Traveling on Extension Letter?

[Kyle and Linh 64]

My stepson had an expired GC and 18 month letter.  In the UA transit booth in Hong Kong on our return we had issues with the agent not being familiar with the documents.  Needed to ask Supervisor before getting a boarding pass on UA HKG-SFO flight.  Upon arrival in San Francisco we were inspected by the agent and sent to secondary inspection.  In secondary inspection we handed the agent the paperwork and 20 minutes later were passed through.  Many of the agents were a little dour since this was in the middle of the government shutdown and they seemed less friendly than usual having not been paid.

 

Given this experience we are considering letting my stepson (mature 14 yr) travel to Vietnam  for the summer.  To avoid getting pulled out of line we are considering getting an Infopass appointment to get a I-551 stamp in his passport.  I would appreciate everyones thoughts on this?

 

Is the I-551 easier to pass than expired GC+letter ?  We are thinking an I-551 in the passport is better since he would have to carry 3 items and runs the risk of losing or misplacing one.  Thoughts?

Edited February 10, 2019 by Kyle and Linh

[babebam 0]

Question for you all: 

We submitted our i751 and are sitting close to the tail end of the 18 month extension letter (maybe two months).  I'm wondering if we need to try to get a stamp, or if people are getting even longer extension letters because of the excessively long processing times right now. There's not really any information on the USCIS website and I'm feeling anxious.

If this is a "get the stamp" situation, is it possible to get the stamp at a US Embassy? 

 

Thanks in advance for your help all. So grateful to have this community.

[luna_azul0609 6]

On 2/13/2019 at 6:35 PM, babebam said:

Question for you all: 

We submitted our i751 and are sitting close to the tail end of the 18 month extension letter (maybe two months).  I'm wondering if we need to try to get a stamp, or if people are getting even longer extension letters because of the excessively long processing times right now. There's not really any information on the USCIS website and I'm feeling anxious.

If this is a "get the stamp" situation, is it possible to get the stamp at a US Embassy? 

 

Thanks in advance for your help all. So grateful to have this community. 

I'm not any help with your question, but I want to know the answer to this too. My husband and I would like to travel in a few months and by then it will be getting close to the end of the 18 months. Since he'll need a tourist visa to travel to Japan, I'm wondering if they'll see this as an issue to approve him/let him in. 

[Yanirose 64]

I was just want to share my story since I was worried myself before travelling with an extension letter.

 

We flew with Virgin Atlantic from London and the airline staff were fully aware of the extension letter and once we landed in Seattle my husband (USC) and daughter (USC) used the kiosk line got their receipt and then we've joined the X line so I could get through. The Custom officer was fully aware of the extension letter as well he didn't even look at it he just took my green card and stamped my passport in.

 

I was worried for no reason lol... 

[dtown1985 18]

Hi guys-I have a trip to Spain in May, my conditional green card expires, 5/9/19-I just received my 18 month extension letter yesterday-We will be flying back to the U.S. on 5/11/19-via  from Paris to Atlanta airport. Anyone has any experience from that port of entry? What line should I go through?

[dilip 187]

GC/ US citizen line, bypass the customer card printing machine and fill a physical custom for non-us citizen.

[nintendoswitch 39]

Experience:

 

I recently traveled internationally  with expired green card + extension letter. No problem at all at any port or airline. The only thing is before immigration avoid wasting your time going through auto-check printed machines since your green card is expired and you won’t be able to print and process anything. Let the people who controls the lines know that you have an extension letter, they will put you immediately in the “special needs” line and it will save you lots of time.

 

Also, be sure that your airline gives you the blue customs paper, my flight attendant said “it’s automatic at the airport” at the auto-check machines and well it wasn’t because my green card is expired so I couldn’t do anything, and one of the people who control the lines gave me one blue customs paper.

 

[sharin 41]

Anyone have experience entering Mexico on Expired GC and extension letter? My country of origin requires Mexico visa for enter. Also, I traveled to Mexico on valid GC but I'm not sure about expired GC and extension letter. 

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

22 minutes ago, sharin said:

Anyone have experience entering Mexico on Expired GC and extension letter? My country of origin requires Mexico visa for enter. Also, I traveled to Mexico on valid GC but I'm not sure about expired GC and extension letter. 

According to this link, you need to apply for a visa at a Mexican consulate. 

[kazero17 26]

On 4/27/2017 at 4:56 PM, Derwood said:

I confirmed with CBP today that this is the latest version of the carrier guidance.

I can’t access the link, more details on this document please???

i need to travel out of state while processing my I-751.

[kazero17 26]

On 2/24/2019 at 10:00 AM, nintendoswitch said:

Experience:

 

I recently traveled internationally  with expired green card + extension letter. No problem at all at any port or airline. The only thing is before immigration avoid wasting your time going through auto-check printed machines since your green card is expired and you won’t be able to print and process anything. Let the people who controls the lines know that you have an extension letter, they will put you immediately in the “special needs” line and it will save you lots of time.

 

Also, be sure that your airline gives you the blue customs paper, my flight attendant said “it’s automatic at the airport” at the auto-check machines and well it wasn’t because my green card is expired so I couldn’t do anything, and one of the people who control the lines gave me one blue customs paper.

 

Do i have to request this extension letter or it will be sent after USCIS receive my I-751 package???

[TheKingmaker 153]

7 minutes ago, kazero17 said:

Do i have to request this extension letter or it will be sent after USCIS receive my I-751 package???

They will mail it to you. It's basically your "receipt" of applying.

 

Different people call it different things. The official name is I-797. Others call it NOA1 or extension letter. 

[kazero17 26]

11 minutes ago, TheKingmaker said:

They will mail it to you. It's basically your "receipt" of applying.

 

Different people call it different things. The official name is I-797. Others call it NOA1 or extension letter. 

My GC will expire on may2019, can i travel on August2019 out of USA using this extension letter?

thanks for replaying to my post.

[theanswerisdance 144]

5 hours ago, kazero17 said:

My GC will expire on may2019, can i travel on August2019 out of USA using this extension letter?

thanks for replaying to my post.

You’ll get the extension letter shortly after you submit the I-751, so yes, you’d have it within plenty of time for August.

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

14 hours ago, kazero17 said:

I can’t access the link, more details on this document please???

i need to travel out of state while processing my I-751.

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