Traveling on Extension Letter?

[EllisAndRenz 196]

After we were denied boarding to South Korea because the Korean immigration authorities would not accept the extension letter, we applied her for a Visa from the Korean consolate.  

 

Today we got back a rejection because they too fail too recognize the extension letter.

Is there any way to get a replacement GC with a valid expiration date?

 

Failing that I'll have to apply her for an N-400 and see how long that takes.  😞 

 

Open for thoughts.

 

 

 

On 4/26/2017 at 12:54 PM, Derwood said:

There have been quite a few posts recently regarding traveling on an expired GC with the one year extension letter.

 

Page 38 of this document provides some reassurance:

 

https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Carrier Information Guide- English.pdf

 

It also makes clear that the 12 month extension is from the card expiry date, not the receipt date of the I-797.

 

Interesting that CBP took down the above document.

[Lemonslice 4,708]

37 minutes ago, EllisAndRenz said:

After we were denied boarding to South Korea because the Korean immigration authorities would not accept the extension letter, we applied her for a Visa from the Korean consolate.  

 

Today we got back a rejection because they too fail too recognize the extension letter.

Is there any way to get a replacement GC with a valid expiration date?

 

Failing that I'll have to apply her for an N-400 and see how long that takes.  😞 

 

Open for thoughts.

 

 

 

 

Interesting that CBP took down the above document.

The document has been updated since 2017.  

https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2023-Nov/Carrier Information Guide ENGLISH.pdf

 

Which documents did your permanent resident spouse present at boarding?

[EllisAndRenz 196]

1 hour ago, Lemonslice said:

The document has been updated since 2017.  

https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2023-Nov/Carrier Information Guide ENGLISH.pdf

 

Which documents did your permanent resident spouse present at boarding?

 

Her Philippine passport, her (expired) green card and the I-797 extension letter showing it's validity.  Korean immigration refused to recognize the letter as valid.

[whiterose123 95]

On 3/21/2024 at 10:04 PM, Ali&Ed said:

Hi everyone, can anyone share their experience traveling from US to Spain, Malaga with extension letter and GC expired!? What was like coming back to US ? 

I traveled to France last summer and I had 0 issues, they are familiar with it. I can only assume it will be the same way in Spain since they are both Schengen space

[pharenheit 14]

On 4/13/2024 at 11:31 PM, EllisAndRenz said:

 

Her Philippine passport, her (expired) green card and the I-797 extension letter showing it's validity.  Korean immigration refused to recognize the letter as valid.

 

That is very strange they would not let her board with just her Phillipine passport as it should not require a visa to visit South Korea per their official MOFA page. Also they state extension letters are valid on MOFA as well. I would honestly try another airline.

 

https://overseas.mofa.go.kr/us-atlanta-en/wpge/m_4849/contents.do

 

Edited April 15 by pharenheit

[MaceMk 19]

Me and my husband just came back from Peru and he didn't have troubles coming back to US, he has an I551 temporary stamp in his passport plus extension notice, however Peruvian immigration didn't recognize the stamp and asked for his expired green card and proof of receipt that he has a pending application with USCIS. It took them about 30-40 mins to investigate and let him enter. So if anyone from India or China with a green card in process is wondering about visiting Peru without a visa, you shouldn't have a problem just show them a proof of your status with the notice.

[DaisyJ 35]

Hi all, 

 

I'm about to travel home to the UK from the USA for a short family visit trip. It's my first international trip with my extension letter. In the prior boarding information required by my airline, I need to specify whether I have a GC, visa waiver or neither. When I select the option for my GC, it asks for the expiry date; does my extension letter mean I put the date of 48 months from the date of expiry on my GC, or do I need to be "honest" and put the actual date on my GC (expired late last year). Not sure if using the 48 months extension date is technically lying or not for the airline? I know it's probably a silly question but I'm an overthinker!

 

Thanks everyone!

 

[OldUser 5,974]

8 minutes ago, DaisyJ said:

Hi all, 

 

I'm about to travel home to the UK from the USA for a short family visit trip. It's my first international trip with my extension letter. In the prior boarding information required by my airline, I need to specify whether I have a GC, visa waiver or neither. When I select the option for my GC, it asks for the expiry date; does my extension letter mean I put the date of 48 months from the date of expiry on my GC, or do I need to be "honest" and put the actual date on my GC (expired late last year). Not sure if using the 48 months extension date is technically lying or not for the airline? I know it's probably a silly question but I'm an overthinker!

 

Thanks everyone!

 

If this is a question specifically about online check in on a flight back to the US... I was always worried putting expiration day of GC as stated in extension letter. This meant I always arrived at the airport early and checked in at the counter instead of online check in. Either way you'd have to show documents to live person. I read on VJ people put expiration date based on extension letter and were just fine. The funniest part was airline agent calling supervisor during check in because she could not add 48 months to expiration date on my GC.

Edited June 30 by OldUser

[ksh9256 21]

We're out of the country and flying back to the US tonight. I just added 4 years to the GC expiration date for online checkin. Will get to airport early to double check. I'm more concerned because we booked in my wife's maiden name.

[ksh9256 21]

On 6/30/2024 at 9:35 PM, ksh9256 said:

We're out of the country and flying back to the US tonight. I just added 4 years to the GC expiration date for online checkin. Will get to airport early to double check. I'm more concerned because we booked in my wife's maiden name.

Can't edit my previous post but wanted to provide an update.

 

We traveled from Manila to Korea on Korean Air but had been unable to check-in online. Had to be done at the airport. Korean Air gave us no trouble at the airport. Only needed GC and extension letter. They printed our boarding pass for the flight from Korea to the US as well. Flight from Korea to US was on Delta. No issues anywhere. My wife had to scan her PH passport in Korea, and show her GC and letter to immigration here in the US. I'm not sure if it matters but our flight from Korea to the US was direct to our home state. 

[OldUser 5,974]

59 minutes ago, ksh9256 said:

Can't edit my previous post but wanted to provide an update.

 

We traveled from Manila to Korea on Korean Air but had been unable to check-in online. Had to be done at the airport. Korean Air gave us no trouble at the airport. Only needed GC and extension letter. They printed our boarding pass for the flight from Korea to the US as well. Flight from Korea to US was on Delta. No issues anywhere. My wife had to scan her PH passport in Korea, and show her GC and letter to immigration here in the US. I'm not sure if it matters but our flight from Korea to the US was direct to our home state. 

I was never able to online check in as a conditional resident with extension letter. Perhaps, because I never put GC expiry date as per extension letter. Did you try that? But then I think online check in asks to take photos of documents, and I'm 99% sure it won't like extension letter. Either way, even with online check in, you still have to see airline agent when boarding international flight for them to check the docs, so not a big loss. Thanks for the update !

Edited July 3 by OldUser

[ksh9256 21]

On 7/3/2024 at 2:50 PM, OldUser said:

I was never able to online check in as a conditional resident with extension letter. Perhaps, because I never put GC expiry date as per extension letter. Did you try that? But then I think online check in asks to take photos of documents, and I'm 99% sure it won't like extension letter. Either way, even with online check in, you still have to see airline agent when boarding international flight for them to check the docs, so not a big loss. Thanks for the update !

I added 4 years to the GC expiry date when I tried online check-in. Her GC has already been expired for a year so maybe their system flagged it.  But I had to go to the counter anyway to check luggage so no time lost.

[sunflower4 13]

Just travelled out of the US to Japan for vacation end of May. ANA airline wouldn't let us put an expired green card in their site, so we added 4 years to the expiration date to match the extension letter.

 

Also applied for Global Entry beforehand on 1/24/24. My (USC) Global Entry was conditionally approved immediately, but SO was not - until he finally got conditionally approved during our vacation end of May.

 

When we arrived in US, we went to the Global Entry Enrollment On Arrival line instead of regular immigration. They just asked the typical Global Entry interview questions, have you committed any crimes, do you have any foreign citizenships. Took the extension letter no problem, and we were approved for Global Entry as well. 

[kf2240 1]

Just wanted to add our experience - my husband and I traveled to Nepal with our two children May 2024 just a few days before his extension letter arrived in the mail. We had a copy of the extension letter from the USCIS online portal with us when we left the US, but he was never asked to present his green card or extension letter. We stayed in Nepal for the summer, during which time his green card expired and we asked a friend to mail us the original extension letter (in case having only a copy would have been a problem). When he came back to the US, he was unable to check in online and the attendant at the airport had to call a supervisor, but he was able to check in without any issues. At immigration in the US, the officer said something like, "This is expired," in reference to his green card. We pointed at the extension letter in the stack of passports he had and he took it without comment. No questions or issues. The airlines and immigration officers seemed familiar with the letter and didn't scrutinize it too closely. 

[OldUser 5,974]

1 hour ago, kf2240 said:

Just wanted to add our experience - my husband and I traveled to Nepal with our two children May 2024 just a few days before his extension letter arrived in the mail. We had a copy of the extension letter from the USCIS online portal with us when we left the US, but he was never asked to present his green card or extension letter. We stayed in Nepal for the summer, during which time his green card expired and we asked a friend to mail us the original extension letter (in case having only a copy would have been a problem). When he came back to the US, he was unable to check in online and the attendant at the airport had to call a supervisor, but he was able to check in without any issues. At immigration in the US, the officer said something like, "This is expired," in reference to his green card. We pointed at the extension letter in the stack of passports he had and he took it without comment. No questions or issues. The airlines and immigration officers seemed familiar with the letter and didn't scrutinize it too closely. 

Thanks for sharing the experience. You're never asked for GC / extension letter when leaving the US unless using GC for visa free travel to countries who rely on it.

 

It's good you had original with you when travelling back. Most of the issues arise with airlines denying boarding US bound planes.