Scary experience Australian airport CR1 I-551 stamp, worth a good read !

[est11 14]

I had a very scary experience - I endorsed my green card in April 2024;  we flew to Hawaii for the stamp, right before my 6-month IR1 initial/temporary immigrant visa, issued by the consulate, expired (expiry date:May 2024).  We stayed a week in the USA and flew back to Australia to wrap things up with my American husband. So, there was no time for us to stick around for the actual physical green card to arrive in my hand.

 

We flew out again from Australia to USA on 7/10/24 (USA date format). No ESTA this time (I am an Aussie), just the immigrant passport sticker in my passport that the embassy gives you after the interview in the Sydney consulate AND the I-551 which got endorsed in Hawaii. My green card has not yet arrived, and is still processing. But my social security card number arrived to our address in America, in May. My Immigrant fee is paid. All of my ducks are in a row.

 

When we got to the Jetstar check in counter today, my husband hands them his American passport and I hand them my Aussie passport (with the immigrant visa sticker inside).  The Jetstar lady replies “this visa is expired” and points at the date on the sticker: May 2024.

 

I respond “This sticker/visa and the endorsement stamp beside it acts as a green card for 1 year until my physical green card arrives at my US address, because we flew to Hawaii before that initial 6-expiry date, and had the IR1 stamp physically placed beside it in the passport next to the sticker.  If you read the fine print on the bottom, it says that ‘Upon Endorsement (stamped beside it by the immigration officer in Hawaii on April 07, 2024) serves as a temporary I-551 evidencing permanent residence for 1 year (from the time of the aforementioned stamp placed beside it by the officer in Hawaii)’”.

 

My husband and I at this moment were in panic mode. She responded “Do you have an ESTA?” I respond “I am a permanent resident, I am a green card holder, ESTA is a visa, Green card is residency”.  She then says “I have never dealt with this situation before. I am going to have to hand you over to our service team”.

 

Time for our flight was ticking.

 

Once we got hand balled to a different check-in counter, my husband intervened to explain to the new service representative (all three of them) how it worked and to read more carefully.  The visa sticker in my passport showing the initial expiry date of May 2024 is simply based upon the six month window to enter the USA from the time of placement into the passport at the interview by the consulate. This sticker must be stamped by an officer on USA soil within that 6-month window, and indeed it had already been endorsed in April, when we flew there to do that.   She must look beside the sticker at that stamp ‘IR1’, dated April 07, 2024.  The paper visa is now valid until April 06, 2025, one year from that date stamp.

The print disclaimer at the bottom clearly says ‘UPON ENDORSEMENT……which has been DONE….the visa is valid for 1 YEAR….. from that endorsement, pending receipt of the actual, physical green card in the mail.

 

She continued to refuse and said “I still need to see a valid visa. All of them were absolutely obtuse and robotic.  She said, “I need to see a valid visa to clear you for this flight. I can’t clear you, otherwise it comes back on me!” (My husband and I thought: "over the top Aussie" by the book as usual, totally incapable of free thought or reason, and apparently also unable to read ).

 

I then had to open my laptop and try to track down past paperwork that proves I have my green card. But in fact the aforementioned proof in my passport is already there, as explained.  I signed in to the NVC website at the counter on my laptop, searching for some help, and nothing appeared showing that I have a green card status, just that all the previous documents I uploaded for NVC were received. It was very stressful as time was ticking and we were about to forfeit our flights, accommodation, etc.

 

My husband was very stressed and tried several times to explain to them the immigration requirement’s and encourage them to read the fine print….to these three clerks who had it in their power to ruin our trip. We tried to call the embassy but it was not taking calls.

 

So here I was, stuck at the Jetstar airport check-in counter at Melbourne airport, by now one hour before our flight. They kept yammering on about the now totally irrelevant ESTA, and the expired immigrant visa, (according to them). These clerks stubbornly, robotically, mindlessly still wanted to see a valid visa.

 

The representative finally made a phone call to someone in the USA thankfully, after nearly 30 minutes of refusal, and they ended up clearing me. We then made it just in time for our flight.

 

I hope in future that when I do fly out of Australia again, I will have my physical green card and will never have to go through such distress again!!

 

My only gripe with the USA is that they do not send a pdf or email letter showing some words that say my green card is granted and it’s in the mail processing, to pacify these dim witted nabob gate keepers in the Ozzie airport.

 

Any comments, tips or advice would be greatly appreciated, and perhaps what you may have done differently.  Also, does anyone know where I could get an official letter on the NVC site saying I am a green card holder?

 

[Crazy Cat 41,610]

Thanks for posting.  You did great.  The official CBP Carrier Information guide shows a picture and explains who can board.  This is an excellent example of why people who enter the US via an immigrant visa should insist that CBP place that endorsement stamp near the visa.

 

carrier-information-guide-english.pdf (cbp.gov)

 

Edited July 12 by Crazy Cat

[Crazy Cat 41,610]

Here is a reference for when a visa holder becomes a legal resident:

 

Requirements for Immigrant and Nonimmigrant Visas | U.S. Customs and Border Protection (cbp.gov)

 

"

Immigrant Visa

An immigrant visa is issued to a foreign national who intends to live and work permanently in the United States. In most cases, a relative or employer sponsors the individual by filing an application with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Certain applicants such as workers with extraordinary ability, investors, and certain special immigrants can petition on their own behalf. The application is later forwarded to the appropriate U.S. Consulate or Embassy overseas for continued processing and issuance of the immigrant visa to the intending immigrant, if eligible. An intending immigrant must present the immigrant visa at a U.S. port-of-entry prior to the expiration of the immigrant visa. An intending immigrant becomes a lawful permanent resident once the immigrant visa and accompanying paperwork is reviewed and endorsed by a CBP Officer. For specific information regarding immigrant visa classifications and requirements, refer to the USCIS website or the Department of State website."

Edited July 12 by Crazy Cat

[Crazy Cat 41,610]

***Moved to Working and Traveling During US Immigration***

[est11 14]

Thank you for your input - this helps heaps - cheers 

[est11 14]

They literally almost bumped me from a flight because they thought I was not a PR. I am making a complaint now with the airline 

[OldUser 6,478]

There is no shortage of incompetent airline employees...

 

Travelling with I-551 stamp, extension letters (for I-751, N-400) has risk of facing such airline employees.

 

Sorry you had to go through this.

Thank you for sharing the story.

 

 

[est11 14]

Absolutely, it sure does ! 

[EatBulaga 314]

1 hour ago, est11 said:

They literally almost bumped me from a flight because they thought I was not a PR. I am making a complaint now with the airline 

No doubt you are within your rights to complain.

 

FWIW, sometimes flying with US airlines like United or bigger brands like Qantas can alleviate some hassles since their gate agents have probably seen the stamps or other entry document exceptions before.

 

For my foreign spouse, I made sure the entry documents (not just the passport) were uploaded with the flight reservations before the flights. If the airline did not have the specific online upload for the entry documents like K1 visa or Combo Card, I called the airline to specifically ask them to make a note with the flight reservation about the entry documents for the gate agents. Many airline systems will have an extra field textbox for ticket agents to input notes about the special needs of the passenger for the gate agents or flight attendants. Sometimes they will tell me it is not necessary because they've seen it before or sometimes they will actually be typing something in. I did this with all the different connecting airlines for the whole flight. That is my little ounce of prevention.

Edited July 12 by EatBulaga

[RamonGomez 271]

22 minutes ago, OldUser said:

There is no shortage of incompetent airline employees...

 

Travelling with I-551 stamp, extension letters (for I-751, N-400) has risk of facing such airline employees.

 

Sorry you had to go through this.

Thank you for sharing the story.

 

 

 

I have some sympathy for the airline employees.

 

There are close to 200 countries in the world. So you take a random traveler that goes up to your desk. They have one of (roughly) 200 passports. And they can be flying to one of 200 countries. That's 40,000 nationality/destination rule sets. Now throw in different statuses and visas (naturalized citizen, permanent residents, student/work visas, extension letters/stickers) and it gets even more complicated. 

 

After my Chinese mother-in-law visited us, she wanted to go to South America for a few weeks to visit my wife's sister. Her US visa was in her old expired passport. At the time Peru had a very specific brand-new rule that allowed her to visit visa free. We were at the Delta check in desk for almost 30 minutes with 4 employees googling/calling/checking their databases to verify that she was eligible to enter.

 

Finally the manager overrode the warning and told us that he was going to trust us and that we "better not let him down", because if we were wrong, Delta would be fined $10k and he would get a warning for the refused entry as his name was on the override. 🥵

 

She entered without even a single question from customs in Peru.

Edited July 12 by RamonGomez

[Lil bear 4,149]

2 hours ago, est11 said:

I had a very scary experience - I endorsed my green card in April 2024;  we flew to Hawaii for the stamp, right before my 6-month IR1 initial/temporary immigrant visa, issued by the consulate, expired (expiry date:May 2024).  We stayed a week in the USA and flew back to Australia to wrap things up with my American husband. So, there was no time for us to stick around for the actual physical green card to arrive in my hand.

 

We flew out again from Australia to USA on 7/10/24 (USA date format). No ESTA this time (I am an Aussie), just the immigrant passport sticker in my passport that the embassy gives you after the interview in the Sydney consulate AND the I-551 which got endorsed in Hawaii. My green card has not yet arrived, and is still processing. But my social security card number arrived to our address in America, in May. My Immigrant fee is paid. All of my ducks are in a row.

 

When we got to the Jetstar check in counter today, my husband hands them his American passport and I hand them my Aussie passport (with the immigrant visa sticker inside).  The Jetstar lady replies “this visa is expired” and points at the date on the sticker: May 2024.

 

I respond “This sticker/visa and the endorsement stamp beside it acts as a green card for 1 year until my physical green card arrives at my US address, because we flew to Hawaii before that initial 6-expiry date, and had the IR1 stamp physically placed beside it in the passport next to the sticker.  If you read the fine print on the bottom, it says that ‘Upon Endorsement (stamped beside it by the immigration officer in Hawaii on April 07, 2024) serves as a temporary I-551 evidencing permanent residence for 1 year (from the time of the aforementioned stamp placed beside it by the officer in Hawaii)’”.

 

My husband and I at this moment were in panic mode. She responded “Do you have an ESTA?” I respond “I am a permanent resident, I am a green card holder, ESTA is a visa, Green card is residency”.  She then says “I have never dealt with this situation before. I am going to have to hand you over to our service team”.

 

Time for our flight was ticking.

 

Once we got hand balled to a different check-in counter, my husband intervened to explain to the new service representative (all three of them) how it worked and to read more carefully.  The visa sticker in my passport showing the initial expiry date of May 2024 is simply based upon the six month window to enter the USA from the time of placement into the passport at the interview by the consulate. This sticker must be stamped by an officer on USA soil within that 6-month window, and indeed it had already been endorsed in April, when we flew there to do that.   She must look beside the sticker at that stamp ‘IR1’, dated April 07, 2024.  The paper visa is now valid until April 06, 2025, one year from that date stamp.

The print disclaimer at the bottom clearly says ‘UPON ENDORSEMENT……which has been DONE….the visa is valid for 1 YEAR….. from that endorsement, pending receipt of the actual, physical green card in the mail.

 

She continued to refuse and said “I still need to see a valid visa. All of them were absolutely obtuse and robotic.  She said, “I need to see a valid visa to clear you for this flight. I can’t clear you, otherwise it comes back on me!” (My husband and I thought: "over the top Aussie" by the book as usual, totally incapable of free thought or reason, and apparently also unable to read ).

 

I then had to open my laptop and try to track down past paperwork that proves I have my green card. But in fact the aforementioned proof in my passport is already there, as explained.  I signed in to the NVC website at the counter on my laptop, searching for some help, and nothing appeared showing that I have a green card status, just that all the previous documents I uploaded for NVC were received. It was very stressful as time was ticking and we were about to forfeit our flights, accommodation, etc.

 

My husband was very stressed and tried several times to explain to them the immigration requirement’s and encourage them to read the fine print….to these three clerks who had it in their power to ruin our trip. We tried to call the embassy but it was not taking calls.

 

So here I was, stuck at the Jetstar airport check-in counter at Melbourne airport, by now one hour before our flight. They kept yammering on about the now totally irrelevant ESTA, and the expired immigrant visa, (according to them). These clerks stubbornly, robotically, mindlessly still wanted to see a valid visa.

 

The representative finally made a phone call to someone in the USA thankfully, after nearly 30 minutes of refusal, and they ended up clearing me. We then made it just in time for our flight.

 

I hope in future that when I do fly out of Australia again, I will have my physical green card and will never have to go through such distress again!!

 

My only gripe with the USA is that they do not send a pdf or email letter showing some words that say my green card is granted and it’s in the mail processing, to pacify these dim witted nabob gate keepers in the Ozzie airport.

 

Any comments, tips or advice would be greatly appreciated, and perhaps what you may have done differently.  Also, does anyone know where I could get an official letter on the NVC site saying I am a green card holder?

 

Sorry to hear your experience. I used the stamped visa , without any problem, once when departing  Melbourne but that was with Qantas. With Jetstar having a much lower profile flying into the US, they would see very few of these. No excuse for poor service but understandable. And yes , the airline gets a very hefty fine .. and the employee would be “

written up” if they boarded someone who was found ineligible to enter the US   Again no excuse but certainly explains the extreme caution. Thankfully someone finally

 had the idea of actually calling CBP using the number in their handbook

!! 

[est11 14]

Exactly! I think Qantas, Australia's leading airline, have most likely seen several of these visa types before and understand the logistics of them. Jetstar. Unaware! I understand their consequences for sure but they failed and refused to read the fine print and kept insisting on seeing an ESTA. I would have booked Qantas, but I saved a thousand dollars flying with Jetstar. These days due to inflation, travel is a luxury 

[Lil bear 4,149]

10 minutes ago, est11 said:

Exactly! I think Qantas, Australia's leading airline, have most likely seen several of these visa types before and understand the logistics of them. Jetstar. Unaware! I understand their consequences for sure but they failed and refused to read the fine print and kept insisting on seeing an ESTA. I would have booked Qantas, but I saved a thousand dollars flying with Jetstar. These days due to inflation, travel is a luxury 

Yep totally understand. I’m paying $3000 USD for the same trip that i used to get for $1800 USD. 

[OldUser 6,478]

41 minutes ago, RamonGomez said:

 

I have some sympathy for the airline employees.

 

There are close to 200 countries in the world. So you take a random traveler that goes up to your desk. They have one of (roughly) 200 passports. And they can be flying to one of 200 countries. That's 40,000 nationality/destination rule sets. Now throw in different statuses and visas (naturalized citizen, permanent residents, student/work visas, extension letters/stickers) and it gets even more complicated. 

 

After my Chinese mother-in-law visited us, she wanted to go to South America for a few weeks to visit my wife's sister. Her US visa was in her old expired passport. At the time Peru had a very specific brand-new rule that allowed her to visit visa free. We were at the Delta check in desk for almost 30 minutes with 4 employees googling/calling/checking their databases to verify that she was eligible to enter.

 

Finally the manager overrode the warning and told us that he was going to trust us and that we "better not let him down", because if we were wrong, Delta would be fined $10k and he would get a warning for the refused entry as his name was on the override. 🥵

 

She entered without even a single question from customs in Peru.

I totally get your point. Airline performing regular flights to certain destinations either have to train up their staff or hire a small team of specialists / lawyers who they can refer to in case of a question. They don't have to be on the ground, can be called on a phone.

 

In ideal world (my version) the airlines should not be carrying out duties of immigration / border control. Only verify identity and signal the authorities if the person is on some sort of list. The passenger should know the country's laws and have some insurance (in case if denied entry and has take a flight back) or be liable for their actions. I don't understand why carriers were made responsible for immigration. They should be responsible for transporting people from point A to B, safely and on time. Everything else is extra.

[RamonGomez 271]

1 hour ago, OldUser said:

I totally get your point. Airline performing regular flights to certain destinations either have to train up their staff or hire a small team of specialists / lawyers who they can refer to in case of a question. They don't have to be on the ground, can be called on a phone.

 

In ideal world (my version) the airlines should not be carrying out duties of immigration / border control. Only verify identity and signal the authorities if the person is on some sort of list. The passenger should know the country's laws and have some insurance (in case if denied entry and has take a flight back) or be liable for their actions. I don't understand why carriers were made responsible for immigration. They should be responsible for transporting people from point A to B, safely and on time. Everything else is extra.

 

An entry refusal, even for something as black-and-white as an improper visa, can take 2-4 hours of processing/paperwork by customs and immigration. Then the passenger needs to be held, fed, and cared for medically in a secure facility (not all airports have one onsite), and finally a return flight needs to be arranged. It could be days before one is available. This is very costly and can be avoided by a gate agent doing a two minute cursory check. 

 

And there is a central database called Timatic which all airlines use for determining entry eligibility (e.g. what visa do Indians need to enter Panama). But as we found out, there are edge cases and nuances which are not 100% obvious, as happened in our case. CBP also has a hotline which airlines can use 24/7 to resolve any potential issues before a passenger boards.