How to renew mother's passport while waiting for i-485 interview

K

khilonna

Registered Users (C)
Hi,

I posted this in the Passport forum but got no replies. My dilemma is this, my mother's passport is expiring on July 31th and her interview is on July 30th. In legal sense she has a valid passport when she goes to her interview. I was told that the Indian Embassy won't renew passports of Indian who are here on Visitor Visa.

Questions:

1. Are we safe going to Interview on expiring passport or should we try to get passport renewed before the interview.

2. Does anyone knows if her passport can be renewed at Indian Embassy?

Thanks.
 
khilonna said:
Hi,

I posted this in the Passport forum but got no replies. My dilemma is this, my mother's passport is expiring on July 31th and her interview is on July 30th. In legal sense she has a valid passport when she goes to her interview. I was told that the Indian Embassy won't renew passports of Indian who are here on Visitor Visa.

Questions:

1. Are we safe going to Interview on expiring passport or should we try to get passport renewed before the interview.

2. Does anyone knows if her passport can be renewed at Indian Embassy?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Give the Embassy a call and talk to them directly. I have renewed my Indian passport but I was working at that time and not on a Visitor's visa.

To be on the safe side, I would suggest you renew the passport if possible in the next week or so. (This is just my opinion: The passport may need to have at least 30days of validity before the interview. )
 
I had a similar issue with my mother but under different circumstances a few years ago-If your mother has a valid I94-they might issue her a new passport till the validity of her I94 if it is a few months out. Thats what occured with us. She went to India and got the passport extended after that

Regards

Rox
 
Rox said:
I had a similar issue with my mother but under different circumstances a few years ago-If your mother has a valid I94-they might issue her a new passport till the validity of her I94 if it is a few months out. Thats what occured with us. She went to India and got the passport extended after that

Regards

Rox
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This is not an option for her. Her I94 has already expired. She could not travel in India and we thought that we will be able to renew it when she comes here.

Thanks.
 
She does have a I-485 but we did not apply for EAD because she will not be able to work. Before we applied for I-485, I went to Embassy to try to renew her passport and I was told that they don't renew visitor's passport. The website does not provide or maybe I missed it, if I can bring the I-485 receipt to get passport renewed. The Embassy never picked up phone when I called. This is why I was asking if anyone knows the procedure.

Thanks.
 
There is no requirement to have a valid passport at the AOS interview. The only drawback is, if the officer is one of those officers who still stamp passports with an I-551 stamp, he/she will not stamp an expired passport.

khilonna said:
1. Are we safe going to Interview on expiring passport or should we try to get passport renewed before the interview.
Click to expand...
 
khilonna said:
The website does not provide or maybe I missed it, if I can bring the I-485 receipt to get passport renewed.
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They probably will accept it. Try calling them again to make sure. Having filed the I-485, your mother is no longer in visitor status; the I-485 receipt is what proves that she is here legally for a long-term basis.
 
Triple Citizen said:
There is no requirement to have a valid passport at the AOS interview. The only drawback is, if the officer is one of those officers who still stamp passports with an I-551 stamp, he/she will not stamp an expired passport.
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The first item on any AOS interview letter says to bring a "Government issued photo identification" and in most cases this would likely be a passport.

Better to have a valid passport than an expired one at the time of the interview.
 
Triple Citizen said:
There is no requirement to have a valid passport at the AOS interview. The only drawback is, if the officer is one of those officers who still stamp passports with an I-551 stamp, he/she will not stamp an expired passport.
Click to expand...

The passport will still be valid on the day of the interview. Her passport expire on July 31th and her interview is on July 30th.
 
second stage said:
The first item on any AOS interview letter says to bring a "Government issued photo identification" and in most cases this would likely be a passport.

Better to have a valid passport than an expired one at the time of the interview.
Click to expand...

The passport will still be valid on the day of the interview. Her passport expire on July 31th and her interview is on July 30th.
 
Triple Citizen said:
In that case, there is a possibility of receiving an I-551 stamp that is valid for 2 days.
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They won't tie the expiration of the stamp to the expiration of the passport. All it means is that the applicant would have to travel with both the new and old passports. I've done that myself when my passport expired before my visa did.
 
Jackolantern said:
They won't tie the expiration of the stamp to the expiration of the passport. All it means is that the applicant would have to travel with both the new and old passports. I've done that myself when my passport expired before my visa did.
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Time for me to make another trip to the Embassy.
 
khilonna said:
Time for me to make another trip to the Embassy.
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They can renew the passport before the 30th of this month?

If the I-551 stamp is in the old passport, it would only be necessary to carry both passports for the few months that the I-551 stamp is valid (and the card itself hasn't arrived yet). Once the physical GC is obtained, store the old passport and use only the new passport + GC.
 
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Some officers are finicky. My aunt and uncle underwent AOS after being sponsored by their son. My uncle's passport has just 28 days of validity left. The officer gave both of them an I-551 stamp. The one for my aunt was valid for an entire year, but my uncle's was valid for 28 days only.

Jackolantern said:
They won't tie the expiration of the stamp to the expiration of the passport.
Click to expand...
 
Jackolantern said:
They won't tie the expiration of the stamp to the expiration of the passport. All it means is that the applicant would have to travel with both the new and old passports. I've done that myself when my passport expired before my visa did.
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My mom is not planning on traveling anytime soon so I am OK with I-551 stamp that is for 2days. We will wait for the GC.
 
Well, I wasted another day at the Indian Embassy. No passport reissue unless we have the GC or letter that GC has been ordered.
 
khilonna said:
Well, I wasted another day at the Indian Embassy. No passport reissue unless we have the GC or letter that GC has been ordered.
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Suppose she was somebody whose I-485 takes years, like what happens with many Indians waiting for EB green cards. Does that mean if their passport expires they are stuck in the US for years until their GC is approved?
 
i don't know. i assume if you goto india, you get your passport renewed there. i also assume INS accepts expired passports. i do know someone higher up at the embassy so let's see what happens at the interview.
 
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