Re-entry permit - Apply -> Leave US -> Come back for fingerprinting. Possible?

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Username123

Registered Users (C)
I've read on this board that it could take a month or longer to wait for a fingerprinting/biometrics appointment once an application for a re-entry permit has been made. I need to leave the US quite urgently due to personal circumstances, but i can come back for a couple of days pretty much any time to go to my fingerprinting appointment.

Here is what I'm thinking of doing: apply online for a re-entry permit, then send supporting documents on the same day, then leave the country in 2-3 days (i know i must be in the US at the time when the application has been submitted). Then stay abroad and wait for a letter with fingerprinting appointment details to arrive at my US mail forwarding address. The letter should arrive within 10 days. I'll be abroad by then, but the mail forwarding company will scan the letter and email me the scan so that i know the appointment date. Then i'll book a plane ticket, arrive a day before the appointment, go to the appointment, fly back abroad the next day, wait for a re-entry permit to be mailed to the embassy abroad.

Has anybody done anything similar? Is it legal? Dont get me wrong, it is not my intention to break the law; which is why i'm asking here - to make sure i dont do anything silly which would jeopardize my permanent resident status. Is there anything else i could do in my situation, such as asking to get my fingerprints done at a US embassy abroad?

Any advice would be highly appreciated.
 
Things were different before fingerprinting. It was perfectly acceptable to apply, leave, and wait for the permit to be posted to your embassy, but now they require that the applicants wait for their fingerprinting appointment.
 
From Form I-131 instructions:

Departure from the United States before a decision is made on an application for a Re-entry Permit usually does not affect the application. However, where biometric collection is required and the applicant departs the United States before the biometrics are collected, the application may be denied (bold emphasis in original).

Note that it says "...the application may be denied..." This doesn't provide a whole lot of clarify on who decides and what is the standard/criteria, but to answer your question, your re-entry permit application may be denied and you would've wasted, at the least, your airfare.
 
Thanks! Do you know how much time, on average, it takes from the day when a reentry permit application is sent to the biometrics appointment?
 
Assuming you request "EXPEDITED PROCESSING", we've seen between 2 and 4 weeks between mailing of application and fingerprinting appointment. But keep in mind that past USCIS performance is not a guarantee of a future result.
 
What if i apply for the reentry permit from abroad (but all correspondence goes to my remote address in the US registered with USCIS), then come to the US for fingerprinting?
 
Has anyone done anything similar? I have to make plans as to how long i'm going to stay in the States. Feeling really confused now(
 
Username123 said:
What if i apply for the reentry permit from abroad (but all correspondence goes to my remote address in the US registered with USCIS), then come to the US for fingerprinting?
Click to expand...
If they are aware that you were outside the US at the time of applying, you most certainly will be denied. Being in the US at the time of applying is a hard and fast rule.

The gray area is with leaving the US after applying but returning before the fingerprint appointment ... as stated above, it may be denied for leaving the US before the appointment, but you still have a chance of it being approved if you show up for the appointment.
 
If i apply for a re-entry permit, i'll have to specify the date when i intend to leave the US in form 131. If i want to leave the States and then come back for fingerprinting, what date should i put as my intended departure date? Should it be the date when i depart before fingerprinting (about 2-3 days after i submit the application) or the date when i intend to leave for a long term (say, an arbitrary date 1-1.5 months after the application date)?
 
For short-term trips you don't need the reentry permit. Specify the long-term date, i.e. the date of the trip when you'll actually need the permit. But that's my opinion and I could be wrong. Check with a lawyer if you want more certainty.
 
Sure, i understand you could be wrong. This is so much uncertainty that no one could predict the future)) What about the plane tickets? Should i buy ones with fixed dates for 2 short trips (1 - apply, 2 - get fingerprinted) or should i buy the first ticket with open return date even if i know that i will return in 3-4 days after my arrival? Does it make any difference?
 
Buy whatever you tickets you want based on the convenience and price. You don't have to show tickets to get a reentry permit.
 
Paddydixit,

No news so far. I'm wondering if anyone else has done anything similar. Surely, with 1 month or longer waiting time for the biometrics appointment, there must be some people who were not able to wait so long and had to depart earlier and then fly back to get fingerprinted. Or maybe some of them were able to convince USCIS to do the fingerprinting at the embassy abroad?
 
Remember the denial is not guaranteed just because you took a trip before the FP. It only says "may" be denied. I figure they were thinking of people who left the US before the FP appointment and didn't come back.

So go ahead, apply for the thing, fly away, fly back for the FP and hope for the best. If they deny it, then reapply and stay and wait until the FP appointment before you travel again.
 
Ok, i wanna beat this one to death))

If i arrive in the US on a wednesday, send my application for a reentry permit by express post Thursday, is it likely to be registered as received by UCSIS on the same day they receive it or later (the following week in this case)?
 
Btw, here's something interesting regarding the subject

Q. I am a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) who will be out of the US for more than 1 year? What documents will I need to return to the US?

A. To reenter the U.S. an LPR normally needs to present his or her green card (Permanent Resident Card, Form I-551). A reentry permit is needed for reentry from absences outside the U.S. that are greater than one year but less than two years in duration. Thus, if an LPR anticipates remaining outside the U.S. for longer than one year, he/she will need to apply for a reentry permit while he or she is in the U.S. See 8 C.F.R. § 223.2(b)(1)(Re-entry permit may be approved IF filed by a person who is in the U.S. at the time of application)(emphasis added). An application is not complete until an individual has provided his or her fingerprints and photograph (i.e., biometrics). The newly revised I-131 instructions also provide procedures for requesting an expedited ASC appointment for biometrics collection and for requesting expedited delivery of a travel document, where needed. USCIS believes that the majority of LPRs who live abroad will be able to re-enter the U.S. using their Permanent Resident Cards. Those LPRs who currently live abroad, but who know that when they return to the U.S. they will need to apply for a Re-entry Permit because they plan to leave the U.S. again for more than a year and will need the permit to re-enter the next time they come to the U.S., USCIS encourages these LPRs to anticipate their need for the Re-entry Permit sufficiently in advance of their travel and, if necessary, to follow the procedures for obtaining an expedited ASC appointment where absolutely necessary. If the LPR departs from the U.S while the I-131 is pending, but before biometrics are taken, then the adjudication of the I-131 re-entry permit application will not be affected as long as the applicant returns to the U.S. to attend the biometrics appointment before the first year of foreign travel has ended. In such case, the LPR could apply for reentry to the U.S. using only his or her I-551 Permanent Resident Card if he has been absent for less than one year. We further note that if it is necessary, the LPR may make arrangements to have his Re-entry Permit delivered to him through a U.S. consulate or a USCIS office abroad. 8 C.F.R. 223.2(f).
http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/us...nnel=68439c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD
 
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