Travel outside US when citizenship application is pending

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sandhya2

Registered Users (C)
I am new to the forum. Planning to apply for citizenship. I am eligible.

Green card is expiring in about 7 months.
While citizenship application is pending, can I travel outside the country? If so, what happens if fingerprint notice arrives while I am out. Can have someone check my mail.
But how do I reschedule Fingerprinting appt if needed? In writing ? Or on web/phone.
Same question for interview date.
What is RFE ? I see a lot of RFE received. FAQ search did not find RFE!

I am in Santa Clara county. Looking at the San Jose based thread looks like citizenship is coming through in about ~ 6 months.

In case citizenship does not come through prior to GC expiration, should I apply for citizenship and Green card simultaneously? Is that allowed ?

After GC expiry but before citizenship approval if need to travel outside, what options do I have?

Thanks!!
 
It's preferred to stay in country if you have barely enough legal presence for nat'z but if you have more than enough legal presence you can travel, with 7 months left on a GC you should be able to get it done within that time if everything works the way it should, RFE is Request for Evidence, in citizenship a letter for finger print request is considered a RFE.
Once you get a fingerprint letter you can do a walk in appointment before or few days after without rescheduling.
If for some weird reason your card expires before you get your oath then you can get a info pass appointment and get a stamp in your passport if you need to travel.
 
Thx much for the response.
Legal presence is not a problem. Have been a PR for about 10 years!!

So if I get a FP appointment date for one week and I am out of country till the following week. Then I can just walk in the following week for FP? I don't need to have informed them that I won't be making the original appt?

I am going to be out of the country for much of December. So trying to figure out whether to apply in Jan or send in application before going to get the ball rolling.

Ideally I would like to submit before going and hopefully FP appt will be in Jan. But how do I deal with the situation if FP appt is scheduled for mid to late Dec while I am out!!

Ah got it on RFE.

Thanks.
 
If you are going for only a month it is not a big deal. FP will take a month from filing (generally) so you can file before leaving. If you miss the FP appt. You can try walk-in by showing proof of travel. It should work, otherwise make an infopass and request another appointment.
 
I am planning to apply my citizenship next month. I would need to make a few trips to Mexico for work for the next 3 to 4 months. Can you please tell me if it's advisable to travel outside country while citizenship is pending.

Thanks in advance!
 
Travel during citizenship process is perfectly OK. You are not restricted to remain in US while the process is ON.

However, the duration of travel, the frequency of travel ... matters. Also, this can not be looked at in isolation, but along with prior travel history. If you have traveled too much in the past, then this one trip would be an issue. If you hardly traveled, not so much.

Working in Mexico could be the other issue you need to worry about. PRs are not expected to work in other countries without permission, if at all.
 
sanjoseaug20 said:
If you are going for only a month it is not a big deal. FP will take a month from filing (generally) so you can file before leaving. If you miss the FP appt. You can try walk-in by showing proof of travel. It should work, otherwise make an infopass and request another appointment.
Click to expand...

From my reading of it InfoPass is a system to make an appointment.
So do I make an InfoPass, get an appointment, and at that appointment (which is in person I believe) I ask for a FP appointment to be scheduled?

Is my understanding right?

And regarding walk-ins for FP is there any specific info on how long after a missed appt a walk-in is feasible?

Most FP appts look like they happen about ~5 weeks after receipt of application. But in the "san Jose" processing time threads I see some cases under 4 weeks!

Though I wonder if with the holiday season processing time may be longer due to employees taking time off and Christmas day holiday etc.
 
stamp on passport

namecheckvictim said:
It's preferred to stay in country if you have barely enough legal presence for nat'z but if you have more than enough legal presence you can travel, with 7 months left on a GC you should be able to get it done within that time if everything works the way it should, RFE is Request for Evidence, in citizenship a letter for finger print request is considered a RFE.
Once you get a fingerprint letter you can do a walk in appointment before or few days after without rescheduling.
If for some weird reason your card expires before you get your oath then you can get a info pass appointment and get a stamp in your passport if you need to travel.
Click to expand...

What is this stamp on passport ? It says "citizenship app pending" or something like that to allow me to enter the US, with expired GC ?
What kind of InfoPass appt is required for this? On InfoPass website looks like I have to pick one out of 5 choices etc.

Thanks so much for the responses.
 
It would be an "I-551" or "ADIT" stamp. It is temporary proof of LPR status.

I-551 is the form number of your greencard.
 
sandhya2 said:
Thx much for the response.
Legal presence is not a problem. Have been a PR for about 10 years!!

So if I get a FP appointment date for one week and I am out of country till the following week. Then I can just walk in the following week for FP? I don't need to have informed them that I won't be making the original appt?

I am going to be out of the country for much of December. So trying to figure out whether to apply in Jan or send in application before going to get the ball rolling.

Ideally I would like to submit before going and hopefully FP appt will be in Jan. But how do I deal with the situation if FP appt is scheduled for mid to late Dec while I am out!!

Ah got it on RFE.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Apply before leaving since December has lots of Holidays so you will be scheduled in January anyway, IMO apply the last week of this month.
 
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