Travelling less than a month after the interview

[LidijaS 0]

Hi eveyone! 

My husband and I filled at the end of December and we have our interview scheduled for August 16. Since my cousin is getting married back home on September 15 I am wondering will my green card arrive on time for that? If not, which I gathered from this site, I should get I-551 stamp in my passport, right? Will they issue that for a non emergency? Is there any recent experiences regarding that? 
Also, I still have my passport in my maiden name, since it is not expired. Will they stamp that even though it's not the name that will be on the green card?

 

I tried calling USCIS but no one can answer my questions, you guys are my last hope!
 

Thanks!

[azblk 338]

35 minutes ago, LidijaS said:

Hi eveyone! 

My husband and I filled at the end of December and we have our interview scheduled for August 16. Since my cousin is getting married back home on September 15 I am wondering will my green card arrive on time for that? If not, which I gathered from this site, I should get I-551 stamp in my passport, right? Will they issue that for a non emergency? Is there any recent experiences regarding that? 
Also, I still have my passport in my maiden name, since it is not expired. Will they stamp that even though it's not the name that will be on the green card?

 

I tried calling USCIS but no one can answer my questions, you guys are my last hope!
 

Thanks!

It depends on local office policy and if you are approved or not. Some officers will stamp you passport with i-551 and some will not even if you are approved. If they dont approve you right away you can fall back on your i-131 and use that to travel. You dont loose anything by asking him/her for stamp if you are approved.

[LidijaS 0]

On 7/20/2017 at 8:54 PM, azblk said:

It depends on local office policy and if you are approved or not. Some officers will stamp you passport with i-551 and some will not even if you are approved. If they dont approve you right away you can fall back on your i-131 and use that to travel. You dont loose anything by asking him/her for stamp if you are approved.

Thanks for the quick response! So I am at mercy of the officer and probably how their day is? Great.

I read that i-131 is invalid after they approve your green card. Can anyone confirm or deny?

Also, any experience with your maiden name on the passport?

[xillini 71]

Some officers may review your applications in prior to your arrival, others not, which all depends on the workload before your arrival. In other words, it is under high uncertainty who will interview you, how much they are convinced about your marriage, whether they are gonna approve you on the spot, and lastly local field office's practice. 

 

Some local officers give you the stamp on the spot, while others not. My interview went really smooth and at the end of the interview, I even introduced really nice ethnic restaurant that she was particularly interested in, but still my interviewer merely said "Okay, I will review your case and if there is no problem, you will have GC in hands within 2-3 weeks" and I got my card being produced in next day.

 

So I would suggest you make appointment at infopass a week after your interview date (Because availability may not be open soon), and if GC is approved soon after AOS interview, then just wait. If not, you can run to Infopass and stamp.

 

Another strategies is that if you are approved at the spot, just ask the officer to give the stamp, explaining why (like you and your spouse are together visiting home country for cousin's wedding, with travel iterinery ), which will again convince the officer that the marriage is bona fide and as USCIS's agent, he/she is supposed to promote immigrant's rights, which will increase chance to not only approval but also stamp. 

 

In the end, if you are approved at the spot or day after the interview, I am quite sure you will have GC on hands before your travel date unless delivery accident happens. You can make sure to prevent delivery accident by registering to myUSPS with informed delivery and tracking service, which will show you any priority delivery mailed to your physical address will be updated to your text or email such that you can be assured that it is on the way (every immigration benefit ID card is USPS priority). 

[LidijaS 0]

11 hours ago, xillini said:

Some officers may review your applications in prior to your arrival, others not, which all depends on the workload before your arrival. In other words, it is under high uncertainty who will interview you, how much they are convinced about your marriage, whether they are gonna approve you on the spot, and lastly local field office's practice. 

 

Some local officers give you the stamp on the spot, while others not. My interview went really smooth and at the end of the interview, I even introduced really nice ethnic restaurant that she was particularly interested in, but still my interviewer merely said "Okay, I will review your case and if there is no problem, you will have GC in hands within 2-3 weeks" and I got my card being produced in next day.

 

So I would suggest you make appointment at infopass a week after your interview date (Because availability may not be open soon), and if GC is approved soon after AOS interview, then just wait. If not, you can run to Infopass and stamp.

 

Another strategies is that if you are approved at the spot, just ask the officer to give the stamp, explaining why (like you and your spouse are together visiting home country for cousin's wedding, with travel iterinery ), which will again convince the officer that the marriage is bona fide and as USCIS's agent, he/she is supposed to promote immigrant's rights, which will increase chance to not only approval but also stamp. 

 

In the end, if you are approved at the spot or day after the interview, I am quite sure you will have GC on hands before your travel date unless delivery accident happens. You can make sure to prevent delivery accident by registering to myUSPS with informed delivery and tracking service, which will show you any priority delivery mailed to your physical address will be updated to your text or email such that you can be assured that it is on the way (every immigration benefit ID card is USPS priority). 

Thank you so much! This is a huge help! I will make sure to make an appointment at Infopass. Thanks again!

The only thing that is still bothering me is will they stamp a passport with my maiden name? 
 

[xillini 71]

5 hours ago, LidijaS said:

The only thing that is still bothering me is will they stamp a passport with my maiden name? 
 

Yes they should. In immigration laws maiden name is taken the same as the new husband last name with marriage certificate. In case you are still concerned, just bring marriage certificate to infopass and take photocopy of certificate during travel