Garfield2005

Do i need to carry any documents except my advance payroll and passport? i got my AP from i-485 based on marriage.

USimmigrant

just to correct u my friend it's advance parole and not advance payroll
From what i know u need ur unexpired passport advance parole and to be safe take ur NOA

Visitor

All you need is your passport and your AP.
Don't worry about it too much, its a very simple process at the immigration control.

Noorah101

Hi Garfield,

If you've received two AP's, leave one at home, and take the other with you. Don't take them both.

Best Wishes,
Rene

Rete

???????????

Rene

Are you saying to leave one page of a two page advance parole at home? Or are you saying if you have to valid advance parole documents, to only use one? There is a difference.

Most advance parole documents are two pages (some are three) and you should carry both with you when you first use the advance parole. Often and it is legal for the agent at the POE to retain one copy that is sent back to the district office and one is stamped and mutilated for you to retain for use again if it is a one year, multiple trip, advance parole. You will then be left if one sheet if you originally received two and two sheets if you originally received three.

Rete

Noorah101

Ohhh, oops. Sadegh received two identical APs of one page each. It was my error in thinking one should be left at home.

Thanks for the correction. Never mind my incorrect post.

Rene

Rete

NP .... many thought the same and were fortunate at the POE that the agent made a copy of the document for their purposes.

Elvira

As a matter of interest, do people with AP get sent to Secondary Immigration - if so how long does it normally take?

Rete

Normally, yes, for the initial processing of your A/P. Depends on the amount of people/paperwork they have to process in addition to yours. For the initial processing they usually input your information into the database and then they will stamp your A/P and passport with new I-94's paroleing you into the US for an indefinite period of time. Some have actual dates written but usually it says "indef" because there is no way to know how long AOS will take. On the second use of a multiple entry document, they do not send you to secondary and just replace the old I-94.

Elvira

Thanks, Rete.
I have an H4 visa in my passport, which is still valid. Do I actually have to use my AP?

Eric S.

I think you might go to secondary the first time you use the AP (my wife
did). And subsequent times, no. But I don't have first hand knowledge of
this.

- Eric S.

"DonnaElvira" <member35233@british_expats.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected] m...
    > > All you need is your passport and your AP.
    > > Don't worry about it too much, its a very simple process at the
    > > immigration control.
    > As a matter of interest, do people with AP get sent to Secondary
    > Immigration - if so how long does it normally take?
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

hcj1440

We used AP quite a few times. My husband was sent to secondary on every occasion, regardless of whether it was the first use of a given AP or a subsequent use. Also didn't matter whether it was at an airport POE or at a land border crossing. Seemed to us that the "regular" agents just weren't allowed to process anyone using AP at all.

Secondary took anything from a few minutes to more than an hour. It really depended on how long the line was inside -- if a lot of other people were waiting, you just had to wait for your turn. They never asked him very many questions -- it was just waiting in line that took a long time. My advice is to bring a magazine, and don't make any plans for immediately upon your arrival home!

mikookingnampyon

Just thought I'd add a data point for using AP.

Wife (then girlfriend) and I (USC) entered the US from Mexico at San Ysidro. She had received 2 identical AP documents about a month earlier. I told her that she only needed one and her passport for our trip. Upon entering the US we were directed to the office to get her AP adjudicated. She was directed to several officers(because she didn't have the 2nd page) having to explain the situation each time, got fingerprinted, and got an new I-94. Total time was about 1.5 hrs. So the lesson is, don't forget both pages!!

Garfield2005

What kind of questions do they ask on the secondary inspection?

FlyergirlUK

You should be asked three basic questions: on what basis are you adjusting status - work or marriage; what was the purpose of your trip; how long were you absent from the States.

Some IOs have been known to ask completely inane questions - I had one of these on my second re-entry, (he was new) but he was corrected by one of the more experienced IOs.

I, too, had to pass through secondary inspection both times I used my AP. Both times my AP was stamped, along with my I-94, (a new one filled in for each re-entry) and passport. On the stamp was handwritten the expiry date of my AP. Neither time was my AP taken from me - both times it was photocopied instead.