Denied re-entry with expired green card

[APRES 2]

Hello Everyone,

 

My wife and I recently traveled to South America and she was denied re-entry because she did not have the proper documentation according to the airline.  Her 2 year green card had expired 1 month prior.  We had applied to remove her conditions via I-751 to receive her 10 year green card, 8 months before it expired.  Shortly after applying we received form 797-C, which was an appointment notice for Biometrics.  This appointment was completed and the form was stamped.  4 months before our trip to South America we called USCIS to confirm exactly what was needed to travel and return properly.  They told us we only needed the expired green card and a 797 form.  We told them we only had a 797-C, notice of action form.  We never received a standard 797 form which confirmed receipt of our paperwork.  They said that the 797-C would be fine as it was not even possible to receive this form without the paperwork having been received.  We called on 3 other occasions before our trip and actually recorded our conversation with USCIS on the final occasion in which I questioned whether the 797-C was sufficient to allow us to re-enter, which they insisted it was.

 

At the airport trying to return after our 2 week trip, American Airlines said that our 797C was not sufficient and we needed a 797 form.  We would have to go to the US consulate otherwise.  We called USCIS from the airport and they still insisted that 797-C was sufficient.  They said if American Airlines would not let us board and needed something else, then we would have to go to the US Consulate office to get whatever documentation we needed.  We ended up having to go to the Consulate and fill out an I-131 ($575) in order to receive a boarding foil, which is essentially a stamp in your passport for one trip to enter the country.

 

We were supposed to fly out Friday and were denied.  Since the Consulate and all USCIS offices were closed over the weekend we were stuck for 2 days in a hotel before we could get any information. We did not receive the boarding foil until Thursday.  This cost us $1000 in flight change fees.  $575 for the boarding foil.  A week of hotels, food, transportation, etc.  Lost time at work, etc.  A major inconvenience....  I wanted to post this to prevent someone else from having to go through this ordeal.  We have been unable to find any similar experiences online.  I am trying to figure out if there is any recourse from either American Airlines for not allowing her to board or for USCIS for blatantly misinforming us.  Has anyone encountered a similar situation or have any advice for try to recover some of our losses?  Who is at fault here?

 

 

 

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

35 minutes ago, APRES said:

Hello Everyone,

 

My wife and I recently traveled to South America and she was denied re-entry because she did not have the proper documentation according to the airline.  Her 2 year green card had expired 1 month prior.  We had applied to remove her conditions via I-751 to receive her 10 year green card, 8 months before it expired.  Shortly after applying we received form 797-C, which was an appointment notice for Biometrics.  This appointment was completed and the form was stamped.  4 months before our trip to South America we called USCIS to confirm exactly what was needed to travel and return properly.  They told us we only needed the expired green card and a 797 form.  We told them we only had a 797-C, notice of action form.  We never received a standard 797 form which confirmed receipt of our paperwork.  They said that the 797-C would be fine as it was not even possible to receive this form without the paperwork having been received.  We called on 3 other occasions before our trip and actually recorded our conversation with USCIS on the final occasion in which I questioned whether the 797-C was sufficient to allow us to re-enter, which they insisted it was.

At the airport trying to return after our 2 week trip, American Airlines said that our 797C was not sufficient and we needed a 797 form.  We would have to go to the US consulate otherwise.  We called USCIS from the airport and they still insisted that 797-C was sufficient.  They said if American Airlines would not let us board and needed something else, then we would have to go to the US Consulate office to get whatever documentation we needed.  We ended up having to go to the Consulate and fill out an I-131 ($575) in order to receive a boarding foil, which is essentially a stamp in your passport for one trip to enter the country.

We were supposed to fly out Friday and were denied.  Since the Consulate and all USCIS offices were closed over the weekend we were stuck for 2 days in a hotel before we could get any information. We did not receive the boarding foil until Thursday.  This cost us $1000 in flight change fees.  $575 for the boarding foil.  A week of hotels, food, transportation, etc.  Lost time at work, etc.  A major inconvenience....  I wanted to post this to prevent someone else from having to go through this ordeal.  We have been unable to find any similar experiences online.  I am trying to figure out if there is any recourse from either American Airlines for not allowing her to board or for USCIS for blatantly misinforming us.  Has anyone encountered a similar situation or have any advice for try to recover some of our losses?  Who is at fault here?

 

You never received the documentation that said the green card was extended for 1 year for the processing of the expired one?

[Unlockable 7,316]

Quote

 

From USCIS.gov website...

Quote

Form I-797: Types and Functions

USCIS uses numerous types of Form I-797 to communicate with customers or convey an immigration benefit.  Form I-797 is NOT a form you can fill out. The chart below gives a brief description of each:

Form Number	Description
I-797, Notice of Action	Issued when an application or petition is approved.
I-797A, Notice of Action	Issued to an applicant as a replacement Form I-94.
I-797B, Notice of Action	Issued for approval of an alien worker petition.
I-797C, Notice of Action	Issued to communicate receipt of payments, rejection of applications, transfer of files, fingerprint biometric, interview and re-scheduled appointments, and re-open cases.
I-797D	Accompanies benefit cards.
I-797E, Notice of Action	Issued to request evidence.
I-797F, Transportation Letter	Issued overseas to allow applicants to travel.

 

 

Seems the I-797 is an approval and the I-797C is a notice of receipt of payments and such. Sorry to hear about your plight. Am interested on how this can be rectified.

[azblk 338]

sue the airline in small  claims court.

[APRES 2]

10 hours ago, cyberfx1024 said:

You never received the documentation that said the green card was extended for 1 year for the processing of the expired one?

 

10 hours ago, cyberfx1024 said:

You never received the documentation that said the green card was extended for 1 year for the processing of the expired one?

Correct, the 797 was never received.  Not sure if it was lost in the mail or what.  Since this is something we don’t do every day, we didn’t know exactly what that form was supposed to look like. We did know we were supposed to receive some notification.  The 797 C ‘notice of action’ came within 2 weeks of our filing so we thought this was the confirmation.  We told USCIS in our conversations that we never received the 797 receipt notice and they said the 797 C was all the proof we needed to show we had applied to remove the conditions and was good enough for traveling.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

  You filed 8 moths before the card expired ?    That is way before the 90 day window

[APRES 2]

It was within 90 days of when she first entered the country and the date she was considered a Conditional Permanent Resident.  This is not the issue.  USCIS confirmed receipt and says they sent the 797.  We just didn’t receive it.  

[TBoneTX 46,379]

Thread is moved from General Immigration Discussion to the Working & Traveling forum (topic is travel).

 

(Moderator hat off)

When it comes to travel, don't consult USCIS -- call the CBP instead.

In disputes with airlines, "I need to speak with your supervisor" is the phrase to repeat.

[geowrian 22,338]

43 minutes ago, APRES said:

It was within 90 days of when she first entered the country and the date she was considered a Conditional Permanent Resident.  This is not the issue.  USCIS confirmed receipt and says they sent the 797.  We just didn’t receive it.  

That doesn't make sense...you have to file within 90 days of the 2 year anniversary of obtaining permanent residency. Permanent residency is obtained when you enter on an immigrant visa (or when AOS is approved if she went through AOS instead of immigrant visa). Within 90 days of first entry into the country doesn't meet either of those criteria. The exception would be for somebody filing via abuse or with a divorce waiver (which I don't think applies here since you said she's still your wife).

I also don't think that's the issue here as they accepted the I-751 (and issued a boarding foil)....but the confusion on the timeline isn't helping understand exactly what happened either.

 

Typically, you file for ROC and get back an extension letter that explicitly says it extends the validity of the green card by 1 year. This letter + the green card should be sufficient for travel. Unfortunately, not all employees of all airlines understand this (and tend to have lackluster reading comprehension sometimes...).

While if the employee improperly denied boarding, you could try to sue...that's quite unlikely to actually benefit you in the end IMO. I'd reach out to AA's customer service and complaint departments and go that route first.

Trying to get any recovery from USCIS will go nowhere.

 

Good luck.

Edited November 20, 2017 by geowrian

[APRES 2]

I think we’re splitting hairs here..  but here are the details of why we filed when we did. This has little to do with why we were held up.  Even if you think we filed too early (which we didn’t), it doesn’t matter.  The application was accepted.

 

Thanks for the advice.  I agree that the airline is at fault and it would do more harm than good to go after them if she is trying to gain citizenship, etc

[Pinkrlion 2,724]

Sorry you went through this, but without the extension letter the airline did nothing wrong.  It is a heavy embossed letter in color that specifically says that it extends your GC for one year.  

 

The biometrics letter is just an appointment.  

[APRES 2]

Yes this is what I explained to the USCIS representatives.  They said we were fine.  We weren’t.  Does anyone hold them accountable for misinforming people?  I have clear evidence 

[agrabs 250]

I have told our story on here many times when people ask about traveling abroad on AP or with an extension letter for ROC.   Upon checking in for our flight home from a vacation to Mexico, Frontier airlines refused to issue my husband a boarding pass while traveling with the AP/EAD combo card.  At the time the combo cards had been in use for about a year but frontier airlines in Mexico was not familiar with them so they would not issue him a boarding pass to return home.   They told us they would only accept an unexpired green card.

After filing many complaints, what I learned from this was that even with proper documents, the airline does not have to let you board if they have any reason to think there is any possibility you will be turned away at the border. 

I always advise people to make sure the airline they are traveling home with is familiar with the documentation they will be traveling with.

 

You are wasting your time and energy expecting some kind of recourse from the airline or USCIS.   

 

 

 

[APRES 2]

This is very helpful.  Thank you.  This is what I had figured.  I wanted to mainly share the story to prevent this from happening to others, as it fell into sort of a grey zone.  We are traveling again in a few weeks and are going to get a copy of the 797 form next week.  Thanks for your insights 

[milimelo 4,582]

Why didn't/don't you get the I-551 stamp in the passport? That's always accepted.