postbox134

Hi everyone, my I-485 was approved late on Tuesday 28th (yay!) which I only know from the website. I've yet to receive the approval notice nor the GC. Many thanks to the knowledge and time of the members here on this forum over the years since I starting moving to the US in 2019 - it's been invaluable to me. I've put my timeline at the end of the post in case anyone finds it useful in future - I had a fairly typical timeline with no real delays just general processing slowness at DOL and USCIS plus a few months retrogression.

I have long running travel hooked to leave next week (4th) which is basically exactly one week after my approval, which isn't enough time to get my GC in hand. I didn't get AP approved but I have a valid L1B visa stamp (dual intent) which is how I was going to travel - I did this back in December/Jan just fine. In fact, I was going to renew my stamp in London the week after to recapture time on my L1 (to allow travel flexibility even though I already had an EAD from my pending I-485 - I never got my Advanced Parole approved).

I spoke to USCIS yesterday morning and got on the "urgent" list for an InfoPass appointment to get a I-551 stamp. They said I'll hear back in 72 hours but that leave me basically no time to get an appointment. Is it worth trying to walk into my local office? My local office is Newark but I can also try Manhattan. I called again today and the call center person said it's only been 24 hours I'm sorry there's nothing I can do. Ideally this would solve the problem outright.

Speaking to the lawyers from my employer they said to not travel without my GC if possible, and have someone mail it if they can (which seems to be a terrible idea - what if it gets lost). They explicitly mentioned my L1 stamp is not valid anymore but I believe I can use it to get on the flight back to the US (from what I gather, the airline only sends passport info back to the CBP via Advanced Passenger Info, not visa status). I can then present to the CBP officer as an LPR and they must let me enter (albeit not be happy about it). I know this is the process if you are abroad when they approve I-485, but I haven't left yet. I only know it's been approved from the online status, it would be possible to not know at this stage that it's been approved.

I really don't want to rearrange my travel at this late stage, it'll be very expensive and annoying. It's frustrating to get stuck in a paperwork black hole. Any advice or experiences would be much appreciated.

Timeline

• September 2021: Employer started GC process (they have a policy of only sponsoring after two years service in the US)
• June 2022: PWD received
• August 2022: PERM submitted (Priority Date)
• July 2023: PERM approved - I-140 filed (regular processing as PD wasn't current even for filing)
• October 2023: I-140 upgraded to Priority Processing and approved as PD became current for filing
• November 2023: I-485/I-765/I-131 filed with medicals
• December 2023: RFE for missing birth certificate (either the lawyers didn't include it or USCIS lost it)
• February 2024: PD becomes current for Final Action (never had Case Remains Pending status)
• March 2024: EAD standalone approved (no combo as I travelled on L1 before approval)
• May 2024: I-485 approved

tht

I was an L1a and went EB1c route to a GC. I traveled every week or 2 even before I got an AP or EAD… separate back in 2011… I was approved while I was out of the country. I had to get back for a board meeting so I emailed the London embassy… and got the below reply from a USCIS.gov email, they asked some more questions and then I got a reply form a @state.gov email address in less than a day.. which said:

”As long as your advanced Parole Letter is still valid on date of entry and considering you also has an valid L1 visa, you’ll be able to re-enter the U.S. to obtain you Alien Card, you won’t require an CBP Transportation Letter issued by the American Embassy, London. Your Immigration records shows that you have status as and Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR).”

GE was not available with a GC back then… so I had to see an officer, I tired to explain / show him the email. He had no interest in it at all, just stamped me in as an L1a. The GC arrived about 5 days later, so I popped over to London for meeting and when I flew back they stamped me in as an LPR.

Once you get it all sorted get GE ASAP.

postbox134

Awesome thanks for the info, I'll try the London embassy too hadn't thought of that.

I already have GE but it's tied to my L1, I'll use the regular line coming back this time so I can speak to an officer.

tht

I think once you get to CBP in the US you will be fine (I seen USC admitted without a passport for example) and I am sure they will be able to see you are an LPR, so at worst would be able to see an immigration jusdge, not sent back, like a VW would. My concern was not getting through the airline pre check at LHR…

I believe that the airline/precheck staff have a number for CBP to resolve issues like this as well, but I would try the embassy. It worked and they were very fast…

hutchison

Awesome, congrats! I am certainly aware of the frustrations the process can bring, not least the recent travel lockdowns / proclamations & RFE's, Freedom comes at a price, it is underestimated - celebrate it !
- p.s next step?

postbox134

Thank you - it is a good feeling to finally be able to plan a little bit more in the future. Maybe time to change job after 7 years of the same thing...

Yeah agreed - I am no worried about the actual border. I've been to secondary before so I'm not particularly scared of that. Getting on the flight seems to be the challenge which hopefully worst case my L1 can solve. From my research it seems that the CBP only get your passport number via Advanced Passenger Info and that visas are checked manually visually - which matches with my previous experience. That may change though they want to expand the collected info to include things like visa number. I can't find any references for whether an LPRs Visas are automatically cancelled in the system or not. If it's just a visual inspection I should be good to board the flight back to the US.

Still calling USCIS everyday for an I-551 appointment before I leave, may try to walk in on Monday if not. Worth a shot. Thanks THT I have emailed the London Embassy regarding a boarding foil - they said they'll reply in 2 days. I don't particularly want to pay $500 but that will be less than changing my plans.

hutchison

7 yrs is long time, i feel it. Have your read up on not moving positions so swiftly.

postbox134

I have, nothing for a while for sure. My employer also has a clawback for 2 years(!) post GC for the I-140 and I-485 fees+lawyer costs (PERM they legally can't). I intend to get an independent lawyer to look through the exact agreement in the near future to see what I could be on the hook for.

postbox134

Final update, I managed to beg for an I-551 stamp in my passport - writing my experience below in case it's help for anyone in future. I never got an 'urgent' call back from USCIS - they said 72 hours but I am way over that now. When I called to chase they said there's nothing we can do to help sorry. I decided to do one last ditch walk into a field office for a stamp - otherwise I'd just risk using my L1.

Newark (my local field office by zip code) was a waste of time, I got the uscis floor and the security drones just kept pointing to the 'no appointment not entry sign' which is fair enough really - they're just paid to do their job - which seems to be keep anyone out without the appointment. I got there as they opened 7am.

Next, I went to the Manhattan field office, quite near my office so no real problem wasn't really out of my way. There was literally hundreds of people outside the federal office building, I think getting biometrics for EADs, but the line to get in was quite short so I think they had different queues. I spoke to a security drone outside and said to go somewhere else that turned out to be the employee entrance. So I went back and a different drone looked at my flight tickets and was like "I love London" so let me into the building and told me which floor. I went up to the office and the same thing as Newark nearly happened, but one of the security guards said I'm going to give you once chance to explain your situation to someone. He led me to the receptionist and said if she says no then you'll leave no questions. I said that's fine.

I spoke to her and she then called the supervisor who then called me over, she was very angry and quite upset "why don't you have an appointment!" etc. I told them I had tried every which way to get an appointment but they never called me back, I had been to Newark first and they had said no they can't help. I think that got lost in translation that Newark had somehow 'sent me to them'. Then she was like how do I know it's approved and I said she can look up my number in your system but she was like 'no you have to prove it to me - the burden of proof is on you'. I told her that I hadn't got the approval notice or GC yet, but I showed her the website and she was like get a ticket. The whole office was maybe 3 people waiting - in a huge room.

A few mins later at 8:30 (the published opening time) a young officer calls me to her booth and she starts working it out and was quite friendly and kind. She then goes to check something with an older guy I assume was the director (different from the supervisor), he just grunted "no appointment we don't do anything - I don't care they get an appointment for I-551". I said to her "I understand that I am outside of the process and if it's too hard don't worry - she said no worries at all she's happy to help. Then typed a bit more, took my fingerprints and then put the stamp in my passport in front of me. I thanked her for "bending the rules" and she said no it's okay, in fact for this situation you don't need an appointment (lol!) as it was urgent travel. Took my passport back and walked out. Overall it took maybe 45 mins.

Overall I think I got lucky with the security guard allowing me to talk to the receptionist - and an officer who was willing to ignore what their senior officer was saying. What surprised me was how dead the office way, maybe 3-4 groups (some were family units) in the whole time I was there - there was more officers than customers. Newark I didn't see a single other person there except the guards.

tht

glad it worked out… maybe things changed, but aside from my citizenship interview and oath ceremony I have always done “walk ins” bit with a future dated receipt notice… guess I’m glad it happened to me when I was out of the county… it was much easier to send an email than your multi state adventure…

postbox134

From my research is before COVID walk ins were allowed and encouraged for this kind of thing. But post covid everything is an appointment, and the system is designed to keep you away from an officer in every single situation unless they absolutely have to see you.Which makes sense.