First Time Travel After GC

[StonedAnt]

Hello,

Just thought I'd share my travel abroad for the first time experience after I received my GC. I'm just going to skip to the part when I arrived back. BTW, I went back to the old country of Pakiland.

At the airport in US, I don't remember them swiping my GC. The officer looked at my passport mostly and then asked me to follow him to a different room. I was asked to sit down till my name called, there were about 2 other people in that room. I had been in that room before during special registration process so it didn't scare me all that much. Five minutes later I was told that another officer will handle my case, not the regular one. This of course raised my curiosity, but the officers were quite polite and one of them was even familiar with the area that I lived in. More people poured in on and out during this time and about an hour later, my name was called along with two other people (both of them had US passports). We were told by this officer that we were going to pick up our bags and follow him. I asked him if everything was fine to which he said it was. It turns out that the other two people whom he had called along with me had previous arrest records and they had also served some time. I was told that due to my last name being very common, it matched with someone else and they had to make sure that I wasn't that same person. They told me that even though they had cleared their records in the computer, this sort of thing may or may not happen again next time I come back to the US. I was asked to go sit down at another bench in the baggage pickup area, but he asked the other two people to follow him. About 10 minutes later, I was told that everything is okay and I can go, passport and GC were returned, no arrival stamp in the passport. The other two guys were still going through some proceedings, but I left quickly. The whole process took a little over an hour, and though it does not sound that long, it felt like ages probably because I didn't know what was going on.

Overall I would hope that this sort of thing doesn't happen every single time I come back from a trip abroad, but I suppose I shouldn't be surprised if it does. I just have to get used to the different stares I get every time they'll take me to that secondary inspection room...

Stoned!

[billofempire]

Please advise Gurus
I have a very different situation.
I have H4 stamped Visa till August 2009 and I have unused Advance Parole valid till October 10, 2008.
I have EAD as well.
I- 485 Pending more than 180 days.
Approved I-140.
Rest of the world category.
I-485 Receipt Date September 29,2007.
If I travel abroad , do I have to apply for new Advance Parole because I will leave in first week of October for six months or more.
Q 1: Can I come back to US in August before the H4 expires on valid visa but expired Advance Parole?
Q2: If principal applicant applies for third extension of H1 while I am (H4)out of country, is there going to be a problem for dependent H4 third extension ?
Q3: If H4 gets extended, is US consulate abroad going to stamp new extension on H4 candidate who has EAD and expired Advance Parole?

[Jackolantern]

Please use the EAD/Advance Parole section of the forum for that question, as it has nothing to do with this thread.

[cafeconleche]

Haha, Pakiland. That's funny. Yeah, I guess being from a Muslim country, you're going to be picked on. But, it's good that the process was not too much of a hassle for you. Good luck next time.

[mmed]

Originally Posted by billofempire

Please advise Gurus
I have a very different situation.
I have H4 stamped Visa till August 2009 and I have unused Advance Parole valid till October 10, 2008.
I have EAD as well.
I- 485 Pending more than 180 days.
Approved I-140.
Rest of the world category.
I-485 Receipt Date September 29,2007.
If I travel abroad , do I have to apply for new Advance Parole because I will leave in first week of October for six months or more.
Q 1: Can I come back to US in August before the H4 expires on valid visa but expired Advance Parole?
Q2: If principal applicant applies for third extension of H1 while I am (H4)out of country, is there going to be a problem for dependent H4 third extension ?
Q3: If H4 gets extended, is US consulate abroad going to stamp new extension on H4 candidate who has EAD and expired Advance Parole?

You can not storm the forum with your Q in different places.

[Hannah7]

Hello,

I think I will have to leave United States before I finally get my plastic GC. My friends, living on the U.S. address with me, promised to forward me the mail with the plastic green card to Europe.

My question is, whether is it OK?

I am just little bit worried whether such mails arent being sent "only to ones hands". Then I guess my friends wouldn't be able to re-send it to me, right?

sorry not to make a new thread, there're some bugs on this forum

[mmed]

Originally Posted by Hannah7

Hello,

I think I will have to leave United States before I finally get my plastic GC. My friends, living on the U.S. address with me, promised to forward me the mail with the plastic green card to Europe.

My question is, whether is it OK?

I am just little bit worried whether such mails arent being sent "only to ones hands". Then I guess my friends wouldn't be able to re-send it to me, right?

sorry not to make a new thread, there're some bugs on this forum

I assume that you have approved I-485 application but not received the actual card yet? If this is right, why you can not get an immigrant visa in your passport. Mailing GC is a frank immigration violation and it is not OK to mail this document or even to be received by anyone but the actual person.

[Hannah7]

I don't know what is 485. I am DV immigrant with visa in my passport. I may miss my letter with GC before I leave US. So only one question is, whether another person living on that address can receive this mail?

[StonedAnt]

Hannah,

Your friend will probably receive the GC in regular mail. I don't know if there are any restrictions for sending legal documents internationally though I have known people who have done it.

Since GC is such a valuable piece of document, if I were you, I would not risk it being sent by mail (unless there is a severe emergency), but that is just me.


Stoned!

[Hannah7]

Originally Posted by StonedAnt

Hannah,

Your friend will probably receive the GC in regular mail. I don't know if there are any restrictions for sending legal documents internationally though I have known people who have done it.

Since GC is such a valuable piece of document, if I were you, I would not risk it being sent by mail (unless there is a severe emergency), but that is just me.


Stoned!

Great. And you really know some people who have done it? If yes than I am easygoing

[StonedAnt]

Originally Posted by Hannah7

Great. And you really know some people who have done it? If yes than I am easygoing

Yes, just recently the wife of someone I know went to London and she mistakenly took her Work Authorization Card instead of GC and she didn't have any stamp in her passport. She found this out when she was about to board the airplane back to the US. Her husband ended up Fedex-ing the GC to her which she received without issues.

With that said, I have also known people whose envelopes have been held up by the carrier company because they contained legal documents.


Stoned!

[Jackolantern]

Originally Posted by Hannah7

I think I will have to leave United States before I finally get my plastic GC. My friends, living on the U.S. address with me, promised to forward me the mail with the plastic green card to Europe.

You can use advance parole to reenter the US if you were approved recently and haven't got the card yet.

[Jackolantern]

Originally Posted by mmed

Mailing GC is a frank immigration violation and it is not OK to mail this document or even to be received by anyone but the actual person.

If that is true, why do they say this on a US consulate web site?

http://hongkong.usconsulate.gov/lpr_faq.html#b2

I forgot my Green Card in the United States. What should I do?

You should have someone send it from the United States.

[mmed]

Originally Posted by Jackolantern

If that is true, why do they say this on a US consulate web site?

http://hongkong.usconsulate.gov/lpr_faq.html#b2

The situation is different; the OP did no forget his GC and even did not receive it yet. He landed in US with immigrant visa from DV and the USCIS suppose to send him the actual card within certain time frame from his landing. He wants to leave even before receiving the card and he is curious about his immigrant status if he do that.
BTW: Thanks for giving the link to inform that someone can send the GC overseas in case someone forgot his GC in US (which I think is very remotely)

[Hannah7]

Originally Posted by mmed

The situation is different; the OP did no forget his GC and even did not receive it yet. He landed in US with immigrant visa from DV and the USCIS suppose to send him the actual card within certain time frame from his landing. He wants to leave even before receiving the card and he is curious about his immigrant status if he do that.
BTW: Thanks for giving the link to inform that someone can send the GC overseas in case someone forgot his GC in US (which I think is very remotely)

exactly. Plus actually I am not too worried about my immigration status, because within one year I can use my immigrant visa in passport as a GC.

I am just now curious about the way how GC's are being sent. How they are delivered? Do you have to be physically present on your address to receive the mail, or anyone (living there) can receive ?

Because if my friend could receive my mail then it wouldn't be possible to send me anything :-)

[Jackolantern]

Originally Posted by Hannah7

I am just now curious about the way how GC's are being sent. How they are delivered? Do you have to be physically present on your address to receive the mail, or anyone (living there) can receive ?

It is sent by regular US mail. Whoever has access to your mailbox can receive it (but it would be illegal for them to open or send any mail addressed to you if you didn't authorize them to do so), and nobody has to be physically present when it is delivered.

[techbuyer77]

when I came back from my country, there was a flight from pakistan or iran ahead of us and a lot of people was sent to 2nd inspection

[Hannah7]

Originally Posted by Jackolantern

It is sent by regular US mail. Whoever has access to your mailbox can receive it (but it would be illegal for them to open or send any mail addressed to you if you didn't authorize them to do so), and nobody has to be physically present when it is delivered.

ohh great! Thats what I wanted to know! Thank you so much!

[gc_bulgaria]

I know I am being paranoid but I quit my job after getting GC(3 weeks) to go back to school (no animosity with the employer). I will be traveling to Canada for thanksgiving and I wanted to be prepared in case they ask questions.

I wanted to get feedback from people who have already received the CPO and/or the physical green card and have traveled recently. What was your experience? Did you get asked a lot of questions e.g. if you are still with current employer etc. Should I carry any documentation with me?

Any advice will be appreciated.

[techbuyer77]

If you quit your job that might seem like you were just waiting to get gc and USCIS might doubt your intent, but in order to do that they would have to review your file and they wont do that unless you apply to be a citizen.

They wont review your file in an airport, there is no time for that; I was laid off or let go from my sponsor one week after I got my gc, they just couldn't afford me due to economic bad times, anyway I travelled twice already ; once to my husband's country and once to my country.
Well, both times I arrived thru Dulles airport, the IO was ultra nice, both times both IO's were african american, not immigrants. They were really nice, they only asked me how long was I overseas, what did I do and one of them asked me if I was happy living in the US, and I said yes, truthfully.

And they both say, welcome home and send me to customs. Not second inspection or nothing.
However if you can, I would advise you to stay with your employer a little longer, maybe 6 months, so you will have peace of mind when getting us citizenship.

[Jackolantern]

Originally Posted by gc_bulgaria

I know I am being paranoid but I quit my job after getting GC(3 weeks) to go back to school (no animosity with the employer). I will be traveling to Canada for thanksgiving and I wanted to be prepared in case they ask questions.

If you got your green card through family, asylum/refugee, or self-sponsorship, quitting won't lead to any trouble. But if your green card was sponsored by an employer you may have trouble in the citizenship interview if the interviewer decides to grill you about it. Still, it is a very gray area, there is no fixed length of time for staying with the employer, and we don't know of anyone actually being denied citizenship for leaving too soon although some have be harassed in the interview about it.

In the end, it will boil down to the type of interviewer you get, how well you present your case, and whatever court precedents are made (if any) on this issue between now and when you apply for citizenship. Still, it would look better if you went back to the sponsoring employer at the end of your studies (and before applying for citizenship, of course).

I don't know if the officer at the POE will give you trouble, but they do often ask who you work for (they asked me when I traveled). If your travel date is a short time after your GC approval, it will become obvious to them that you left the employer very quickly, and we can't say how they will react.