Approval while away from USA

G

gcmani

Registered Users (C)
My wife's 2nd FP was done Sep 25 2004 at Philly. We are going to India Nov 19 for 4 weeks vacation.

If her case gets approved when she was away, will it cause any problem when returning?? She has Adv Parole valid till March 2005.

I got my card already so I have no problems.
 
gcmani said:
My wife's 2nd FP was done Sep 25 2004 at Philly. We are going to India Nov 19 for 4 weeks vacation.

If her case gets approved when she was away, will it cause any problem when returning?? She has Adv Parole valid till March 2005.

I got my card already so I have no problems.
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if she has AP, why do u worry?
 
gcmani...

This is a good opportunity, forget her AP here and go to India, after that there won't be any problems (to you) for rest of your life... :D :D

I was just kidding, if she has AP and she doesn't get approved before she leaves she would be fine.
 
Problem with being away when I-485 approved

If she travels on the AP and the 485 is approved while she is away, there may be problems with coming back as the AP is only valid while the 485 is pending. Once the 485 is approved, the AP is no longer valid. That is what I have been made to understand (I'm not sure if they have any way of checking if the application has been approved at the airport) ...

Please note, this is just what I heard, I am not a lawyer
 
rrmaron said:
If she travels on the AP and the 485 is approved while she is away, there may be problems with coming back as the AP is only valid while the 485 is pending. Once the 485 is approved, the AP is no longer valid. That is what I have been made to understand (I'm not sure if they have any way of checking if the application has been approved at the airport) ...

Please note, this is just what I heard, I am not a lawyer
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Not true. That's what AP is meant for - re-entry. Note that, USCIS never provides timeframe or particular date when 485 is going to be approved. That means people have to sit tight, waiting for approval and never travel abroad while 485 is pending - because 485 can be approved anytime, anyday. That's impractical and defeats the very purpose of AP.
 
no problem for me.

That should not cause problem, this is what my lawyer told me and also my experience. Our 485 got approved on Aug 23 while we were oversea. We returned to States from SFO on Sept 15. We were sent to secondary inspection, and no question was asked before officier stamped on the AP.
 
Transit visa

Hi GCMANI
Don't forget to get transit visa for your wife, if you are flying through Europe.
 
Actually I had the apprehension similar to what rrmaron suggested. But with gc4201' first hand experience I guess we are fine on that. We went for Multi-visitor visa as we are stopping over in London for couple of days enroute to India. So there should not be issues with Transit visa

Thnaks very much for all your replies.
 
Correction to earlier post

GCmani,
sorry about the confusion ... I went back to what I read and found this on the Murthy Website (FAQ) that shows it is actually advantageous to have the AP when there is I-485 approval abroad. (additionally it would make sense to print out the case status that shows approval while abroad) .

"Just because the applicant obtained an AP document does not mean that s/he are required to use it. If the applicant has AP, it is a good idea to carry it on the trip, even if s/he does not plan to use it, in case the 485 is approved while s/he is outside the country and s/he needs to use the AP to re-enter. Once the 485 is approved, the H or L visa is no longer valid and may not generally be used to reenter. "
 
gcmani

I am currently in India and my case is approved. I am coming back on 31 Oct and will post details. BTW, I have both, valid H1 & AP.
 
Please relax on this issue. My I-485 was approved while I was away. I arrived at Newark airport yesterday with my AP. There was no problem at all.
 
usnycus said:
gcmani

I am currently in India and my case is approved. I am coming back on 31 Oct and will post details. BTW, I have both, valid H1 & AP.
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usnycus,

Congrats on your approval !! I was told by my attorney that they would allow entry on H1 visa stamp itself .. and i have heard of couple of cases where H1 visa was used to reenter US in case 485 got approved while they were out of the country. Yours would be an intresting case to know .. pl do post your experience ..
 
Update:

Came back to US on Oct 31 from India without any problem. Officer at POE asked me "why I have US as a country of residence on I-94" and I replied that I am here in US for last 9 years. He also pointed out that H1 is expiring within two months and stamped PP/I-94 till validity of H1.

Other then above two question, nothing was asked and I was out in less then five minutes. I was also carrying AP as well as copy of I-485, just in case.

bhandus2004 said:
usnycus,

Congrats on your approval !! I was told by my attorney that they would allow entry on H1 visa stamp itself .. and i have heard of couple of cases where H1 visa was used to reenter US in case 485 got approved while they were out of the country. Yours would be an intresting case to know .. pl do post your experience ..
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Similar situation....

Hi,

My wife is travelling to India on 15th of this month and her 485 is in final stage (Jan 2003 filing). She has a valid H4 VISA but she doesn't have AP. Will it be problem for her while returning? We just replied a RFE 2 weeks back. Kindly suggest. Thanks.
 
usnycus said:
Update:

Came back to US on Oct 31 from India without any problem. Officer at POE asked me "why I have US as a country of residence on I-94" and I replied that I am here in US for last 9 years. He also pointed out that H1 is expiring within two months and stamped PP/I-94 till validity of H1.

Other then above two question, nothing was asked and I was out in less then five minutes. I was also carrying AP as well as copy of I-485, just in case.
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usnycus,

Thanks for the update .. this info will help others ..
 
No Problem.

rohit_97 said:
Hi,

My wife is travelling to India on 15th of this month and her 485 is in final stage (Jan 2003 filing). She has a valid H4 VISA but she doesn't have AP. Will it be problem for her while returning? We just replied a RFE 2 weeks back. Kindly suggest. Thanks.
Click to expand...
 
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