In case the Green Card doesn't arrive

[yehaww 0]

My wife and I passed our interview on the 30th, in Los Angeles. The problem is that the Green Card may not arrive before she was supposed to leave on a trip back to Sweden, that was planned 2 or 3 months ago, long before our interview was scheduled. We have Travel Parole's, but were informed that they were no longer valid since she's been approved for the Green Card. So we are now in that grey area, where she's approved, but has no proof to take with her if the GC doesn't arrive this week. The interviewer said something about if it doesn't arrive, we could schedule a last minute appt and maybe get her passport stamped. I forget what she called it. I had the term written down but can't find it. It seemed to be an appt that can be scheduled a day or two in advance. Has anyone done this or know what it's called?

[Inky 1,110]

Its called an infopass and some times it can be sheduald in a day or two sometimes its weeks or months. It depends on your local center.

[yehaww 0]

That's it. Infopass. Thanks so much.

[yehaww 0]

Just went to the site and they don't have anything available before she leaves. Maybe I'll try to give them a call tomorrow.

[Inky 1,110]

Just went to the site and they don't have anything available before she leaves. Maybe I'll try to give them a call tomorrow.

Sorry they dont have anything available.. Hope you guys can get it sorted out or her card arrives like right before she leaves!

[yehaww 0]

Yeah, this sucks. I'm having a hard time getting through to the USCIS office to ask. If the card doesn't arrive, will there be an issue for my wife leaving the US? I guess they would just be checking her passport as she leaves. She would just need the GC to get back into the country right? Is there any reason why leaving the country without the Green Card might cause problems? Other than the possibility that it might not arrive at all, I guess. She will be taking her Travel Parole forms with her as well as her "Approval Notice". This is so annoying, I don't know why they just can't stamp your passport, to use temporarily. If they are going to void all the Travel Parole forms that we applied for, they should at least give you some way to travel before the card arrives.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Have her carry her AP documents when she travels. She should show "in the system" as a green card holder but it isn't in hand. She should be able to leave anyway. If the card comes while she is gone , DHL ( or other express courier ) t to her so she has it for re entry.

[yehaww 0]

I finally got through to someone today. The conversation went something like:

me "What do I do if I can't get an appointment"

him: "Follow the directions on your paper."

me: "I DID follow the directions, they told me to call you with questions"

him: "Keep trying to schedule an appointment"

me: "I HAVE been trying, but what happens if I can't get one, will she be allowed back into the country with her current paperwork?"

him: "Sir, you have to follow the instruction on your form. Try early in the morning, there will be new appointments made."

me: "For this week?"

him: "Perhaps, I have no way of knowing."

a

I couldn't get any sort of real answer from him, he was just reading information off the website that I had already read weeks ago. He was telling me it could be up to 2 months to get the card. We were told 3 weeks, probably sooner. If it takes 60 days, she will be stuck over there. Now I'm even more nervous than before. I guess we just keep our fingers crossed. This is such crappy timing.

[Anh map 2,098]

You can try to walk in at the local USCIS office to get the I-551 stamp in the passport. No guarantee that you'll get in, but with time short isn't it worth a try?

[yehaww 0]

Yes, I guess we could do that as a last resort. I hadn't thought about just trying to get in without an appointment. It doesn't seem like something they would look kindly on, but I guess it's worth a shot.

[w8inglongtime 29]

Yes, I guess we could do that as a last resort. I hadn't thought about just trying to get in without an appointment. It doesn't seem like something they would look kindly on, but I guess it's worth a shot.

Do you have her tickets for the trip? Go to your local office with the tickets in hand and let them know an appointment date isn't available before the date on the tickets. That should get you in.

[yehaww 0]

We got a last minute appointment for 7:15am on Friday. We were so happy. We got there and the woman at the counter told us that the card had been mailed on December 7th.

I said "We never received it."

She said, "Well, it was sent and not returned to us." and crossed her arms.

I said, "Well what are we supposed to do?".

She says, "Go fill out this I-90 form online for a replacement card and come back and we'll stamp her passport. It will cost $450." Crosses arms, staring at us

Me: "WHAT! It never arrives to our address and we have to pay $450?"

Her: "SIR, you have to go fill out form I-90 blah blah blah"

She was super rude. So we had to go do it. It seems ridiculous that the card is just dropped in the mail with no sort of delivery confirmation. Shouldn't a green card, if they're so concerned about fraud, be signed for by the recipient or picked up at an office or something? It seems a little crazy to put something so important in the mail with greeting cards and coupons. We found a post office near the Immigration office with internet access that E-files forms for people in our situation. $40. He told us that he gets people in there all the time with I-90 forms to replace cards that they never received in the mail. Sounds like a scam to me. I've been checking all the online Case Status sites, none of which showed a card being mailed. I even called Immigration yesterday to try to get an infopass appt, and when they looked into my case, they said nothing about a card being mailed. Then all of a sudden we're told it went out Dec. 7th and we owe them another $450 andmy wife also now has to go back for a new Biometrics appt to get printed and photo'd again. She's not going to have a real green card till February.

Anyway, I'll be writing a letter to my local representatives about this. In any case, she did get her passport stamped and will be able to travel freely now. It cost us an extra $500, but we didn't have much choice.

[Inky 1,110]

Dec 7th was only a week ago... usually takes about 2 weeks to get mail from them.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Something is definitely wrong. If you are able to get back to the office, bring the plane tickets with you, explain that you understand that the green card has been mailed but it hasn't arrived and you have run out of time. Request that they put the I-551 stamp in your wife's passport - it is basically the same thing as the green card. Your wife is an approved permanent resident - she is just lacking the documentation due to the short period of time in which the document was mailed and she has to leave. It is far too early to file an I-90 for a card that was only mailed December 7th.

I hope you haven't filed for the replacement card and paid the $450. The representative SHOULD have offered the stamp without the I-90 application - to suggest that you need to file that before she will give proof of her residency especially with imminent travel plans that were booked prior to the green card approval is ridiculous. . Definitely try to get back there to get it if you have time. If the same women refuses to give the stamp, then ask to speak to her supervisor. Keep politely insisting that if she is not able to do this action, that you be forwarded to a person who can.

Good luck.

Edited December 18, 2010 by Kathryn41

[yehaww 0]

No it's too late. She said our ONLY option was to file an I-90 and only then would she stamp our passport. My wife leaves tomorrow morning, so there's no going back. It's been 10 days since they claim the card was mailed. I'm not sure where they are mailed from. In any case, 10 days seems like a rather long time for something to get to Los Angeles, even if it's sent from the East Coast.

Because my wife has to go back for another Biometrics appt now, I guess the card won't actually print till we go to that appt, which won't be for another month, so maybe if the card does indeed arrive, I can cancel the new card? Probably not. We weren't given a choice to wait, she was very rude and not helpful at all or even willing to take the time to explain any other options. Any question I tried to ask was answered with "SIR, YOU NEED TO GO FILE THE I90 AND I WILL THEN STAMP HER PASSPORT". We were given no choice but to either cancel the trip, which would have ended up costing us a lot more than $450, or just pay up. I felt a bit like I was being shaken down.

It certainly makes sense that they should have stamped our passport without having to re-file, but that wasn't an option she offered.