Travel urgency right after I-171 filing

[Voilet 41]

Hello everyone.I hope everybody having great week. Little back info , my conditional GC expires on January 26,2023 and my 90 day period for filing starts right after October 26.2022.Meanwhile I need to travel urgently overseas to finish my last semester but I am holding on to it because of  I-171 Filing. My semester ends in February 2023.So my question is 

1) Can I travel without extension letter and my wife can mail it to me while I am in overseas ? 

2) What should I do for finger prints because I’ll be in overseas while I receive fingerprints notice from USCIS ? Is there any alternative to do em’ with US embassy overseas 

 

3) what are possible risks involved on my return if any .

Thank you folks  

 

[Indy Sab 174]

5 minutes ago, Voilet said:

Hello everyone.I hope everybody having great week. Little back info , my conditional GC expires on January 26,2023 and my 90 day period for filing starts right after October 26.2022.Meanwhile I need to travel urgently overseas to finish my last semester but I am holding on to it because of  I-171 Filing. My semester ends in February 2023.So my question is 

1) Can I travel without extension letter and my wife can mail it to me while I am in overseas ? 

2) What should I do for finger prints because I’ll be in overseas while I receive fingerprints notice from USCIS ? Is there any alternative to do em’ with US embassy overseas 

 

3) what are possible risks involved on my return if any .

Thank you folks  

 

whats the I-171?

[Indy Sab 174]

when are you leaving?

[mindthegap 2,589]

1) yes. You need the original - not a copy. 
2) you can’t miss the biometrics appointment. You can do an early walk in a lot of the time, but if you miss it (without rescheduling) you will receive a denial letter. 

It may well be waived as has been commonplace in recent years but you won’t know until you file. 
3) The main risk is the receipt/extension letter not being received, either from going missing in the regular mail en-route to your wife, or from her to you.

If it was to go missing, they don’t re-issue or send duplicate copies, so normal procedure would be to go get an I-551 stamp. However, you CANNOT get one of those outside of the US, so if that was to happen in order to re-enter the US past the expiry of your card you would have to get hold of the receipt number from USCIS, and go obtain (and pay for ) a boarding foil at an overseas embassy.  Or you would have to make a trip back before expiry and get an urgent appointment for a stamp while in the US. 

 

[Lil bear 4,145]

21 minutes ago, Voilet said:

Hello everyone.I hope everybody having great week. Little back info , my conditional GC expires on January 26,2023 and my 90 day period for filing starts right after October 26.2022.Meanwhile I need to travel urgently overseas to finish my last semester but I am holding on to it because of  I-171 Filing. My semester ends in February 2023.So my question is 

1) Can I travel without extension letter and my wife can mail it to me while I am in overseas ? 

2) What should I do for finger prints because I’ll be in overseas while I receive fingerprints notice from USCIS ? Is there any alternative to do em’ with US embassy overseas 

 

3) what are possible risks involved on my return if any .

Thank you folks  

 

Submit ROC application as soon as you are eligible.
Plan a trip back before your GC expires to do biometrics/pick up NOA letter /get I551 stamp as needed . 
Keeping your GC status is probably worth more than the final semester right now .. can you defer for 6-12months ? 

[Mike E 11,739]

2 hours ago, Charlys&Indy said:

3) what are possible risks involved on my return if any

Even with an extension letter, some airline personnel are not trained well and so you run the risk of being denied boarding. 

[Voilet 41]

22 hours ago, Mike E said:

Even with an extension letter, some airline personnel are not trained well and so you run the risk of being denied boarding. 

Happened to anyone before ? 

[Voilet 41]

On 9/21/2022 at 10:47 AM, mindthegap said:

1) yes. You need the original - not a copy. 
2) you can’t miss the biometrics appointment. You can do an early walk in a lot of the time, but if you miss it (without rescheduling) you will receive a denial letter. 

It may well be waived as has been commonplace in recent years but you won’t know until you file. 
3) The main risk is the receipt/extension letter not being received, either from going missing in the regular mail en-route to your wife, or from her to you.

If it was to go missing, they don’t re-issue or send duplicate copies, so normal procedure would be to go get an I-551 stamp. However, you CANNOT get one of those outside of the US, so if that was to happen in order to re-enter the US past the expiry of your card you would have to get hold of the receipt number from USCIS, and go obtain (and pay for ) a boarding foil at an overseas embassy.  Or you would have to make a trip back before expiry and get an urgent appointment for a stamp while in the US. 

 

Would i be able to get 1-551 stamp right away after mailing my I-171. I am going to file on October 26,2022 ? And where do I go for getting I-551 stamp? Thank you 

[Voilet 41]

On 9/21/2022 at 10:35 AM, Voilet said:

Hello everyone.I hope everybody having great week. Little back info , my conditional GC expires on January 26,2023 and my 90 day period for filing starts right after October 26.2022.Meanwhile I need to travel urgently overseas to finish my last semester but I am holding on to it because of  I-751 Filing. My semester ends in February 2023.So my question is 

1) Can I travel without extension letter and my wife can mail it to me while I am in overseas ? 

2) What should I do for finger prints because I’ll be in overseas while I receive fingerprints notice from USCIS ? Is there any alternative to do em’ with US embassy overseas 

 

3) what are possible risks involved on my return if any .

Thank you folks  

 

 

[Voilet 41]

On 9/21/2022 at 10:44 AM, Charlys&Indy said:

whats the I-171?

Sorry typing error. It’s I-751 form

[Voilet 41]

On 9/21/2022 at 10:46 AM, Charlys&Indy said:

when are you leaving?

After October 28 ,2022

36 minutes ago, Voilet said:

Would i be able to get 1-551 stamp right away after mailing my I-1751. I am going to file on October 26,2022 ? And where do I go for getting I-551 stamp? Thank you 

 

[Alix64 425]

Hello Everyone,

hello Voilet, sorry, it is so much stress. 

 

I filed on May 21rst. 

I received my case number on May 27th. 

I received the 2 years extension letter on May 31rst. 

 

But I had to travel back to my country for family matters on June 21rst. And I was afraid to get a date for the biometrics after June 21rst. 

And that is what happened... so I called USCIS, they said that I had to be at the appointment on the date that i was notified. 

But thanks to VisaJourney 😉 I walked in the USCIS office of my County and they took me in to do the biometrics (thanks again guys 🙏).

 

My conditional GC expired on August 14th. 

I travelled back on the 11th. The personal at the Airport was well aware of the extension letter. Even though my GC was still good, they had a look at it. 

At the US airport, the officer did not ask for the extension letter, he said : "nop, your GC is still good for 3 more days, I don't need to see your letter". 

 

So, like someone said earlier and I could not agree more :

- file as soon as you can (within the 90 days window)

- it costs money but send your file through Fedex or UPS, something sure enough it gets delivered super quickly (we did 24H delivery, it's pricy but worth it I think at that stage)

- do the walk in at the USCIS of your county, most of them accept people without an appointment. 

- now for your return : if really you cannot comeback before your conditional GC expires (they may ask you why you stayed so long outside the US - if you are a student, that should be an enough excuse), then you have no other choice than to ask your wife to express mail you (through the most secure way) the letter. She can make a scan of it and send it to you (when you print it, print it without any color, so that it doesn't look like you tried to counterfeit it). 

 

I don't know about the stamp other VisaJourney members are talking about, but I trust their experience.

Take care,

Alix

 

[Mike E 11,739]

3 hours ago, Voilet said:

Happened to anyone before ? 

 

[mindthegap 2,589]

4 hours ago, Voilet said:

Would i be able to get 1-551 stamp right away after mailing my I-171. I am going to file on October 26,2022 ? And where do I go for getting I-551 stamp? Thank you 

Nope.

They issue the letter which is the normal extension for all. 
You can get a stamp when that extension letter is close to expiry, OR if it doesn’t arrive or you lose it. Immediately following submission it isn’t going to happen, bar some real (and provable) urgent reason.  
 

You call USCIS and state ‘infopass‘ , speak to someone, and they will call you back in several weeks to schedule an appointment. It is not normally a quick process.

[Indy Sab 174]

17 hours ago, Voilet said:

After October 28 ,2022

 

since you are filing in October, you will get an extension letter within a few weeks, I got mine 10 days after i applied... and the stamp you have to call and request info pass