Travel Immediately After filing 485

[RandomUser30388]

Priority Date : July 2014
Category : EB2
Date became current in April 2022 Filing Chart bulletin.

Assuming the I-485 (AOS) , I-765 (EAD) and I-131(Advance Parole) is filed before April 30 2022, is it fine to travel in May 2022 outside the country ?

Are there any risks in Traveling outside the country before the I-485/765/131 Receipt Number's are received.

Note : The underlying non immigrant visa H1B is valid and planning to come back to USA on H1B (After the vacation) i.e. will show the I-797 form at Port of Entry


Thanks

[newacct]

First, you need to make sure that you are in the US on the "received date" of the I-485. It's the date that they officially receive it that counts, not the date you mail it.

Your Advance Parole application will be abandoned when you leave the US; you can just apply for it again when you get back. It is free anyway.

[RandomUser30388]

What constitutes as "received date" ?

[newacct]

The "received date" will be listed on the receipt. It generally is within a few days of the mail arriving at USCIS.

[RandomUser30388]

Thanks for the extremely quick response. If the received date is listed on the Receipt Number. It indirectly means that we need to wait until we get a Receipt number before we can travel.

[newacct]

Thanks for the extremely quick response. If the received date is listed on the Receipt Number. It indirectly means that we need to wait until we get a Receipt number before we can travel.

Well, you are taking a gamble if you travel before you get the receipt. But if it turns out that the received date is before the date you left, you will be fine.

[Enub4]

If you file G-1145 you will receive a Text message with your receipt number. You will know the received date if you check the status with that number.

All the forms I sent to USCIS via Fedex, the received date is the date that Fedex delivered the package. I receive the Text message a few days later (once it took 5 weeks to get the text message but the received date was the delivered date).

If you can file in April, try to file early and you will be able to travel without issues in May.

[Lia10]

As soon as you file the i485 form, any previously issued visas allowing you to enter the US get automatically annulled. You're asking to change your immigration status so you can’t any longer use other types of visas. You won’t have problems leaving the US, but they won’t grant you admission back to the country because you won’t have the docs giving you the right to re-enter. Wait for the advance parole document, but even with it in hand you may want to withdraw from traveling outside the states unless it’s an absolute emergency situation that you will then need to back up with any possible supportive docs. If you read the USCIS rules and requirements again, you will see that you have to be in the country the whole time while your I485 is being processed. No Receipts grant you permission to travel either regardless of the dates they were issued or received!
Speaking off of my personal experience, and I am a US citizen now. I got my both green cards first and eventually a certificate of naturalization myself, with no legal help, just because I was very thorough and following the rules and requirements throughout the whole process. So you might want to follow my advice and wait for your first green card before you can travel.

[newacct]

As soon as you file the i485 form, any previously issued visas allowing you to enter the US get automatically annulled. You're asking to change your immigration status so you can’t any longer use other types of visas. You won’t have problems leaving the US, but they won’t grant you admission back to the country because you won’t have the docs giving you the right to re-enter. Wait for the advance parole document, but even with it in hand you may want to withdraw from traveling outside the states unless it’s an absolute emergency situation that you will then need to back up with any possible supportive docs. If you read the USCIS rules and requirements again, you will see that you have to be in the country the whole time while your I485 is being processed. No Receipts grant you permission to travel either regardless of the dates they were issued or received!
Speaking off of my personal experience, and I am a US citizen now. I got my both green cards first and eventually a certificate of naturalization myself, with no legal help, just because I was very thorough and following the rules and requirements throughout the whole process. So you might want to follow my advice and wait for your first green card before you can travel.

This is incorrect for the case here. Filing of I-485 does not affect the validity of your visas, and entry on certain types of nonimmigrant statuses, notably H1b/H4/L1/L2, are not subject to being denied for immigrant intent.

Someone who leave the US with a pending I-485, who had H1b/H4/L1/L2/K3/K4/V status right before leaving the US, and returns to the US with the same kind of visa, does not abandon their I-485.

[shiva_82]

This is incorrect for the case here. Filing of I-485 does not affect the validity of your visas, and entry on certain types of nonimmigrant statuses, notably H1b/H4/L1/L2, are not subject to being denied for immigrant intent.

Someone who leave the US with a pending I-485, who had H1b/H4/L1/L2/K3/K4/V status right before leaving the US, and returns to the US with the same kind of visa, does not abandon their I-485.

I agree with newacct. In this case the OP has a valid non-immigrant dual intent visa which means they would be able to exit and re-enter US using their H-1B visa even while their 485 is under processing, as long as their H-1B is valid at the time of re-entering US.

Lia10 - What you are saying would be true for anyone who is on a different non-immigrant visa, for ex. a B visa which is not a dual intent visa, which means, you can't use it to travel while you have requested for a change to immigrant status. While what you are saying is true in some cases, it is not true in the case of OP.