No Travel outside USA until you receive the I485 receipt Notice

Orangecounty

New Member
Hi,
My attorney told me to restrict travel outside of USA until I get the I485 receipt Notice. If I travel outside of USA after filing the I485 and before getting the Receipt notice, CIS may abandon the 485 application. I have postponed my travel plans for now.

If you are travelling outside of USA, contact your attorney for advice. And for any issue contact your attorney.
 
Differing opinions...

I for one cancelled my travel plans outside USA - both personal, and work as I was informed the same as in the OP.

There are some lawyers who say that it is okay as long as the AOS applicant waits for a reasonable period of time after the application has reached the USCIS. The typical time is about 2 weeks. So, some of these same lawyers advise you to travel after 2 weeks even if you have not received the receipt notice.

Having dealt with most lawyers (especially mine, and my wife's), I would not leave without receipt notice as our lawyers are not capable of sticking it to the USCIS and fighting for the 'AOS applicant has waited reasonable time before leaving the country'.

So, use your own judgement, weigh your options, check your priorities, and then make your own decision. As grown-ups, we all have lived the 'Learn to live with the choices we make' theory.

Good luck to each one of us out there.
 
No travel

My attorney warned me tht we cannot travel outside the US if we had applied for Advance Parole document . We have to wait until it is issued (which could take forever with the current application numbers)
 
That Is Incorrect

One Can Definitely Travel Outside The U.s. When Advance Parole/ead/485 Application Is Pending On Another Status


If You Have Valid H1b Or H4, L1 Or L2 Status, Than You Can Travel And Re-enter The U.s. On These Statuses Eventhough The Receipt Number Has Not Been Issued...

If You Dont Believe Me Check With Mr. Rajiv Khanna


But Thats The Fact I Guess
 
It is a matter of risk management, not just absolute rules.

The rule is that you need to be in the US when the I-485 application is "filed". Before you get the receipt, you don't know what date they considered it to be filed.

Suppose based on the Fedex tracking you see it arrived at the USCIS office on the 2nd. If you leave on the 7th and the notice comes back with a receipt date of the 6th, you are fine.

But if the receipt says the 9th, that's when you might have a problem. Or they might notice on the 9th that you are outside the US, and reject it right then and there. USCIS will see the 9th as the filing date, then the burden will be on you to convince them that you were actually still in the US when the application physically arrived at their office (on the 2nd). You might win in the end, but that might be after spending thousands of dollars on attorney fees, not to mention the time and stress of it all.

So it is not a definite rule that you have to have the receipt notice in hand; it just means you are taking a risk if you leave without it.
 
I was told by my lawyer (very prominent immigration lawyer, one of the best in NYC) said that I just had to be in the US when I sent the application and when it arrived - she said that it was perfectly fine to travel after that.
My application got to the USCIS on July 2nd, and I left for Europe on July 6th, for two weeks...
 
Jack summed it...

It is all about managing your risk, and what one does depends on how risk averse the person is with his/her AOS application.

The onus does lie on the applicant to prove that he/she was in the country when AOS was 'filed' i.e. receipted in the system.

There is a good chance that USCIS may not check whether you left the country or not, but if they do, the applicant may be in for some trouble / delay in getting things done right.

For those that have had a smooth ride thus far through labor, and I-140, you may consider this risk as not being significantly adverse. There are some people who may say that they have travelled without receipt, and never had problems at the POE, EAD, AP, or I-485 and that they are approved. They very well may be.

Analogy to this: 'I have sped on the interstate so many times and have never been caught, so it is perfectly fine if you do it.'
If you believe you can go with this statement above, you may be a risk taker.

Please consult your attorney before making any decisions. As long as the attorney is willing to help you and come out of any adversities (hopefully none), you should be fine.

My attorneys were/are worthless... hence we decided to alter travel plans.
 
The only issue is, if USCIS reject to accept I-485 application (non correct amount on the check, signature missing etc...) they do not encash checks and return whole package back. To re-file I-485 package (with corrected item) applicant must be in US (RD is when corrected package arrived USCIS), if before Aug 17th applicant is not in US, the package can not be sent to USCIS, after Aug 17th all EB visas will be unavailable.

100% safe way is to wait when the check is encashed.
 
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A peaceful rally at Washington DC by Highly Skilled workers on path to Green Cards

Immigration Voice (http://www.immigrationvoice.org) is a non profit grassroots advocacy group working to alleviate the issues of Highly Skilled Foreign Workers who are stuck in the Employment Based Green Card Process stuck in Bureaucratic Logjams.


Immigration Voice is conducting a peaceful rally in Washington DC on September 13th, 2007 (Thursday).


You can/must participate in the rally if

(1) You are in various stages of the Green Card Process

(2) Belong to a retrogressed group

(3) Highly Skilled worker (Physicans, Engineers on h1b visa, J1 Waiver, L1 etc..) and planning to apply/already applied for a Green Card

(4) If you already have a Green Card or a Citizen, you can provide support and encouragement


Please make it a point to attend the rally. Please invite your friends, relatives, co workers, colleagues etc….to the Rally. Please spread this message through mailing lists, media contacts, Orkut and other social networking media. If you are students, please send this email to various student organizations. If you work for companies, please send this message to managers, co workers, employers etc…


If you are not already a member at Immigration Voice. Please become a member today. It is easy and free.


Please follow this link for more details on the Rally http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showthread.php?t=11428


A lot of people may be wondering why should we even bother about this.


Some FAQs


(1) What’s all this? Immigration Voice, rally etc… Why should I care a damn?

a. There is a political angle to issues that we are all facing. The system was designed long back and has not been very flexible. No one has made attempts to fix the mess and vote bank politics are creating further mess.

(2) Why no one talks about these things?

a. The nature of this issue is very complex in nature. Unless one falls into this pit, the nature of this issue cannot be understood

b. A lot of people do not want to handle the truth and reality

c. Perception – without looking at the real picture, lot of people assume things are fine

(3) Why should I take these issues seriously, my lawyer will take care of these?

a. Immigration lawyers assist and handle thee paperwork, this mess is beyond their control or scope or even the scope of USCIS and related government agencies

b. Immigration lawyers are your service providers and you are their client, they will talk only business to you, there is no need for them to explain to you the mess you are in

(4) After the July visa bulletin fiasco, I did submit my 485 petition, and I will get an EAD/AP so why must I bother?

a. EAD/AP were designed to be interim benefits (only for few months until someone can get a Green Card), their usage has limitations and will lead to further issues

b. Severe retrogression will hit in coming fiscal years. India, China, Mexico, Phillipines, Eb3, and eb2, and RWO eb3 will all be affected, pleasse refer to the following link http://www.bibdaily.com/pdfs/Jan Pederson 8-2-07.pdf

c. Anti immigration lobby is targeting H1b tech workers, at the same time a lot of lobbying organizations are working hard to make the system unworkable for eg.. Durbin Grassley amendments may appear anytime

d. Until you get a Green Card in Hand, EAD is not the best viable alternative for work and AP is definitely not the best travel document.

(5) Why Immigration Voice? What is the agenda?

a. Immigration Voice is the only grass root organization working hard on these issues

b. Immigration Voice’s earlier campaigns were a huge success and did send signals to government agencies and law makers

So why not start working on helping yourself and helping your fellow immigrants?

Please spread the message, and take active interest in the events.
 
Attorney or At Jorney ?

You guys can go outside and come back as long as you maintain your valid H1/H4 visa. All this is Speculation. My Attorney just laughed at it.
FYI
ZBD
 
Same with mine.
As long as H1/H4 is valid, you can travel as much as you want.

You guys can go outside and come back as long as you maintain your valid H1/H4 visa. All this is Speculation. My Attorney just laughed at it.
FYI
ZBD
 
You guys can go outside and come back as long as you maintain your valid H1/H4 visa. All this is Speculation. My Attorney just laughed at it.
FYI
ZBD
You still have to be in the US when the 485 is filed. Not having the receipt means you don't know when the USCIS considers it "filed".
 
Same with mine.
As long as H1/H4 is valid, you can travel as much as you want.
Only as long as the 485 was filed while you were still in the US. If the 485 is filed after you leave, your H1/H4 remains valid but the 485 is rejected if USCIS knows you were out of the country at the time of filing.
 
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You guys can go outside and come back as long as you maintain your valid H1/H4 visa. All this is Speculation. My Attorney just laughed at it.
FYI
ZBD
You are missing the point. It's not whether you can come back or not, but it's about whether your I485 remains valid or not.
 
You are missing the point. It's not whether you can come back or not, but it's about whether your I485 remains valid or not.

Basic requrement is all documents needs be valid and correct at the time of filing the I-485. Your I-94 is valid only if you are within US. So Once you send it to USCIS, next day you can go out of US as long as you have a dual intent visa to come back.
 
So, in summary:

You always have to be in the US when you file.

After you file, you can leave if you have a valid dual intent visa - it will not affect your I-485.

BUT do not leave and then file while abroad - BIG NONO.

AND do not leave if you don't have a valid status or document to be admitted back in (Advance Parole, H visa, etc.) - BIG NONO
 
So, in summary:

You always have to be in the US when you file.
And you can wait for the I485 receipt before leaving the US to avoid mixups where the USCIS thinks the filing date is a date when you were outside the country.

Having the receipt before traveling is not mandatory, it is a safety measure.
 
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Basic requrement is all documents needs be valid and correct at the time of filing the I-485. Your I-94 is valid only if you are within US. So Once you send it to USCIS, next day you can go out of US as long as you have a dual intent visa to come back.
US post office could lose it somewhere in black hole and could be never received by USCIS. One left the US and came back and found it was not received by CIS. Trying to file it again, but retro started and cutoff date went deep before PD. Oh my god !!

That is why it's always recommended to wait for receipt.
 
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US post office could lose it somewhere in black hole and could be never received by USCIS. One left the US and came back and found it was not received by CIS. Trying to file it again, but retro started and cutoff date went deep before PD. Oh my god !!

That is why it's always recommended to wait for receipt.


Yes of course there is also chance that there might be an accident on the way to US post office. These are all precautions but not law..
 
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Here is another possibility

A meteor can fall down and owerride all this speculations, discussions and predictions ? How is sound ?

I was sure that they received, signed my application 10 days prior to my departure. What if they say they received on 11th day ???
What if they say "Your application is not valid since your wife was 9 months pregnant when you filed the AOS ?"

Attorney doesn't wanna take risk and thats why they create absurd rules to protect them from details and spending time on their clients' case by case questions. Easy answer is "don't leave before getting your receipt", instead of spending time for their clients who pays thousands for nothing if they file AP or have they valid visa and so on.
Sure you guys judge yourself but I took the "RISK" and I can take again.
Thanks
Zbd.
 
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