Approved!!!!!!!!!!!

S

SreeExpat

Registered Users (C)
Dear Members,

I have just received the most anticipated E-mail from the BCIS. My I-485 has been approved.

Here are my case details:

I-485 Receipt date: 09/13/02
I-485 Notice Date: 09/18/02
FP date: 07/14/03
Approval Date: 07/12/04.

However, my wife's case has not been approved yet. My wife is currently in India on an Advance Parole. She will be back to the U.S on 09/15/04.

Could you guys please help me with this:

1. How long would it take for my wife's approval? Wouldn't BCIS adjudicate both the primary applicant and dependent's case at the same time?
2. Let's say, if my wife's case didn't get approved when she arrives at the port of entry on 09/15/04, would this create a problem for her having the primary applicants I-485 approved?
3. If my wife's case does get approved, would she be allright at the POE?
4. Can I postpone my stamping of the passport until my wife gets back on 09/15/04, and could we go together?
5. Also, my Indian passport will be expiring in Jan-05, would you guys recommend getting a new passport before proceeding for the stamping?

Guys, you have been such a help. Please help me with this final journey moments.

Also, thanks to Mr.Rajeev Khanna and his wonderful team for having filed my GC.

I wish you all good luck.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
It's a back-to-back surprise!!!!!!!!

I couldn't believe my eyes when I woke up and checked my e-mail again. My wife's case has also been approved!!! TSC is unpredictable!!

I am making some modifications to my earlier questions:

1. Is my wife going to face any problems at the POE on her way back on 09/15/04?
2. Can I postpone my stamping of the passport until my wife gets back on 09/15/04, and could we go together at that time?
3. Also, my Indian passport will be expiring in Jan-05, would you guys recommend getting a new passport before proceeding for the stamping?

Please help

Thank you.
 
From whatever knowledge I gained reading this forum:

1. No. I think the officer at the POE is going to give her a stamped I-94/passport similar to what we get at the local USCIS office.

2. Like it has been stated multiple times in this forum there is NO need to get your passport stamped. Its just a by-product of going and applying for your physical card. So, yes, you can wait until she gets back. The only note of caution is with the rate of approvals you never know when these guys are going to run out of cards. I remember a time when the center responsible for printing the card ran out of it and wait times were like a year or more.

3. Your passport needs to be vaild for 6 months beyond the stamp date. But I am heard instances of people getting temparory stamps on on I-94 cards.
 
bags3 said:
From whatever knowledge I gained reading this forum:

1. No. I think the officer at the POE is going to give her a stamped I-94/passport similar to what we get at the local USCIS office.
Click to expand...

Not entirely so. As per the Immigration Statutes (and as per quite a number of cases reported in this forum), the Officer at the POE cannot permit your wife to enter into the US based on her AP, because the approval has made the AP tenuous and untenable. She will be allowed to have a deferred-inspection at the local office. What this means is that, she has to present herself for deferred-inspection at the local office within 13 days(don't quote me on this number as I have vague memory) of being permitted into the US. This deadline has to be scrupulously followed to avoid adverse fallouts.

As, typical of Immigration, there have always been exceptions to this rule and one member who by Providence was allowed to enter into the US on AP after approval was SydneyRacquelle, I guess. But, the procedure I have postulated above is what is the norm and is per book.
 
What I heard is that at POE the officer checkes to see the approval was made when your wife was in INDIA. If that is the case, then they will let her in. I am not sure on what basis.

But my friend had the same problem. He had to go UK on a business trip and got his approval just 3 days before his trip. My lawyer forced him to get his stamping before leaving the US.

The officer at the Dallas INS told him that if you in the US at the time of approval, then you need to get stamping before leaving US. If you are outside the US at the time of approval and you have a valid AP, then you may enter without any problems. Once you enter the US, all the other papers except GC will be invalid.

This is is what I heard.
 
Thank you very much for your valuable comments.

So what I am hearing is that, the I-485 approval notice is sufficient enough for me to display that I am in status, until I receive the card and that the stamping in the passport is optional??

Additionally, since my wife's case is approved on 07/12/04, and she wouldn't be back until sep-04, there is a gap of almost 2 months since the approval. I am hoping this would not be treated differently at the POE??
 
well it seems pretty logical to me that

1) if the approval happens when you are outside the country, and while returning if the POE officer finds out about it, they send you for deferred inspection and you have to get stamping done within a prescribed time table.

2) Approval happens when u r in the country. well i think that the attorney did a service in forcing this guy to get stamped, because otherwise he had no travel documents on him, all visas, AP's are renderd invalid after I-485 approval. The stamp is the reentry document you need for travel till actual card is ordered.

The reason people go for stamping is that, thats where they fill the form to request the card. You can wait if u r not planning to travel, any time soon.
 
SreeExpat:

>>So what I am hearing is that, the I-485 approval notice is sufficient enough for me to display that I am in status, until I receive the card and that the stamping in the passport is optional??

That is NOT enough. If you read the approval letter (once you get it in the mail) it will say something like "to complete the process you need to go to the local USCIS office with blah blah docs". The PR process is NOT complete until you apply for your card. The approval letter is NOT proof of legal status. ONLY the stamp and the card are. The stamp is optional. The card will NOT be ordered until you physically go to the local office and apply for it. In a way the stamp is dessert and applying for the card is the main meal....

HTH
 
Hey guys,

I would like to ask you one more question, both the primary applicant and the spouse doesn't have to go for the stamping together right ? It can be done at different times ? Appreciate your help. thank you.
 
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