I-485 Approved..travelled outside of the country

T

tony456

Registered Users (C)
Hi Friends,

Mine and my wife's I-485 approved yesterday but my wife is in India. She travelled with Travel Document. She is coming back in June.

I have some questions about using travel document to enter. I would appreciate your help

1. Is there any time frame that you should enter the country after green card approval?

2. Is it OK if she uses green card to enter.(I am going to India in May)?

3. Is it legal to use green card because it approved after she left?

4. Which one is safe bet either green card or travel document to enter in to US?
5. Does she have any problems at port of entry if she uses travel document? (as she is outside of country for long time)?

I would appreciate sharing experiences similar to me.

Thanks alot in advance.
 
While I didn't experience this scenario, you should be aware that the green card is proof of permanent residence status, not the actual embodiment of that status. In other words, your wife is a permanent resident now regardless of whether her green card stays in her purse or is in a Safe Deposit Box somewhere in Geneva. So what you use to enter the US doesn't really matter as long as you have the "evidence" of her status. If she presents her travel document or her green card, both have her A# on them which will enable the immigration people to check her status and admit her. The only problem might be if they accuse her of abandoning her green card for being abroad while it was pending, in which case her Advance Parole document (which must have been approved before she left) can be presented as proof that she did not abandon her status.

So the bottom line is that it doesn't matter in the end - I would use the evidence of current status (i.e. green card) while holding on to the AP document in case she needs to demonstrate that she did not abandon her I-485 application.
 
Thank you jk0274 for ur detailed answer..my lawyer also told me the same thing ...I will use the green card to enter.
 
tony..congrats!. i believe you can mail the green card to your wife in india.
can you tell me what your wife's RFE was about, and how did you respond? also, was she in India when the RFE was issued?
 
Hi Shankyyy,

Thank u...Is mailing green card legal?
RFE was about marriage...asking additional evidence like joint bank accounts, common insurance, house leasing. RFE was issued while she is in India. I submitted all the above evidences.
 
thx,tony. i'm trying to get a feel for the various 485 RFE's, in case i get one. my wife is currently in india and planning to reenter using AP. lot of people in this forum and in trackitt, i believe have said it is ok to mail the gc. if i 'm not wrong, even one of sheela murthy's bulletin said so. in ur case, since you are visiting india, you can take her gc with you.
 
related question

Friends, I have a related question:

My wife is currently in India. She is traveling on her unexpired H4 visa. Our green card in EB1 category is approved -- I received a I797C welcome notice today. Her H4 does not expire until August this year. She is slated to return in May. Can she come back on her H4 only or does she have to provide her green card (which we should receive in 3 weeks time)? Before she left, I had asked her to carry her advanced parole documents, but have asked her not to use it unless immigration folks ask her for.

What should she do?
 
Dr.Anupam said:
Friends, I have a related question:

My wife is currently in India. She is traveling on her unexpired H4 visa. Our green card in EB1 category is approved -- I received a I797C welcome notice today. Her H4 does not expire until August this year. She is slated to return in May. Can she come back on her H4 only or does she have to provide her green card (which we should receive in 3 weeks time)? Before she left, I had asked her to carry her advanced parole documents, but have asked her not to use it unless immigration folks ask her for.

What should she do?
Click to expand...

If your wife's green card has been approved, her H4 visa is invalid. SO she cannot use that anymore. She should be able to use AP to reenter.
 
eb1a-query said:
If your wife's green card has been approved, her H4 visa is invalid. SO she cannot use that anymore. She should be able to use AP to reenter.
Click to expand...

Thanks for letting me know. I did not know that the H4 would be invalid immediately. I received our cards as well. Is it necessary for her to have them -- should I mail her her card?
 
shankyyy said:
dr. anupam
use ur gc...where did you file? when was ur I-140 approved? any rfe in 485?
Click to expand...

My petition was sent to Texas and we had done a concurrent filing in EB1-OR in Nov 08. I received approval notice yesterday, and physical cards today. No RFE in anything. Call me naive, but is this unusual?

I am just relieved that in the end all the time spent in preparing the folder was worth.
 
Congrats Dr.Anupam. Getting both I140 and I485 approved in under 5 months is almost unheard of (at least to me!). Can you please share your credentials? It would be helpful to everyone on the forum.

Congrats again.
 
gc_app07 said:
Congrats Dr.Anupam. Getting both I140 and I485 approved in under 5 months is almost unheard of (at least to me!). Can you please share your credentials? It would be helpful to everyone on the forum.

Congrats again.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Perhaps celestial bodies aligned at the right moment for me. :-)

If it helps anyone, some of my credentials are as follows:

- Asst Prof in a major university with 3 years post phd research, teaching, and consulting experience
- more than .75 million dollars in funding from various sources
- graduated a few student with thesis and supported many more
- 15+ peer reviewed publications
- reviewer for 5-6 journals and conferences
- chaired many symposiums and sessions in international conferences
- membership in some societies that require nominations and election

My suggestion to anyone applying in EB1 category is to wait until you have completed 3 years after your phd, and get your employer to file in EB1-OR, instead of doing it on your own in EB1-EA, that is if you can.

Good luck to all.
 
Dr.Anupam said:
Thanks for letting me know. I did not know that the H4 would be invalid immediately. I received our cards as well. Is it necessary for her to have them -- should I mail her her card?
Click to expand...

You are not supposed to mail the card. She can still use her AP since GC was approved while she was away...
 
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