Reentry permit

[Aibolit]

Question to anyone who has seen Reentry Permit: how does it look, i.e. passport-like, or like a regular approval notice from INS, or else? Does it have spaces for other countries' visas?

[baikal3]

I just got my reentry permit today (took about 5 months from the time of application). It looks exactly like a passport:

it has white hard cover, a passport-like first page with my photo, name, date of birth, country of citizenship, expiration date (2 years from the date of issue), A-number and book number (like a passport number). On the opposite page there is a space for the signature and a long text saying that "... this permit is issued to the person named herein, an alien previously lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence, to re-enter the United States.."

The first two numbered pages have the headers "Admission Stamps". Then pages numbered three trough twenty two have headers "Visas".

The white cover page says:
"United States Department of Justice

Immigration and Naturalization Service

Permit to reenter the United States".

So the reentry permit is essentially of the same design as a passport and I know quite a few people who use it as such.


Interestingly, INS decided to assign me a middle name: they transliterated (surprizingly correctly, but preserving its Russian conjugated form with an -vich at the end) my patronimic from the title page of my Russian passport whose copy I submitted with the application, and put it under "middle name" rubric in the permit.

[Aibolit]

Thank you, baikal3. I just submitted my reentry permit application to the INS. I plan to use it in lieu of the national passport.

[mat_stopper]

Can I apply for the reentry permit myself?

If I get one, and dont want to use it, then what happens?

[baikal3]

Yes, you can apply for a re-entry permit yourself. In fact, I do not think there is any other way.

You just need to submit form I-131 to INS. The form and the instructions are available at the INS site:

http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/fo...orms/i-131.htm

If you don't use it, nothing happens. You'll just have an extra piece of a government-issued ID.