Passports expiring before GC approval ...

M

mariano

Registered Users (C)
Our I-485 (EB2) is in progress and we're optimistic that, barring any RFEs, we could receive our actual GC in the mail some time in the 4th quarter of 2009. That's the good news. The bad news is, I just realized that our Canadian passports will be expiring in June 2009. My questions are as follows:

i) Do our passports need to be valid when they issue the GC? We don't think we need to travel outside of the US in the next few years, so our plan was to not renew it until after we've received our GC. The reason we planned it that way was, we prefer to NOT have to need any AP (advance parole) documents when we take a vacation trip outside of the US.

ii) If we do need to renew our passports BEFORE the issuance of the GC, are we safe to travel outside of the US with our AP (which was approved a few months ago) to renew our passports and be able to return to our present employer under H1B status? Also, what is it like to use the AP? Do I just show it to the immigration officer at the border (we will be crossing the border by car) and they will let us in without any questions?

iii) Has anyone here tried renewing their Canadian passports from within the US (i.e., without actually going to Canada to submit the application docs)? If so, I would appreciate if you could share your experiences and tell me if there are any gotchas we need to be prepared for.

iv) Let's just assume we received our GC and decided failed to renew our passports for 1 year due to some uncontrollable delays. Will this present a problem for us here in the US? Does possession of a valid GC allow us to stay in the US even with invalid passports? Will possession of a valid passport be required if we decide to apply for US citizenship 5 years down the road?

I appreciate your advise. Thank you!
 
1) No, passport validity doesn't matter for that. If it expires while waiting for your GC, and they call you in for an interview, bring the expired passport along with an unexpired form of ID like a driver's license.

2) If you want to return into H1B status, use an H1B stamp in your passport when you re-enter the US, rather than using the AP. Some say you can use the AP and then get back into H1B status, but there are many ifs and buts and differing opinions about that.

If you want to use the AP, show it at the port of entry. When you use AP, it is standard procedure for them to send you to the secondary inspection room, where you may be asked several questions. So have your answers and papers prepared, and plan for the possibility of a long wait, as the secondary room may be packed with people who have questionable immigration status (e.g. asylum seekers, expired green card, etc.) and they may have very long interviews before the authorities decide to let them in or send them back. However, if you are using a land entry I'm not sure how the secondary thing works, although you can surely still use your AP to get in.

3) Yes you can renew your Canadian passport without leaving the US, just like almost any other non-American US resident can do if their country has a consulate in the US. To find out how to actually do it and how long it takes, read up the Canadian consulate's web site or call them.

4) Owning a valid passport is not required for a green card holder to maintain permanent resident status or obtain US citizenship. However, if you have an expired passport that was valid at any time since becoming a permanent resident, they will expect you to bring the expired passport to the citizenship interview. All passports, old and new, that were ever valid on or after your GC approval should be brought to the interview.
 
mariano said:
Our I-485 (EB2) is in progress and we're optimistic that, barring any RFEs, we could receive our actual GC in the mail some time in the 4th quarter of 2009. That's the good news. The bad news is, I just realized that our Canadian passports will be expiring in June 2009. My questions are as follows:

i) Do our passports need to be valid when they issue the GC? We don't think we need to travel outside of the US in the next few years, so our plan was to not renew it until after we've received our GC. The reason we planned it that way was, we prefer to NOT have to need any AP (advance parole) documents when we take a vacation trip outside of the US.

ii) If we do need to renew our passports BEFORE the issuance of the GC, are we safe to travel outside of the US with our AP (which was approved a few months ago) to renew our passports and be able to return to our present employer under H1B status? Also, what is it like to use the AP? Do I just show it to the immigration officer at the border (we will be crossing the border by car) and they will let us in without any questions?

iii) Has anyone here tried renewing their Canadian passports from within the US (i.e., without actually going to Canada to submit the application docs)? If so, I would appreciate if you could share your experiences and tell me if there are any gotchas we need to be prepared for.

iv) Let's just assume we received our GC and decided failed to renew our passports for 1 year due to some uncontrollable delays. Will this present a problem for us here in the US? Does possession of a valid GC allow us to stay in the US even with invalid passports? Will possession of a valid passport be required if we decide to apply for US citizenship 5 years down the road?

I appreciate your advise. Thank you!
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To the best of my knowledge, you have to have a valid unexpired passport all the time you are in nonimmigrant status (may be even if you have GC). Some said you have to renew it 6 months before expiration and being in US with any gap with expired passport is an immigration violation. If they check your file to make a decision and they realize that your passport has been expird, this, according to this opinion, will trigger RFE.
Most country citizens, if not all, can renew passports while here in US from their consulates, even by mail, check with yours.
When I renewed mine, few days before expiration, I sent copy from the new passport to USCIS to update my file
 
mmed said:
To the best of my knowledge, you have to have a valid unexpired passport all the time you are in nonimmigrant status (may be even if you have GC).
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Filing an I-485 means you are no longer in nonimmigrant status, unless you want to maintain your H or L status after filing it.

To legally remain in the US, it is definitely not mandatory for a green card holder to have a valid passport. Some green card holders are stateless and have no country to give them a passport; others are asylees or refugees who ran away from a country that will refuse to give them a passport. In either case they live and work legally and obtain US citizenship without maintaining a valid passport.
 
Either way, just apply for a new passport when the time comes. It's not hard, and it's definitely good to have a valid passport at all times.
 
cafeconleche said:
Either way, just apply for a new passport when the time comes. It's not hard, and it's definitely good to have a valid passport at all times.
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It's not hard, but I've heard that Canadian passports take a few months to renew by mail, because all mail renewals get processed through one understaffed office. During those months you don't have any passport at all in your hand because you have to send in the old one. But if you do it in person in Canada it can be done in less than a week, sometimes within a day.

The OP needs to call the Canadian consulate, as well as government offices back in Canada to find out what the procedures and processing times are.
 
The only reason why you need to bring all your passports to the AOS interview is that all nonimmigrant non-expired visas in those passports have to be cancelled at the AOS interview in case you are granted AOS.
It does not actually matter whether a passport has expired or not. What does matter, however, that if you have at least one non-expired visa in a passport, you need to bring this passport to the interview for the visa cancellation.
 
Being in a nonimmigrant status does not always require to have passport valid. Nothing like that is to be checked at the AOS interview.
 
raevsky said:
Being in a nonimmigrant status does not always require to have passport valid. Nothing like that is to be checked at the AOS interview.
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if you are not a US citizen, u better have a valid and unexpired passport at all times except for a very few who don't have to. e.g asylum folks
 
if you are not a US citizen, u better have a valid and unexpired passport at all times except for a very few who don't have to. e.g asylum folks
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That is not required in a lot of cases. For instance, for H-1 status holders. AOS applicants as well. A lot of other situations too.
 
Johnkent said:
if you are not a US citizen, u better have a valid and unexpired passport at all times except for a very few who don't have to. e.g asylum folks
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A valid green card is quite sufficient to prove one's legal status within the US. No need for a passport for those who don't want to travel outside the US.
 
Johnkent said:
if you are not a US citizen, u better have a valid and unexpired passport at all times except for a very few who don't have to. e.g asylum folks
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Disagree. If you don't leave the country then you do not need a passort. I was on F1 before applying for a green card and for most of the tme my passport was expired. Even when I applied it was expired. Never had a problem.
 
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