Approval...finally

J

jameel1

Registered Users (C)
Hi everyone. I wanted to share that my online status states: "This case has been approved. Approval notice has been mailed".

It has been a long journey.
Applied for I-485 Dec-98
Fingerprinting- Feb-2003

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone on this forum. I have found this forum very supportive and encouraging. There were times during the last (almost) 5 years when I would get discouraged and start losing faith but then the encouraging words from the members of this forum ...the unsung heroes like Gilbert, Alanpero, Jack, Sessanga Charlesa and the others, helped me to hold on and not lose hope, since hope is all that we have.
I wish all of you the very best and will keep on being a part of this wonderful community.

Can someone please tell me what the next step is ...after you get the approval letter.

Thanks a lot.
Jameel
 
Congratulations

Jameel Congatulations and enjoy your freedom,Now take that letter to your local BCIS center and get your paasport stamped .If you don't have your national passport they will give you temporary card with your pic and fingure print I guess on a new I-94.
Have fun.


Disclaimer:Consult your lawyer for a proffessnial advise
 
Re: Congratulations

Originally posted by jattindc1
Jameel Congatulations and enjoy your freedom,Now take that letter to your local BCIS center and get your paasport stamped .If you don't have your national passport they will give you temporary card with your pic and fingure print I guess on a new I-94.
Have fun.


Disclaimer:Consult your lawyer for a proffessnial advise
Click to expand...

Thanks jattindc1. Has anyone on this forum gotten their national passport stamped. I was wondering if that could cause some issues such as the immigration person asking why you want to get your national passport stamped since you got your GC through asylum?. Or is it that they don't care at this point? What if your national passport has expired. I guess getting it renewed (in the US...yes that can be done and they don't ask for any other documentation) and then presenting it to the BCIS for stamping would be risky?

If stamping the national passport is a problem, the next option would be to get the RTD stamped. But my RTD is valid for another 2 months only and in any case, RTD's are valid for one year only.

Thanks for your time.

Jameel
 
Hi Jameel you said you got approval letter and I understand this is a approval letter not a plastic card. getting satmp on passport is a proof of your LPR because they will tell you that you will get your Plastic card with in 12 months.You can not get your RTD stamp, So getting stamp your National passport is not a problem ,One of my friend did it last month .Good luck.



Disclaimer:for proffessional advice consult a lawyer
 
I doubt this will be a problem.

If you want to be 100% safe, then do not show them the passport and ask them for a special I-94 card as your evidence of LPR status. Legally it is the same as the passport stamp, no difference.
 
Originally posted by jattindc1
Hi Jameel you said you got approval letter and I understand this is a approval letter not a plastic card. getting satmp on passport is a proof of your LPR because they will tell you that you will get your Plastic card with in 12 months.You can not get your RTD stamp, So getting stamp your National passport is not a problem ,One of my friend did it last month .Good luck.



Disclaimer:for proffessional advice consult a lawyer
Click to expand...

jattindc1, thank you so much for all the information. One last question: Did the friend of your's (who got his national passport stamped) renew his national passport (after getting the asylee status). My concern is that it wouldn't make any sense to get an expired national passport stamped. Should I get my national passport renewed (which is doable in the US) before going for the LPR stamping.

Thanks
 
What I do not understand is why would you insist on having your passport stamped? Why can you just get the I-94 so that you do not have to worry about anything else?????
 
Hi Jameel my friend's passport was still valid ,actually that's good idea just get the I-94 stamped because it'll be still valid for a year because stamp on passport wii be valid for 1 year.

Best Wishes
 
Originally posted by jameel1
Hi everyone. I wanted to share that my online status states: "This case has been approved. Approval notice has been mailed".

It has been a long journey.
Applied for I-485 Dec-98
Fingerprinting- Feb-2003

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone on this forum. I have found this forum very supportive and encouraging. There were times during the last (almost) 5 years when I would get discouraged and start losing faith but then the encouraging words from the members of this forum ...the unsung heroes like Gilbert, Alanpero, Jack, Sessanga Charlesa and the others, helped me to hold on and not lose hope, since hope is all that we have.
I wish all of you the very best and will keep on being a part of this wonderful community.

Can someone please tell me what the next step is ...after you get the approval letter.

Thanks a lot.
Jameel
Click to expand...

Congratulations Jameel. I would not stamp the national passport if I were you. You do not want to raise any eye brows espeically that you have an Arabic name. They will give you a form called I-551 that is valid for a year and has your picture on it . It also has the following statement written on it: temporary evidence of lawful admission for permanant residence. In the back of it there is a place where they put commentary and in it they write As6 ( asylum i guess). Another advice: in the day of stamping, go early! I waited 5 hours because i arrived at noon. Good luck and congrats again.
 
Originally posted by jameel1
Hi everyone. I wanted to share that my online status states: "This case has been approved. Approval notice has been mailed".

It has been a long journey.
Applied for I-485 Dec-98
Fingerprinting- Feb-2003

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone on this forum. I have found this forum very supportive and encouraging. There were times during the last (almost) 5 years when I would get discouraged and start losing faith but then the encouraging words from the members of this forum ...the unsung heroes like Gilbert, Alanpero, Jack, Sessanga Charlesa and the others, helped me to hold on and not lose hope, since hope is all that we have.
I wish all of you the very best and will keep on being a part of this wonderful community.

Can someone please tell me what the next step is ...after you get the approval letter.

Thanks a lot.
Jameel
Click to expand...


Congratulations. If you have RTD (no matter if it is soon to expire) take it with you and also one extra photo. They will keep the RTD and issue a form similar (but bigger) than I-94 as temporary proof of your residence approval.
If your passport is expired, you can also take it with you (as explained in the letter you received) They might stamp in your expired passport (as happened to some in my family) or issue the form, as happened to others.
If you have renewed your passport, make sure you said that and provided an explanation in your RTD application.
 
Originally posted by jameel1
Hi everyone. I wanted to share that my online status states: "This case has been approved. Approval notice has been mailed".

It has been a long journey.
Applied for I-485 Dec-98
Fingerprinting- Feb-2003

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone on this forum. I have found this forum very supportive and encouraging. There were times during the last (almost) 5 years when I would get discouraged and start losing faith but then the encouraging words from the members of this forum ...the unsung heroes like Gilbert, Alanpero, Jack, Sessanga Charlesa and the others, helped me to hold on and not lose hope, since hope is all that we have.
I wish all of you the very best and will keep on being a part of this wonderful community.

Can someone please tell me what the next step is ...after you get the approval letter.

Thanks a lot.
Jameel
Click to expand...

Congratulations Jameel!

The next step would be to wait for the approval letter if you have not received it yet. When you get the letter take it to the INS office that is specified in the approval letter. Take your national passport if that's where you want your I-485 approval stamped, if you do not have your national passport take your I-94 card, 2 photographs of self (lightly write your A# with a pencil on the back of your photos), and the asylum approval letter.

In my case I took my I-94 with me because I lost my national passport when I moved between places awhile back.

Make sure you go to the INS office very early in the morning because if you're late then they'll tell you that they have ran out of numbers for the day.

On my arrival at the local INS office at 8:00AM in the morning I had to stand in the line to get a ticket. It took me 3 hours until my number was called. The IIO I met was very courteous. I told her that I am an asylee and I lost my national passport back in 2000 when I moved between places. She took my I-94, two photographs and gave me back a temporary I-551 card stating that "this is a temporary evidence of Lawful Admission for Permanent REsidence Valid Until (one year from the day of stamping). Employment Authorized." The card will also feature your photograph, A#, Port of Entry, AS6 (which is a numerical code that INS uses for Asylees), the date of your case approval, office where your approval was stamped, as well as other info such as your name, country of citizenship, sex. The office gave me the card and said "congratulations! Your card will be mailed within one year from today." She kept my I-94 card though.


It was overall a pleasant experience except for the waiting time.
To my understanding it takes 3-6 months to receive your plastic green card depending on the INS center where your card will be mailed from. Most people say disregard the information given in online status check because it's not frequently updated.

Again congratulations and hope everything goes well for you when you go for stamping.
 
Re: Re: Approval...finally

Originally posted by alanpero2
Congratulations. If you have RTD (no matter if it is soon to expire) take it with you and also one extra photo. They will keep the RTD and issue a form similar (but bigger) than I-94 as temporary proof of your residence approval.
If your passport is expired, you can also take it with you (as explained in the letter you received) They might stamp in your expired passport (as happened to some in my family) or issue the form, as happened to others.
If you have renewed your passport, make sure you said that and provided an explanation in your RTD application.
Click to expand...

Hi,
can someone please clarify this:
What are the consequences of renewing the passport? I thought that should an asylee somehow manage to renew the passport, that this person accepts the citizenship of that country and no longer needs asylum in the States. In particular how does one explain to BCIS the he renewed the passport of the country where he can no longer live safe?
thx.
 
Re: Re: Re: Approval...finally

Originally posted by benko
Hi,
can someone please clarify this:
What are the consequences of renewing the passport? I thought that should an asylee somehow manage to renew the passport, that this person accepts the citizenship of that country and no longer needs asylum in the States. In particular how does one explain to BCIS the he renewed the passport of the country where he can no longer live safe?
thx.
Click to expand...

In part 6 of the I-131 form, there is a box you have to check if you have renewed your national passport, got a new one, visit the country,etc. If the answer is yes, they ask for an explanation in a separate sheet of paper.
I dont think it is an issue to renew the passport, at least not for all asylum cases. However, you have to provide an explanation if you have renewed it and are applying for an RTD. What sort of explanation will satisfy them? who knows!
Renewing the passport does not necessarily mean the person no longer needs asylum in the US.
 
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