Travel in and out of the US on a CR-1

[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?

UPDATE: He called USCIS and they told him to make an appointment with INFOPASS. We made the appointment for later today. He does have a statement on his visa in his passport that says something like "UPON ENDORSEMENT SERVES AS TEMPORARY 1-551 EVIDENCING PERMANENT RESIDENCE FOR 1 YEAR."

Based on the info above and the update, is this enough to get him back into the US should he leave for 3 weeks?

[Done--Really 331]

There are no restrictions--all you need is that passport with the lovely stamp, and handwritten CR-1

[kclloyd 0]

Ok, thanks! I wonder why the USCIS phone person told my husband to make an appointment with INFOPASS then. Maybe they didn't understand what he was explaining? We'll still go to the appointment, though, to see what they say.

There are no restrictions--all you need is that passport with the lovely stamp, and handwritten CR-1