Traveling on Extension Letter?

[fascinating123 38]

I'm sorry if this has been answered but I haven't been able to read through the whole thread. Has anyone had any experience traveling on the letter from one of the "Travel Ban" countries (by which I mean being a citizen of one of those countries)? I know officially Green Card holders are exempt, as are immediate relatives of US citizens, but I'm still a little worried.

 

My wife (a Yemeni citizen) wants to travel to Jordan to visit her sister. Her GC expires in April, so it's not an immediate issue, but we're trying to figure out when she should go (she works from home and would just work while visiting for a month or two, I would follow during my two weeks of vacation). Go in December or January and come back prior to GC expiry or wait until Spring (which would work better for our budget to be honest).

 

Anyway, just some thoughts. I think I'd lose it if my wife were turned away from returning home.

 

 

[vicky86 11]

On 11/2/2017 at 11:16 AM, Derwood said:

Actually, you're right - I went off on a rant, didn't I. Apologies.

I think nine months into the waiting game, I'm getting a little bit sensitive to any of the 'sit back, relax' type replies. Gawd knows what I'll be like when I've waited as long as some of the longest-waiters on here.

Apologies again and have a nice day!

I agree with the frustration and I also get mad at the condescending people who say "why do you need this now, I am patient and don't care". If they don't care, then why are they try to make you feel bad? I am talking about other threads. When somebody is anxious to get the process over with should not get the dismissive reply. You only wait 7 months, wait till it takes 14 months, like for me now for ROC sent to CSC. Apparently this is NORMAL timeline now. I assume the ROC will be finished in 16 months for CSC that takes much longer than VSC. I have been impatient, I need my N-400 for several various reasons and those people took our money and don't even stay on the track of their timelines. I totally get the frustration. I currently can't afford to fly back home and I can't imagine what delays and frustration I'd face if I had to, I am currently without GC that was taken away after receiving I-551, so good luck.. Unfortunately people are not trained enough to accept I-551, even though they say here it is illegal to reject it. Of course the issues continue.

[cambo0168 1]

On 9/1/2017 at 1:47 AM, stackeria said:

Just flew back in tonight. JFK terminal 1.

 

Managed to avoid the much hated automated kiosks. When we got up to the officer, he stated LPR wife would have to be processed in secondary because of extension letter. He called in his superior to walk us over to secondary. Superior got there, looked at the screen and said he would just process it right there and then. Boom.

 

Got home an hour later and new 10y green card was waiting in the mailbox. Goodbye extension letter!

I already book my flight ticket, and i will fly out from JFK . I have my Expired GC and extension letter, and will be back at terminal 1. Any advices what do i have to expect at the POE? 

 

thank 

[OshunMY 4]

Hi all,

 

I just returned from traveling on an extension letter and would love to share my experience.

 

I flew in through Oakland airport from Barcelona and didn't have any problems. In Barcelona, I checked in for the flight with my passport, expired green card and the extension letter and the airline staff seemed to be familiar with the process so it didn't take too much time. I was traveling with my husband and on arrival in Oakland, we got in the line for citizens and permanent residents. There were self-service kiosks but that didn't work for me so I showed a staff my extension letter and we were told to proceed to the booth with the assurance that "you'll be fine". I appeared at the booth with my husband and showed all our documents to be processed together. Again, they seemed familiar with the extension letter and after a few standard questions, we were done! 

 

Like many of you, I was worried about traveling on an extension letter and I'm glad my experience was professional. Please feel free to ask me if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer them based on my experience. Good luck!

[Roy&Chanel 109]

On 11/19/2017 at 6:14 AM, OshunMY said:

Hi all,

 

I just returned from traveling on an extension letter and would love to share my experience.

 

I flew in through Oakland airport from Barcelona and didn't have any problems. In Barcelona, I checked in for the flight with my passport, expired green card and the extension letter and the airline staff seemed to be familiar with the process so it didn't take too much time. I was traveling with my husband and on arrival in Oakland, we got in the line for citizens and permanent residents. There were self-service kiosks but that didn't work for me so I showed a staff my extension letter and we were told to proceed to the booth with the assurance that "you'll be fine". I appeared at the booth with my husband and showed all our documents to be processed together. Again, they seemed familiar with the extension letter and after a few standard questions, we were done! 

 

Like many of you, I was worried about traveling on an extension letter and I'm glad my experience was professional. Please feel free to ask me if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer them based on my experience. Good luck!

What about heading home to renew passport, does the extension letter has passport number? I intend to head back home to renew my passport instead of going to embassy here, cos after calculations hotel,food and flight are bout the same as heading home, makes no sense to do it here then. If to head home and renew, I'll be coming back with a new passport with different number.

Edited November 28, 2017 by Roy&Chanel

[abby12 13]

I traveled to my home country in july 2017 with the extension letter, I had no problems leaving the US nor returning, just the airline's employee asked a supervisor in front of me about the expiration date, and she supervisor said "the one on the letter", they used the issue date of the letter as the expiration date of the extension, not the date of the green card. 

When I arrived in Atlanta, I tried to use the kiosk, but I got the X on the printout, so when I went to the booth, couple of questions, and that was it.

[viajero 14]

On 11/28/2017 at 12:24 AM, Roy&Chanel said:

What about heading home to renew passport, does the extension letter has passport number? I intend to head back home to renew my passport instead of going to embassy here, cos after calculations hotel,food and flight are bout the same as heading home, makes no sense to do it here then. If to head home and renew, I'll be coming back with a new passport with different number.

the extension letter does not have the passport number!! so no problem!!

[ChefB123 0]

Thanks for all the info...it's helpful.  So here's a quandary for you...would be really interested if anyone has had experience with this situation. 

 

My wife just filed for removal of conditions on her GC.  I'm hopeful it's all done before May 2018...making all of this moot...but we have grand plans to travel next year and would like to get things booked.  If we leave the US in early May 2018, and if the approval of the ROC has not come back...then, how long can she be out of the country?  I know that the extension letter should arrive soon, and even with the expired green card...she can still travel.  But I'm concerned that under the conditional GC w/ the extension, she can only be out of the country for a certain amount of time.  if we were traveling out of the US for 6 and a half months, then do we need to file for some sort of exception that allows her to be overseas for that long (regardless of whether she is approved or not for the new GC)?

 

What happens if she gets approved while overseas and we don't get the actual new green card (since we're not home)?  She would still be able to enter the country w/ the expired GC and extension letter right, but would she get in trouble for being out of the country for so long?

 

What happens if we get called in for an interview while overseas?  Our schedule is such that we hope to be back in the US in mid-Dec.  In other words, we would be back before the expiration of her extension...so I'm wondering if in the worst case scenario where an interview is required...would we be able to schedule it for Dec 2018 or January 2019, before her GC extension expires in late Feb?  

 

Like I said if the approval is done before May, then none of this matters... but if things are prolonged...what would you?  Thanks!

[viajero 14]

18 hours ago, ChefB123 said:

Thanks for all the info...it's helpful.  So here's a quandary for you...would be really interested if anyone has had experience with this situation. 

 

My wife just filed for removal of conditions on her GC.  I'm hopeful it's all done before May 2018...making all of this moot...but we have grand plans to travel next year and would like to get things booked.  If we leave the US in early May 2018, and if the approval of the ROC has not come back...then, how long can she be out of the country?  I know that the extension letter should arrive soon, and even with the expired green card...she can still travel.  But I'm concerned that under the conditional GC w/ the extension, she can only be out of the country for a certain amount of time.  if we were traveling out of the US for 6 and a half months, then do we need to file for some sort of exception that allows her to be overseas for that long (regardless of whether she is approved or not for the new GC)?

 

What happens if she gets approved while overseas and we don't get the actual new green card (since we're not home)?  She would still be able to enter the country w/ the expired GC and extension letter right, but would she get in trouble for being out of the country for so long?

 

What happens if we get called in for an interview while overseas?  Our schedule is such that we hope to be back in the US in mid-Dec.  In other words, we would be back before the expiration of her extension...so I'm wondering if in the worst case scenario where an interview is required...would we be able to schedule it for Dec 2018 or January 2019, before her GC extension expires in late Feb?  

 

Like I said if the approval is done before May, then none of this matters... but if things are prolonged...what would you?  Thanks!

1.- it is going to take about 1 year to get the 10 year GC if  everything goes smooth so forget getting all done before May 2018

2.- the extension letter allows you to travel with your expired GC for 1 year but remember if you expend more than  6 months out of the US then your case is going to get complicated (even when you try to apply for citizenship) so why not make the trip shorter?

 

 

 

 

[ChefB123 0]

Thanks Viajero.

 

But I was under the impression that there was some kind of form we could submit that basically says she is not abandoning her permanent residency.  And I wonder if that would be acceptable and remove any concern by the adjudication officer.

 

I guess the short answer is yeah...less than 6 mo's would be fine.  Any idea if they count 6 months as 180 days or do they say that if you leave on 6 Dec, then you gotta be back before 6 June?  Think we would still get grief for being gone 179 days?

 

Thanks again!

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

2 hours ago, ChefB123 said:

Thanks Viajero.

 

But I was under the impression that there was some kind of form we could submit that basically says she is not abandoning her permanent residency.  And I wonder if that would be acceptable and remove any concern by the adjudication officer.

 

I guess the short answer is yeah...less than 6 mo's would be fine.  Any idea if they count 6 months as 180 days or do they say that if you leave on 6 Dec, then you gotta be back before 6 June?  Think we would still get grief for being gone 179 days?

 

Thanks again!

Many have gotten grief for being gone 2 months. 180 days away on a GC usually is ok, but CBP looks at the totality of the situation when determining an LPR's eligibility for admittance. In fact multiple short trips outside the US can tickle CBP's radar. 

[ChefB123 0]

Hi WeGuyGal,

 

That's good to know.  We spent 3 months overseas this year and no issues at all upon return.  Not to say that behind closed doors some agent's eyebrow wasn't raised.  I dunno.

 

Wife's lawyer suggested that we get advanced parole for anything over 90 days and that up to 180 days should be fine w/ AP.  But the price is steep.  And I'm not sure that AP is so easy to get.  Need to look into that.  Mother-in-law had early-stage cancer that might qualify my wife for AP...not sure.

 

In any case, I was beginning to think that 2x 90-day trips are less alarming...but you raise a good point around frequency.  Although, it does seem to reduce risk since it provides more time for the GC to clear.  So fi the GC is approved before the 2nd 90-day trip, then it doesn't matter.

 

Hmm....will have to think about it more.

 

Thanks again for your input!

 

 

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

Re-entry permit, not Advance Parole; but that's if they're planning to be gone ~2 years. 

[ChefB123 0]

Yeah...that's exactly what I asked them to clarify because AP seemed extreme.  So, you think re-entry is all we need for a 90-day trip?  Any idea if it is good for multiple entries?

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

no

no