Infposs Appt & FACT Sheet Questions

[wantmygcnow]

I made an infopass appointment and printed out the FACT SHEET. 3 officers had no clue that fact sheet was USCIS written, 2 kept on saying "we don't support what other websites write about USCIS laws".

1 officer actually had a clue about the fact sheet but mentioned that as long as you do not go back to your COP you are ok but with exceptions. YOU CAN use NP and will be treated as a PR. He mentioned the only reason the FACT SHEET came out was because of request to OMBUDSMAN about asylee travel. He also mentioned that even WITHOUT the fact sheet, U.S Customs & Border Inspectors authorize who enters the country, be it PR based on asylum,family employment, etc

He also said that if you are a Permanent Resident of United States, you can travel with your national passport without any problems and are NOT required to get a RTD. RTD is only for people who can't get a NP from their home embassy. I asked him to write a statement stating that so that I can keep it in my file, however, he refused.

He asked me IF i want to visit my COP? I said I have no intentions but this FACT SHEET has raised lots of questions since many ex-asylees may need to visit for sick relative since their country is ok now.

ONE BIG thing he said was that if the condition in your countries have changed(meaning like Bosnia etc), EVEN IF YOU VISIT YOUR COP for vacation, you will not have a problem at entry time. According to him, ex-asylees from "safe" countries during asylum grant will be questioned IF AND ONLY IF the officer determines a FRAUD has been made during asylum grant time. Your travel history shows up and if it shows repeated COP visits in like few months, question of fraud may arise. So people from countries that were in WAR during your asylum grant and are OK now will have no problem as per the officer.

He gave examples of ok to to travel to COP and he was very very very helpful. HE was an immigrant himself and went out of his way to please me.

The officer was very nice and kept on repeating that "YOU ARE A PERMANENT RESIDENT, YOU ARE FREE TO TRAVEL ANYWHERE".

He also said, I was not the only one to ask this question, they have had lots of questions from people about this and USCIS may issue another memo about this in the near future.

I would suggest others to visit their local office so we can see what their saying is in different part of the country. This was in Washington D.C Office.

 

[lookingforgreen]

Good Job! Vey interesting post. Thanks for the effort.

 

[shamshon]

I made an infopass appointment and printed out the FACT SHEET. 3 officers had no clue that fact sheet was USCIS written, 2 kept on saying "we don't support what other websites write about USCIS laws".

1 officer actually had a clue about the fact sheet but mentioned that as long as you do not go back to your COP you are ok but with exceptions. YOU CAN use NP and will be treated as a PR. He mentioned the only reason the FACT SHEET came out was because of request to OMBUDSMAN about asylee travel. He also mentioned that even WITHOUT the fact sheet, U.S Customs & Border Inspectors authorize who enters the country, be it PR based on asylum,family employment, etc

He also said that if you are a Permanent Resident of United States, you can travel with your national passport without any problems and are NOT required to get a RTD. RTD is only for people who can't get a NP from their home embassy. I asked him to write a statement stating that so that I can keep it in my file, however, he refused.

He asked me IF i want to visit my COP? I said I have no intentions but this FACT SHEET has raised lots of questions since many ex-asylees may need to visit for sick relative since their country is ok now.

ONE BIG thing he said was that if the condition in your countries have changed(meaning like Bosnia etc), EVEN IF YOU VISIT YOUR COP for vacation, you will not have a problem at entry time. According to him, ex-asylees from "safe" countries during asylum grant will be questioned IF AND ONLY IF the officer determines a FRAUD has been made during asylum grant time. Your travel history shows up and if it shows repeated COP visits in like few months, question of fraud may arise. So people from countries that were in WAR during your asylum grant and are OK now will have no problem as per the officer.

He gave examples of ok to to travel to COP and he was very very very helpful. HE was an immigrant himself and went out of his way to please me.

The officer was very nice and kept on repeating that "YOU ARE A PERMANENT RESIDENT, YOU ARE FREE TO TRAVEL ANYWHERE".

He also said, I was not the only one to ask this question, they have had lots of questions from people about this and USCIS may issue another memo about this in the near future.

I would suggest others to visit their local office so we can see what their saying is in different part of the country. This was in Washington D.C Office.

Hey wantmygcnow,
How are you? I miss you and miss your thorough explanations. I hope you remember me. I have been away from this forum for a while and am now back to check it. I am glad you have this forum under control.

 

[wantmygcnow]

Hey wantmygcnow,
How are you? I miss you and miss your thorough explanations. I hope you remember me. I have been away from this forum for a while and am now back to check it. I am glad you have this forum under control.

Shamshon, we need you to stay active because you will get your USC(if you haven't already) & we need to know about USC experiences too.

 

[shamshon]

Shamshon, we need you to stay active because you will get your USC(if you haven't already) & we need to know about USC experiences too.

I already got it long time ago. Check my post about that. I can briefly explain that process here. I took a very big risk and applied 18 months before I was eligible to do that and they did not care about that. I never told them that I am married to an American citizen because my wife and I agreed that I would never use her status to get my papers so I doubt if they gave me the citizenship because of that. This was a decision I took so as to avoid any disturbance in the balance of our relationship. The most amazing part of that story is that I suffered for 11 years to get my green card but when I applied for my citizenship it was a piece of cake and the whole process only took 4 months. In the citizenship interview, the officer never asked me if I went back to my country and he was very impressed by my fluency in English. He said in the most confident voice that if all new Americans are like you, we would continue to be the number one country in the world, but it is not the case. He also asked me if I have a transcript of my degree and if I have my income tax returns during the last 3 years but never looked at them!

 

[dfvm]

good explanation

I made an infopass appointment and printed out the FACT SHEET. 3 officers had no clue that fact sheet was USCIS written, 2 kept on saying "we don't support what other websites write about USCIS laws".

1 officer actually had a clue about the fact sheet but mentioned that as long as you do not go back to your COP you are ok but with exceptions. YOU CAN use NP and will be treated as a PR. He mentioned the only reason the FACT SHEET came out was because of request to OMBUDSMAN about asylee travel. He also mentioned that even WITHOUT the fact sheet, U.S Customs & Border Inspectors authorize who enters the country, be it PR based on asylum,family employment, etc

He also said that if you are a Permanent Resident of United States, you can travel with your national passport without any problems and are NOT required to get a RTD. RTD is only for people who can't get a NP from their home embassy. I asked him to write a statement stating that so that I can keep it in my file, however, he refused.

He asked me IF i want to visit my COP? I said I have no intentions but this FACT SHEET has raised lots of questions since many ex-asylees may need to visit for sick relative since their country is ok now.

ONE BIG thing he said was that if the condition in your countries have changed(meaning like Bosnia etc), EVEN IF YOU VISIT YOUR COP for vacation, you will not have a problem at entry time. According to him, ex-asylees from "safe" countries during asylum grant will be questioned IF AND ONLY IF the officer determines a FRAUD has been made during asylum grant time. Your travel history shows up and if it shows repeated COP visits in like few months, question of fraud may arise. So people from countries that were in WAR during your asylum grant and are OK now will have no problem as per the officer.

He gave examples of ok to to travel to COP and he was very very very helpful. HE was an immigrant himself and went out of his way to please me.

The officer was very nice and kept on repeating that "YOU ARE A PERMANENT RESIDENT, YOU ARE FREE TO TRAVEL ANYWHERE".

He also said, I was not the only one to ask this question, they have had lots of questions from people about this and USCIS may issue another memo about this in the near future.

I would suggest others to visit their local office so we can see what their saying is in different part of the country. This was in Washington D.C Office.

thank you very much, for all your constant uptades and information on this forum, people like you mame my life easier!

I hope to get my citizenship soon, I can apply in 2010, I am happy to be LPR and be in this country gave a lot of opportunities that I didn't have in my country!

Hope to read more valuable information in this forum!!

 

[doctorn]

I already got it long time ago. Check my post about that. I can briefly explain that process here. I took a very big risk and applied 18 months before I was eligible to do that and they did not care about that. I never told them that I am married to an American citizen because my wife and I agreed that I would never use her status to get my papers so I doubt if they gave me the citizenship because of that. This was a decision I took so as to avoid any disturbance in the balance of our relationship. The most amazing part of that story is that I suffered for 11 years to get my green card but when I applied for my citizenship it was a piece of cake and the whole process only took 4 months. In the citizenship interview, the officer never asked me if I went back to my country and he was very impressed by my fluency in English. He said in the most confident voice that if all new Americans are like you, we would continue to be the number one country in the world, but it is not the case. He also asked me if I have a transcript of my degree and if I have my income tax returns during the last 3 years but never looked at them!

Wow, that is great to know that you got your citizenship! So, it is possible to apply earlier? Did you consult an attorney or just decided to do it on your own? You inspired me - I will try the same thing. This is a proof that if there is a will - there is a way.

 

[jjusa]

I made an infopass appointment and printed out the FACT SHEET. 3 officers had no clue that fact sheet was USCIS written, 2 kept on saying "we don't support what other websites write about USCIS laws".

1 officer actually had a clue about the fact sheet but mentioned that as long as you do not go back to your COP you are ok but with exceptions. YOU CAN use NP and will be treated as a PR. He mentioned the only reason the FACT SHEET came out was because of request to OMBUDSMAN about asylee travel. He also mentioned that even WITHOUT the fact sheet, U.S Customs & Border Inspectors authorize who enters the country, be it PR based on asylum,family employment, etc

He also said that if you are a Permanent Resident of United States, you can travel with your national passport without any problems and are NOT required to get a RTD. RTD is only for people who can't get a NP from their home embassy. I asked him to write a statement stating that so that I can keep it in my file, however, he refused.

He asked me IF i want to visit my COP? I said I have no intentions but this FACT SHEET has raised lots of questions since many ex-asylees may need to visit for sick relative since their country is ok now.

ONE BIG thing he said was that if the condition in your countries have changed(meaning like Bosnia etc), EVEN IF YOU VISIT YOUR COP for vacation, you will not have a problem at entry time. According to him, ex-asylees from "safe" countries during asylum grant will be questioned IF AND ONLY IF the officer determines a FRAUD has been made during asylum grant time. Your travel history shows up and if it shows repeated COP visits in like few months, question of fraud may arise. So people from countries that were in WAR during your asylum grant and are OK now will have no problem as per the officer.

He gave examples of ok to to travel to COP and he was very very very helpful. HE was an immigrant himself and went out of his way to please me.

The officer was very nice and kept on repeating that "YOU ARE A PERMANENT RESIDENT, YOU ARE FREE TO TRAVEL ANYWHERE".

He also said, I was not the only one to ask this question, they have had lots of questions from people about this and USCIS may issue another memo about this in the near future.

I would suggest others to visit their local office so we can see what their saying is in different part of the country. This was in Washington D.C Office.

I am not sure how much reliance you can place on the verbal statement of an immigration information officer.

 

[wantmygcnow]

I am not sure how much reliance you can place on the verbal statement of an immigration information officer.

I totally agree, however, every officer will have different opinion and what he said made total sense...that If you give USCIS something to question you about(like visitng COP every month) etc..then they may ask you, however it doesnt mean anything bad. IF you show that every month you go to COP because of a sick parent.that is perfectly fine...His examples included that..

The US immigration people may be harsh but hey if you haven't done anything wrong.then why should you be scared?

 

[thankful]

I am not sure how much reliance you can place on the verbal statement of an immigration information officer.

reliance? very little to none.

A little example from a different area of the law. When you have a complicated tax law question of major potential consequences you do not just call the 800 IRS number and get an answer from a random person. Rather you have your tax attorney submit a request for "private letter ruling" from the IRS. That letter would have the force of law relative to you.

The USCIS does not have a formal system for issuing so called private letter rulings. However senior USCIS officials have been very responsive to specific letters of inquiry from the immigration bar. While these USCIS letters still do not carry the force of law, they can be relied upon. So if you want something reliable from the USCIS, go this route.

The front line staff of an organization are trained to address only routine matters.