Green card scratches, is it an issue?

[Going through 5,671]

1 hour ago, Sunflower18 said:

This is exactly what I am doing!    I travel back and forth from Germany home to UK on a regular basis and my passport never gets stamped. 

 

OP, if you do get a new green card, use the paper wallet that comes with it.  I keep mine in that.

I wish I had presence of mind to keep track...I didn't know it would be an issue until seeing the requirements for the application.

So far I've had to pull all of my bank statements to get approximate dates of when tickets were bought (although sometimes I just paid at the counter in cash when travelling by bus), check facebook postings (which really didn't help me much at all), spoke to friends and family (useless), apply for a FOIA with both borders (haven't heard back from either of them and learned sometimes people don't hear back for at least 6 months if at all), and tried the CBP website---which doesn't work if you're an LPR (you'd think they'd fix that since LPRs are the ones who commonly need that info).  Almost all of my months and dates are estimates...and all of my travel was to Canada so there's no question of visiting "suspect countries" or however they term them.  I can't even rely on my expired passport (if I still had that, I opted to get it securely destroyed when I renewed my present one) because it's not like they ever stamped that one either.  In the end, I figure USCIS can look up my travel dates pretty darn quickly if they really want to dig into it.  My total days outside of the US for the past 5 years was around 200 so I know I'm well within the limit.

 

Which now makes me question if the IO will make an issue out of not having my old expired passport during my interview...pointless anyway as it's all blank pages anyhow, except for the original i-515 stamp when I did my AOS.  Something else to stress out about I suppose..

[Soup Dragon 104]

5 minutes ago, Going through said:

I wish I had presence of mind to keep track...I didn't know it would be an issue until seeing the requirements for the application.

So far I've had to pull all of my bank statements to get approximate dates of when tickets were bought (although sometimes I just paid at the counter in cash when travelling by bus), check facebook postings (which really didn't help me much at all), spoke to friends and family (useless), apply for a FOIA with both borders (haven't heard back from either of them and learned sometimes people don't hear back for at least 6 months if at all), and tried the CBP website---which doesn't work if you're an LPR (you'd think they'd fix that since LPRs are the ones who commonly need that info).  Almost all of my months and dates are estimates...and all of my travel was to Canada so there's no question of visiting "suspect countries" or however they term them.  I can't even rely on my expired passport (if I still had that, I opted to get it securely destroyed when I renewed my present one) because it's not like they ever stamped that one either.  In the end, I figure USCIS can look up my travel dates pretty darn quickly if they really want to dig into it.  My total days outside of the US for the past 5 years was around 200 so I know I'm well within the limit.

 

Which now makes me question if the IO will make an issue out of not having my old expired passport during my interview...pointless anyway as it's all blank pages anyhow, except for the original i-515 stamp when I did my AOS.  Something else to stress out about I suppose..

It's like your visa application I guess, just do your best to remember all you can.   I am hoping that when I come to file for citizenship my 'overseas' presence doesn't come back to slap me in the face and I get some clown of an adjudicator that doesn't know what 'government orders' mean!   Trust me, they exist, I almost got stranded in Canada because the IO told me I needed a re-entry permit because I have lived overseas for more than a year.   Try not to get stressed about it though, I have spent far too many hours getting in a flap about this whole process!!  Easier said than done!  Good luck :-)  

[Going through 5,671]

9 minutes ago, Sunflower18 said:

It's like your visa application I guess, just do your best to remember all you can.   I am hoping that when I come to file for citizenship my 'overseas' presence doesn't come back to slap me in the face and I get some clown of an adjudicator that doesn't know what 'government orders' mean!   Trust me, they exist, I almost got stranded in Canada because the IO told me I needed a re-entry permit because I have lived overseas for more than a year.   Try not to get stressed about it though, I have spent far too many hours getting in a flap about this whole process!!  Easier said than done!  Good luck :-)  

I'm just hoping I don't get an adjudicator that starts to blame me over why my passport was never stamped....I heard one Canadian lady already went through that and she was like "uhm....you guys are the immigration people, you tell me!"

 

Seriously though, I think that shouldn't even be a question on the application for anyone---to fill in travel dates.  USCIS can easily look that up in mere minutes themselves while processing applications for eligibility.  Even if I did have complete proof, I'm sure they would still confirm it themselves through their own databases, right?  With all the money they make in application fees each year, for everything people have to file for combined...I'm sure they can afford to power up their computers for a few minutes  

 

 

[Dutchster 1,107]

14 hours ago, mindthegap said:

 

The envelope is an RFID blocker, to prevent the GC chip being read when you don't want it to be.

What, really? That little paper envelope that came with it? Darn, I must have accidentally thrown it out.

[Soup Dragon 104]

2 minutes ago, Dutchster said:

What, really? That little paper envelope that came with it? Darn, I must have accidentally thrown it out.

I just looked at mine and it says 'we recommend use of this envelope to protect your new card and to prevent wireless communications with it.'    Nothing about scratches though lol

[Going through 5,671]

1 minute ago, Sunflower18 said:

I just looked at mine and it says 'we recommend use of this envelope to protect your new card and to prevent wireless communications with it.'    Nothing about scratches though lol

Damn you all got your GC's gift-wrapped lol!  

I didn't get any protective cover.  I *was* shocked at how they just mailed it out though in a regular envelope, no sort of secured delivery, nada. 

Considering people are supposed to carry this chained around their necks for years (my terminology, of course), you'd think USCIS would at least ensure they are signed for upon delivery.

 

[Soup Dragon 104]

1 hour ago, Going through said:

Damn you all got your GC's gift-wrapped lol!  

I didn't get any protective cover.  I *was* shocked at how they just mailed it out though in a regular envelope, no sort of secured delivery, nada. 

Considering people are supposed to carry this chained around their necks for years (my terminology, of course), you'd think USCIS would at least ensure they are signed for upon delivery.

 

This is very true.  My GC and SS card were both left in my in-laws' mail box on the street!