Travel restrictions for new temp greencard holder?

[gercan]

Hi All,

Last weekend my husband presented ourselves at the US/Can boarder with our Green card visa documents and were admitted to the US a new permanent residents We are still in the process of selling our home here in Canada and unwinding our affairs... so we went to Bellingham, had lunch and then came back to Canada to continue our preprations for moving.

The immigration officer told us we should be very careful about leaving the US until we receive our card at our address in California, particular because the original visa would have expired on June 11th if we did not present ourselves to Immigration. This took us by surprise and we have been planning on making the full move in a couple of months but we will need to travel back nad forth until this is all sorted out. We heard that it can take up to 4 months to receive the physical green card. Our passport visa is stamped and the visa states "Upon Endorsement Serves As Temporary I-551 Evidencing Permanent Residence for 1 Year" Has anyone heard that new greencard holders can't travel until they receieve the actual card?

I can't get through to the US Immigration toll free number to ask them because theat number is not accessable from Canada. Any help will be much appreciated.

Gercan

[synthia]

Have you tried the US consulate? Someone there should know.

[Fatbrit]

Originally Posted by gercan

Any help will be much appreciated.

Abandoning permanent residence status is a very complex issue. Having said that, you should be fine for up to 180 days out.

Read Now You Are a Permanent Resident at the USCIS site.

The physical green card should arrive in a month rather than your quoted four months. Make sure the mailman knows you live at this address -- USPS are too good at returning cards to USCIS if they don't think you live there! The annotation in your passport should suffice, though some report difficulties at DMVs.

U.S. consulates don't do advice, and neither does the "1-800" mis-information line. If you want to be sure, do your own research or hire an immigration attorney.

[gercan]

Originally Posted by synthia

Have you tried the US consulate? Someone there should know.

This was their reply by email:

I’m happy to hear that you have both been admitted. Concerning the green cards sometimes they might only arrive 2 or 3 months after you have been admitted. You are free to travel, but I am not sure as to the restrictions there might be. That is something you might want to take up with the Immigration Service"

As I mentioned I can't reach the immigration toll free service from Canada and I tried other numbers but was not able to get through to anyone who could answer this question with an absolute yes or no.

Our concern is that if there is a restriction than we should try to go back before June 11th and just stay until we get the green card arrives but we still have so much to do here that it will delay all of our exit from Canada plans and we don't want to have anything go wrong at this stage.

Thanks for your input. Gercan

[Fatbrit]

Originally Posted by gercan

This was their reply by email:

I’m happy to hear that you have both been admitted. Concerning the green cards sometimes they might only arrive 2 or 3 months after you have been admitted. You are free to travel, but I am not sure as to the restrictions there might be. That is something you might want to take up with the Immigration Service"

As I mentioned I can't reach the immigration toll free service from Canada and I tried other numbers but was not able to get through to anyone who could answer this question with an absolute yes or no.

Our concern is that if there is a restriction than we should try to go back before June 11th and just stay until we get the green card arrives but we still have so much to do here that it will delay all of our exit from Canada plans and we don't want to have anything go wrong at this stage.

Thanks for your input. Gercan

DOS passes buck to DHS! There's a surprise.

[gercan]

Originally Posted by Fatbrit

DOS passes buck to DHS! There's a surprise.

Thanks for that link. I had been searching for something like that. The way I read the maintaining permanent residence section it would probably be wise for us to speed up our entry plans and get our bank accounts and drivers licences taken care of asap.

I'm happy to hear that the card should arrive quicker.

Thanks for your help.

Gercan

[Fatbrit]

Originally Posted by gercan

Thanks for that link. I had been searching for something like that. The way I read the maintaining permanent residence section it would probably be wise for us to speed up our entry plans and get our bank accounts and drivers licences taken care of asap.

I'm happy to hear that the card should arrive quicker.

Thanks for your help.

Gercan

Yep -- far more important than actual time out is intent. You show your intent by doing things such as having a driver license, paying Uncle Sam, having a bank account and library card, etc.

It's not at all unusual for someone to enter to establish permanent residency and then turn back and go to settle affairs in their old home. Indeed, settling affairs is evidence that you intend to make your home elsewhere. If you get to the 3 or 4 month mark and there seems to be no end in sight, i'd recommend coming over for at least a month and getting the driver license, social security card, bank account stuff sorted out.

[gercan]

Originally Posted by Fatbrit

Yep -- far more important than actual time out is intent. You show your intent by doing things such as having a driver license, paying Uncle Sam, having a bank account and library card, etc.

It's not at all unusual for someone to enter to establish permanent residency and then turn back and go to settle affairs in their old home. Indeed, settling affairs is evidence that you intend to make your home elsewhere. If you get to the 3 or 4 month mark and there seems to be no end in sight, i'd recommend coming over for at least a month and getting the driver license, social security card, bank account stuff sorted out.

Thanks for the good advice. We do already have lots of evidence of intent through lawyers and accountants as we have been working towards this goal now for some time. Problem is the roof leaked and we had to take the time out to make lengthy repairs before we could list the house. The repairs are now just finishing, thankfully so hopefully all our hard work will pay off.

Cheers!

Gercan

[Fatbrit]

Originally Posted by gercan

Thanks for the good advice. We do already have lots of evidence of intent through lawyers and accountants as we have been working towards this goal now for some time. Problem is the roof leaked and we had to take the time out to make lengthy repairs before we could list the house. The repairs are now just finishing, thankfully so hopefully all our hard work will pay off.

Cheers!

Gercan

Sounds fine to me.

Whilst always being sickly sweet, honest and polite, don't let the POE officer bully you. It's not his decision to make anymore, anyway -- the magic words "I'm a permanent resident" give you a right to independent judicial review.