Travelling on temporary green card(stamp)

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gheewalabhai888

Registered Users (C)
What needs to be done when travelling on temporary stamp? Do all the airports know this is same as plastic card? Any documents needed or anything needs to be obtained from American Consulate or Embassy in your home country before you come back?
 
hi ghee... good to hear from you.

there is no problem travelling on a temp GC or stamp. last month, i travelled to germany and denmark on company business, and my port of entry into and exit out of EU was amsterdam. everything went smoothly. the passport control people at amsterdam did have some routine questions for me before boarding for the u.s., but they did that with seemingly half the passengers on my flight.

my entry into the u.s. was as smooth as you please. i stood in the u.s. citizen line for passport control. the officer took less than a minute to wave me through with a cheery "welcome home". i was surprised that they did not send me to a secondary inspection, which i thought was mandatory for all returning PRs not in possession of the plastic GC.

i might add that my temp GC is just an I-551 stamp on a blank I-94 card with my picture on it. it seems CIS is giving an option to go for this instead of stamping the passport itself. i was quite expecting that this, somewhat decrepit-looking document, coupled with my passport that read "islamic republic of pakistan" might be cause for some consternation for me, especially in EU, but, it happily turned out to be not the case.

of course, you still need a visa for EU if it is required for nationals of your country of citizenship. the "schengen visa" makes it much easier, since it is valid in about 15 countries of the EU and EEA.
 
Pork chop, u r the correct person to my question, please

Pork chop,

I am worried too much even after getting approval. here is my situation. I went to DETROIT for stamping last week. un fortunatly my passport is expiring next june (which is less than year effective ) so the officer said she can't put a stamp unless Passport is valid for 1 year. she too extra picture (other than two) and put the stamp of I-551 on I-94 like card with my picture attached and sealed, and with other details name and birthdate, A# and one finger print on the back of the card? Is this enough to travel and come back, do u think that Air lines will create a problem while boarding (as i am carrying card rahter stamp in passport), I am going thru KLM..to India. I am worried in india and amsterdam not in USA..Please answer..
 
spouse

i was also travelling on northwest airlines/KLM flights. the folks at amsterdam's schiphol airport did not seem bothered by my "temporary" green card at all. the only time they looked at it was when i was boarding the flight back to detroit. a security officer type simply asked me a few questions (where do you live in the u.s., where do you work, how long have you worked there, purpose of your trip etc.). there was no comment about my I-551. i am assuming that they have seen enough of those by now.

you might want to check with the netherlands embassy/consulate if you need an airport transit visa. i know that citizens of india and pakistan who are travelling to the u.s. on non-immigrant visas do need an airport transit visa in most of the EU and UK. green card holders, on the other hand, do not. you and i fall in the middle, i.e., we are green card holders, minus the green card. in my case, since my intended destinations were EU countries, i did have a business/tourist schengen visa, so an EU visa was not an issue. in your case, you just might want to look into this, or somebody who has been in this situation might post their experience here.

bon voyage!
 
Thanks Pork! Good to hear back from you!

I have mine stamped on my passport. No extra card. "I-551 stamp" must be pretty well known among airport officials these days, especially because most approvals go through another year of waiting for plastic cards.

Did your dependent get approval too? I remember his case was not approved.
-Ghee
 
ghee

my wife's case was approved together with mine, but my son's was not. i guess i am not too worried about it even if his approval comes in late (provided it comes in!) since it is not going to impact his time for naturalization, as his citizenship will come due as soon as mine (and my wife's) does.

hope you are doing great. are you still in minnesota?
 
Pork chop u answered only part of question

Pork chop u answered only part of question, My concern is, They did not put the I-551 stamp in the passport (bcoz my pass port is not valid for 1 year , valid for 11 months)and they put the I-551 stamp on I-94 like card with photo and other details. I never heared this situation...do u know anybody getting like this. As my passport does not have the stamp...I am worried too much...PLEASE CLARIFY
 
Pork, yes, I am still in Minnesota.

Are you still in Des Moines?

Spouse,
The stamp on a card is as good as on the passport. The officer knew that you will have a new passport when you renew and probably a smarter way to have a separate card.
 
spouse said:
Pork chop u answered only part of question, My concern is, They did not put the I-551 stamp in the passport (bcoz my pass port is not valid for 1 year , valid for 11 months)and they put the I-551 stamp on I-94 like card with photo and other details. I never heared this situation...do u know anybody getting like this. As my passport does not have the stamp...I am worried too much...PLEASE CLARIFY
Click to expand...
if you read my very first post in this thread, here is what i wrote:

i might add that my temp GC is just an I-551 stamp on a blank I-94 card with my picture on it. it seems CIS is giving an option to go for this instead of stamping the passport itself. i was quite expecting that this, somewhat decrepit-looking document, coupled with my passport that read "islamic republic of pakistan" might be cause for some consternation for me, especially in EU, but, it happily turned out to be not the case.

this should have addressed your following concerns:

I never heared this situation...do u know anybody getting like this.
Click to expand...
yes, i do, me.

As my passport does not have the stamp...I am worried too much...
Click to expand...
well, any worries i had turned out to be unfounded.

hope this helps!
 
peace_of_mind

no, i have not received the plastic yet. i remember hearing that it is taking anything between 8 months to a year before you see it. some folks have even had to have their i551 stamps renewed, since their plastic cards had not arrived even after a year.

about sankrit, i was wondering about him too... he seems to have slipped off the edge of the earth. orca had wondered about him also, not too long ago. in the bad old days, orca, sankrit and i were guilty of hijacking far too many threads with our tripartite discourses, and i have to say, i miss that. i have to thank the rest of the participants in these forums for being tolerant of us.
 
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Pork

There is a little little town of Huxley, right on 35. I forgot the name of bigger north suburb of Des Moines, new area.
 
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I was going to post one question - somewhere on

this web site. Hey how many days of entry permit do they give for US citizen kid in India or anywhere else? When accompanied by non-US citizens parents?
 
gheewalabhai,

If you are an Indian citizen, and your kid is a US citizen, the you need to get either an Indian tourist Visa or a PIO (Person of Indian origin) card for your kid. If you take the Visa, then entry and stay for the kid is limited to 6 months. If its the PIO card, then there is no entry/stay limits for the kid.

Not sure about other countries. Guess they will be similar.
 
Srirangam said:
gheewalabhai,

If you are an Indian citizen, and your kid is a US citizen, the you need to get either an Indian tourist Visa or a PIO (Person of Indian origin) card for your kid. If you take the Visa, then entry and stay for the kid is limited to 6 months. If its the PIO card, then there is no entry/stay limits for the kid.
Click to expand...

Just to clarify further, the 6 months limit is for Tourist/visit visa, whereas if you get the 'Entry visa' you could stay longer. And if under 14 or 16, there is no reporting requirement also, even if the stay is longer than 6 months. In 2002-03, my kid stayed in India for 10 months, no problems, no reporting requirements, as clarified and confirmed by the I.O at Mumbai and no problem while coming back to US too.

I am not sure what the big difference is between a visit visa and an entry visa. May be they give entry visa for people of Indian origin only. This might have been replaced by the PIO card, I am not sure.
 
Pork Chop or Other GURUs, pls clear this

Pork Chop said:
hi ghee... good to hear from you.

i might add that my temp GC is just an I-551 stamp on a blank I-94 card with my picture on it. it seems CIS is giving an option to go for this instead of stamping the passport itself.
Click to expand...

What does it mean?? My Passport is stamped with the 551 with A# , that's it, I have not received any I-94 card with my picture on it. Is this a new way of granting the GC ?? Having I-94 stamped with picture on it is good?

I am planning to travel abroad, will I have any problem with just 551 stamp on my passport?
Thanks
 
Bindaas said:
What does it mean?? My Passport is stamped with the 551 with A# , that's it, I have not received any I-94 card with my picture on it. Thanks
Click to expand...

You have the option of either getting the I551 stamp in your passport, or on a I94-like card. The latter is preferred if your passport were to expire in the next few months. Either stamp is valid proof of permanent residency, and can be used for travel without any problem.
 
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sub_labor said:
Guys I have question on address change after stamping. How to update INS about address change?
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You need to file form AR11 with the INS. Even after getting green card till you become citizen, you got to inform the INS always about the change of address.
 
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