Expired Belarus passport

J

jennys

Registered Users (C)
Hello,


I received a green card through political asylum and still have 2 years to apply for citizenship. My Belarusian passport expired. I would like to go to Russia. I have already renewed my passport once (no more allowed). Can i apply for passport renewal at the Belarus Council or they wont let me? Or the option only travel document? Will i be able to go back to US with a travel document not having the actual passport? I am very confused. Please help me. Very appreciated!

Best,
Jenny
 
Your post is unclear. Did you renew your passport BEFORE you got asylum? Now, you want to renew it again? How can you renew it if you say "no more allowed" ? You can apply for either a travel document (valid for 1 year) or a re-entry permit (valid for 2 years) using the same form (I-131). You can leave and enter the US with any of these. You will need a Russian visa, though.
 
cafeconleche said:
Your post is unclear. Did you renew your passport BEFORE you got asylum? Now, you want to renew it again? How can you renew it if you say "no more allowed" ? You can apply for either a travel document (valid for 1 year) or a re-entry permit (valid for 2 years) using the same form (I-131). You can leave and enter the US with any of these. You will need a Russian visa, though.
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Thank you for getting back to me.
I renewed it already having an asylum. Although i didn’t mention it when i applied for renewal. Belarusian council allows to renew a passport one time only. The next option is to change the passport. By doing this I would have to include my permanent residence document among documents needed to submit. So i am afraid if i will include my green card they will understand i did an asylum and i am not sure what the consequences will be. Can they(Belarusian council) understand that i did asylum looking at my green card? Should i try doing it?
Will travel document(I-131) replace me a passport? When i had my green card in process(about 3 years ago) and needed urgently to go to Russia i applied for travel document, the one for 1 year, and when i was going back they still asked me for my passport(which was unexpired back then) and checked it. So i am afraid that when i will travel with just I-131 document its not equivalent to the identity document like passport. I am very confused. I don’t have a passport and i cant(can i?) replace it having asylum.
Thank you
 
You do NOT need a passport to return to the US. They will ask you for one a lot, but you just have to reply that it has expired, and you choose to use a refugee travel document (RTD) because you got permanent residence through asylum. You can also now apply for a re-entry permit (REP). It is also a travel document, and is exactly the same as a refugee travel document except that it is (at least the first one you get) valid for 2 years, and it doesn't give you visa-free travel rights to Germany, Benelux, Croatia, and another couple of countries in Europe. The 2 year validity is very helpful. I have used these documents, so I know how much easier my life was with the REP. A travel document practically guarantees you admission to the US (I say "practically" because if you stay out for over six months, and/or commit a crime, then you could, in theory, be denied entry. There is a very low chance of this happening). The US is not the problem here.

The Belorussian consulate will likely know the code for asylees on your GC, so I would suggest you avoid that route. If they know you applied for asylum, who knows what they will put in their system, and they could make your life difficult if you ever want to go to Belarus in future as a US citizen, or they could harass your family there. There are other Belorussians or former Belorussians on this forum who could maybe help you here with information.

The only question is, will Russia issue you a visa in your RP or RTD when it shows you were born in Minsk or somewhere else indicating you were a Soviet citizen, and now could be a CIS citizen. Once you are in Russia, you essentially could enter Belarus (since there are no border controls) and get a new passport there (if you want one). I don't know how easy this is. Again, others from CIS countries on this forum would know a lot more than I do.
 
Thank you so much. I am actually not planning to go to Belarus at all. My parents are in Russia.
I contacted Russian council explaining the situation with expired passport and plans to get a travel document(not mentioning asylum) and they wrote me that i do need a visa if i have blue US travel document. Is the I-131 travel document blue? Or they missunderstood me and thought i have US passport(although i actually mentioned i have green card)?

If i have a chance to do a russian passport when i am in russia, can i have a russian passport and asylum GC? Will it help me or create more questions and problems?

Thanks again!
 
The travel document blue, yes, unless they changed the colour and have a new design now. You will need a visa.

Do you have a claim to Russian citizenship? If you're eligible, I think you can go ahead and apply for a passport. It would definitely make your life easier. You can have an asylum GC and a passport. Many people, after they get their GC through asylum, use their passports that are still valid, or renew them. Depending on your situation, this is possible, as long as your country issues the passport. A passport from a country that is NOT your country of persecution would be even better. I don't know how you will get a Russian passport unless you are a Russian citizen, though.
 
Sorry for the tons of questions. I really apreciate your help!!!
I was trying to do a research regarding travel documents and it says that "The travel documents for an asylee and refugee are presently light green" And the one that i had before was green. I m ok with any color, i just want to make sure that is the document i need to come back. I will try emailing Russian counsil to clarify regarding this issue as well.
Thank you again!
Regarding Russian passport, it was just one unrealistic thought :)
 
Expired Belarusian Passport

Hello,
I won my green card through the lottery. Since then I have gone to Belarus many times and have all the stamps i my Belarusian passport. Recently my passport got expired since I turned 25. I am planning to go to Belarus but I don't want to apply for a passport for a belarusian citizen who lives outside of Belarus. I dont have US passport yet. I want to go to Belarus for a new year and I have a chance to do new passport here. My question is what is the most convenient, cheapest and fastest way for me to go to Belarus and be able to come back to the US?
Regards,
Kate
 
KateHulm said:
Hello,
I won my green card through the lottery. Since then I have gone to Belarus many times and have all the stamps i my Belarusian passport. Recently my passport got expired since I turned 25. I am planning to go to Belarus but I don't want to apply for a passport for a belarusian citizen who lives outside of Belarus. I dont have US passport yet. I want to go to Belarus for a new year and I have a chance to do new passport here. My question is what is the most convenient, cheapest and fastest way for me to go to Belarus and be able to come back to the US?
Regards,
Kate
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Hi guys, I just wanted to know what is the procedure for a Belarusian woman to obtain her passport for the first time in Belarus? Does anyone knows what the legal timeframe is (e.g. max 3 months) or it can eventually take much longer? I would appreciate any help … Cheers
 
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