QUESTION
How can I travel during the Green Card process?
Asked on Aug 29th, 2017 on Immigration - Georgia
More details to this question:
I'm a Canadian citizen working in the United States. My Green Card process is well-underway (I did my biometrics interview on August 18. Currently, I'm waiting to receive the EAD (Employment Authorization Document) so that I can travel. Based on the Internet, it looks like the wait time is 30 to 45 days after the Biometrics Session, which is puts reception of EAD between Sept. 17 and Oct. 2, 2017. I'm married my fiancé on October 5 (she's already a US citizen), and we're planning to take our honeymoon. I was told that the current processing times for EAD (at the Nebraska Service Center) is 3 to 4 months which completely messes up our honeymoon plans. We haven't booked it yet. What would happen if I used my Canadian passport to go on the honeymoon? At this point, would I need to redo the whole Green Card Application process? Would I be able to return to the United States to continue to work? What are the chances that my information is wrong and that I will get my EAD before our honeymoon?
1 ANSWER
An EAD does not authorize travel and re-entry into the U.S., but instead it authorizes employment. If you simultaneously applied for an EAD and for Advance Parole (sometimes called a "travel document"), you may receive a combination EAD/AP card. Lately the USCIS has been taking about 100 days from date of filing to approve EAD/AP applications. If you travel abroad after applying for AP but before approval, you will be deemed to have abandoned that application. When you suggest that you could re-enter with your Canadian passport, essentially what you are suggesting is re-entering under "Treaty Nafta" or "TN." That is permissible only for someone who intends to stay in the U.S. only temporarily and then depart. Misuse of TN or of a visitor's visa can be deemed to constitute visa fraud and can cause some very harsh immigration-related consequences. It may be wise to plan a honeymoon at a destination inside the U.S. or to postpone plans for a honeymoon until after receipt of Advance Parole.
Answered on Nov 02nd, 2017 at 12:13 PM