Traveling on Extension Letter?

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

8 minutes ago, aa1979 said:

Thank you!  I am about to file for the I-751, and as I am reading some of the threads on here, I feel like I do not have nearly as much evidence as everyone else.  Husband owns long before marriage, so we do not rent.  We don't have common health insurance / life insurance... Wife does not drive, yet, so wife in not on auto insurance.  But we both own a car, had a common loan, but was paid off. We have common bank accounts and credit cards.  We can get a couple of letters from neighbors and work testifying for our marriage.  You think not having the above will be a problem?

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/220440-i-751-evidence/  is a good place to start

[dilip 187]

aa1979 - Review the link for document needed.   Financial intermingling is very important.  

 

[1] Joint bank account

[2] 40IK beneficiary 

[3] Life insurance beneficiary

[4] Joint credit card

[5] Power of attorney both finance and healthcare

 

 

[aa1979 100]

30 minutes ago, dilip said:

aa1979 - Review the link for document needed.   Financial intermingling is very important.  

 

[1] Joint bank account

[2] 40IK beneficiary 

[3] Life insurance beneficiary

[4] Joint credit card

[5] Power of attorney both finance and healthcare

 

 

The problem is that I don't have some of those.  I don't have 2, I don't have life insurance, and I don't have a power of attorney.  I do have the band and the credit card... as well as an auto-loan, and a common ownership of a car.  Would that be enough?  How many do we need?

[peposavic 6]

1 hour ago, aa1979 said:

The problem is that I don't have some of those.  I don't have 2, I don't have life insurance, and I don't have a power of attorney.  I do have the band and the credit card... as well as an auto-loan, and a common ownership of a car.  Would that be enough?  How many do we need?

Send what you have but as much as financial evidences are important know that other stuff matters too. So send photos of you and your friends and family , photos if you went anywhere for vacation,  plane tickets confirmations , you can send phone records,  literally anything what would normal couple have. I work on the 1099 form so I don't have 401k , health insurance, life insurance... I would like to have it but I don't, that's life ,right? 

[aa1979 100]

1 hour ago, peposavic said:

Send what you have but as much as financial evidences are important know that other stuff matters too. So send photos of you and your friends and family , photos if you went anywhere for vacation,  plane tickets confirmations , you can send phone records,  literally anything what would normal couple have. I work on the 1099 form so I don't have 401k , health insurance, life insurance... I would like to have it but I don't, that's life ,right? 

You are right. We did not travel outside of the US, so no tickets involved. No phone records! It is amazing how things can be sometimes.  

[InsanelyOne 8]

My husband and I travelled last September (his GC had been expired for 2 months at that point) and upon returning he presented the GC and the I-797 showing the extension for 18 months.  The immigration agent was very nice and didn't give us any trouble however he stated that we should have travelled with another document in addition to the I-797.  Unfortunately, I can't remember which document he was referring to (he said we should have received something in addition to the I-797 after we filed the I-751). 

 

We are traveling again next week and I've scoured my files and all we have is the I-797 extension letter.  Actually we have the 12-month extension, the 18-month extension, and also an I-797 for when we moved and updated our address.

 

Anyone have any idea what document he could be referring to?

 

[theanswerisdance 144]

20 minutes ago, InsanelyOne said:

My husband and I travelled last September (his GC had been expired for 2 months at that point) and upon returning he presented the GC and the I-797 showing the extension for 18 months.  The immigration agent was very nice and didn't give us any trouble however he stated that we should have travelled with another document in addition to the I-797.  Unfortunately, I can't remember which document he was referring to (he said we should have received something in addition to the I-797 after we filed the I-751). 

 

We are traveling again next week and I've scoured my files and all we have is the I-797 extension letter.  Actually we have the 12-month extension, the 18-month extension, and also an I-797 for when we moved and updated our address.

 

Anyone have any idea what document he could be referring to?

 

Did you show him both the original 12-month extension letter and the 18-month extension to the extension? The only thing that sounds plausible is that for some reason he wanted to see your 12-month letter since that’s referenced in the 18-month letter. No, it isn’t required, and all you need is the expired GC and the 18-month letter, but I always carry the 12-month letter as well just in case. I flew back in this past week on the 18-month letter which expires end of February and the officer counted 18 months off on his fingers three times and lost his place each time...before realizing he could just count 6 months from the previous August since that’s when the first extension expired. 🤦‍♀️ 

[InsanelyOne 8]

2 minutes ago, theanswerisdance said:

Did you show him both the original 12-month extension letter and the 18-month extension to the extension? The only thing that sounds plausible is that for some reason he wanted to see your 12-month letter since that’s referenced in the 18-month letter. No, it isn’t required, and all you need is the expired GC and the 18-month letter, but I always carry the 12-month letter as well just in case. I flew back in this past week on the 18-month letter which expires end of February and the officer counted 18 months off on his fingers three times and lost his place each time...before realizing he could just count 6 months from the previous August since that’s when the first extension expired. 🤦‍♀️ 

We only showed the 18-month letter.  This time I'm going to make sure we take all 3 of the I-797s just to be safe.

 

Thanks!

[Ksenia_O 696]

43 minutes ago, InsanelyOne said:

My husband and I travelled last September (his GC had been expired for 2 months at that point) and upon returning he presented the GC and the I-797 showing the extension for 18 months.  The immigration agent was very nice and didn't give us any trouble however he stated that we should have travelled with another document in addition to the I-797.  Unfortunately, I can't remember which document he was referring to (he said we should have received something in addition to the I-797 after we filed the I-751). 

 

We are traveling again next week and I've scoured my files and all we have is the I-797 extension letter.  Actually we have the 12-month extension, the 18-month extension, and also an I-797 for when we moved and updated our address.

 

Anyone have any idea what document he could be referring to?

 

https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2017-Nov/carrier-information-guide-english.pdf

p.p.38-39

 

A combo of an expired green card and an Extension letter   - that's all you need. Or I-551 stamp in your passport if  the "combo" gets expired and your I-751 still pending.

 

Have a safe trip!!!!

[Teknodude 53]

On 1/10/2019 at 10:35 PM, afrocraft said:

Global entry won't work without a proper, unexpired green card. You'll go through the regular line.

Sorry just saw this. Absolutely not true. You do not need a physical green card for GE to work. The visa you have is a I551. An I551 stamp in your passport is exactly the same.

whenever I use GE kiosks I never once used my physical card. Just hit the button that says “problem reading document” and enter your A number manually. Always worked 10+ times traveling with I551 stamp and no physical I551 card waiting for condition removal. 

 

Edit to add, make sure you update your GE profile with the new I551 stamp expiry date and you are good to go. 

Edited February 8, 2019 by Teknodude
Additional info.

[afrocraft 314]

3 hours ago, Teknodude said:

Sorry just saw this. Absolutely not true. You do not need a physical green card for GE to work. The visa you have is a I551. An I551 stamp in your passport is exactly the same.

whenever I use GE kiosks I never once used my physical card. Just hit the button that says “problem reading document” and enter your A number manually. Always worked 10+ times traveling with I551 stamp and no physical I551 card waiting for condition removal. 

 

Edit to add, make sure you update your GE profile with the new I551 stamp expiry date and you are good to go. 

Thanks. I didn't know it was possible to manually enter the A-number. 

[Venus201320 143]

12 hours ago, Teknodude said:

Sorry just saw this. Absolutely not true. You do not need a physical green card for GE to work. The visa you have is a I551. An I551 stamp in your passport is exactly the same.

whenever I use GE kiosks I never once used my physical card. Just hit the button that says “problem reading document” and enter your A number manually. Always worked 10+ times traveling with I551 stamp and no physical I551 card waiting for condition removal. 

 

Edit to add, make sure you update your GE profile with the new I551 stamp expiry date and you are good to go. 

So can I apply for Global Entry if I have expired green card and also have 18 month extension letter?

Edited February 8, 2019 by Venus201320

[Teknodude 53]

1 hour ago, Venus201320 said:

So can I apply for Global Entry if I have expired green card and also have 18 month extension letter?

Good question - what I was referring to above was continued use of Global Entry from an existing green card that I had extended with a stamp in my passport.  

Do you have the stamp in your passport?  I think you would need that.  It was so long ago I forgot how the extension letter works.  

 

With just the letter I doubt it.  When I had just the extension letter I had to go up to a desk upon entering the country and show the letter, they looked at it.  Let me in.  Blah Blah. 

I think the best option is to call your local Global Entry office and explain the situation and see what they say.  That is what I have done with situations I have found myself in.  I have found them mostly pretty helpful.  

[Teknodude 53]

10 hours ago, afrocraft said:

Thanks. I didn't know it was possible to manually enter the A-number. 

Yeah I actually think it was a compatibility issue between the new style green cards and the GE kiosks.  They basically couldn’t read the card.  Lots of people on various GE forums complained about this, and nearly everyone said - just manually input your number and it works fine.  

[Venus201320 143]

I applied for global entry. My green card expires at the end of this month but I do have my 18 month extension letter, which extends my status in there database by 18 months.(so it will show up with my A-number that its been extended by 18 months). Now waiting to get conditionally approved so I can setup an appointment.  

Edited February 10, 2019 by Venus201320