Travel on AP before I485 stamp or go to stamp at SF without appointment?

J

john_imm

Registered Users (C)
Hi, my I485 got approved and will receive the approval letter in a few days. But I have booked the airline ticket and hotel rooms to travel abroad on Sept 9. I tried to make an appointment through InfoPass but the ealiest available time was Sept 10. Is it safe for me to travel on AP without getting my passport stamped? If not, can I go to SF office to stamp without appointment? Thanks a lot!

(I have searched the archives and did not get the answer I need. Please provide the links if I missed).
 
I would try to go to the office without an appointment and explain the situation (maybe qualyfiing it as an emergency would help)
You could also try to set an appointment at a different office with less people even if it means driving for a few hours.

I know what you are feeling because I had to buy my tickets to flight home next December and the only thing that I can think right now is that hopefully I get approved way before my travel starts or otherwise in January after I get back.
 
You have to get the stamp on your passport coz the approval invalidates the AP. Take your tickets and the Sep 10 infopass appt letter with you and go to the INS center asap. Worked for me in Dallas (CSC case).
 
john_imm said:
Hi, my I485 got approved and will receive the approval letter in a few days. But I have booked the airline ticket and hotel rooms to travel abroad on Sept 9. I tried to make an appointment through InfoPass but the ealiest available time was Sept 10. Is it safe for me to travel on AP without getting my passport stamped? If not, can I go to SF office to stamp without appointment? Thanks a lot!

(I have searched the archives and did not get the answer I need. Please provide the links if I missed).
Click to expand...

You do not need any appointment. Just go with your approval letter and other documents, passport for stamping. You can go for stamping as soon as you receive the approval letter. We went for stamping the very nextday after receiving the letters. I would suggest you get the passport stamped with I-551. You are free to travel with stamp in your passport. Good luck!
 
This is an interesting situation. All of the posts here state the AP is invalid once your AOS is approved. I disagree - although I don't know if I am right or not, I just can't understand how you wouldn't be allowed back into the country with a valid AP - no one outside the US will know if you have been approved or not - and further more, when you land in the US - you will be sent to deferred inspection -

Now - I don't claim to be an authority in this matter - but I am being practical with the post - I could definitely be incorrect
 
We had the same case; my wife had to travel out with a valid AP after 485 approval; but we did not get the 485 approval notice, and Boston INS would not stamp the passport without it (at least our approval case was not there in their computers the day we tried). One thing Boston INS folks did say was that the AP was good till we get the passport stamped. My wife has travelled out with that 'assurance' even though our lawyers were lot more conservative in their recommendation.

You are right, nobody outside US would know, if anything, there could be questions at the POE. Hopefully it will be uneventful for my wife's return. She is coming back next week, and I will post her experiences at the POE.
In the case of deferred inspection, will she get an I-94 or not?

I can see people are running into the issue of infopass appt date, in addition to getting the notice itself in hand.

PS: I got the approval notices few days after she travelled out, and I got my passport stamped and got my card in a month.
============ Update Sep 13th==========
My wife was able get back in at Boston POE on her AP on Spe 7th, no questions asked about 485 approval, etc. Stamp/485 all given like a regular AP. Other than the fact that she had sit nearly two hours in the secondary inspection room, even though there were no questions asked of her.
Then we got her passport stamped with the GC (I-551) stamp at Boston INS. The person who did her stamping asked a question why she did not stamp along with me, we mentioned my wife's travel; no other questions.

-vishuv
 
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A note on infopass appointments also. When we try to book it online, the first appointment we get is after twoo weeks. But if you walk into the office and schedule an appointment there, you can get an appointment within the next couple of days. I've tried this. I tried to make an online appointment around mid of Aug and got an appointment for Aug 30 2004. Where as when I walked into the local INS and scheduled an appointment there, I got the next day early morning appointment.
 
Travel with AP after i-485 approved but no Stamping?

Hi,

My wife's greencard(i-485) has been approved on 8/27/04 and she received a copy of the notice few days later. She couldn't get the
appointment for passport stamping at local INS office. Meanwhile,
She left US as planned on 9/20/04 without the passport stamping and will plan to return on 12/6/04. Now we are realizing that this may be a mistake. If anybody has experience, please answer following questions.

Q1) can she return to US on the advanced parole, which is valid till 8/2005
Q2) Can she return on the approved i-485 notice? if not what is the
procedure to come to US? like can we get the passport stamped at US consulate abroad?

Q2) how long can one wait to get passport stamping after the
greencard is approved. we are afraid that there may be some
expiration dates on i-485 if we don't do the stamping in time.

Thank you in advance!
 
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