[ELW 5]

Congrats Maya that the green card came in time! :dance: We can't be at the Nepal VJ meet up but expect a report later! Have fun Pattu and Maya, Happy Journey!!!

[maya62 7]

I also wanted to add that our case status online has not been updated since our NOA-1's were issued back in Dec '08.

Thanks ELW! I was kinda joking about the VJ meetup (and haven't discussed it with Dolma either...) but it would be fun to do one from the subcontinent some day... maybe in the US, eh?

We'll post pix if Dolma is willing...

Maya

PS I see you are filing for removing conditions soon... good luck and may you have as smooth and speedy a process as we did!

Edited May 19, 2009 by maya62