Error on Green Card - How to Correct and Traveling While It Is Being Corrected

[patacone 16]

Well - it's been a long journey, but my wife and her two children finally received their green cards this past Monday (3/31/14). They came from the Philippines to the US this past August on K1 (K2 for the kids) fiancee visa. We filed our I-485 AOS at the end of October. We applied for the temporary work permit at the same time as filing the I-485, but not for the travel permit. My wife also applied for and received her social security card. Meanwhile, my work brought me back to the Philippine on several occasions (and will likely continue to do so) as we waited for the arrival of the green cards. Many times we wished we had applied for the travel permit. Obviously, we were really happy to receive the green cards this past week, because they enable my wife and our kids to travel to the Philippines with me. Unfortunately, the green cards arrived by mail 2 days after I left the USA for the Philippines on my latest 2-week trip.

Upon close examination of the green cards, my wife noticed an error on our 4-year-old daughter's card. Her sex on the card was marked M for male, instead of F for Female. She checked the forms filed with the I-485 application. We had mistakenly indicated M on the I-485 application for our daughter - though the birth certificate, passport, and G-325a - all were marked F for female (not to mention the photos which are clearly of a female).

So, now we have to get this corrected. I read-up a bit on the visajourney site, and it looks like we need to file an I-90 form, and probably pay the fee - as the mistake is on the I-485 form, and can't be attributed to USCIS (though I sure wish they had contacted us when they noticed conflicting information on the various documents and forms; shouldn't they have sent us an RFE?). I do have a few questions about the process and fees, and also about obtaining an I-551 stamp to allow us to travel. I appreciate your help.

1) This first question is a general one. I keep reading about this I-551 stamp. Is it necessary to obtain an I-551 stamp in the passport from USCIS prior to traveling abroad, or is presentation of the green card along with the passport sufficient documentation to permit travel from and return to the USA?

2) We want to be able to travel to the Philippines together as soon as possible. Do you think it would be risky to travel using my daughter's current green card with the mistaken sex indicated on it? We were hoping to travel using the existing card, and then to have it fixed upon our return.

3) Is there anything we can do in terms of getting an I-551 stamp in the passport prior to filing the I-90 form (using Infopass process)? If we can't get an I-551 stamp until we have already filed the I-90, then at what point after filing can we set up the Infopass appointment to get the I-551 stamp? I have read conflicting information about whether or not a confirmation of receipt is required to obtain the I-551 stamp. How long does it typically take to get that confirmation? What documentation specifically is required to obtain that stamp?

4) Is the turnaround time on the I-90 form really about 90 days?

5) Regarding the filing fee for the I-90, are we considered at fault for the mistake in the greencard, which would require us to pay the form fee - even though there was enough conflicting information in the application to warrant questioning (RFE) by the USCIS officer reviewing our application?

6) If we are on the hook for the filing fee, would we only be required to send the $365 form fee (and not the $85 biometric fee)?

Thanks again in advance for your help.

[blk 87]

Well - it's been a long journey, but my wife and her two children finally received their green cards this past Monday (3/31/14). They came from the Philippines to the US this past August on K1 (K2 for the kids) fiancee visa. We filed our I-485 AOS at the end of October. We applied for the temporary work permit at the same time as filing the I-485, but not for the travel permit. My wife also applied for and received her social security card. Meanwhile, my work brought me back to the Philippine on several occasions (and will likely continue to do so) as we waited for the arrival of the green cards. Many times we wished we had applied for the travel permit. Obviously, we were really happy to receive the green cards this past week, because they enable my wife and our kids to travel to the Philippines with me. Unfortunately, the green cards arrived by mail 2 days after I left the USA for the Philippines on my latest 2-week trip.

Upon close examination of the green cards, my wife noticed an error on our 4-year-old daughter's card. Her sex on the card was marked M for male, instead of F for Female. She checked the forms filed with the I-485 application. We had mistakenly indicated M on the I-485 application for our daughter - though the birth certificate, passport, and G-325a - all were marked F for female (not to mention the photos which are clearly of a female).

So, now we have to get this corrected. I read-up a bit on the visajourney site, and it looks like we need to file an I-90 form, and probably pay the fee - as the mistake is on the I-485 form, and can't be attributed to USCIS (though I sure wish they had contacted us when they noticed conflicting information on the various documents and forms; shouldn't they have sent us an RFE?). I do have a few questions about the process and fees, and also about obtaining an I-551 stamp to allow us to travel. I appreciate your help.

1) This first question is a general one. I keep reading about this I-551 stamp. Is it necessary to obtain an I-551 stamp in the passport from USCIS prior to traveling abroad, or is presentation of the green card along with the passport sufficient documentation to permit travel from and return to the USA?

2) We want to be able to travel to the Philippines together as soon as possible. Do you think it would be risky to travel using my daughter's current green card with the mistaken sex indicated on it? We were hoping to travel using the existing card, and then to have it fixed upon our return.

3) Is there anything we can do in terms of getting an I-551 stamp in the passport prior to filing the I-90 form (using Infopass process)? If we can't get an I-551 stamp until we have already filed the I-90, then at what point after filing can we set up the Infopass appointment to get the I-551 stamp? I have read conflicting information about whether or not a confirmation of receipt is required to obtain the I-551 stamp. How long does it typically take to get that confirmation? What documentation specifically is required to obtain that stamp?

4) Is the turnaround time on the I-90 form really about 90 days?

5) Regarding the filing fee for the I-90, are we considered at fault for the mistake in the greencard, which would require us to pay the form fee - even though there was enough conflicting information in the application to warrant questioning (RFE) by the USCIS officer reviewing our application?

6) If we are on the hook for the filing fee, would we only be required to send the $365 form fee (and not the $85 biometric fee)?

Thanks again in advance for your help.

Hi it might be best to see if you can get an infopass & explain the problem then ask if it's at all possible to get a I-551 stamp in her daughters passport which will act as her G/C so that she can travel while her proper card is sorted, as for your wife she only needs her passport & Green Card to travel with, oh & it might be worth carrying a copy of the marriage certificate as well especially if her passport is still in her maiden name.

Brian

[patacone 16]

We received notice from USCIS that I-90 has been approved and updated card is in production. FYI - we did not submit the $365 fee, as in the end we concluded that the issuance of the incorrect card was not due exclusively to our mistake. In the meantime, we also had used Infopass to get I-551 stamp in our daughter's passport. That process was remarkably easy. I scheduled the infopass appointment online, and brought a copy of the I-90 package to the appointment, along with case number (which the USCIS agent checked online during our infopass meeting). Within 10 minutes we had a stamp in our daughter's passport.

So, total time required for I-90 from receipt of filing on 6/2 to approval on 10/1 was 120 days. Card mailed out 10/7 - should be received within 7 days.