Traveling during ROC to India

[BR26 3]

Does anyone have any experience with boarding a flight to the US from India by showing the expired GC and the extension letter? Which airlines generally don't give any hassle?

[cd37 229]

1 hour ago, BR26 said:

Does anyone have any experience with boarding a flight to the US from India by showing the expired GC and the extension letter? Which airlines generally don't give any hassle?

You need to get i 551 stamp in your passport and you will be just fine.

[BR26 3]

14 minutes ago, cd37 said:

You need to get i 551 stamp in your passport and you will be just fine.

But my GC expires the 17th of this month. And travel is from 21st. They probably won't give me a stamp just yet.

[cd37 229]

Just now, BR26 said:

But my GC expires the 17th of this month. And travel is from 21st. They probably won't give me a stamp just yet.

Take your green and extension letter to local USCIS office and tell them you are travelling. They will stamp your passport. You cant asume anything sitting at home. You gotta go there.

[Tar999 13]

You will be fine traveling with the expired GC and extension letter.

[cj777 3]

Do not travel through Lufthansa...you can reach India with the expired GC and extension letter, but they will not let you board the flight from India with the same documents. They say its not a valid document for them. We had to purchase another expensive ticket to reach US.

[BR26 3]

19 minutes ago, cj777 said:

Do not travel through Lufthansa...you can reach India with the expired GC and extension letter, but they will not let you board the flight from India with the same documents. They say its not a valid document for them. We had to purchase another expensive ticket to reach US.

Which airline did you use? I am thinking of going by Cathay Pacific.

[Tar999 13]

37 minutes ago, cj777 said:

Do not travel through Lufthansa...you can reach India with the expired GC and extension letter, but they will not let you board the flight from India with the same documents. They say its not a valid document for them. We had to purchase another expensive ticket to reach US.

Why did they not let you board? An expired GC with an extension letter is totally legal and proof of your status.  If CBP accepts it then why cant Lufthansa?

[Crazy Cat 41,923]

58 minutes ago, cj777 said:

Do not travel through Lufthansa...you can reach India with the expired GC and extension letter, but they will not let you board the flight from India with the same documents. They say its not a valid document for them. We had to purchase another expensive ticket to reach US.

If so, then it is due to uneducated airline employees because those documents are legal for entry to the US.

[cj777 3]

2 hours ago, BR26 said:

Which airline did you use? I am thinking of going by Cathay Pacific.

I travelled to India through Lufthansa and had to pay double the money to Qatar to come back...

[cj777 3]

2 hours ago, Tar999 said:

Why did they not let you board? An expired GC with an extension letter is totally legal and proof of your status.  If CBP accepts it then why cant Lufthansa?

they say the extension letter is not a valid document to re-enter USA. we fought for atleast 6 hours at the airport with the lufthansa officials.. had to give up later as we had a sleeping 9 month old in hand who was sick as well.

[Crazy Cat 41,923]

Just now, cj777 said:

they say the extension letter is not a valid document to re-enter USA. we fought for atleast 6 hours at the airport with the lufthansa officials.. had to give up later as we had a sleeping 9 month old in hand who was sick as well.

I hope you complained later because they were absolutely wrong.....

[cj777 3]

1 minute ago, missileman said:

I hope you complained later because they were absolutely wrong.....

we complained, asked for a reimbursement and compensation for the mental trauma they put us through with a small baby in hand...just got $70 from them 

[BR26 3]

1 hour ago, cj777 said:

I travelled to India through Lufthansa and had to pay double the money to Qatar to come back...

So Qatar gave you no trouble then?

[BR26 3]

So I was able to travel to India and come back just fine. Here is my experience:

 

I booked my tickets through Air India. They assured me that an expired GC with I-797 and an unexpired passport are perfectly fine to travel with. The comfort factor isn't great with air India but at least they confirmed that I would be able to travel back.

 

So I went to India and spent a week in Bangalore. While returning back, at the Bangalore airport, I had two small hiccups. The check in agent had never seen the I-797 before. So I did have to argue a bit. Finally his manager came over, looked at the form and my expired GC and told me to issue the boarding passes.

 

The second hiccup was when I went to the immigration agent at the Bangalore airport. He pretended like he wasn't sure that the form is valid. So he engaged in some theatrics and then went to speak to his manager. His manager took one look at my GC and the I-797 and told his to let me through. Later as we walked back he said he knew the form is perfectly valid but he always has to check with his manager. So much bureaucracy lol. Perhaps Mumbai and Delhi airports are better.

 

Anyway, so I boarded the plane just fine and reached Delhi where I had to board the plane to SFO. The final check happened there with Air India security agents. They were completely familiar with the documents and let me through.

 

Finally after a 16 hour journey, reached SFO. I went to the US immigration agent  directly, skipping the check in counters. Gave him all my documents. He returned the I-797 and said he didn't need it. Just used my passport and expired GC to validate. He let me through after about 15 seconds. So pretty smooth experience.

 

And then I proceeded to board my domestic flight. So all in all expect for the few theatrics at the Bangalore airport, everything went well.