Okay, so my wife and I were on our way somewhere and we stopped off at the mailbox to see if we’d got any parcels or correspondence and there was a letter from the USCIS in there. I must admit that I was a little worried. I got my 2 year green card in August, which should be all I need for working and travel and should have meant that I was free from any immigration concerns, at least for now - so why were the US authorities writing to me?
I consider myself to be pretty scrupulous when going through all the bureaucracy that officialdom throws at me, but there is so much of it, it crossed my mind that I’d missed sending in a form, or neglected to provide some crucial piece of evidence, or even worse, I’d let something expire, and the USCIS were writing to tell me of the terrible consequences.
But no, when I opened the letter, I found a plastic card inside and a letter saying that here was my temporary work permit. It was completely useless of course, given that I already had my green card. The temporary work permit is something that you are supposed to get whilst you are waiting for your green card. When I checked the dates on the card I couldn’t help but be wryly amused – it was valid from May 2011 until April 2012!
That made it approximately 9 months late!
Oh well, I guess that gives me 3 months to use it before it expires.
We were meant to get travel documents, which allowed us to travel out of and into the country while in the final stages of the green card application. They were meant to take 6 weeks to come through. They took 5 months, and the green cards came through first, so they were totally redundant - but had caused us endless hassle along the way, of course.
ReplyDeleteI knew from research that the temp work and travel docs take as long as the green card in practice, but I thought they'd be forgotton once my green card was issued. I wonder when I'll get the temp travel permit? :-)
ReplyDelete(Apparently, green cards are being processed super fast at the moment - which wasn't the case for me, unfortunately - oh well!)
They seem to be going pretty fast, but if I get my green card before my EAD and AP, I will probably panic that there will be some glitch in the system that causes problems when I try to travel! :/
ReplyDeleteI believe that the green card trumps all. Although I agree that it's difficult to feel %100 confident when travelling that you're not going to suffer some kind of hold up or worse. I've not attempted to leave the US and come back, but my parent's friend (who's lived in the US nearly 30 years) had more hassles on a green card as a permanent resident than he did on a visa waiver (go figure!).
DeleteAlthough the brutal truth is that in practice you are probably treated with most suspicion if you are called 'Mohammed' or 'Hussain' and white women and middle-aged men probably aren't high on the radar, certainly as far as terrorism goes.
Always amusing to check the progress online at USCIS. My case is still pending despite being in possession of a 10 year green card.
ReplyDeleteBy all accounts, they have sped up in the past couple of months; not necessarily in the correct order of things it seems.
Better late... you know the rest. I'm now caught on the more recent entries, including the mint cake and your parents' visit.
ReplyDelete