Traveling on Extension Letter?

[NYCruiser 423]

On 5/10/2017 at 8:18 AM, K & V said:

I've been hearing from my friend, who has a filipina wife, that his immigration attorney has been telling him horror stories where people have been having difficulties getting back into the country. His Attorney advise him not to travel anywhere until his wife receives her 10 year green card. They even had a trip planned to visit the philippines which they had to cancel. From what I've gathered all of the horror stories appear to be hearsay without any hard reports. I haven't seen or heard anything in the news about people in the middle of ROC having trouble re-entering the country. 

 

My advise, have your Expired GC, NOA, and passport all on hand and be prepared to educate some officials just in case.

Horror stores, whether, under PRESIDENT Trump tend to mostly be just Halloween Fireside Horror stories...we have no idea what crimes or tax evasion those people were barred from entry or whats on their record...of course everyone is 'innocent'

[Derwood 203]

I travelled from Venice to Philadephia yesterday, using my expired green card and extension letter for the first time. Interestingly, and somewhat surprisingly, the American Airlines check-in agent didn't even ask to see my green card or the extension letter. We went through security in Venice and then I saw a long line to passport control. This was the first time I'd ever seen passport control after security. The 'All Passports' line was extremely long so I went to the 'EU Citizens' line, scanned my British passport and went through the automated gates. I then boarded the plane and no-one had even looked at my green card!

 

When we arrived in Philadelphia we were greeted by the longest immigration line I have ever seen in my life. A CBP officer said twelve international flights had all come in at once. The queue was two and a half hours long. I initially asked a (clueless) assistant if I needed to go to the automated machines given the fact my green card was expired - she said yes. After standing in line for nearly two hours I asked another representative and she sent me into a different line for an immigration officer. The immigration officer didn't say much apart from "Why did you let your green card expire?" - I had great difficulty in not rolling my eyes and courteously explained that I had applied on the first day possible and that I believed USCIS may be slightly backlogged. From there I was sent to secondary inspection which took about 20 minutes. The officer in secondary only spoke to ask me how long I had been out of the country, before handing my documents back and saying 'Have a nice day'. 

 

If it hadn't been for the long lines, the process would have been fairly painless. Even with a four-hour layover, we had to run for our connecting flight. I have to say that I'm quite relieved that I don't have any more international trips planned for the next twelve months though!

[bricklane 0]

I'm about to be in a tricky situation - I'm traveling domestically later this month on my expired GC with extension letter. My small and mischievous dog chewed my passport a little bit, so now I'm worried I won't be able to travel. Anyone have some insight?

[vajaster 7]

22 hours ago, Derwood said:

I travelled from Venice to Philadephia yesterday, using my expired green card and extension letter for the first time. Interestingly, and somewhat surprisingly, the American Airlines check-in agent didn't even ask to see my green card or the extension letter. We went through security in Venice and then I saw a long line to passport control. This was the first time I'd ever seen passport control after security. The 'All Passports' line was extremely long so I went to the 'EU Citizens' line, scanned my British passport and went through the automated gates. I then boarded the plane and no-one had even looked at my green card!

 

When we arrived in Philadelphia we were greeted by the longest immigration line I have ever seen in my life. A CBP officer said twelve international flights had all come in at once. The queue was two and a half hours long. I initially asked a (clueless) assistant if I needed to go to the automated machines given the fact my green card was expired - she said yes. After standing in line for nearly two hours I asked another representative and she sent me into a different line for an immigration officer. The immigration officer didn't say much apart from "Why did you let your green card expire?" - I had great difficulty in not rolling my eyes and courteously explained that I had applied on the first day possible and that I believed USCIS may be slightly backlogged. From there I was sent to secondary inspection which took about 20 minutes. The officer in secondary only spoke to ask me how long I had been out of the country, before handing my documents back and saying 'Have a nice day'. 

 

If it hadn't been for the long lines, the process would have been fairly painless. Even with a four-hour layover, we had to run for our connecting flight. I have to say that I'm quite relieved that I don't have any more international trips planned for the next twelve months though!

 

 

Guys I'm in a bit of a dilemma:

 

My wife's Green Card will expire 11/20/2017 and we will be sending in ROC late 08/2017.

We are planning to travel 09/01/17-09/15/17. Do you think we will be OK? Obviously we wouldn't receive the NOA mail in time since we will be departing just a couple days after sending in ROC packet.

 

My worry is that when we are departing Afghanistan on 09/15/2017 to come back to the US they might give us troubles due to Green Card will be expiring only 2 months from that date.

Do you think we will be OK? I mean it WON'T be expired, just will be two months away from expiration date and we won't have NOA Extension Letter with us.

 

Any thoughts? WIll we run into any problems with Emirates personnel in Afghanistan trying to board our plane or possibly with CBP in the US?

[OshunMY 4]

This forum is so helpful. Thank you so much to everyone for sharing information, tips, and your stories! I am traveling with an extension letter this October and have two questions I hope someone can help enlighten. 

 

1. Is there an unacceptable period of being out of the country? I will be traveling for about 6 to 8 weeks.

2. Many travel documents have a six-month validity requirement. Is it the same with the extension letter? 

My green card expired in May 2017, which means my extension letter will expire in May 2018. I will be returning from my trip in November, which is about 6 months before the expiry. Will that be a problem? I remember reading something about getting a stamp on the passport before going on a trip. Does anyone know what that stamp is called and any details about it?

 

Much appreciated. THANK YOU!

[theanswerisdance 144]

11 hours ago, vajaster said:

 

 

Guys I'm in a bit of a dilemma:

 

My wife's Green Card will expire 11/20/2017 and we will be sending in ROC late 08/2017.

We are planning to travel 09/01/17-09/15/17. Do you think we will be OK? Obviously we wouldn't receive the NOA mail in time since we will be departing just a couple days after sending in ROC packet.

 

My worry is that when we are departing Afghanistan on 09/15/2017 to come back to the US they might give us troubles due to Green Card will be expiring only 2 months from that date.

Do you think we will be OK? I mean it WON'T be expired, just will be two months away from expiration date and we won't have NOA Extension Letter with us.

 

Any thoughts? WIll we run into any problems with Emirates personnel in Afghanistan trying to board our plane or possibly with CBP in the US?

I had no problems traveling recently with less than two months left on my GC. I did not have the extension letter, I had not even filed ROC at that point. 

 

i think the bigger thing to be concerned about is whether you might risk getting a biometrics appointment letter while away on your trip. Make sure you have someone who is checking your mail for you and can notify you if you receive that letter (in case the date is during your trip and need to reschedule), or else I'd say wait to file your ROC until you get back from the trip. 

[theanswerisdance 144]

2 minutes ago, OshunMY said:

This forum is so helpful. Thank you so much to everyone for sharing information, tips, and your stories! I am traveling with an extension letter this October and have two questions I hope someone can help enlighten. 

 

1. Is there an unacceptable period of being out of the country? I will be traveling for about 6 to 8 weeks.

2. Many travel documents have a six-month validity requirement. Is it the same with the extension letter? 

My green card expired in May 2017, which means my extension letter will expire in May 2018. I will be returning from my trip in November, which is about 6 months before the expiry. Will that be a problem? I remember reading something about getting a stamp on the passport before going on a trip. Does anyone know what that stamp is called and any details about it?

 

Much appreciated. THANK YOU!

From what I understand, the letter is not like passports with the six-month requirement. I say that because I have read from many people that you can't even go and get the stamp (called the I-551) until your extension letter is close to expiring. If your letter is coming close to expiry, say next April in your case, and your I-751 has still not been approved, you could make an INFOPASS appointment to go get the stamp. As for limitations on travel time with the letter, I've never heard of any for a period of a few weeks like you're doing. It's not like you're leaving the country for a year.  

[llindsay 21]

19 hours ago, theanswerisdance said:

From what I understand, the letter is not like passports with the six-month requirement. I say that because I have read from many people that you can't even go and get the stamp (called the I-551) until your extension letter is close to expiring. If your letter is coming close to expiry, say next April in your case, and your I-751 has still not been approved, you could make an INFOPASS appointment to go get the stamp. As for limitations on travel time with the letter, I've never heard of any for a period of a few weeks like you're doing. It's not like you're leaving the country for a year.  

I'm glad you mention this because last week i schedule my wife a infopass appt. which is on the 24th of july cause i thought you need the extension letter and a stamp in the passport. I read somewhere where others said that the extension letter wasn't enough and that you needed a extension letter and a stamp in the passport. My wife got her extension letter last week and she is traveling August 8th to the phil til Sept...So do i need to cancel that appointment cause she has everything she needs already to travel and return?

[theanswerisdance 144]

26 minutes ago, llindsay said:

I'm glad you mention this because last week i schedule my wife a infopass appt. which is on the 24th of july cause i thought you need the extension letter and a stamp in the passport. I read somewhere where others said that the extension letter wasn't enough and that you needed a extension letter and a stamp in the passport. My wife got her extension letter last week and she is traveling August 8th to the phil til Sept...So do i need to cancel that appointment cause she has everything she needs already to travel and return?

No, I'm pretty sure they won't even give her that I-551 stamp because she just got her extension letter and it's nowhere near close to expiry. The only reason you would need it is when that one-year extension is coming close to being due. Nowhere in the NOA does it say you need to have both the stamp and the extension letter to travel. In fact, I think because they're both legal documents, you can't have both the stamp and the green card/extension letter combo. Meaning next year if your one-year extension is almost up and you still haven't received her new 10-year green card, then you would actually have to surrender the old green card along with the extension letter in exchange for the I-551 stamp in her passport.

[llindsay 21]

1 minute ago, theanswerisdance said:

No, I'm pretty sure they won't even give her that I-551 stamp because she just got her extension letter and it's nowhere near close to expiry. The only reason you would need it is when that one-year extension is coming close to being due. Nowhere in the NOA does it say you need to have both the stamp and the extension letter to travel. In fact, I think because they're both legal documents, you can't have both the stamp and the green card/extension letter combo. Meaning next year if your one-year extension is almost up and you still haven't received her new 10-year green card, then you would actually have to surrender the old green card along with the extension letter in exchange for the I-551 stamp in her passport.

Ok, Thanks for the info and i will cancel the appointment.

[zuluweta 250]

Has anyone traveled to Mexico on expired green card and extension letter?

[theanswerisdance 144]

This and other threads have raised a question for me: many people are saying that IF there is a problem with using the expired green card + extension letter, it's usually with the airline ticket agents and not with the immigration officers (who tend to be familiar with the letter). I have travelled back and forth to Canada and outside North America numerous times since becoming a permanent resident and I realized that I've never once showed my green card to an airline agent at the check-in counter, in the States and in Canada and in every other country I've traveled to. I only ever show my Canadian passport, and then when I get to U.S. customs that's the first time I show my green card. Are we supposed to or required to show our green card to the airline employees too? I was planning to just keep doing what I've always done and show my passport only at the check-in counter, and then produce the letter and green card once at customs...

[jxn 86]

28 minutes ago, theanswerisdance said:

This and other threads have raised a question for me: many people are saying that IF there is a problem with using the expired green card + extension letter, it's usually with the airline ticket agents and not with the immigration officers (who tend to be familiar with the letter). I have travelled back and forth to Canada and outside North America numerous times since becoming a permanent resident and I realized that I've never once showed my green card to an airline agent at the check-in counter, in the States and in Canada and in every other country I've traveled to. I only ever show my Canadian passport, and then when I get to U.S. customs that's the first time I show my green card. Are we supposed to or required to show our green card to the airline employees too? I was planning to just keep doing what I've always done and show my passport only at the check-in counter, and then produce the letter and green card once at customs...

That's because Canadians don't require a visa to enter the U.S. The only other nationalities that don't require a visa or ESTA via the Visa Waiver Program are holders of passports from Bermuda, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Palau.

[ColGil 126]

On 7/17/2017 at 9:50 AM, bricklane said:

I'm about to be in a tricky situation - I'm traveling domestically later this month on my expired GC with extension letter. My small and mischievous dog chewed my passport a little bit, so now I'm worried I won't be able to travel. Anyone have some insight?

I use my CA drivers licence for domestic travel to avoid any issues.  I know not all states DL's can be used, hopefully yours can.  

[ColGil 126]

Mirroring what others have said, I previously had no issues travelling using expired GC and letter, however my most recent trip I was sent to secondary inspection.  My husband was told he was not allowed to remain with me, or even in the terminal and needless to say caused unnecessary stress.  It seems their policies may have changed in recent months (hmmm, wonder who could be behind that one) and they automatically send us straight to secondary, however the officer told me that a letter does not replace an expired green card and that i was in the wrong for believing so.  He told me next time I better have a stamp in my passport so I have made an infopass apt to get the stamp.  

 

My first experience with secondary inspection a couple of years ago  (before I even received my GC) scarred me for life.  It was a traumatic experience where I was treated like a criminal, all my belongings were just dumped out of my suitcase and every item including underwear was inspected.  I was left to pick everything up on my hands and knees as the officer bellowed at me to hurry up.  It was the most degrading experience of my life.  Now my most recent experience (which is the one with the expired GC) was actually quick and painless, but it triggered an anxiety attack in both me and my husband and I'm sure this is how it will be in future.  

 

It's for this reason I will not leave the office until I have a stamp in my passport, or a 10 year GC in my hand.