Yesterday I used my Advance Parole (AP) to come back from my vacation. It was my first time to use AP, as I always used H1b visa in the past.
Below are some experience:
- before I left for my vacation, I consulted my lawyer about using the AP to entered the US. They assured me definitely that if I am using AP, there is no need to get any other visa stamp. So I didn't make any appointment in China for visas.
- my AP was valid until Nov 17, 2006, so when I used it yesterday, there were only ten days before it expires. However, as long as it is still valid, I can always use it. Other documents I brought with me included:
1)a photo copy of I140 approval notice, as the original copy from CIS was with the lawyer.
2)original I485 receipt notice.
3)original H1b approval notice.
Later it turned out that the only thing needed was the AP itself.
- When I checked in my baggage at Shanghai Pudong airport, I turned in my passport and AP to the airline staff. I was taking United Airline, and their staff was quite familiar with the AP. Therefore they didn't ask me any questions and gave me the boarding pass right away.
- when I went through the Chinese immigration checkpoint ("Bian Fang"), the officers were also familiar with the AP, so no problem at all. They just looked at my passport and stamped on it, returned the AP to me.
- Upon arrival at San Francisco airport (SFO), I chose the "visitor" line. The immigration officer asked for 1)passport; 2)I-94; 3)US Custom declaration form; 4)any valid visa. I gave him first three plus the AP. Then he looked at all documents carefully and asked me to go to another line, told me "the officers over there will take care of me". Then I was directed to another booth which handles AP holders specifically. Later I learned that all AP holders need "further inspection" to make sure the AP holder and the person on the AP are the same person.
- the officer on the second booth was a young man, and from his name badge, he is a Vietnamese (last name is Nguyen). He asked me a few questions, such as
1) how long have you gone?
2) where do you work?
3) how long have you applied for the green card?
4) what is your social security number?
While he asked me the questions, he was checking something from his computer system by entering the A# and application number on the AP. Obviously he was new to this job as he kept asking his colleagues a few questions regarding what he needed to look at from the computer. It took him quite a while (about 15 or 20 minutes) before he finally stamped on my passport. He also stamped on I94 card and on the AP. The stamp indicated that "I was paroled until Nov 2007", which was one year from the entry date. The officer didn't take the AP from me, he just took the first half of my I94 card, stapled the second half on my passport. That's it.
During the stamping, this officer even made mistakes by using the wrong stamp on I94, and I had to re-wrote the I94 card. He apologized for his mistake. He also explained to me the meaning of the date on the stamp. Overall he sounds quite nice and reasonable.