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If you have filed your green card application with USCIS, you are probably asking yourself whether you can travel internationally (yes we mean Mexico too) while your application is in process. After all, filing the green card application is admittedly a stressful process for both the applicant and petitioner.
Call our USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech disability: TTY 800-767-1833. If you need to leave the United States temporarily while your Form I-485 is pending, please see the instructions for Form I-131, Application for Travel Document , for more information.
If you leave the United States while your application is awaiting a decision from USCIS, your application will be considered abandoned, and in most cases you will be required to refile your application upon your return to the United States.
Is I-485 Automatically Abandoned If I Travel? You can travel and your pending I485 (with or without Advance parole) will not be abandoned if you have one of these visa types to re-enter the USA: Work visas like H1B and its dependent H4, L-1, and its dependent L2.
Traveling abroad while awaiting your green card The travel document allows someone living in the U.S. while awaiting their green card to travel abroad without nullifying their green card application. For a family-based green card, it takes anywhere from 10 months to several years or more to process a green card.
If you submit the Form I-131 with your green card application and it is approved by the USCIS you are essentially authorized to travel in and out of the US while your green card is being processed.
Travel while EAD/AP is pending is not recommended. USCIS will deny I-131 Advance parole with international travel as reason. H1B, L can re-enter without AP. Can you travel while I-485 is pending is a common question and the simple answer is NO unless you have any other visa like H1B that can help you re-enter the USA?
Adjustment applicants who are in valid H-1B status, and their dependents, can travel abroad and reenter the United States in H status while an I-485 is pending, without having to obtain advance parole.
3 attorney answers You can travel with your foreign passport as identification within the US. Since your I-485 was filed before the expiration of your visa, you are permitted to be in the US while the I-485 is pending.
With evidence that you've started the green card renewal process and the urgent need for travel abroad, the USCIS officer can give you temporary proof of your status. The officer will generally place a sticker on your green card that extends it's validity for an additional year.
At times, an individual may have an approved advance parole document while a second one is pending. Individuals may travel on the approved advanced parole document, provided the document is valid for the entire duration of the time abroad. The pending Form I-131 will not be considered abandoned in this situation.
Hi, You can travel outside the Country while your I-140 is pending; as you said, your H1-B visa is valid.
Yes, you can travel out of US with your H4 EAD in pending status, provided you meet all the H4 visa requirements to re-enter US.
In general, travel is not recommended when an individual has a request pending with USCIS. This is because being outside the U.S. during the processing of a benefit could be considered abandonment of your petition.
yes. as long as you have a valid H1B you can travel.
To do so, you must file Form I-131 Application for Travel Document with USCIS. For applicants filing a green card application based on their marriage to a U.S. Citizen, the I-485 and I-131 application is typically filed concurrently. There is no fee for the I-131 application if it is submitted along with Form I-485.
Not so fast!! You cannot travel internationally unless you have received a travel authorization document from USCIS, known as an advance parole document. You are required to obtain such travel authorization if you seek to re-enter the United States after temporary foreign travel. To do so, you must file Form I-131 Application for Travel Document with USCIS. For applicants filing a green card application based on their marriage to a U.S. Citizen, the I-485 and I-131 application is typically filed concurrently. There is no fee for the I-131 application if it is submitted along with Form I-485. It takes approximately 90 days, from the date the I-131 application is received, for USCIS to issue this travel authorization. Once the travel authorization is received, it would no longer be worth traveling outside of the country, because applicants typically receive their “interview notice” in the mail during this time frame. The interview notice will contain the date, time, and location of the green card interview and require the applicant to be physically present in the United States. In emergency situations, it is possible to reschedule the green card interview although this will obviously delay receipt of the green card.
Important considerations include the documents needed in order to be permitted to board the return flight, as well as the documents and information appropriate for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at the airport or other port of entry (POE).
If one is a permanent resident (green card holder), but does not have proper proof of that status, the CBP officer has several options. The CB P officer could waive the documentary requirements and allow the individual to enter as a permanent resident.
An individual who plans to travel in H1B/H-4 or L-1/L-2 status, who does not have a visa stamped in the passport, runs a risk if the I-485 is approved while s/he is outside the United States. Once the I-485 is approved, s/he would not be eligible for a nonimmigrant visa stamp.
The Green Card application process is not only a complex one, but it is also a lengthy one. Even the applications that are quickly processed take several months and sometimes over a year. If you are waiting on a Green Card, you may want or need to do some traveling outside of the U.S. in the meantime. Here is what you need to know about that.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) does provide that immigrants may travel abroad while waiting on their Green Card, officially known as a Permanent Resident Card. The applicant wanting to travel outside of the U.S. must, however, complete the application and Green Card interview process prior to traveling.
If you should have any questions or need more information about the ways in which the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Laws may impact you, your family, your friends or your colleagues, please contact the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Lawyers at the NPZ Law Group – VISASERVE – U.S.
In order to travel while your adjustment of status is pending, you will need a travel document called an Advanced Parole (AP). This is critical as traveling without an Advanced Parole can be considered abandoning your application and will terminate the process. The Advance Parole document is typically applied for on Form I-131 ...
Yes. You can work under your current non-immigrant status as long as it is valid, however, unless you are an H-1B or L-1, your non-immigrant status cannot be extended once you have applied for an I-485. In that case, you can apply for the Employment Authorization Document (EAD).
While your current status is valid, you continue to live in the U.S. under that status. For example, if you are in H-1B status and your adjustment of status application is pending, you will continue to be in H1B status until it expires. After that, if you do not renew your H-1B status, it will automatically change to I-485 pending status.
your priority date is not current), then your dependents cannot file an Adjustment application until your priority date becomes current .