Do I need to keep my plastic GC with me?
- Thread starter creack
- Start date
It is also clearly meaningless because it requires one to carry their green card with them when they are, for example, in the shower. I wonder if such an absurdity would be grounds to challenge it if you did get caught.
As an aside, I can understand the requirement to have the card in your possession always, which essentially means be in control of its whereabouts, since that stops you using it as, for example, security for a loan-shark loan. I believe passports and even credit cards have the same requirement. However, this is totally different to having to carry it at all times.
Jackolantern
Registered Users (C)
No ... if there is an item in your house or car ... gun, drugs, money, documents, etc. and not on somebody else's person, and you are in the house or car at the same time, I think that would be considered the equivalent as being carried in your possession.
But then what about those foreign-born basketball players in the NBA who have a green card ... are they supposed to have the card in their shorts when they're playing? Or people swimming in a community pool or at the beach? Are they supposed to carry the card in their bikini or swim trunks? That's when it gets absurd.
There are other stupid laws that numerous peaceful people break regularly ... in some places it is illegal to bathe on Sunday, or to talk in an elevator, or to wear a jacket and pants that don't match. See http://www.dumblaws.com
Indeed. In Alaska it is illegal to wake a sleeping bear to take a photo of it, not to mention incredibly stupid!
Back to the matter in hand though, I agree with your interpretation of "possession". However, the law that you quoted also states "... shall at all times carry with him ..." which to me clearly indicates the requirement to physically have the card on ones person.
I think as long as you are not in the S.Border-it never comes up. The only people who ask for it is Border Patrol. Your normal policemen probably do not even link to this database-so won't even know what to do with it. But in the southern border areas they are strict. They arrest I think hundreds of thousands of illegals, not to mention tons of drugs coming into the country. So they are a bit strict.
Although I heard they are being strict in the northern border. I remember when I got my H-1 visa in Canada and was driving back-way before 9/11. The guy didn't even ask me anything and waved me through-I told him I need my passport stamped and then I went in and there were three immigration officers chatting and they stamped my passport-barely looking it up and were very friendly. I went to Niagra Falls recently , crossed over and came back same day and I got more grilling with my greencard than when I came on a H1. I guess those old days are gone.
But I carry it now all the time because I am applying for N400 and nowadays it is processing fast. But otherwise yes, it would be a bit scary to carry it always worried about loosing it. It is not like a driver's license that you pay a small fee and they give you a temporary permit right away until the permanent one arrives.
Although I heard they are being strict in the northern border. I remember when I got my H-1 visa in Canada and was driving back-way before 9/11. The guy didn't even ask me anything and waved me through-I told him I need my passport stamped and then I went in and there were three immigration officers chatting and they stamped my passport-barely looking it up and were very friendly. I went to Niagra Falls recently , crossed over and came back same day and I got more grilling with my greencard than when I came on a H1. I guess those old days are gone.
But I carry it now all the time because I am applying for N400 and nowadays it is processing fast. But otherwise yes, it would be a bit scary to carry it always worried about loosing it. It is not like a driver's license that you pay a small fee and they give you a temporary permit right away until the permanent one arrives.
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Triple Citizen
Registered Users (C)
I too had that fear. The reason I still carried mine was the simple fact that whoever gave it to me was telling me to do so.
Jackolantern
Registered Users (C)
If you look at the words in isolation it would appear to mean that, but if you think about the more general context of how they legally treat "carry" and "possession", generally if something is in your house or car while you're in the same house or car, you're considered to be carrying and possessing it unless there is somebody else in the same house or car that you can point to because they have a more direct hold on it.
Yes, if cops found drugs hidden in your home, you will be charged with "possession" even if they were not found on your body.
California DMV states that "The licensee shall have the valid driver's license issued to him or her in his or her immediate possession at all times when driving a motor vehicle upon a highway."
There seems to be a distinction between simple possession and immediate possession.
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