been a long time

[meauxna 15]

here's my concern with applying late.

let's stick with a date of march 13 for the expiration (not sure if that is truely what it is, but for arguements sake). if she's scheduled to return on march 7th, and i decide to drop the papers off by march 1 - the slight possibility exists that her return is delayed - beyond march 13. in that event, we'd be absolutely screwed, as i'd have no paperwork stating that i had applied and we'd have to wait until we got that THEN send it off to her then have her return.

another risk i run is the fact that she is traveling to pakistan. the immigration officials there are very particualr about paperwork and expiration dates - i remember a couple of years ago my mothers green card had expired. upon applying for a renewal, they simply stuck a sticker on the back of her expired green card stating that it had been extended for a year. the immigration officials in pakistan seemed to have a huge issue with sticker - stating they had no way of validating whether it was legitimate or not. they almost refused boarding, and after a long arguement made her sign some paperwork stating that she takes all responsibility in the event that her documents are falsified and will pay any fees incurred by the airlines, and her return ticket back to the point of origin. evidently, if an individual comes to the united states with falsified papers/visa's or expired documentation, and US immigrations denies them entry - the airline responsible for granting them passage is fined, and the immigration officials at the point of departure are also fined. so in an attempt to cover their a$$es, they don't take kindly to documents that they claim could have easily been forged.

that worries me - i'd rather not deal with them!!

I'm in the 'apply early' camp. The NOA + expired Green Card have been used successfully for ages by people from all countries. If the NOA arrives after your wife leaves, it can be forwarded to her (if you have a realiable mailing system) so she can re-enter with the NOA and the (still not expired) card. She can hold the NOA back for just in case. If her return is after card expiry, she's got the NOA on hand.

This is not like an AP, that MUST be in hand before departure. If you'd like confirmation of this, search the avum-b group for posts from Folinskyinla.

For your mother's situation, I think you'll find that was really the airline people being overly picky, and for the reason you state--they have to pay for her return if they get it wrong.

But, the NOA+expired card was such a common situation until recently (I-751 cases were often pending for 18+ months) that I would not *expect* a problem.

alexandra, I don't know what kinds of problems you had before, but it sounds as if you're being a bit OVER cautious.

[alexandra 0]

My husband actually wants me to go home this December to see my family but I'm not even gonna try without waiting for my papers to get done. That is just too risky for me considering all the things that I've been through just to be able to come here. My card exprires on February 23, '07 and I'm filing my petition this month.

Just try to weigh everything... advantages and disadvantages.

There is no reason you can't go. You still are a Permanant Resident even after your card expires. Would you be going for more than two months? Are you worried that you'll be out of the country when you card expires and you won't have the I-551 stamp? My husband arrived back to the country from working overseas a few weeks before it expired, got the stamp and left the country a few days after his card expired, but with the stamp in his passport and will be gone for 6 weeks.

I just want to make sure that everything's ok with my papers before going anywhere so I can at least enjoy my vacation without me worrying about anything.

[us1415 0]

welcome back jun.....

as I told you...you might want to apply before she leaves....