Entry into the USA (Chicago O Hare) using AP - My experience

[blackberryapple 0]

Hello Visa Journey Family!

I figured I should share my experience of entering the US border using my Advance Parole.

Just for some background information. I was on F1 visa, but I was out of status for 60 days before filling everything (took some time to gather the joint sponsor stuff).

My flight was from Hong Kong to Chicago O Hare International Airport. My AP was approved on August 3rd 2012, a bit earlier than the 60 day time frame due to the fact that I requested for it to be expedited. (In short, just call/make infopass appointment). I actually left without the AP in hand, on the 5th of August because of a very emergent situation at home. The AP document was actually sent out only on the 17th of August, reaching my house's mail box a few days later. Hence, my husband had to ship the AP document to me so that I could return to the US.

Now, on to the experience at the port.

I queued up at the 'visitor' line. Took close to 40 minutes for my turn. I was greeted with a 'good morning' followed by a question of 'is this your first time using an advance parole?" - to which I answered 'yes'. The officer at the first inspection was courteous at the beginning, not too bad until I saw him tossing my AP document from one end of his desk to the other. He entered some data into the computer, took my finger prints(made me repeat that twice), took a picture of me using the webcam. He then called upon an office on duty nearby and explained to him that he was going to refer me to second inspection because it is my first time using an AP and that he wants the other officers to "check what is it all about". They talked amongst themselves something about how they 'don't print APs anymore(???)'.

Anyways, after that I was escorted by the said officer on duty to a waiting area where there were quite a few people. There were small rooms inside that waiting area where I saw a few people being called into for further questioning. The wait was dreadful as I was scared and nervous. No one spoke to me about anything, my passport and AP were taken away by the officer and he only told me to take a seat and wait for my name to be called. I waited for more than 2 hours. During that time, many of those who arrived around the same time as me already got their passports back but I was still there. As far as I know there were quite a few officers inside, and there were so many people waiting too! Not just foreigners, but even PR and US citizens! The officers were not rude, but I won't say that they were totally friendly either. They were stern, serious and a bit intimidating.

Thankfully, after more than 2 hours of waiting. An officer called my name and I came forward to him. He returned my passport, AP document and told me to have a good day. At the customs check, I didn't get too much trouble. But my customs declaration stated that I visited several countries including Myanmar (for religious purposes, we are very staunch Buddhists), so the officer asked me what was I adjusting my status from and whether I brought any food items back(which I didn't).

After that, I was free to go !!!

Overall, yeah the waiting sucks but at least I got through. Furthermore, I received a letter from my attorney about our interview date ! It's going to be on Halloween day !!!!!!

[tumbles 0]

Thanks for sharing your experience, blackberryapple. My parents are going to be using their AP through Chicago at the end of December as well. It is very helpful to know what to expect.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Regarding printed APs, even a year ago, AP was a printer piece of paper. The "combo card" is a pretty new thing, and maybe they wanted to make a mental note to expect them more often.

[hmh33 117]

I wanted to highlight a crucial element which is that your AP was approved before you left the U.S. Nobody should leave before their advance parole is approved - even if it is later approved and couriered out to you, you will be denied entry and your adjustment of status will be considered abandoned.

[huongkhin 9]

You are lucky. It was a good change that they could make you turn around.

[C-ma'am 684]

I wanted to highlight a crucial element which is that your AP was approved before you left the U.S. Nobody should leave before their advance parole is approved - even if it is later approved and couriered out to you, you will be denied entry and your adjustment of status will be considered abandoned.

She took a gamble by leaving before having the AP card in her hands. If there had been any sort of error on that AP card (which is not uncommon) she wouldn't have been able to fix it; because she was out of the country and may have been unable to return + having the AOS denied and considered abandoned (as you very well said).

People think that these things don't happen. She was very lucky.

The best suggestion is: never leave the US without having the proper documentation to return in your hands (AP, GC). Unless, of course, you want to risk it, which is totally up to your discretion.

**

Edited November 13, 2012 by Celeste & C