Can GC holder without passport status re-enter US?

T

tsering's wife

Registered Users (C)
My husband is a Tibetan refugee born in India (has his IC/yellow book) and after we got married, he came to the U.S. and got his green card in May, 2006. He left the U.S. for a 70 day visit to India (round trip ticket already bought) two weeks ago. We didn't know anything about getting a re-entry permit. An immigration official in NYC office told him he could travel on his GC with no problem. Also, the USCIS website says no re-entry permit is needed if you have a passport, and that people who are "stateless" (like my husband) CAN apply for a re-entry, but it doesn't say he has to have one. I'm so confused. Now that the new passport rules are going into effect after Jan. 2007, will he be denied re-entry? He is due to return Feb. 17. Thanks for any help.
 
his travel document

He travels on his Identity Certificate (from India). He has successfully traveled several times with this (to Europe and Nepal). And of course, the U.S. So it's valid but it's not a passport. When he left for India, he had to get it stamped at the Indian Consulate, and that only took a few hours, so it was not a problem.
 
asylum?

Actually, I don't think that applies. He got his green card on the basis of marriage to a U.S. citizen. He never applied for asylum. Or do you mean another thread is a better place to ask? Sorry, I'm new to this forum.
 
RTD or re-entry permit

Thanks for the info. Now I'm worried, though. The USCIS website says it's not possible to apply for that from India. He could only have applied for that before he left. What can he do?
 
I parsed through all the verbiage in the following CBP page and arrived at the conclusion that even after January 23, 2007, permanent residents, who have been outside the US for less than a year, will be able to enter the US with just their green cards and that the part about a passport being required does not apply to permanent residents:

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/vacation/kbyg/documents_needed.xml

Note that this is the case even today although CBP agents at the airport routinely ask for your passport. There is also the issue of convincing the airline agent(s) that you don't need a passport to enter the US.
 
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