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Denied boarding on flight to US - with I-551 stamp

s.brody

s.brody

Registered Users (C)
I've just been denied boarding by the airline company on a flight from Budapest to NYC via Oslo. I had my passport with visa stamped on November 7th, which should have counted as a Green Card. But they denied me boarding for the reason that I also need to present the physical Green Card. I haven't yet payed it and it hasn't been issued.
Urgent help appreciated.!!
 
I'm so sorry you were denied boarding for your return trip. Seems like the airline personnel that attended to you aren't aware of the fact that the endorsed IV becomes an I-551 which is valid for travel for 1 year. You should go back and request to speak with a supervisor or a manager. Present the "Carrier Information Guide - US Documentary Requirement For Travel" - link below - and refer them to page 40 where it shows an endorsed IV can be used in place of the plastic GC:

http://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Carrier Information Guide- English.pdf
 
I second what mom says. Anyone else in this circumstance should insist on speaking to higher level staff until they find someone who understands it. Unfortunately this has happened a couple of times with inexperienced staff or airlines that fly from countries without many immigrants to the U.S.

Also check if you are due compensation for being wrongly denied boarding.
 
Just to add to what mom says for others who don't have time to go home and print stuff out - what worked for me was showing the person the line at the bottom about evidencing permanent residence for one year. That was a flight via LHR and when I presented the same visa for the onward leg at Heathrow there was no problem at all as they clearly had seen many of these.
 
In fairness though, a denial to board using the I-551 when transiting through another country could sometimes be considered legitimate. Most countries that require a transit visa will exempt and allow a new immigrant or a returning LPR to board upon the presentation of their NIV or the endorsed NIV in place of the plastic GC as in the case of Susie at Heathrow. However there are some transiting countries that will not grant that exemption with a temporary I-551 which forces the airlines to refuse to board anyone in such a situation unless they also possess the applicable transit visa.

My suggestion to anyone returning to the U.S. using the temporary I-551 and with a connecting flight/transiting through another country is to make sure they contact the airline ahead of time and describe their transit points to find out the airline's policy regarding such. Also be sure to look up the transit policy(ies) of the applicable country(ies) and how they treat the temporary I-551 vs. the plastic GC itself.
 
Sm1smom said:
In fairness though, a denial to board using the I-551 when transiting through another country could sometimes be considered legitimate. Most countries that require a transit visa will exempt and allow a new immigrant or a returning LPR to board upon the presentation of their NIV or the endorsed NIV in place of the plastic GC as in the case of Susie at Heathrow. However there are some transiting countries that will not grant that exemption with a temporary I-551 which forces the airlines to refuse to board anyone in such a situation unless they also possess the applicable transit visa.

My suggestion to anyone returning to the U.S. using the temporary I-551 and with a connecting flight/transiting through another country is to make sure they contact the airline ahead of time and describe their transit points to find out the airline's policy regarding such. Also be sure to look up the transit policy(ies) of the applicable country(ies) and how they treat the temporary I-551 vs. the plastic GC itself.
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Yep, Norway is part of Schengen and there has been and continues to be increasing scrutiny of transit visa in general for non-Schengen nationals, as part of Schengen rules and regulations - not directly related to temporary US I-551 or the airline per se, SAS is normally pretty good and well organized. Certainly very advisable to pay the USCIS fee and get hold of the plastic GC, specifically given the POE 11/07/2014 activation date. Not much money savings here, I guess.
 
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I've never needed a transit visa for Schengen though? Although I guess some countries do.

Just to clarify, my scrutiny was in South Africa for a U.S. visa as my ticket's final destination was the US. They need to know you can enter your final destination as the airline gets fined if they let you travel without being eligible. The issue was not about being allowed to transit the UK as I already have a valid UK visa that covers transit as well as visits. I only mentioned LHR because they had clearly seen the stamped visas being used many times and didn't even ask me about it.
 
SusieQQQ said:
I've never needed a transit visa for Schengen though? Although I guess some countries do.

Just to clarify, my scrutiny was in South Africa for a U.S. visa as my ticket's final destination was the US. They need to know you can enter your final destination as the airline gets fined if they let you travel without being eligible. The issue was not about being allowed to transit the UK as I already have a valid UK visa that covers transit as well as visits. I only mentioned LHR because they had clearly seen the stamped visas being used many times and didn't even ask me about it.
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Hello SusieQQQ, I am glad the LHR connection worked out for you! I think mom's recommendation above is a very good one for those cases, and therefore very much worth repeating: "My suggestion to anyone returning to the U.S. using the temporary I-551 and with a connecting flight/transiting through another country is to make sure they contact the airline ahead of time and describe their transit points to find out the airline's policy regarding such. Also be sure to look up the transit policy(ies) of the applicable country(ies) and how they treat the temporary I-551 vs. the plastic GC itself."
Other than that, I think it is pertinent to advise folks to pay the required USCIS fee as early as possible (i.e. before initial US departure and GC activation) and, if possible, to await final GC arrival by mail before traveling abroad, thus apriori avoiding hassle and potential problems as described in this case. Best!
 
I agree but i also think the transit issue is something of a red herring. This has occasionally been an issue for people with direct flights too, when inexperienced airline staff simply do not understand the endorsed visa and think the person will not be allowed to entr the US. It is not always possible to have a physical green card before the return flight either. Even if you pay in advance, USCIS screws up sometimes - it took me four months and congressperson involvement before I got mine. So it is important that people know to show the airline official where to look, and to ask for higher level staff if necessary. The ideal may be to have a plastic green card but quite frankly if all that is required is proof that the traveller will be allowed to enter the U.S., ineptitude on the part of airline staff should not be an issue stopping someone with valid travel documentation.
 
Thanks all for the replies. As I thought, I had all the right to board my flight.
I left the airport since then. I've also filed an "Expense Refund Form" requesting them to reimburse the ticket fee. Also I'm done flying with them.

Going to book another flight soon with another company. As advised, I will call before to assure that they allow me to board the flight, with my situation.
 
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Sm1smom said:
You should go back and request to speak with a supervisor or a manager. Present the "Carrier Information Guide - US Documentary Requirement For Travel" - link below - and refer them to page 40 where it shows an endorsed IV can be used in place of the plastic GC:
http://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Carrier Information Guide- English.pdf
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You mean the airline's supervisor/manager? Are they present at the airport or by the phone?
When going through check-in, the lady took my passport and said they need to investigate further with other personnel. I was there too, and tbh, they looked clueless. Kept telling me that my visa is expired and silly stuff. They even called some toll-free number to try to contact US immigration probably.

This being a first-time experience (being denied boarding), I'm so disappointing that I didn't know how to handle things better.
 
s.brody said:
You mean the airline's supervisor/manager? Are they present at the airport or by the phone?
When going through check-in, the lady took my passport and said they need to investigate further with other personnel. I was there too, and tbh, they looked clueless. Kept telling me that my visa is expired and silly stuff. They even called some toll-free number to try to contact US immigration probably.

This being a first-time experience (being denied boarding), I'm so disappointing that I didn't know how to handle things better.
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I totally understand how you must have felt during the ordeal considering it was unexpected, which is why it didn't occur to you to point out the endorsement on the visa to them when they started making a fuss.

I believe they must have a supervisor on duty, that's whom I'm referring to - a higher placed personnel than the front desk/check in agents.

Anyway, in addition to contacting the new airline ahead of time, be sure to print out the CBP Carrier Guideline and take along with you to the airport. I believe there's also a phone number on it for any carrier agent with questions to call.

All the best!
 
UPDATE: I did manage to get back to the States with the stamp alone, eventually, traveled with another airline. The document provided by Sm1smom did it for me. Had it with me, alongside a printout of e-mail conversations with the airline/handling agency's manager confirming my right to travel.
Had to go through secondary inspection upon arriving at JFK, but all went fine and the 'Admitted' stamp applied in my passport in short time. I'm wondering, won't this affect me on future journeys? Meaning, is the fact that I went through Secondary, stored somewhere in a database for every CBP officer to see, when clearing customs? I'm hoping not.

Thankfully I also got my GC in hand, so hoping for no more issues of this kind.
 
s.brody said:
UPDATE: I did manage to get back to the States with the stamp alone, eventually, traveled with another airline. The document provided by Sm1smom did it for me. Had it with me, alongside a printout of e-mail conversations with the airline/handling agency's manager confirming my right to travel.
Had to go through secondary inspection upon arriving at JFK, but all went fine and the 'Admitted' stamp applied in my passport in short time. I'm wondering, won't this affect me on future journeys? Meaning, is the fact that I went through Secondary, stored somewhere in a database for every CBP officer to see, when clearing customs? I'm hoping not.

Thankfully I also got my GC in hand, so hoping for no more issues of this kind.
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Oh my gosh, what an almighty hassle, sorry you had to go through all that.
At least you now have the mighty plastic :)
 
s.brody said:
Thanks all for the replies. As I thought, I had all the right to board my flight.
I left the airport since then. I've also filed an "Expense Refund Form" requesting them to reimburse the ticket fee. Also I'm done flying with them.

Going to book another flight soon with another company. As advised, I will call before to assure that they allow me to board the flight, with my situation.
Click to expand...
Which airlines did you use?
 
it happened also to me, but lucky me, i found this tread before i travel to US and i downloaded carrier information guide and i kept in my phone. this experienced really horrible, me and counter check in staff were arguing about this, it seems counter check-in did not believe about what i told to them, even after they read the guideline that i show to them, viuuuh, need more than 1 hour to solve this, but finally, they allow me to in after several screening have done to me. :)
 
adyjoan said:
it happened also to me, but lucky me, i found this tread before i travel to US and i downloaded carrier information guide and i kept in my phone. this experienced really horrible, me and counter check in staff were arguing about this, it seems counter check-in did not believe about what i told to them, even after they read the guideline that i show to them, viuuuh, need more than 1 hour to solve this, but finally, they allow me to in after several screening have done to me. :)
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Good thing you stumbled on this Thread before your departure :)
 
adyjoan said:
it happened also to me, but lucky me, i found this tread before i travel to US and i downloaded carrier information guide and i kept in my phone. this experienced really horrible, me and counter check in staff were arguing about this, it seems counter check-in did not believe about what i told to them, even after they read the guideline that i show to them, viuuuh, need more than 1 hour to solve this, but finally, they allow me to in after several screening have done to me. :)
Click to expand...

Phew! Lucky you did.
 
If they don't know US immigration rules, think about what people with OTHER countries' temporary proof of admissibility can cause...
 
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