ralph

Rec'd notice today that I-751 conditions have been removed and Permanent residency approved.

The approval letter requires the applicant to obtain a new I-551 card. The letter

further warns the applicant NOT to travel overseas unless the passport has been endorsed from the service indicating that the new card is being processed. It also requires one to avail the Infopass to schedule appointment.


We are all set to travel overseas next week. This trip was planned months ago and all the paperwork is completed.... tickets booked, visas... hotel booking...etc.

Question: Is it absolutely essential to apply for the new I-551 right away. Can we not wait for another month till we return.

Meanwhile can we not simply use the existing travel document (indicating the 1 year extension).

thanks,

ian-mstm

No, nothing is absolutely essential.


Sure, you can wait longer if you want.


Certainly - enjoy your trip. However, you should be prepared to be refused re-entry at the end of things. This may or may not actually happen, but you should be prepared anyway. Of course, I could be wrong.

Ian

Rob

Ralph,

I am not expert but here is my 2 cents. From what I know and from some other
past experience it is quite essential that you do get the stamp in your
passport. If you don't you probably will run into some troubles when getting
back to the US. What I suggest is to make an appointment with INS
immediately. In my case I did get an appointment within a few days. They
stamped my passport right then. So go to infopass and see what the earliest
appointment is you can get. If it's before your trip call them and verify
you get the stamp in your passport at the appointment. If you can't get an
appointment early enough call them and see if you can get an earlier
appointment.

Regards,
Rob
"ralph" <member379@british_expats.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected] m...
    > Rec'd notice today that I-751 conditions have been removed and Permanent
    > residency approved.
    > The approval letter requires the applicant to obtain a new I-551 card.
    > The letter
    > further warns the applicant NOT to travel overseas unless the passport
    > has been endorsed from the service indicating that the new card is being
    > processed. It also requires one to avail the Infopass to schedule
    > appointment.
    > We are all set to travel overseas next week. This trip was planned
    > months ago and all the paperwork is completed.... tickets booked,
    > visas... hotel booking...etc.
    > Question: Is it absolutely essential to apply for the new I-551 right
    > away. Can we not wait for another month till we return.
    > Meanwhile can we not simply use the existing travel document (indicating
    > the 1 year extension).
    > thanks,
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Just Jenney

The letter, as you described it, sounds pretty cut-and-dry. If it says not to travel outside the US without an endorsement in your passport, and you don't have that endorsement in your passport, then it seems pretty clear what you need to do. You either get that Infopass appointment set up asap and hope they stamp your passport with the endorsement when you go, or you postpone your international travel.

Personally I wouldn't risk getting barred from the US by ignoring very clear instructions on my approval letter. But that's me.

~ Jenney

ralph

I am still unclear about the process.

Does the lifting of conditions automatically trigger the travel restrcition, OR is

it the actual filing of the I-551 application that mandates the endorsement?

Curious, what happens to those folks who are already overseas at the time their conditions are removed and they're unaware of it?

The infopass system says "At this time, there are no information appointments available for the office in your area. Please try back again later".

I'm in Alexandria, Northern VA.

Thanks to all for your responses

ralph

Pallyn

We were in the same position, the approval letter came on a Friday, my husband was set to fly out on Tuesday. We scheduled an appointment at a suboffice for that Monday, got him stamped up and the card in the pipeline. The Dover suboffice was really nice with helpful, patient staff, by the way. So different from Philadelphia. Then drove to the airport the next day. Quite an exciting sequence of events, but we weren't willing to risk a refusal of entry at this point in the game. Just imagine going back to filing for a spousal visa...