Traveling to COP after granted asylum/Green Card

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heriberto84

New Member
Hello guys i am in a very frustating situation, i was granted asylum in 2012 and i've been a permanent resident since 2013, during this time both of my grandmas have died back home, and both of my parents have been suffering from depression, especially my mom, she's been seen a psycologist for over a year now, she has lost a lot of weight, and she's not eating well, i am afraid that something might happen to her, im planning to travel to my COP, some people say its ok, some people say is not, but i have seen a lot of people that have traveled to their COP, and they are US citizens now, my plan is to travel to my COP through a neighboring country, i know is a very risky situation, but at this point, i would not care risking my life for my mom as i know she would do the same for me. Please let me know your opinion, thanks to all.
 
Read this document my friend and let me know what you think.
 

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  • AsylumTravel122706FS-1.pdf
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If you have a compelling reason, and you can explain this during your naturalisation interview (if they ask you about your COP visit), then you can go as long as you do not expect to be harassed by your COP authorities. If you can get a letter from a doctor that your parents' condition is poor, that would help your case.

Do you have a national passport?
 
Hello cafeconleche,
It is possible to obtain a letter from the hospital/doctor to prove that my mom is sick, however, do you thing that I might be facing consequences for renewing my NP after having my GC for two years? My lawyer told that is not as bad as it was before for renewing a NP, an another lawyer told me it is completely legal to renew my NP and that it should be no problem during my citizenship interview. Any advice?
 
Hmm, renewing is more of a grey area. Using your passport that is still valid is a lot less problematic. Again, it depends on your case and the type of persecution you faced/could face. The problem is that lawyers like to be very cautious, and some are downright clueless. Very hard to get a clean answer. Personally, I tried to renew my NP but it was hard to get around showing the GC (with the AS6 designation).

The other question is - are you the primary or derivative? Derivative asylees have much more room to travel back 'home'.

Finally, can your parents meet you in a neighbouring country?
 
I am the primary asylee, I checked on the USCIS website, and it says that refugee travel document are for green card holders that can't obtain a NP, I am from Mexico, and I was able to renew my NP without showing my GC, I am planning to meet my parents in Guatemala, but I don't know if my mom is going to be ok to travel, due to her health issues, if I do decide to enter my COP, without my passport (since is not required) do you think that they will find out that I traveled to my COP? I am so frustrated It was not easy to get my GC, so I wouldn't want to risk it, but my mom is more important than anything else in this world Any suggestions?
 
Well, it's unlikely they will find out if you enter via Guatemala without a passport. I've heard of people doing this sort of thing. But, the risk is yours alone, so it is your decision. I know your mom is important, so as I said, given anecdotal evidence, it seems naturalisation interviewers, and the US immigration system, are not black holes - if you have a good reason to go, and you can find a way to go safely (and this doesn't invalidate your asylum claim), and you can provide documentation, then you have a very low chance (I would not say 100%) of being accused of being a false asylum seeker.

So, the only hard evidence I can provide is that of a relative who had to go to her COP eventually after her dad got sick again, and then her mom also got sick. She still had a valid passport, and went straight to her COP, not a neighbouring country, twice. At her naturalisation interview, they asked her about it, and she explained that she eventually decided she had to do this or regret it later, and that she did not fear persecution for such a short visit to a different part of the country from which the primary asylee (she was derivative) fled. She also had to mail in a letter from the doctor (she didn't have this with her) stating that her parents had been very ill. Soon after mailing these in, she got an oath letter in the post.

This is just one story, though, and if you think you will be harassed when you show your face in Mexico, then consider different options. If you DO NOT expect to get harassed, but this contradicts your asylum story, then you might also have some explaining to do.
 
cafeconleche said:
Well, it's unlikely they will find out if you enter via Guatemala without a passport. I've heard of people doing this sort of thing. But, the risk is yours alone, so it is your decision. I know your mom is important, so as I said, given anecdotal evidence, it seems naturalisation interviewers, and the US immigration system, are not black holes - if you have a good reason to go, and you can find a way to go safely (and this doesn't invalidate your asylum claim), and you can provide documentation, then you have a very low chance (I would not say 100%) of being accused of being a false asylum seeker.

So, the only hard evidence I can provide is that of a relative who had to go to her COP eventually after her dad got sick again, and then her mom also got sick. She still had a valid passport, and went straight to her COP, not a neighbouring country, twice. At her naturalisation interview, they asked her about it, and she explained that she eventually decided she had to do this or regret it later, and that she did not fear persecution for such a short visit to a different part of the country from which the primary asylee (she was derivative) fled. She also had to mail in a letter from the doctor (she didn't have this with her) stating that her parents had been very ill. Soon after mailing these in, she got an oath letter in the post.

This is just one story, though, and if you think you will be harassed when you show your face in Mexico, then consider different options. If you DO NOT expect to get harassed, but this contradicts your asylum story, then you might also have some explaining to do.
Click to expand...



Thank you very much for such an elaborated answer, I really appreciate that time you took to respond. I will take the risk and try to gather all possible documents in case I might get asked at the citizenship interview . I will keep you guys posted, because I know that there are many people out there that are probably going through the same situation.
 
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