Leaving the country before GC arrives

[novocastrian 0]

I would feel uncomfortable mailing my GC anywhere by any means, even with FedEx, though I have considered that as once option as well. If I get the stamp, the GC can wait for me here in the U.S. and I can return with the stamp without having to worry about getting the GC to me in Finland. If, however, I cannot get the stamp, and I get an approval notice some days after my interview, I will need to get the GC to me somehow. Luckily there is a friend coming from here to our wedding, who could bring the card to me with him, assuming it arrives here in time. That is the other wild card in this whole mess of ours - our interview is scheduled for July 20th, our wedding is on July 30th. If it takes about 2 weeks for the physical card to get here to my address, it might not even arrive before our wedding.

I am putting my hopes in getting that stamp. If not.. well. Then we will go to plans B-Z and hope one of them works out.

Hi Little_My,

I am basically in the same situation as you were - I have my green card interview at the end of April and then I'm going to Australia for our wedding party there two weeks later (and I am also at Federal Plaza NYC). Could you please update this post with whether you ended up getting an I-551 stamp at your interview or at an InfoPass appointment? From reading on VJ, it sounds like I shouldn't leave the US after the interview without either the physical green card or the I-551 stamp.

Many thanks!

[Ontarkie 14,226]

~~~~Split topic, from a 2 year old thread ~~~~

[Dave&Roza 748]

Hi Little_My,

I am basically in the same situation as you were - I have my green card interview at the end of April and then I'm going to Australia for our wedding party there two weeks later (and I am also at Federal Plaza NYC). Could you please update this post with whether you ended up getting an I-551 stamp at your interview or at an InfoPass appointment? From reading on VJ, it sounds like I shouldn't leave the US after the interview without either the physical green card or the I-551 stamp.

Many thanks!

At the interview you can tell them of the upcoming travel and hope 1) yu are approved on the spot without any delay and 2) they will issue you a I-551 stamp in your passport. If that does not happen I would not leave the US and you will not be able to re-entrer and will have to start to whole process all over while you are waiting outside the US. IF you are approved the card SHOULD arrive within a week, but your plans are cutting it a bit close.

Good luck,

Dave

[newacct 688]

If that does not happen I would not leave the US and you will not be able to re-entrer and will have to start to whole process all over while you are waiting outside the US.

What if they have an approved Advance Parole?

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

I remember what happened to Little_My, so I can tell you.

She was not approved at interview, and she left the country that same day. She was approved a day or two later. She returned to the US on her AP and said that she had been approved for GC since she left the country. They said it was fine but she should go back within a year with her GC to a CBP area if she did not travel again in the next year.

If you are approved at your interview, though, you need the stamp to travel before the GC arrives.

Edited April 8, 2013 by Harpa Timsah

[novocastrian 0]

I remember what happened to Little_My, so I can tell you.

She was not approved at interview, and she left the country that same day. She was approved a day or two later. She returned to the US on her AP and said that she had been approved for GC since she left the country. They said it was fine but she should go back within a year with her GC to a CBP area if she did not travel again in the next year.

If you are approved at your interview, though, you need the stamp to travel before the GC arrives.

Thanks - I appreciate it. So, if we end up getting approved at the interview, I plan to have my flight tickets with us to convince them to give us a stamp, and if they don't, I plan on having an info pass appointment lined up a week later to try and get a stamp then. If I don't get approved on the spot, I guess I can also ask the interviewer if I can keep my AP combo card after the interview given the up-coming trip. If I get approved after the interview in the following two weeks (before we get on the plane), I guess we will try and come back to the US on the AP card and have the print out of the USCIS website saying we are approved, similar to Little My. I don't know if that is asking for trouble, but I would think at the end of the day they could see on their computer that I have been approved for a GC - would they still not let me back in the country when they know I have been issued a GC?

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

If you are approved for a GC, your AP is invalid. Don't leave with approved GC and no stamp/GC. Little-My left before she was approved. It's different.

Just get a stamp; bring your proof of travel, etc.

[hmh33 117]

If you are approved for a GC, your AP is invalid. Don't leave with approved GC and no stamp/GC.

But if you are approved, you are an LPR. You would not lose your LPR status by leaving for a short trip. The very worst that could happen is that CBP could make you pay a fine on reentry for not having the proper documents, but in practice I think exactly the same thing would happen as happened to Little_My. After all, her AP was also invalid at the time she tried to use it to reenter the US. I don't think the situations are really different at all.

I agree completely with your advice that novocastrian should try to get the stamp though, that makes everything easier and cleaner. But if I were in her position and for whatever reason I could not get the stamp, I wouldn't cancel my travel plans.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

But if you are approved, you are an LPR. You would not lose your LPR status by leaving for a short trip. The very worst that could happen is that CBP could make you pay a fine on reentry for not having the proper documents, but in practice I think exactly the same thing would happen as happened to Little_My. After all, her AP was also invalid at the time she tried to use it to reenter the US. I don't think the situations are really different at all.

I agree completely with your advice that novocastrian should try to get the stamp though, that makes everything easier and cleaner. But if I were in her position and for whatever reason I could not get the stamp, I wouldn't cancel my travel plans.

Yes you are right that if approved, a person is a LPR, obviously.

But I think the worst case scenario is worse (though I suppose doable). The person would not be able to board a flight back home, they would have to go to embassy to get a special travel document (costs $$), and they would have trouble proving they were a LPR since the record would be new, they had no card (maybe not even one made yet) etc.

[hmh33 117]

I think they'd be able to get on the plane using the invalid AP.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

I think they'd be able to get on the plane using the invalid AP.

Yeah, probably, if they still had it. Usually the card gets taken away at the interview, though.