GC approved - can't travel!?

J

jasmine7103

Registered Users (C)
Had my interview in Houston, TX. 2 minutes wait, simple and pleasant interview, and out within 15 minutes. Name check cleared and she told us that I should be getting the card in 2 weeks or so.

We are travelling to Australia in 3 weeks. We booked the tickets (non-refundable $1800 each) few weeks ago and already arranged everything else (work etc). She now tells me that the AP is invalid as of today and I shouldn't travel till I get it in the mail. Isn't AP for you to travel in 'between'? and I am exactly in 'between'. I am approved and have AP but can't travel????

She put in the computer so it's up to Dallas to produce the actual card and mail it and there is nothing she or I could do.

I could leave without it and have someone check my mail box then mail it overnight so I can come back in. We can change the dates of tickets with fees but I really can't re-arrange the work schedule... my husband is really upset. We couldn't even get excited about my GC on the way back.
 
jasmine7103 said:
Had my interview in Houston, TX. 2 minutes wait, simple and pleasant interview, and out within 15 minutes. Name check cleared and she told us that I should be getting the card in 2 weeks or so.

We are travelling to Australia in 3 weeks. We booked the tickets (non-refundable $1800 each) few weeks ago and already arranged everything else (work etc). She now tells me that the AP is invalid as of today and I shouldn't travel till I get it in the mail. Isn't AP for you to travel in 'between'? and I am exactly in 'between'. I am approved and have AP but can't travel????

She put in the computer so it's up to Dallas to produce the actual card and mail it and there is nothing she or I could do.

I could leave without it and have someone check my mail box then mail it overnight so I can come back in. We can change the dates of tickets with fees but I really can't re-arrange the work schedule... my husband is really upset. We couldn't even get excited about my GC on the way back.
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Hi Jasmine7103:

Yes, the date we get our stamp on passport. They suppose to take our AP and EAD away, usually not. But the AO is right of the invalid of AP.

I think it is possible to find someone to mail to you. However, you are taking a risk of losing your mail if you don't have a permanent address oversea.

Let me consult my lawyer now. Hope he'll get back to me soon of your issue. BTW, I just got the approval too.

Hang in there.
 
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Hi:

My lawyer just got back to me. He said you can use your AP to travel. About mailing the GC, he doesn't support the ideal of mailing it at all.

Hope the info is helpful.

:)
 
Take your plane tickets with you to prove the need for the stamp instead of waiting for the GC to be delivered.
 
jasmine7103 said:
Had my interview in Houston, TX. 2 minutes wait, simple and pleasant interview, and out within 15 minutes. Name check cleared and she told us that I should be getting the card in 2 weeks or so.

We are travelling to Australia in 3 weeks. We booked the tickets (non-refundable $1800 each) few weeks ago and already arranged everything else (work etc). She now tells me that the AP is invalid as of today and I shouldn't travel till I get it in the mail. Isn't AP for you to travel in 'between'? and I am exactly in 'between'. I am approved and have AP but can't travel????

She put in the computer so it's up to Dallas to produce the actual card and mail it and there is nothing she or I could do.

I could leave without it and have someone check my mail box then mail it overnight so I can come back in. We can change the dates of tickets with fees but I really can't re-arrange the work schedule... my husband is really upset. We couldn't even get excited about my GC on the way back.
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hi jasmine7103,

congrats on getting approved! :D i agree with bootneyf - make an infopass appointment and have your passport stamped for immediate travel.


my husband and i have our interview appointment on monday in houston too. i hope ours will go quick and easy like yours!

would you mind posting how the interview went? (types of questions the io asked, docs asked for proof of marriage, etc.) what all did you guys bring with you to the interview besides the documents already submitted?

thanks a bunch!!!
 
Interview in Houston

I made an appointment for tuesday so hopefully all goes well.

As for the interview...

It was so quick and painless. I do have to warn you though that it was not easy to find the location. It's not the same location you'd go for other interviews. We used navigation but it took us to the wrong direction! I don't have the address with me but make sure you go to the address specified on the appointment letter.

When you walk in, go through the security check. No drinks allowed. Leave your phones in the car. Then you go to the little window ahead of you, submit your appointment letter and she'll give you a piece of paper to fill in. Within a minute, we were called (there were about 30+ people waiting already but we were called before them) I noticed there weren't too many couples, but a lot of families.

We thought the lady who called us was like an assistant. She was a hispanic lady with an accent in kind of causal outfit. I thought she was just showing us to the officer. My husband and I had a little chat in the hallway and I think the interview starts the minute you meet the officer.

In her little dark office, we were asked to swear (she almost forgot to ask), submit our passports. Very casually she asked my husband (petitioner) where we met, when we met. She asked most of the questions to him. He told her we met in a club and she laughed. She looked through the documents we submitted, asked if we have any kids, previous marriage, where we worked, what we do there, where I was from, any plan to have a kid...

She closely examined the support documents (bank statement especially). We had a joint account for over 6 years. She marked something there. She asked if my work petitioned for the visa. She asked several times where my husband works (to him), what he does, what the company does. We thought it was a little odd. He said that his company is fortune 500 and she didn't ask any further. Oh and she asked for the employment letter from his work. She examined the tax paper work carefully. She checked the marriage licence to make sure we had been married more than two years.

By the time she got to the bottom of file, she said 'you are good but let's check the security check' (or something along the line) She checked some paperwork in the file and said 'good'. I asked 'does that mean it's clear?' and I jumped up all happy. she laughed and said 'yes, too many people worry about this but it's not big deal'. I asked 'is the security check based on names/nationality?' she said that it's got nothing to do with it. It takes time because of backlog.

Then she remembered to ask for more support documents to file. She asked if I had anything else I wanted to give to her. She wanted to see a copy of morgage document. I gave her that along with copies of health insurance, auto insurance, auto loans, recent bank statements, dentist bills etc. She didn't even look at them, just punched holes and filed. She did make sure that I gave her a copy of morgage document.

She said that it should take about 2 weeks. That's when I mentioned about our trip. I wish that she had more knowledge and told us about the stamping via infopass. I felt like my big day was ruined because of this. It could have saved the argument between my husband and I on the way home!

So that was it. Feel free to message me if you have any more questions.
Good luck!
 
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