Received AP. Still waiting on biometrics and interview.

[sideman 0]

Brought my fiancee from Philippines at end of June last year. We married in middle of September and mailed the I-485 and I-130 end of October and received acknowledgement on 11/4/17.  At beginning of December received request for further documentation and sent off within days and received acknowledgement that that was received on 12/12/17. Called USCIS the second week of January and got an Authorization for Parole (AP) issued 1/19/18 so we could travel. The AP is good for one year.

 

Since the beginning of the original filing we have been waiting for the Biometrics and Interview. We have called twice since receiving the AP and whoever we talk with tells us that we will be contacted IF or WHEN the biometrics is needed. The reason for getting the AP is so we could travel by air domestically and to the Philippines. My wife's Philippine passport is still in effect but her U.S. visa has expired. We are afraid to leave the country since we may be contacted by USCIS for the biometrics and/or interview and have to return to the states right away. Also afraid that upon reentry we might have an issue with TSA or  ICE since she doesn't have a green card or visa. Can anyone give us advice as to: (1) whether we could travel without incident since we do have the AP (2) an approximate time frame to receive the green card and (3) should we be concerned with travelling in or out of the country? Thanks in advance for your help! 

[geowrian 22,338]

On what basis did you bring your fiance to the US?

 

It's quite unusual not to have done biometrics yet...and to have AP issued without doing biometrics. Typically this is within a month or 2 of NOA1. The RFE (or more likely an RFIE) timeline is about right, and so is the timeline you actually got AP. The green card itself depends on your local office. Some are taking only 4 months, but many are taking a year or longer (some much longer).

 

AP is her travel document to request admission to the US, just like a visa. Entry of a non US citizen is always at the discretion of CBP, but barring a reason to deny entry, actually be denied entry with a valid AP is uncommon. The biggest risk is if AOS is denied while abroad, since that cancels AP as well and then you have no valid travel document to enter the US.

 

TSA doesn't check immigration status, but sometimes CBP can work alongside TSA. The I-485's NOA1 is evidence of authorized stay while the AOS case is pending, but carrying a copy of the marriage certificate + the latest documents from USCIS (i.e. AP) isn't a bad idea just in case.