hbeachbabe

I hope someone can give us some correct info.

My spouse applied for an expidited advanced parole on Dec. 9 to visit a
dying relative back in Sweden (we are awaiting our change of status
since getting married). We applied in person at the Los Angeles
office. We were told by the person there that we were approved and
someone would contact us within a week asking if we wanted to come pick
it up or have it mailed to us. We were also told that she didn't need
AP to leave the country, just to get back in, thus we assumed that once
it was mailed to us, we could have it sent to Sweden and she could
return.

A week went by with no word. Her parents had purchased non-reundable
tickets for us so on Dec. 16 we left for Sweden having no idea which
would come first, her grandfather's death or her papers. We hoped that
the papers would arrive by mail while we were gone, but they didn't. I
returned to the U.S. alone on Jan. 4. I went back to the office on
Jan. 6 and asked where the papers were. I was told they can't discuss
the case with me because I'm not the applicant. The woman denied
everything she told me on Dec. 9 claiming only the "expidited" part was
approved, not the AP itself. She did indicate however that the AP
would be mailed to us when it was ready.

2 days ago, with my spouse on the line from Sweden, we called the
Nation Customer Service Center and were told quite emphatically that
APs are never mailed out, they must be picked up in person. This, of
course, directly contridicts what the woman at the AP desk in LA told
us. This would also mean that my spouse can't return to the US without
us starting the entire process over - a financial impossibility. If
it's not, our only option is that I move to Sweden (a much easier
process - 1 form, $65 fee and 4-6 month time frame after which I can
get a permanent residence & work permit)

So, finally, my question: has anyone actually received their AP
paper(s) in the mail or must they picked up in person? To date, we
have heard nothing - no phone calls or letters indicating approval or
denial. Do I just need to wait longer? Thanks for any help.

Bob

Can't really help from experience, but from what I've read, AP has to be picked up in person at the district office, mainly because it needs to be presented when leaving the country to be authorised? anyway, it's to stop people applying for it, flying off, and then getting someone to send it on to them at a later date.
So basically, leaving without it, you'd have to start the process all over again I'm afraid, but like you said, you could always try it going the other way.

Rete

Just for some background, normally applied for Advance Parole at one time was only given to the recipient by their going to the district office to pick it up when it was ready. However, with the intervention of the National Benefit Center in the processing formula for AOS the A/P is now processing by them and mailed to the recipient.

Expedited A/P is a little different. In the old days, one went in person to apply and normally walked out the same day with the expedited A/P. Today there are no District Offices that I've heard of in over a year that will issue emergency A/P and all requests have to go to NBC for processing.

While LA might have approved the reasons for expedited A/P it does not mean that it will be issued in a timely manner.

Regardless of all of the above, the thing is that one cannot leave the US without having the A/P in hand. The A/P must be valid on the day one leaves or before. Even if it were to arrive in the mail on the next mail date, if the date of issuance is past the day of flight, the A/P is worthless. Thus, for for intents and purposes, your wife has abandoned her petition for adjustment of status. One of the main reasons why it is urged that one apply for A/P at the same time as applying for adjustment. One never knows when an emergency will arise and the need for A/P is urgent.

Have you checked with the US Consulate in Sweden to see if you and she can apply in person for her adjustment of status there. The layperson calls this direct consular filing. If they do accept this from a USC who is not a resident of Sweden, then you are in luck. With DCF she can be back in the US in approximately one to two months and will enter the US as a resident.

Call them and find out if this is possible.

Rete

franc111s

It's such a shame, BCIS employees giving false hopes on AP.

There are 2 things to remember. It won't help you but hopefully it will help others.

DO NOT LEAVE without AP in your HAND.

DO NOT LEAVE, even with AP, if you have any overstay accredited to you.

Advanced Parole is issued more frequently even when it shouldn't be. Then, when you return, they ignore your AP and first check whether your are an overstayer or in the USA illegally. i.e. the AP is processed upon return, not on exit.

AP works if you have your green card or you have not fallen fowl of ANY immigrations violations.

Good Luck and sorry you have been let down so.

Bob

don't need it if you have a greencard though do ya

Ritze

"Rete" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] m...
    > Regardless of all of the above, the thing is that one cannot leave the
    > US without having the A/P in hand. The A/P must be valid on the day one
    > leaves or before. Even if it were to arrive in the mail on the next
    > mail date, if the date of issuance is past the day of flight, the A/P is
    > worthless. Thus, for for intents and purposes, your wife has abandoned
    > her petition for adjustment of status. One of the main reasons why it
    > is urged that one apply for A/P at the same time as applying for
    > adjustment. One never knows when an emergency will arise and the need
    > for A/P is urgent.

You don't parole somebody leaving the US. You parole somebody COMING BACK
into the US. Anybody with a valid advance parole coming back into the US, if
otherwise admissible based on other admissibility grounds, is admissible!
I'm not sure where you got the information relating to advance parole
issuance date and departure date but I sure would like a statutory reference
to such a claim.

franc111s

Oh yeah, typo....

Rete

Which is why A/P as a paragraph telling you not to use it if you are in overstay. At some point in your life you have to take full responsibility for your life and actions. This is one of them.

AP is not usable by a permanent resident. A re-entry/travel permit is however if a PR is leaving the US for a year or more.

Rete

As I would like to see yours were it isn't.

A/P must be dated prior to the date of leaving. One can be paroled into the US at the discretion of the examiner at the POE. However, at the interview the petition will be declared abandoned. If declared abandoned and ordered to leave then the petitioner might well be accredited with an overstay that entails a ban of x number of years.

Joe Feise

Ritze wrote on 1/15/2005 10:16:
    > "Rete" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected] m...
    >
    >>Regardless of all of the above, the thing is that one cannot leave the
    >>US without having the A/P in hand. The A/P must be valid on the day one
    >>leaves or before. Even if it were to arrive in the mail on the next
    >>mail date, if the date of issuance is past the day of flight, the A/P is
    >>worthless. Thus, for for intents and purposes, your wife has abandoned
    >>her petition for adjustment of status. One of the main reasons why it
    >>is urged that one apply for A/P at the same time as applying for
    >>adjustment. One never knows when an emergency will arise and the need
    >>for A/P is urgent.
    >
    >
    > You don't parole somebody leaving the US. You parole somebody COMING BACK
    > into the US. Anybody with a valid advance parole coming back into the US, if
    > otherwise admissible based on other admissibility grounds, is admissible!
    > I'm not sure where you got the information relating to advance parole
    > issuance date and departure date but I sure would like a statutory reference
    > to such a claim.

If you leave the US with a pending I-485 without AP, the I-485 is
considered abandoned.
8 CFR 245.2(a)(4)(ii)(B):
"(4) Effect of departure --
...
(ii) Under section 245 of the Act.
...
(B) The travel outside of the United States by an applicant for
adjustment who is not under exclusion, deportation, or removal
proceedings shall not be deemed an abandonment of the application if he
or she was *previously* granted advance parole by the Service for such
absences, and was inspected and paroled upon returning to the United
States. If the adjustment of status application of such individual is
subsequently denied, he or she will be treated as an applicant for
admission, and subject to the provisions of section 212 and 235 of the Act."

-Joe

hbeachbabe

OK, an update:
My spouse's AP papers arrived yesterday in the mail. The papers say
nothing about being needed at time of departure, only that she needs
them to re enter and they are valid until Dec. 14, 2005, 11 months from
the date they were sent out. They say to present them upon return.
Only if someone compares the date in her passport that she left with
the issue date of the papers will they know she left without them,
otherwise I don't see any problems. Are people saying that at our next
interview (whenever that may be) that the petition will be considered
abandoned since she left before these papers arrived??

Sylvia Ottemoeller

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] ups.com...

    > OK, an update:
    > My spouse's AP papers arrived yesterday in the mail. The papers say
    > nothing about being needed at time of departure, only that she needs
    > them to re enter and they are valid until Dec. 14, 2005, 11 months from
    > the date they were sent out. They say to present them upon return.
    > Only if someone compares the date in her passport that she left with
    > the issue date of the papers will they know she left without them,
    > otherwise I don't see any problems. Are people saying that at our next
    > interview (whenever that may be) that the petition will be considered
    > abandoned since she left before these papers arrived??

There is a risk of this happening, but I don't think it's a very large risk.
I think you should consult with a good immigration attorney, and then make a
decision about what to do.

wine12

I was reading this thread and wonder if you finally received the AP for your spouse and sent it to Sweden and your spouse tried to come back to the USA?

How did it all end? Hope a happy end for the two of you?



>>

Rete

They didn't come back to update us on their situation.

However, since the AP might have been dated "December 14, 2004" and they left the US on "December 16, 2004" then the AP would have been valid at the time of her departure.

It is correct that you don't have to show the AP at the time of leaving the US and only show it at the time of return, however, the main issue is the date of validity of the AP. It must be valid prior to your having left the US.

hbeachbabe

What's the word for doing a Google search for yourself? Anyway, that's how I found this post. OK, here's the update - I sent the AP to Sweden and my spouse got back in to the USA without any problems (immigrationwise anyway, we won't discuss fees for changing flights twice, ugh!).

Strange turn of events though. We decided to move to Sweden instead. I've been out of work for going on 2 years, we still has no second interview (thus after 2 years here, she still didn't have permanent residence), her work permit expired and cost us $170 to renew (although we didn't get it until 2 days before moving). We just got sick of the beauracracy. Getting permanent residence & work permit in Sweden involved me filing one 4 page form, paying $65, waiting about 4 weeks to get an interview and then another 3 weeks after the interview, receiving my approval.

We just arrived in Sweden last week and will be sending a letter to BCIS revoking our petition for now.

So, the AP got her back in to the country but no idea what would have happened had it come up at a second interview. sorry.