I-751 filers traveling when both conditional GC and extension letter are expired and no I-551 passport stamp

[Lanzoni 38]

6 hours ago, Hypnos said:

As others have stated, I doubt you'd even be allowed to board the airplane under those circumstances. 

 

Airlines can be fined for allowing people to travel to the US who aren't in possession of valid entry documents. That's why they ask, ask, and then ask again before you're allowed to set foot in the plane. 

 

There isn't really an excuse for not obtaining an I-551 stamp. At the most it should take you only a handful of weeks, and that's assuming you have to wait for more Infopass slots to open up. 

This is the second week I am following up and I feel better about finding appointments although I still think it may take up to a month so the question here is what to do if you are still waiting for the perfect slot and happen to find your self in situation where you need an "emergency stamp". I think the consensus so far is to try a walk in appointment. 

[Lanzoni 38]

4 hours ago, Sukie said:

Do a walk-in, but do take something that shows the reason - like an email telling you that a loved one has died, or a death announcement.  If you have already been able to MAKE an airline reservation, take a copy of the reservation, too.  While we tend to think of USCIS, NVC and the ASCs as the enemy, there is usually someone who can help, if you come with a good reason, a good attitude, and, at least, a smile.

 

Best of luck to anyone who is in this situation.

 

Sukie in NY

Agreed.

[Lanzoni 38]

14 hours ago, mindthegap said:

Would be possible at a land border (albeit after extensive secondary screening by some disgruntled CBP agents), but via plane without a transportation letter it isn't happening. 

 

 

Your comment makes me think that in days like these it would definitely be easier from the Canadian side than from the Mexican side. It also brought to my mind that my naïveté once revealed that the Canadian border officers can be pretty mean too... 

[Hypnos 6,576]

I think you can take it on faith that no immigration officers anywhere are hired for their personality. 

[Lanzoni 38]

18 hours ago, Hypnos said:

I think you can take it on faith that no immigration officers anywhere are hired for their personality. 

Agreed. Still the media tried to portray the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as the "good guys" helping people to cross the Canadian border on foot, allegedly running from the "bad guys". 

[Lanzoni 38]

On 7/29/2017 at 11:22 AM, Lanzoni said:

This is the second week I am following up and I feel better about finding appointments although I still think it may take up to a month so the question here is what to do if you are still waiting for the perfect slot and happen to find your self in situation where you need an "emergency stamp". I think the consensus so far is to try a walk in appointment. 

As a follow up to the message above, I was able to schedule an infopass appointment this morning so let us see how that goes. 

[Lanzoni 38]

On 7/31/2017 at 5:54 AM, Lanzoni said:

As a follow up to the message above, I was able to schedule an infopass appointment this morning so let us see how that goes. 

Another follow up. I wanted to share my experience with the extension letter from the past few days. To recap my background, my CR6 GC expired in October/2016 but I got an extension letter dated July/2016, for one year and the CSC has my I-751 case. I went to an impromptu day trip to Canada last week and when I was crossing the Canadian land border, the officer was suprised that my GC was expired and that had not received another one yet. He said that, to him, my extension letter was expired. I told him that he should count one year from the GC expiration date. He didn't look entirely convinced but let me in anyways. On my way back to the US, the CBP officer flat out told me that my extension letter had expired last month and referred me for secondary inspection under code  "IO04". I waited almost an hour in the line. The officer that saw me didn't even know what was going on and initially asked me I was bringing currency over the limits into the US(???). After me explaining the expiration issue, he spoke with the officer that initially saw me at the border, spent a few minutes looking at the computer and released me. It was a total of almost 1:30 hours for primary and secondary inspections, including waiting in line, but maybe just 10 minutes or less with the officer. Today I went to my infopass appointment to get my I-551 and asked the officer about the expiration issue. He was kind of vague and just told me that the status doesn't expire, it was just an issue with the documents. My recommendation to all is to err on the side of caution and only travel abroad if your letter was issued in within the extension period it states. Travel to Canada is OK but be prepared for secondary inspection. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Frips 166]

Argh it will be fun next year. My GC expires on 10/8/17 and I have scheduled 4 international business trips next year.//woohoooo

[charmander 692]

52 minutes ago, Lanzoni said:

Another follow up. I wanted to share my experience with the extension letter from the past few days. To recap my background, my CR6 GC expired in October/2016 but I got an extension letter dated July/2016, for one year and the CSC has my I-751 case. I went to an impromptu day trip to Canada last week and when I was crossing the Canadian land border, the officer was suprised that my GC was expired and that had not received another one yet. He said that, to him, my extension letter was expired. I told him that he should count one year from the GC expiration date. He didn't look entirely convinced but let me in anyways. On my way back to the US, the CBP officer flat out told me that my extension letter had expired last month and referred me for secondary inspection under code  "IO04". I waited almost an hour in the line. The officer that saw me didn't even know what was going on and initially asked me I was bringing currency over the limits into the US(???). After me explaining the expiration issue, he spoke with the officer that initially saw me at the border, spent a few minutes looking at the computer and released me. It was a total of almost 1:30 hours for primary and secondary inspections, including waiting in line, but maybe just 10 minutes or less with the officer. Today I went to my infopass appointment to get my I-551 and asked the officer about the expiration issue. He was kind of vague and just told me that the status doesn't expire, it was just an issue with the documents. My recommendation to all is to err on the side of caution and only travel abroad if your letter was issued in within the extension period it states. Travel to Canada is OK but be prepared for secondary inspection. 

 

Do you mind sharing which POE was this?

[Lanzoni 38]

20 minutes ago, charmander said:

Do you mind sharing which POE was this?

Peace Arch.

[mindthegap 2,578]

1 hour ago, Lanzoni said:

He was kind of vague and just told me that the status doesn't expire, it was just an issue with the documents.

An issue with the officer more like....

 

It is put very clearly HERE in this officially issued carrier information guide, on p38, the receipt date (in your case July 2016) has no effect on the validity of the card, and that it extends it for a specified period of time- generally one year- which is exactly what your extension letter states.

 

What a total waste of time and resources. 

Edited August 14, 2017 by mindthegap

[charmander 692]

1 minute ago, Lanzoni said:

Peace Arch.

Blah... It's the #2 US-Canada land border in terms of number of people crossing. CBP folks need to step up their training before the ski season starts in Whistler.

[Lanzoni 38]

1 minute ago, charmander said:

Blah... It's the #2 US-Canada land border in terms of number of people crossing. CBP folks need to step up their training before the ski season starts in Whistler.

True, especially this year with the CSC delays... 

[Lanzoni 38]

20 minutes ago, mindthegap said:

An issue with the officer more like....

 

It is put very clearly HERE in this officially issued carrier information guide, on p38, the receipt date (in your case July 2016) has no effect on the validity of the card, and that it extends it for a specified period of time- generally one year- which is exactly what your extension letter states.

 

What a total waste of time and resources. 

Good idea to have that printed and attached to the NOA while traveling...

[mindthegap 2,578]

1 minute ago, Lanzoni said:

Good idea to have that printed and attached to the NOA while traveling...

You really shouldn't have to - this is very much a 'you had one job' scenario and quite honestly they should know this stuff-  but yes I agree it is sensible.