Can I travel with an expired visa but with approved I-131?

[Mzander]

Dear All,

I filed for the green card while on an F-1 student visa in the U.S. Now, the visa has expired but the Advance Parole was granted a few days ago. Can I travel abroad and come back into the U.S. without a valid visa and just the I-131 or is that not a safe thing to do? Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[iuy87]

Dear All,

I filed for the green card while on an F-1 student visa in the U.S. Now, the visa has expired but the Advance Parole was granted a few days ago. Can I travel abroad and come back into the U.S. without a valid visa and just the I-131 or is that not a safe thing to do? Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

yes you can travel with no problem. i heard it best to travel with ur spouse

[natettey]

Don't do it

Don't do it. That's what I did, and now I'm stuck outside the US. I received the online I 131 approved notice, and also received my EAD in the mail. I assumed that with my I20 valid and travel endorsed, I would be able to return on the expired visa, or at the very least, have my I 131 sent by courier. I was not allowed to board at the airport. The next day, I went to the Embassy to have my student visa renewed. I was denied since I had "demonstrated immigrant intent". Now my only hope is to wait on the I 131 to be sent by my spouse to my foreign address whenever the USCIS decides to send it to our US address. It has almost been 30 days since I received the approval notification.

Dear All,

I filed for the green card while on an F-1 student visa in the U.S. Now, the visa has expired but the Advance Parole was granted a few days ago. Can I travel abroad and come back into the U.S. without a valid visa and just the I-131 or is that not a safe thing to do? Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Mzander]

Thanks for both your responses. I wasn't planning on leaving without having the actual document, but it seems uscis is taking a long time to send it (it was approved a while ago, but hasn't come in the mail yet), so I will delay all travel plans until it's here. Thanks again for your advice!