Traveling with expired greencard.

[Tarik 11]

Hi guys.

I'm getting ready to file I-751 next week and I have two questions I hope somebody can help me with :

1) How long does it take to receive the receipt letter from USCIS after you mail your package ?

2) I'm planning to travel outside USA in December even my greencard is gonna be expired at that time But I read the receipt of the I-751 petition letter from the USCIS authorize traveling, Has anybody traveled using it before if so did you have any problems ?

Thank you !

[Dakine 26]

Hi guys.

I'm getting ready to file I-751 next week and I have two questions I hope somebody can help me with :

1) How long does it take to receive the receipt letter from USCIS after you mail your package ?

2) I'm planning to travel outside USA in December even my greencard is gonna be expired at that time But I read the receipt of the I-751 petition letter from the USCIS authorize traveling, Has anybody traveled using it before if so did you have any problems ?

Thank you !

Easy! You should get the 1 year extension within a couple weeks. After you get it make an Infopass appointment and go get a temporary I-551 atamped in your passport.

CSC is fast and you should get your biometric appointment within a month or so. Obviously you can't leave until you do biometrics. If you have plenty evidence you "should get the 10 year GC without an interview. Most peeps do so.

Edited September 7, 2009 by Haole

[Tarik 11]

Infopass appointment and go get a temporary I-551 atamped in your passport .

How do I do that ? And I already have a I-551 in my passport but its gonna expire in December.

Hi guys.

I'm getting ready to file I-751 next week and I have two questions I hope somebody can help me with :

1) How long does it take to receive the receipt letter from USCIS after you mail your package ?

2) I'm planning to travel outside USA in December even my greencard is gonna be expired at that time But I read the receipt of the I-751 petition letter from the USCIS authorize traveling, Has anybody traveled using it before if so did you have any problems ?

Thank you !

Easy! You should get the 1 year extension within a couple weeks. After you get it make an Infopass appointment and go get a temporary I-551 atamped in your passport.

CSC is fast and you should get your biometric appointment within a month or so. Obviously you can't leave until you do biometrics. If you have plenty evidence you "should get the 10 year GC without an interview. Most peeps do so.

[Dakine 26]

Infopass appointment and go get a temporary I-551 atamped in your passport .

How do I do that ? And I already have a I-551 in my passport but its gonna expire in December.

Go get a updated I-551 or you can travel with the extension letter. Better to have both when you travel.

Edited September 7, 2009 by Haole

[gogal2020 0]

I doubt they will give you a new stamp until your current one expires and if you tell them you received your NOA they would tell you to use that to travel.

[mamaSue 38]

Tarik..... your baby is so cute!!!!

[Coco&Kitten 42]

Easy! You should get the 1 year extension within a couple weeks. After you get it make an Infopass appointment and go get a temporary I-551 atamped in your passport.

CSC is fast and you should get your biometric appointment within a month or so. Obviously you can't leave until you do biometrics. If you have plenty evidence you "should get the 10 year GC without an interview. Most peeps do so.

Why can't you leave until you do biometrics? shouldn't the NOA and the expired GC be enough to enter the country? We just mailed our I-751 and I am going back to Spain at the end of the month without doing biometrics. Of course my GC does not expire till November, so I should be ok if I come back before that.

Edited September 9, 2009 by Coco&Kitten

[Tarik 11]

Thank you

Tarik..... your baby is so cute!!!!

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Ideally, you don't want to leave before you do your biometrics because all of the work on your application stops until they can complete the security check from the biometrics fingerprints. As well, you will need to have someone here to receive the biometrics letter to let you know of the appointment time and to notify them that you need to reschedule if the appointment is for when you are still away. You definitely don't want to miss the biometrics appointment and not contact them about missing the appointment because they may consider you to have abandoned your application and close the file!

It is very unlikely that you will be able to receive the I-551 stamp if you have received the NOA 1 Receipt letter that extends your green card for one year. I have heard of very few people having problems using the NOA letter and their expired green card (they are used together) while travelling.

[NickD 202]

First time we could actually plan trips was after my wife received her USC and US passport. USCIS controls your life. But we did take a trip after she did make her biometrics appointment and carried that original one year extension notice with us, the only way we could get her back into this country. Get your I-751 with tons of evidence in as early as possible, 90 days before you conditional card expires. Good to send that overnight with a return receipt as evidence that you sent it in. USCIS has been known to lose applications, and you may need proof that it was received.

[Jamaican JNR 2]

Hi guys.

I'm getting ready to file I-751 next week and I have two questions I hope somebody can help me with :

1) How long does it take to receive the receipt letter from USCIS after you mail your package ?

2) I'm planning to travel outside USA in December even my greencard is gonna be expired at that time But I read the receipt of the I-751 petition letter from the USCIS authorize traveling, Has anybody traveled using it before if so did you have any problems ?

Thank you !

Best of luck

[NickD 202]

Hi guys.

I'm getting ready to file I-751 next week and I have two questions I hope somebody can help me with :

1) How long does it take to receive the receipt letter from USCIS after you mail your package ?

2) I'm planning to travel outside USA in December even my greencard is gonna be expired at that time But I read the receipt of the I-751 petition letter from the USCIS authorize traveling, Has anybody traveled using it before if so did you have any problems ?

Thank you !

Best of luck

The good news was, we received a letter from the USCIS within two weeks after we sent in our I-751. The bad news was, instead of a new green card in the envelop was that I-797c from starting to keep his as it is your one year extension. That is from the date your conditional permanent resident card expires. I did make a copy of it so my wife could carry that with her expire green card, couldn't even comprehend what would happen if she lost the original. But she never was questioned once about her green card. But we took the original with us when we left the country, she needed both her expired green card and that extension letter to get back in. In regards to getting an I-751, seems to depend highly on your field office. I called St. Paul, they won't even talk to you until your one year extension is within two weeks of expiring. This was panic to us as her one year extension was soon to expire, but it came exactly two weeks in before that expiration date. They love to keep you hanging. It's up to you to keep yourself legal, as her employer could be fined by our state for having an expired green card and the one year extension, told her to do something about it or they would have to release her. Even more tension.

We applied for USC exactly 89 days before her 3rd green card anniversary, sending in a copy of her one year extension notice and expired green card. She received her ten year card 75 days later and her interview was already scheduled, but did bring in a copy of her ten year card and the card. In total, she had that ten year card for seven weeks when they took it back when she received her certificate. Shortly after, we made another trip to her home country with her having a US passport, quite a difference with that on our return trip.

We always had people in our same boat ahead of us, our time seemed like an eternity, but it comes and goes. Can only suggest downloading the M-476 manual and N-400 now, read it, fill out the form, and gather all the evidence. Your time is coming when it will be all over for you too.

[britty 1]

I travelled internationally on an expired greencard but with one year extension letter. I had a really hard time coming back into the US. Apparently, although USCIS might say it is ok to travel on an expired greencard with supporting docs, the airports don't feel the same way.

[NickD 202]

I travelled internationally on an expired greencard but with one year extension letter. I had a really hard time coming back into the US. Apparently, although USCIS might say it is ok to travel on an expired greencard with supporting docs, the airports don't feel the same way.

Wife's female friends had problems returning, strip search and all that with interrogation, when my wife wanted to see her mom, went with her, was ready to kill if they gave her any problems. They did a strip search on my wife when she first came here, I was really pissed off, no reason for that and made a hell of a mess of her luggage. Was ready to kill about that, but she begged me just to get her out of the airport, but I did write my senator and congressman about that and talked about it again when I met them in person.

State normally issues an eight year drivers' license, when we went in, would only issue a license that expired on the same day as her green card. I went with her for a renewal, they refused to renew it saying what in the hell is this when we showed them her one year extension letter. I had to fight with our governor for over a week to get her license renewed. At first they would only renew it for the duration of her one year extension, that really made me angry. I am a veteran of a foreign war that was force to fight for the freedom of this country, they were taking away my freedom. And got sick of explaining why the damned USCIS is so slow.

We also had problems renewing her foreign passport, why in the hell should her country renew her passport when she is living her we were told. So you are here, but you are not here, was a very bad experience.

Our application was delayed due to that move from Nebraska to California I later learned, but as far as the idiots at the USCIS was concerned, it was still at Nebraska with a processing date set back a couple of years and that is what they went by. Finally contacted Senator Feingold, his office got all that straightened out for us. If I didn't, we still would be waiting. What a screwed up agency, that is why we immediately filed for USC. Wife was humiliated when her IO asked her three times if she was a prostitute, probably would have killed him to, maybe the ####### was trying to get some off of her. But it's all over now, with some very bitter memories.

[himher 634]

I knew someone who did NOT travel and re-entered after expiration. Luckily, with her husband. After a couple hours immigration let them pass but the only thing they asked for was the extension letter. SO, from that, I conclude that if you travel AND you have the extension letter then you are fine.