Joe_Daisy

I wanted to add some information for everyone. They have now changed the limit on the Re-Entry Traveling Stamp. It is now valid for only 60 Days instead of 1 year. I was at the INS office yesterday My wife isn't leaving until the middle of January and coming back the middle of March. The stamp would only be valid for 60 days from Yesterday. They said I would need proof of the day she would be coming back. This was very crazy why they would need that. We had not purchased her ticket yet. They said we can come back that day before they close. So we went and booked her ticket and brought back the Itinerary, The INS lady then had to talk to a supervisor. Then stamped her book and made it expire 3 days after the day her flight returns. Very crazy to me why they would need this proof, I would not lie for obvious reasons about her return date.

FYI, we had to do this because we never received a Green Card in the mail, and have just filed the I-751 to remove conditional Residency Status. A month ago they told us we just need proof that we applied for her I-751, but they never told us about this 60 days max for the stamp.

Rete

What is a re-entry traveling stamp???

Do you mean the I-551 stamp? If so this is the residency stamp not a traveling stamp. If your wife applied for removal of conditions then she will eventually get the NOA that is paper proof that her residency is extended for another full year from the date of the expiration of her green card.

Joe_Daisy

Yes it appears that it is an I-551 Stamp. But Normally this stamp would be valid for 1year. But now they only make it valid for 60 Days unless approved by a supervisor to extend the time. They put 03-20-2007 for the Expiration. The stamp even says on it Evidencing permanent residency for one year. But they have changed the policy on this. When I was asking questions about how my wife can travel since we never received her first green card, and they said to go to the local ins office to get a stamp which would be valid for 1 year. But in fact its only valid for 60 days now.

ian-mstm

Your math seems a bit wonky... 3/20/07 is 90 days, not 60 days.

Ian

Joe_Daisy

Like I said I had to go out and purchase a plane ticket and go back to the INS office for them to do anything more then 60 days. I had to show proof to the INS of the day my wife would return from her country. If I did not purchase a ticket, they could only make it valid for 60 days.

Rete

They changed the policy on this months and months ago. The policy is now that the I-551 is NOT given, not even when you are approved for PR status at the interview. Of course, there are some adjudicators who don't read memorandums on change of policy.

In cases such as your wife's where a PR has to travel and does not have a green card and/or the NOA from the service center, she can be given an I-551 stamp for the duration of her travel plans.

Folinskyinla

Rete:

The I-551 has NEVER been given at the interview, or at the time of entry on an Immigrant Visa. The old I-151 would be issued this way since it was simply a small card with typed information, the pic and then laminated. [I remember my old military ID card was issued this way -- the only somewhat secure part of the process was the lamination machine].

In fact, the EAD cards were often issued this way where the form was generated by a high-scale laser printer and then laminated -- this was done in the local district. This is also no longer done in the look for secure documents.

But the I-551 was the first document to be issued this way and that was 25 years ago.

Rete

Not sure what you are going on about. The I-551 stamp was always given at the interview for AOS if you were approved there and then and it was and still is given at the POE if you are entering with an approved immigration visa.

Nowhere did I mention the I-151 or an EAD. Perhaps you are a bit dyslexia this morning .. I know that I often am first time in the morning.

Folinskyinla

Rete:

I was talking about the I-551 itself. I did not say anything about the STAMP. The stamp came into existence BECAUSE of the delays inherent in producing the I-551 at a remote location. And in the early days of the I-551, the machines were so bloody picky they often rejected I-89 fingerprints as smudged, a part of the signature outside the blue box, wrong color contrast on photo, or slightly wrong size of photo.

With the electronic biometric gathering including photo, the problems of obtaining the information on the I-89 and a physical photo to be scanned have been pretty much eliminated. The actual card production is now pretty quick.

So use of the stamp is pretty much disfavored simply because it is not all that secure.

Again, although this posting talks about the STAMP, my prior posting did not. It was limited to the I-551.

Rete

Your OP made it sound as if you were correcting a mistake I made when in fact I hadn't.

Just Jenney

I agree, Rete -- it sounded like a correction when your information was correct to begin with. I think it might have been clearer if Mr F had said "I-551 card" (or, better yet, "green card" or "permanent resident card") instead of simply the "I-551" -- because in this forum, at least, the I-551 is synonymous with the stamp.

I've never heard of someone referring to their green card as "their I-551". I have only heard of someone talking about the I-551 when referring to the stamp.

In that sense, what you said is correct. The I-551 STAMP used to be given at successful AOS interviews, but in the past year that has been done away with. The I-551 STAMP was usually valid for one year, but it was never guaranteed that the stamp would be given a one-year validity period. As I recall it was always up to the discretion of the person giving the stamp.

~ Jenney

Folinskyinla

Hi:

Sigh. The I-551 ***is*** the card. Officially, it is called "Permanent Resident Card" and older versions are called "Alien Registration Receipt Card." Take a look at http://www.uscis.gov/propub/ProPubVA...31086cb140e31c

which is the OFFICIAL publication in the Federal Register by the former INS.

The actual "green card" IS form I-551.

I'm looking at a copy of the STAMP as I type: "PROCESSED FOR I-551. TEMPORARY EVIDENCE OF LAWFUL ADMISSION FOR PERMANENT RESIDENCE VALID UTIL ___________. EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZED."

The OP wrote about the "stamp." Rete wrote "The policy is now that the I-551 is NOT given, not even when you are approved for PR status at the interview." The CARD is the I-551.

Just Jenney

I'm not disagreeing with what you're saying, and I understand your point completely. My point is that it this is about semantics. In THIS forum, when someone refers to "the I-551" they are talking about the I-551 stamp, period. They are not talking about the card. If they are talking about the card, they call it the "green card" or "permanent residence card" -- it's not referred to as the I-551. So, in THIS forum, if you're talking about the I-551, most people will assume you're talking about the I-551 stamp and nothing else.

~ Jenney

Rete

Point taken, but I have never ever referred to the green card as form I-551 and have only used the words I-551 in connection with the STAMP which is what the OP was talking about. He was not talking about a green card but a stamp and that was what I was talking about ... the stamp not the card.

I hope we can now end this round robin and play "nice"

Folinskyinla

Hi:

I am somewhat amused. The frequent posters here know that I tend to be pedantic. Don't take it personally -- I do it to everybody. However, I especially do it to people who should know better -- like Immigration Attorneys. My idea is that if Immigration Attorneys don't speak educated "Immigration Law" we can't truly expect the DHS/DOS people to it.

BTW -- go over my old posts if you have the time -- I always used "I-551" to referr to the card.

A further BTW, many years ago, I had California License Plate "I 551" -- however, it got me pulled over at the San Onofre Checkpoint once when I was returning from TJ with a client on a visa trip.