GC stamp to be phased out !!!

sertra2002

Registered Users (C)
Newsflash on Murthy website :

http://murthy.com/nflash/nf_101504.html

NewsFlash! Travel Possibly Limited for I-551 Stamp Holders
Posted Oct 15, 2004

Our attorneys attending the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) National Conference in Chicago have just called us on October 15, 2004, to report that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) intends to phase out the temporary I-551 stamps as early as October 26, 2004. The I-551 stamps are temporary evidence of lawful permanent resident status. They are issued for use as proof of this status before the actual plastic green card arrives after the application for permanent residence has been approved. The stamps are valid for work and travel and function as a green card until the physical card can be produced and mailed to the recipient.

Few details on this matter have been released. At this time it is not clear whether a person who tries to reenter on an I-551 stamp after the stamps are phased out will encounter difficulties in returning. There are many people who regularly travel in and out of the country using the I-551 stamps. It is also unclear what mechanism will document permanent resident status prior to receipt of the actual, physical green card. We at The Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C. will continue to provide more information on this important topic for our MurthyDotCom visitors as and when it becomes available.
 
Some thoughts on this:

Obviously we still don't know all the details but it seems to me that many people won't be affected by this, especially if the intent is to get the green cards into people's hands more quickly.

Presumably, at the time that one's GC is approved, you either have some means to travel (H/L status or AP) or, if you don't have this, then you probably don't intend to travel anyway. As far as I know you can continue to travel on H/L or AP even after the GC is approved (without any stamp) and these people won't be affected by the change unless their H/L status or AP expires in the meantime.

I wonder if the plan is to allow people to re-enter if they have *any* of the following:

#1 valid AP
#2 valid H / L status
#3 I-485 receipt + GC is approved (the border people could verify this by looking up the case)

Of these, only #3 would be new and would be needed to cover people whose H/L or AP is expired or people who never had H/L or AP and who need to travel after the GC is approved and before the card shows up.

ETA
 
Magician said:
If GC stamping is phased out...can one use valid AP as travel document?

I'm not *positive* but I believe that you can do this even now -- several people on these forums have had to travel after approval but prior to their stamping and have re-entered on their AP (or been told that they could do this)?

ETA
 
Hi all

I am confused planning to wait for more details regarding this new law.
Wife planning to travel on NOV 14.She has valid AP.
Should we go for stamping or travel with AP?
I heard they will take away AP and EAD after stamping?
please suggest?

tiger2025
 
At this point no one knows exaclty what DHS is drafting for people who surrendered AP and are waiting for Plastic Cards. Contact your lawyer (if possible) to find out if he/she knows anything more regarding this matter.
 
savant123456 said:
I checked with my lawyer. After I-485 approval niether H1 not AP can be used even if it is valid.

You can definitely re-enter if you are away when the approval happens.

It's less clear what happens if you are in the US when the approval occurs.

As I suggested in the parallel thread on this (http://boards.immigration.com/showthread.php?t=147071), it seems that there has to be at least some flexibility for people who inadvertently travel on the day of the approval or within a few days of it (without knowing that they were approved). Heck, unless people know about the online status site, one could easily travel even 2-3 weeks after approval without having receiving the approval letter (longer if it goes to the wrong address and the lawyer is out of town as has happened to others).

ETA
 
ETA-GC

What you say makes sense. I have to travel in the first week of Nov and have a valid AP. I was planning on using it if my 485 gets approved in the mean time and I cannot get my PP stamped. Your thoughts?
 
GiveMeMyGCNow said:
ETA-GC
I have to travel in the first week of Nov and have a valid AP. I was planning on using it if my 485 gets approved in the mean time and I cannot get my PP stamped. Your thoughts?

I don't know -- we're now seeing people saying that you can't do this while we've seen earlier threads suggesting that you could. It seems logical that you shouldn't be prevented from travelling -- this really boils down to a technicality given that you would be an approved PR at that point -- but this issue needs clarification from someone who can speak authoritatively on this.

As far as I know, if you aren't approved before you leave you should be 100% fine. If you are approved, then this is currently a grey area...

And just because what I'm saying might sound like it makes sense doesn't make it true -- like everyone else I'm just speculating here... :)

ETA
 
Just when I was hoping I would love to see an approval... we get this wrinkle...

Now, I am hoping that VSC sleeps on my case till early Nov and approve it right after I leave ... :)
 
my 2 cents

I spoke to my lawyer this morning. If you get approved before you travel, then you cant use the AP. If the 485 gets approved while you are out - then you should be okay. I recall reading here of some guys experience coming back while their 485 was approved - in short they had no trouble. So now I am in the situation of wishing my 485 doesnt get approved in the next 10 days!! How cruel this game can be :(
 
This situation reminds me following dialogue of hindi movie actor AJIT

Ajit : Robert in logo ko Liquid Oxygen me dalo
Robert : Kyon Boss??
Ajit : Taki Liquid ine Jeene nahi degi aur Oxygen ine Marne nahi degi :D

I think VSC is planning the same with us :rolleyes:



jrinny said:
I spoke to my lawyer this morning. If you get approved before you travel, then you cant use the AP. If the 485 gets approved while you are out - then you should be okay. I recall reading here of some guys experience coming back while their 485 was approved - in short they had no trouble. So now I am in the situation of wishing my 485 doesnt get approved in the next 10 days!! How cruel this game can be :(
 
bottomline

If you are out of the country before your 485 was approved then you can come back in via your AP or H1 as the case may be. However if your 485 gets approved before your departure and you go for your stamping your AP's will be taken away and H1 stamped as "Cancelled without Prejudice". Even if you do not go for stamping these documents are effectively invalid as of 485's approval and hence you cannot use them to re-enter the country.

This is confirmed by my lawyer. Now either you can believe him who is one of the best immigration attorney's in Boston or you can believe various conflicting information as posted by our peers.

-Savant
 
savant123456 said:
If you are out of the country before your 485 was approved then you can come back in via your AP or H1 as the case may be. However if your 485 gets approved before your departure and you go for your stamping your AP's will be taken away and H1 stamped as "Cancelled without Prejudice". Even if you do not go for stamping these documents are effectively invalid as of 485's approval and hence you cannot use them to re-enter the country.

This is confirmed by my lawyer. Now either you can believe him who is one of the best immigration attorney's in Boston or you can believe various conflicting information as posted by our peers.

-Savant

I don't think that any of what you said was ever being disputed as far as "if you do your stamping goes" (so I agree 100% with it :)).

But what happens if you travel after being approved but didn't know you were approved? This seems to imply that there must be some flexibility in the system which seems to make the statement that "your H / L / AP is cancelled as soon as you are approved" fall into somewhat of a "grey area". They may very well be cancelled but I can't imagine that you wouldn't be allowed back in having been granted your PR status.

ETA
 
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if you are approved while you are oversea, you should be able to come back with your valid AP (my experience), but you should not use your H1B in this case (told by my lawyer, so I did use my AP and not H1B to re-enter US).

However, if you are approved when you are in US, and you have I551 stamp, you must not use AP or H1B to re-enter the country, unless you really to try out with your own luck.
 
If the GC stamp to be phased out what about folks who have recently got approved, they have changed the photograph requirement too and ppl who had submitted they earlier photographs would they get the GC in the mail, I guess it will be slowly slowly phased out when they have all applications with the currnet photograph requirements, my 2 cents.. Please advise

Thanks
 
USCIS is Not Phasing out I-551 Stamp for people Approved while in USA

Just Talked to the National Service Center about the Phasing Out of the I-551 Stamp because our case was approved yesterday and my wife is travelling on Nov 6th.

Here is what the Rep Told me.

The I-551 Stamp is being Phased out at the Port of Entry only for the People That have been Approved for GC Oversears. It used to be that these People Coming in with 485 Approvals from Overseas will get An I-551 Stamp when they Enterd the USA. That is being replaced by a Machine Readable document (similar to a Visa) that has the the I-551 Language in it.

For peopl who are in the USA, the I-551 stamp is still the way to go. They need to take the Approval Notice and all the required documents to the
Local INS Office and Get there Passports Stamped with and I551 Stamp.

This is what I got from the Horse's mouth. and It makes perfect sense.

good luck
 
PT_Jun01 said:
There has been an update today on the website telling that I-551 is still a valid travel document. What do you guys think?

http://www.murthy.com/nflash/nf_101504.html


Off Course it is, and people can still get the stamp on their Passport if they are doing AOS

They are only phasing out the physical Act of Stamping at the POE for Consular Processing People (Replacing it with a Machine Readable Documnet that has I-551 Language in it)
 
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