Long shot question: possible to get I-551 stamp from CBP?

[jxn 86]

I expect the answer to be no but I wanted to ask if anyone thinks it's possible to get the I-551 stamp at the border following a trip abroad.

 

When we re-enter the U.S., it will be 3½ months before the expiration date I-797 Notice of Action (which extends one year past the green card). So too early to get an InfoPass appointment. However it will only be 1½ months before the one year mark from receipt date on her NoA. I mention this because my state's DMV (erroneously, in my opinion) issued her driver license to expire one year from the receipt date and not one year from the green card expiration date.

 

Although I will request an InfoPass appointment as we approach the weeks preceding the one-year mark from the NoA, I'm afraid USCIS will say that's too far out to get the I-551 stamp, despite the fact that without it my wife won't have a valid driver license in the interim.

 

Does CBP have the authority to issue an I-551 ADIT stamp to a green card holder undergoing Removal of Conditions?

 

If not, has anyone successfully gotten an I-551 stamp well before the one-year mark from the green card expiration date? We filed 89 days before the green card expiration date so in order to have continued proof of her residency we'd need the I-551 almost three months early.

[nightingalejules 678]

That's a really good question, and I don't know the answer. It might be worth a try! I suspect that someone would have thought of it by now, so they probably can't, but way to think outside the box!

 

As to the other part of your question... I have seen people on the boards getting stamps well in advance of the actual expiration date. Not every office does it; some offices (and officers) are more hard-nosed than others about the "rules"... but it does seem that more and more of the front-line officers are able to understand that an expired green card and a vaguely worded letter are not really sufficient to prove our status in the current political climate. That, combined with the fact that the average timeline is creeping past the year-mark (which means that they'll have to give almost all of us stamps sooner or later) As such, it does seem that more people are getting the I-551 stamp outside the traditional window.

 

Good luck! I don't know if I'm brave enough to experiment with getting the stamp at the border, but report back if you do try it!

[jxn 86]

Thanks. I'll try to remember to ask CBP when we next re-enter the U.S.

 

I may also try to make an InfoPass next month to try to get an I-551 stamp and if they say it's too far out, at least ask for a letter or something clarifying that the I-797 NoA extends the green card date one year, not the receipt date. With that, I'd be able to fix my local DMV's misinterpretation of the Notice of Action, where they gave my wife her driver license valid until one year from the receipt date, not green card date.

[jxn 86]

I'll just update this to say that the CBP official was aware of the extension letter, knew about the I-551 stamp, but said that CBP can't issue it because they don't have the legal authority to set a date of validity for the stamp, since it requires an annotation/date saying how long it's good for.

[nightingalejules 678]

Good to know! Thanks for checking that out for us!