CR-1 travel in and out of the US

[kclloyd 0]

Hi Everyone,

My husband recently moved to the US (on Sept 8, 2011) from Belfast, Ireland on a spouse visa. When he arrived, DHS checked his passport and visa (affixed to one of his passport pages) and stamped the page above where the visa is with the following:

IN RED INK: "Alien has been notified of the provisions of Section 216 and of the procedures for having the conditional basis of his/her status removed."

IN BLUE AND RED INK: Oval circular stamp dated Sept 8, 2011 (This is the usual stamp we all get when entering into the US).

HANDWRITTEN IN BLACK INK: CR-1, followed by his A number.

He has not yet received his physical green card. We have telephoned several times to find out why. They had our address wrong so the card was "undeliverable." We corrected the address back in the beginning of November and are still awaiting the green card. We called last week and apparently the address change wasn't processed. So he still does not have his physical green card.

So, what's my question?

My husband has to travel back to Belfast for a family emergency. He will be gone over the holidays and will return sometime after the first of the year. His visa affixed inside his passport expires Jan 5, 2012, but I was given to understand that this expiration date was the last possible date he could move to the US. Since he moved on Sept 8, the Jan 5, 2012 expiration is not relevant at this point.

What documents does he need to be able to leave the US and return back?

[wee carrington 33]

As far as I'm aware, there should be no problem with your husband traveling to the UK and re-entering the US with his visa. If you look at the fine print on the visa I'm sure it says something about "upon endorsement serves as a temporary residence permit for 1 year".

[kclloyd 0]

Thank you for replying. I'm concerned because he doesn't have a stamp that says "I-551." I know some visa residents received this I-551 stamp upon arrival, but my husband doesn't have one in his passport, unless the handwritten CR-1 and A number are the handwritten versions of an I-551 stamp.

As far as I'm aware, there should be no problem with your husband traveling to the UK and re-entering the US with his visa. If you look at the fine print on the visa I'm sure it says something about "upon endorsement serves as a temporary residence permit for 1 year".

[wee carrington 33]

I just read a thread on here yesterday that kind of ties into this, it was about someone traveling back and forth between the US and Canada. Basically, what was said is that as long as your visa has been processed at POE you are ok to travel back and forth.

Can someone please confirm this.