Travel with I551 stamping but not the actual Green card

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palmreader

Registered Users (C)
I have got my I485 approved in Nov 2001 i.e. about 4 months now. I got my passport duly stamped within a week after the approval. I have not yet received the plastic card. On enqury INS routinely asks to wait for a time period of six months to one year. My questions are:

1. Can me and my family travel to India for about two months and be allowed to enter again in US with only the I551 stamping ?
2. Do I need any other documentation like advance perol etc. for entry ?
3. Do I need to show the original I485 approval papers? Incidently,those were taken by the local INS office when the stamping was done. Was that normal ?

Appreciate your help
 
How do I get back my original I485 approval

My original approval letters were taken by the stamping officer. If this was not normal, please suggest what do I do now.

In the same context how long me and my family need to wait for the green \'card\' to arrive? My center was Vermont.
Regards
 
You lawyer should have received original and you courtesy copy

If you have used courtesy copy for stamping you should have original from your lawyer. Contact your lawyer regarding original one.
 
Same here

I got stamped on OCT 2nd 2001. Still waiting for card. Going to India
next month. I think no need to worry. couple of my friends went and came back fine. use immigration/citizen line and show I551 stamping , you will be fine, they said.
 
Copy of I-485 Approval

Hello palmreader,

My and my wife\'s 485 approval notices were also taken by the immig. officer. However, I beieve that you can request a copy of any notice by filling out a form I-824. Costs 140 bucks though :-(. I am not sure whether you need a copy or not, although in my haste to get the pasport stamped I neglected to make a copy of the same!!

Hope this helps.
S. N.
 
Enjoy your trip

I went to India with just the I-551 stamping in my Passport. I came back and my port of entry was Chicago. The INS Officer at Immigration was not sure about the stamping, and asked another one in the next counter. Then he asked me for how long I was away, and I said \'3 Weeks\', he stamped my passport with class \'LPR\' for Lawful Permanent Resident and entered 3 Weeks. Later I checked with INS Inspection services about the 3 weeks annotation, they said some officers enter that and I don\'t have to worry about it. It\'s probably to keep a count of the number of days one was out of the country.
Basically, there\'s no problem travelling with the stamping in your Passport.
Be careful in Hyderabad/Bombay, there are rumours floating around that in these places the Indian immigration tamper with Passports, like tearing away some sheets etc which can put you in deep \'S H _ _\'
So never take your eyes off your passports.
Enjoy your trip....
Good luck
 
I didn\'t have a lawyer, so I got two copies of 485 approval. Although the stamping officer took one

 
 
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