Pls help! Leave US with Green Card only

[yhanie 0]

Hi! Im traveling late November for Italy because my husband's in the Navy so I should come with him because I'm his dependent. He has his orders already and we should stay there for 3 years. We just got married last May and still in the process of filing AOS. Hopefully I could get my GC after 3 mos without any delays and RFE's.

My questions are,

1.) can I come with him and stay in Italy with my temp green card only?

2.) should I do some paper works also? What else should I do and how do I do it?

3.) Would I be still entitled for Removal of Conditions after 2 years of my GC's expiration date with me living outside US on that period?

I would be entering Italy with a "No-Fee Passport" which will be provided by the Military, so no problem with that, my concern would most likely focus on how can I go back to US after my husband's duty and get a renewed Green Card afterwards.

I hope you guys can help me with whatever knowldge you have, even in the littlest way I would very much appreciate it. Thanks!

[HawaiiJ 1]

Yhanie,

My wife and I went through the same situation you are faced with. We were in Hawaii and had orders to Naples Italy. I'll try to answer your specific questions the best I can.

1. If you have a Permanent Resident Card (Conditional) you can travel to Italy once you get an Italian Visa (the cost was about $65). Once you arrive in Italy you'll need to apply for the Sojourner's Permit for the length of your stay in Italy.

2. If you don't have the GC yet, I would recommend as soon as your husband has the Military Orders with your name on them you submit a request to expedite the AOS request. It worked for us with no problems. We filed the AOS Expedite request in May 05 and the GC was approved in Sept 05.

3. Yes, no problem filling for the Removal of Conditions if you are outside of the US, just make sure you file a Change of Address and then file the I-751 at the right time. I'm up late tonight putting together my wife's I-751. We are headed to the US Consulate in Naples for finger prints tomorrow so we don't have to have a Biometrics appointment.

When I asked about how the interview works since we live outside the US, I was told we could request a delay until we return to the US on a Permanent basis with no problems.

4. Not sure about the "No fee Passport" for non-us citizens, we did not get one and in my opinion you don't need it. It will not entitle you to travel within Europe unless you are on official military orders. I would suggest just getting the Italian Visa stamp in your passport and the Sojourner's permit after you arrive.

Hope this helps a little, if you have anymore questions, please ask. Where in Italy are you headed?

Take care,

HJ

[Magnolia31 0]

Hi! Im traveling late November for Italy because my husband's in the Navy so I should come with him because I'm his dependent. He has his orders already and we should stay there for 3 years. We just got married last May and still in the process of filing AOS. Hopefully I could get my GC after 3 mos without any delays and RFE's.

My questions are,

1.) can I come with him and stay in Italy with my temp green card only?

2.) should I do some paper works also? What else should I do and how do I do it?

3.) Would I be still entitled for Removal of Conditions after 2 years of my GC's expiration date with me living outside US on that period?

I would be entering Italy with a "No-Fee Passport" which will be provided by the Military, so no problem with that, my concern would most likely focus on how can I go back to US after my husband's duty and get a renewed Green Card afterwards.

I hope you guys can help me with whatever knowldge you have, even in the littlest way I would very much appreciate it. Thanks!

Oh gosh, I wish I had advice for you. My ex husband got stationed in Germany in 1994. I went with him and we returned in 1997. When we went through the POE, they just asked for his orders and we were cleared.

I am just not sure how this works with the conditional visas though. I hope someone can help you and give you some easy answers.

[Magnolia31 0]

Yhanie,

My wife and I went through the same situation you are faced with. We were in Hawaii and had orders to Naples Italy. I'll try to answer your specific questions the best I can.

1. If you have a Permanent Resident Card (Conditional) you can travel to Italy once you get an Italian Visa (the cost was about $65). Once you arrive in Italy you'll need to apply for the Sojourner's Permit for the length of your stay in Italy.

2. If you don't have the GC yet, I would recommend as soon as your husband has the Military Orders with your name on them you submit a request to expedite the AOS request. It worked for us with no problems. We filed the AOS Expedite request in May 05 and the GC was approved in Sept 05.

3. Yes, no problem filling for the Removal of Conditions if you are outside of the US, just make sure you file a Change of Address and then file the I-751 at the right time. I'm up late tonight putting together my wife's I-751. We are headed to the US Consulate in Naples for finger prints tomorrow so we don't have to have a Biometrics appointment.

When I asked about how the interview works since we live outside the US, I was told we could request a delay until we return to the US on a Permanent basis with no problems.

4. Not sure about the "No fee Passport" for non-us citizens, we did not get one and in my opinion you don't need it. It will not entitle you to travel within Europe unless you are on official military orders. I would suggest just getting the Italian Visa stamp in your passport and the Sojourner's permit after you arrive.

Hope this helps a little, if you have anymore questions, please ask. Where in Italy are you headed?

Take care,

HJ

Why did your wife have to file for an Italian visa? Is this an Italy thing or what? Countries that are under the NATO agreement should allow dependents to come along with you as long as they are on your orders. This sounds weird to me but since you've been in the situation, you'd know better than me. I just know that wives traveling with their husbands to Spain and Germany do not need to get a visa for that country.

And I agree with getting things expedited. We had our infopass appt. June 12 to get our case expedited since my husband leaves for Iraq in August. I just had my interview and will get my GC in a few weeks.

[Magnolia31 0]

Hi! Im traveling late November for Italy because my husband's in the Navy so I should come with him because I'm his dependent. He has his orders already and we should stay there for 3 years. We just got married last May and still in the process of filing AOS. Hopefully I could get my GC after 3 mos without any delays and RFE's.

My questions are,

1.) can I come with him and stay in Italy with my temp green card only?

2.) should I do some paper works also? What else should I do and how do I do it?

3.) Would I be still entitled for Removal of Conditions after 2 years of my GC's expiration date with me living outside US on that period?

I would be entering Italy with a "No-Fee Passport" which will be provided by the Military, so no problem with that, my concern would most likely focus on how can I go back to US after my husband's duty and get a renewed Green Card afterwards.

I hope you guys can help me with whatever knowldge you have, even in the littlest way I would very much appreciate it. Thanks!

You should get a Sopha stamp in your passport. Anyhow, I think the best thing to do is go to JAG and see what they say.

[HawaiiJ 1]

Magnolia31,

My wife is from Thailand and was required to travel on her Thai passport.

The Italian Visa was required based on info from the passport agent at Hickam AFB in Hawaii. Also, we looked the Italian Consulate website it led me to believe we needed the visa for Italy.

I've never heard of a SOPHA or SOFA (Status of forces Agreement) stamp for the passports, we don't have one. Each country has a different SOFA, one does not fit all.

Most of Europe is open and once you are legally in a country (in our situation, the Sojourner's Permit gives my wife open travel within the Schengen countries) you can travel to where you want for the most part. Exception for my wife was the UK, she needed a Visa.

I work at NATO and it really did nothing to make anything easier in getting the required documents to travel to Italy.

[yhanie 0]

I didn't realize I was missing a lot of good information here...my bad...email notification did not work...

By the way, thanks HJ for your detailed reply on my post, you are a great help and you too Magnolia. My husband and I just finished an Infopass appointment yesterday, and boy, seems that the immigration officer was not helpful enough.

I still have questions:

1) How can I expedite my AOS? what form should I use? Fees? The immigration officer told us that there's no way of doing that.

2) And once in Italy, where should we apply for Sojourners Permit for the length of my stay?

3) How do you request a delay for the I-751 interview? Is it still valid if you delayed it for 1year? I would be returning in the US not until after the 3-year contract in Italy.

We would be staying in Sigonella, Sicily.

Since you've done these things, I think we should get in touch a lot. Please update me on things that I should do next and what problems might I encounter. I hope I'm not bothering you much. Thanks a lot!

[Gaby&Talbert 1]

On the USCIS website they have a press release for a new US Military hotline

http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/Mi...pLine081307.pdf

[Magnolia31 0]

That is just so weird to me. You would know far better than i would. And maybe it depends on the country you are from. My brother and his wife are both American. He is in the army. Whenever he got stationed somewhere, she goes with him and needs no type of visa - just the sofa/sopha stamp or however you spell it LOL.

Magnolia31,

My wife is from Thailand and was required to travel on her Thai passport.

The Italian Visa was required based on info from the passport agent at Hickam AFB in Hawaii. Also, we looked the Italian Consulate website it led me to believe we needed the visa for Italy.

I've never heard of a SOPHA or SOFA (Status of forces Agreement) stamp for the passports, we don't have one. Each country has a different SOFA, one does not fit all.

Most of Europe is open and once you are legally in a country (in our situation, the Sojourner's Permit gives my wife open travel within the Schengen countries) you can travel to where you want for the most part. Exception for my wife was the UK, she needed a Visa.

I work at NATO and it really did nothing to make anything easier in getting the required documents to travel to Italy.

[Magnolia31 0]

Now I am not sure about circumstances or whatever, but if that immigration officer told you that you can not expedite a visa application in general, he/she lied to you and I am living proof. My husband got his orders to go to Iraq back around June or so (i suck at remembering exact dates - you can find it on here LOL). I hadn't heard anything about the visa application and hadn't received anything at all from USCIS, which made me panic and worry. We made an Infopass appointment right away (June 12th) and we found out our case would be getting expedited. We had to speak with a Supervisor in the adjudication section and she said she'd get my case file immediately so it can start being processed. From that point on, they processed everything really fast. My biometrics appt. was July 5th and the interview was I believe, on July 11th. I received my GC about 2 weeks or so after that. They said that if my husband would have had to leave before August, my case would have moved along even faster.

Like I said, I do not know in what instances they consider that expediting a case is important, but i do know that it does happen.

Oh, we filled out no extra forms and did not have to pay any extra fees either.

I didn't realize I was missing a lot of good information here...my bad...email notification did not work...

By the way, thanks HJ for your detailed reply on my post, you are a great help and you too Magnolia. My husband and I just finished an Infopass appointment yesterday, and boy, seems that the immigration officer was not helpful enough.

I still have questions:

1) How can I expedite my AOS? what form should I use? Fees? The immigration officer told us that there's no way of doing that.

2) And once in Italy, where should we apply for Sojourners Permit for the length of my stay?

3) How do you request a delay for the I-751 interview? Is it still valid if you delayed it for 1year? I would be returning in the US not until after the 3-year contract in Italy.

We would be staying in Sigonella, Sicily.

Since you've done these things, I think we should get in touch a lot. Please update me on things that I should do next and what problems might I encounter. I hope I'm not bothering you much. Thanks a lot!

[Magnolia31 0]

Wow. I am glad they came up with that hotline! It's about time.

On the USCIS website they have a press release for a new US Military hotline

http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/Mi...pLine081307.pdf

[Magnolia31 0]

I just re-read your post again to refresh my memory. I absolutely can't believe that they won't help get your case expedited. I think you should call that military hotline that someone else just posted on here. Seriously, call them because this is BS!

Like you said, you are your husband's dependent - where do they expect you to live when he leaves? He is responsible for you. They need to get that visa moving along before it's time to go. If they can't do that, then they need to come up with some sort of military clause where the VISA continues processing even though you have to leave with your husband to another country on orders. They have a freaking US consulate in Italy so why can't you finish the process out there?

Ugh .. I'm getting mad LOL. Call the hotline!

Hi! Im traveling late November for Italy because my husband's in the Navy so I should come with him because I'm his dependent. He has his orders already and we should stay there for 3 years. We just got married last May and still in the process of filing AOS. Hopefully I could get my GC after 3 mos without any delays and RFE's.

My questions are,

1.) can I come with him and stay in Italy with my temp green card only?

2.) should I do some paper works also? What else should I do and how do I do it?

3.) Would I be still entitled for Removal of Conditions after 2 years of my GC's expiration date with me living outside US on that period?

I would be entering Italy with a "No-Fee Passport" which will be provided by the Military, so no problem with that, my concern would most likely focus on how can I go back to US after my husband's duty and get a renewed Green Card afterwards.

I hope you guys can help me with whatever knowldge you have, even in the littlest way I would very much appreciate it. Thanks!

[yhanie 0]

Hi Magnolia,

You are right about expediting the AOS application, but it's for those applicants whose military spouses being deployed in Iraq only ( forgot to mention in my post). In my case, new duty station is only based in orders not a deployment to Iraq. So I guess the spouses of the deployed husbands are most likely to have the AOS expedited.

I should leave with him on last week of November this year. My concern is, I've been reading a lot of cases in this website that an application will take us approximately 8 months, the immigrant officer told us too, and she said that it's the ideal time line. Although I'm also aware that a lot of applicants take less than 5 months to receive their GC.

I guess I should just apply for Advance Parole if there's no way of expediting my AOS. And you're right I should call the Military Help Line.

Thanks Gaby&Talbert for the link

I'd update you guys on my case.

[HawaiiJ 1]

Yhanie,

I'll try to give you a reply to your questions.

1) How can I expedite my AOS? what form should I use? Fees? The immigration officer told us that there's no way of doing that.

Once I had filed the AOS and received a NOA with the case number, I wrote a letter addressed to the USCIS office in Honolulu and hand delivered it to the office with a letter validating my situation from my Commander. I also provided a copy of my PCS orders with my wife's name listed. The orders are a must have in order to request an expedite based on military PCS (or at least that was what I was told). I was told to wait for 30 days before inquiring on the status, so at 31 days, I had an infopass appointment to check the status.

2) And once in Italy, where should we apply for Sojourners Permit for the length of my stay?

The Sojourners Permit process is up in the air right now. I got mine through the Pass and ID office at NATO in Naples. Right now, there's a huge backlog and the process is now being handled through the Italian Post Office (not sure of the process yet, this is new and still un-refined). Either way, you will need one and help will be offered on getting it once you arrive in Sicily.

3) How do you request a delay for the I-751 interview? Is it still valid if you delayed it for 1year? I would be returning in the US not until after the 3-year contract in Italy.

I just got the NOA on the I751, it said the GC was extended for 1 year. The rest is speculation and I will have to see how the interview works out. The NOA said USCIS would be getting in touch with me for the interview/Biometrics. Our situation is the same, we can return to the US after a 3 year tour but I hope to extend or move to another non-US location. The experience is better overseas in my opinion.

v/r

HJ