Canadian with greencard travelling

A

ac009

Registered Users (C)
Hey everyone! This is such an awesome forum..wish I discovered it earlier...
Anyways, have a quick question.
I'm a Canadian citizen with GC (got it through family sponsor)

I've been living in the US now for a year working here..I'm just wondering, when I travel back to Canada to visit family, could I simply present my Canadian passport at the Canadian border, and when I return to US, just show my GC?

Anyone who knows about this or has some ideas, please let me know.

Thanks a lot!
 
The GC alone, without a passport, is technically sufficient to enter the US.

However, if you don't show a passport it is likely that you will need to provide an explanation for why you don't have it. So show the passport when you're entering the US if you don't want to face extra questioning.
 
And I on the other hand never showed a passport or travel document when entering Canada or reentering the US. I was never questioned about why I only showed me GC. This was all by land.
 
That's great, thanks for all the response guys!
It sounds like when travelling by air (returning to the US), I better have both the passport and the GC...can anyone tell me if they've tried returning by air via only the GC without showing CDN passport?
 
It's unclear why you want to withhold your passport. Just show your GC, and if they ask for a passport, show that too.
 
Do you need to have a GC to enter the USA?

My wife has a GC and a CDN passport. When she left US, she forgot to take her GC only her CDN passport. Can she re-enter US with only a CDN passport? Or should we mail her the GC?
 
Hmm. I recommend sending her the GC. If she's entered the US with this same passport before AND her GC, chances are she can explain to CBP that she forgot her GC, and they can look her up with just the passport. But, she might be hassled, so ideally, you'd send her the GC.
 
Thank you for the advice.

I saw the document uploaded by No Captcha on 2nd November 2007, 12:59 PM on the Thread: documents you need to enter or leave the USA.

On the left side, of that document stated that if you a lawful US permanent resident, then you need your GC to enter the US. On the right side, it stated that if you a Canadian Citizen, then you only need the CDN Passport.

But it does not state if you have both a GC and CDN Passport, then which one, or both, you need to carry. I wish they made it less ambiguous.
 
Well, the GC trumps the Canadian passport for CBP, so for them youre an LPR first and a Canadian second. The passport requirement is meant for Canadian visitors or others without a GC.
 
The Canadian passport by itself is valid only for entry into the US as a visitor, not as a permanent resident.

However, if upon swiping the passport the immigration officer sees in the system that the passport holder is a permanent resident, the officer has the discretion (but not the obligation) to process the individual for entry as a permanent resident. That may happen if the same passport was used in her green card process, or she previously entered the US with that passport since becoming a permanent resident.

But it's not a good idea to count on that. If it's possible for the GC to be sent to her before she travels to the US, send it to her. But don't send it by mail if it's not going to Canada; send it by private courier like Fedex/UPS/DHL.
 
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