green card renewal and I-551 stamp in Philly
 

Hi everyone,


So I am getting ready to file my I-90 form to renew my ten year green card. The biometrics appointment I assume will be in Philadelphia (as always since that's where I'm from :)) Question I am wondering is whether I can get the I-551 stamp in my passport at the biometrics appointment or if I will have to make a separate Infopass appointment to do so, in case replacement GC doesn't come by the time I need to travel?


I am hearing horror stories about scheduling Infopass and am getting worried as I am planning to be travelling to UK for Easter next year.


Does anyone have any idea/has been to Philadelphia biometrics appointment and got a stamp?


Thanks all!


-Polly

Re: green card renewal and I-551 stamp in Philly
 

Have yet to meet anyone who can get the I-551 stamp at the biometric appointment. You can try it and if not successful, make an infopass appointment. Renewal cards can take up to a year or more to arrive.

Re: green card renewal and I-551 stamp in Philly
 

eek, that's what I was afraid of :( I hear Infopass is horrendous :(

Re: green card renewal and I-551 stamp in Philly
 

And I've heard just the opposite. You make an appointment, go in person, ask nicely for the stamp and walk out. What is horrendous about that?

Re: green card renewal and I-551 stamp in Philly
 

No, I meant actually managing to schedule an appointment is horrendous, lol! Lots of refreshing page etc.

Re: green card renewal and I-551 stamp in Philly
 

I had a similar issue last summer.. infopass would have had me travelling 10hours to El Paso for an appointment.
I received the appointment for the biometrics and that was that. I was told that if you've had the biometrics done, then you don't need the i551 stamp.

Re: green card renewal and I-551 stamp in Philly
 

you still have your card right?
my experience was that at the biometrics appointment i received a sticker on the back of my (ahem.. way way expired..) green card extending the validity for 9 months. i was planning on requesting the sticker at the appointment anyway but they did it automatically so in the end i did not need the stamp in my passport. the new green card arrived before the 9 months extension expired.

Re: green card renewal and I-551 stamp in Philly
 

if you've had a biometrics appointment sent to you then the green card extension is fine. Once you've done the biometrics, your details will be updated in the system and when your card is scanned at entry then it will show current details.

If your biometrics appointment doesn't come through in good time for your travel then you would need to go to infopass to get an appointment and an i551 stamp. I was told that if this happened, the GC would be kept and you would be travelling using the i551 stamp until the replacement GC came through.
In my case, the biometrics appointment was after the date of travel and so I just went to the office (their advice) first thing in the morning with the biometrics appointment information and the documentation required and they did the biometrics there and then.

Re: green card renewal and I-551 stamp in Philly
 

Hi everyone,


Just wanted to give an update- I went to biometrics today at the Drummond Road application center in Philly and they did give me the sticker on my expired card which extends it for a year.


No need for I-551 stamp according to the nice gentleman working there. He said USCIS is so overwhelmed with paperwork that they opened a new office in Virginia to handle a lot of the I-90 applications. I wonder if the sticker is a response to that to save time or if it's been around for a while? USCIS gentleman did say in certain situations they don't give the sticker but didn't really go into detail


Hope this info can be helpful to someone and thanks everyone for your responses :)


-Polly

Re: green card renewal and I-551 stamp in Philly
 

I have renewed my green card twice and, on both occasions, when I went for the appointment, a sticker was attached to my old card extending its validity for (I think) 12 months.

So, it appears that they have been doing this for at least 15 years now ...

Re: green card renewal and I-551 stamp in Philly
 

Suits me- it saves me making an infopass appointment and then someone else who needs that appointment can use it instead!;)