neuser

Hi,

My family and I are moving to live in the US.
My wife and two children have American passports. I have a Green Card.
We are currently in the process of selling our house in London.
We plan to move in July.

My Permanent resident status was activated last August.
As we had not yet sold our house I still needed to be in London.
In September I travelled back to the UK before the plastic green card arrived,
but not before applying for a re-entry permit, for which I attended a biometrics test.

I recently arranged for my green card to be sent by registered mail over to the UK. It still hasn't arrived and I fear it may be lost. I am also still waiting for the re-entry permit.

What should I do? I know I should file a I90 form but have heard that a replacement green card can take up to a year!! Can I file an I90 from the UK? In that this would require my travelling to the States for another biometrics test! or is there something else I should do?

I still have the stamp in my passport which I think lasts one year? Can i travel to the states on this?
By July I will have been outside the US for more than six months.

Any and all help would be great..

It never ceases to amaze me how complex this thing has become, will this ever end?

thanks,

R

crg

Don't do the I-90 until you know for sure it's lost. You can travel on the endorsed immigrant visa for one year from the stamp. The Reentry Permit can be used in lieu of the card until it expires. Some people think you need the card to use the RP, but you don't as long as the RP says you are a permanent resident.

If you're out less than a year, but your card is lost, the RP are lost, and the temp card is expired, you'll need a transportation letter from the embassy.

I don't think you can file the I-90 from abroad because you still need to appear for the biometrics.

Noorah101

It doesn't truly end until you become a USC.

Rene

Folinskyinla

Hi:

There are ways to obtain travel documentation. You still have your passport with the original IV and the entry stamp, no?

neuser

Hi Folinskyinla,

Thankyou for your reply,
Sorry for my delay in re-posting..

Yes, I do still have the stamp in my passport, dated Aug 6th. 2008

I am hoping that this might be enough for me to gain re-entry into the US come this July, along with no doubt a long conversation, supporting documentary evidence of delayed house sale etc. not to mention two screaming kids with US passports..

That said I cannot take any chances with this..

My main problem may well be boarding a plane without the plastic GC.

Would it be an idea for me to setup an appointment at the Embassy here in London with the view of obtaining somekind of travel document? If so what might that be?

I am more or less certain that my GC is now lost in the post..
I do however have a photocopy. The Re-entry permit has still not arrived.
I took the biometric in late October. Should it have arrived by now?
How long do these things take?

Sorry to be asking all these questions, I really appreciate all the great work you do on this forum.

thankyou again,

R

crg

The photocopy doesn't help. It's like a photocopy of a $100 bill.

The endorsed visa stamp is sufficient. Hopefully the airline is familiar with that fact. If the airline has a problem with it, and won't accept it, you would need a transportation letter from the embassy. They cost $165.

The stamp should suffice.

http://www.usembassy.org.uk/dhs/cbp/lostprc.html

meauxna

That endorsement is valid for one year for boarding, and re-entry to the US. Plenty of people travel on it.