documents you need to enter or leave the USA

T

thankful

Registered Users (C)
Hi,

Given that some people do not understand the documentary requirements to enter or leave the United States (for example one person had the ball to say dismissively that your green card was a "little green card" which would not permit you to return to America), I thought that posting this attached flyer would be helpful.

Caution: This only pertains to entering and leaving the USA. It does NOT address the requirements for entering/leaving a foreign country that you may be visiting.
 
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thankful said:
Hi,

Given that some people do not understand the documentary requirements to enter or leave the United States (for example one person had the ball to say dismissively that your green card was a "little green card" which would not permit you to return to America), I thought that posting this attached flyer would be helpful.

Caution: This only pertains to entering and leaving the USA. It does NOT address the requirements for entering/leaving a foreign country that you may be visiting.
Click to expand...

Great job thankful.
Atique.
 
is this something new?

thankful said:
Hi,

Given that some people do not understand the documentary requirements to enter or leave the United States (for example one person had the ball to say dismissively that your green card was a "little green card" which would not permit you to return to America), I thought that posting this attached flyer would be helpful.

Caution: This only pertains to entering and leaving the USA. It does NOT address the requirements for entering/leaving a foreign country that you may be visiting.
Click to expand...

thankful,

Do you know when this rule has been around? I have been out of U.S a few times and came back to U.S. and the IO at the airport has always asked for either RTD or passport beside the GC I presented.
If a valid GC can be the only document to enter U.S., will the country (countries) that people visited became irrelevant then? will this be the answer of what people in this forum have been talking about whether or not using NP or RTD or both because we don't have to have any of them to come back as long as we have Green Card, is this true?
Do they( I/Os) at the airport have the right to request document other than GC?
I would like to hear experience from people of this forum who come back to U.S. without having to present any Passport or RTD but Green Card only.
 
jkbc said:
thankful,

Do you know when this rule has been around? I have been out of U.S a few times and came back to U.S. and the IO at the airport has always asked for either RTD or passport beside the GC I presented.
If a valid GC can be the only document to enter U.S., will the country (countries) that people visited became irrelevant then? will this be the answer of what people in this forum have been talking about whether or not using NP or RTD or both because we don't have to have any of them to come back as long as we have Green Card, is this true?
Do they( I/Os) at the airport have the right to request document other than GC?
I would like to hear experience from people of this forum who come back to U.S. without having to present any Passport or RTD but Green Card only.
Click to expand...

When I come back from Canada I always hand the officer the green card only and it never has been a problem. When I return from Europe I give the officer both the RP and the green card.
 
Ok, now I'm very confused. I read somewhere in this forum that as an asylee, one should not renew the passport. Here is my case:

I'm an asylee and my husband is a Naturalized US citizen. His family lives in a different country in South America. We go there every year to visit his elderly mother during Christmas, always for an average of 15 days. My passport expired 3 years ago and I was told that I needed a document to enter that country. What passport am I supposed to bring if I cannot renew my country of origin passport? My Refugee Travel Document expired long time ago, I think one or 2 years after I was granted asylum in 2001 . I received my PR status and green card in 2005. Now I'm waiting to apply for Naturalization, which I plan to do in 2 more months. I renewed my country of origin passport 3 years ago and since then I have used it 4 times. I have always shown my passport and my green card and I have never been asked one single question when returning to this country. Each time the immigration officer has always been very courteous. What am I missing here? I have never gone back to my country. My entire family is here. I do have relatives but just a niece, and she comes to the U.S. every second month. My parents are deceased so I have no ties. So, what's all this fuss about renewing a passport?

Sorry but I'm not clear why I can't renew the passport if I want to go to Europe or China, or even to another country in South America (not the country to which I used to be a citizen before). I believe I'm an asylee with a green card, but I'm still considered a citizen of my country of origin until I get a USA passport, right? Please clarify. Thanks! :confused:
 
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Anyone with some good insight? So, shall I assume that there is no problem renewing the country of origin passport when I apply for Naturalization?
 
REad other posts. There are plenty of them, no clarification though. A lot of people renewed their passports, a lot of others did not. Since you have already done it and used it for travel you have no choice left :)
Now relax and wait for your interview. According to other people's experience passport renewal was much less issue than visiting COP. Nobody as far as we know here was denied because of that. Hopefully you will be OK.

Good luck and share please your experience with us afterwards.
 
Traveling abroad US as GC holder more questions

Hi guys, it's incredible how helpful this blog is. It's amazing also recognize peolple still active helping others as Thankful. My last post was on Oct 2006, on that time I was desperate waiting for asylum approval. A lot of things happened, all good and two days ago we received Permanent Status. My question double:
1) I understood Green Card allow us to departure and re-entry US, my question is: what about entry visiting other countries (different of our origin country, which document are we going to show? just Green Card?)? Our original country passports expired long time ago, we don't need or like any tie with that country and of course I fear go to a Consulate and ask to renew those passports. How does it work?

2) We have expired Refugee Travel Documents, that we used while asylum status was approved. It is possible renew them or we have to re-apply, use them expired??

I really appreciate your opinions and good luck to everyone
 
You can get new Refugee Travel Documents (RTD) or Re Entry Permits (RP). The RP is valid for 2 years instead of 1, so that would, in general, be the better option.
 
devildog said:
Hi guys, it's incredible how helpful this blog is. It's amazing also recognize peolple still active helping others as Thankful. My last post was on Oct 2006, on that time I was desperate waiting for asylum approval. A lot of things happened, all good and two days ago we received Permanent Status. My question double:
1) I understood Green Card allow us to departure and re-entry US, my question is: what about entry visiting other countries (different of our origin country, which document are we going to show? just Green Card?)? Our original country passports expired long time ago, we don't need or like any tie with that country and of course I fear go to a Consulate and ask to renew those passports. How does it work?

2) We have expired Refugee Travel Documents, that we used while asylum status was approved. It is possible renew them or we have to re-apply, use them expired??

I really appreciate your opinions and good luck to everyone
Click to expand...

First of all, congratulations.

You are very smart in deciding not to use your national passport. You have two options. You can get continue to apply for a refugee travel document. Or you can apply for a Permit to Reenter the United States, also known as the reentry permit. Both documents look almost the same; they just have different names.

Now the RP is valid for two years and the refugee travel document is valid for one. So the former usually is the better choice. But Germany gives visa-free entry to holders of the RTD but not to RPs.

Be sure to call the countries you are most likely to visit and ask if they prefer a particular document.
 
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Hi Thankful, hope that you are doing well..

In the attachment you provided in the first post, there is "resident alien card"
and there is "Permenant resident card" which is the GC.

Can I obtain a resident alien card while I wait for the 1 year till I get the GC? or there is no such thing as resident alien card any more?


Thank you
 
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Raziel said:
Hi Thankful, hope that you are doing well..

In the attachment you provided in the first post, there is "resident alien card"
and there is "Permenant resident card" which is the GC.

Can I obtain a resident alien card while I wait for the 1 year till I get the GC? or there is no such thing as resident alien card any more?


Thank you
Click to expand...

Resident alien card is the same as permanent resident card.
 
thankful said:
Hi,

Given that some people do not understand the documentary requirements to enter or leave the United States (for example one person had the ball to say dismissively that your green card was a "little green card" which would not permit you to return to America), I thought that posting this attached flyer would be helpful.

Caution: This only pertains to entering and leaving the USA. It does NOT address the requirements for entering/leaving a foreign country that you may be visiting.
Click to expand...

Hi everyone!

Just want to rise up the same question, since its been awhile since this thread was created - what type of document do i need to have when traveling abroad(by air)??
My situation is - i've been granted asylum, submitted all the documentation for GC in 09/2010. Its been as more than a year and until now i have not heard any info about my case((. Another thing is my home country passport has expired several years ago. Recently i have obtained RTD and i plan to travel to Asia and Europe (!not to my home country!). Officially RTD guarantee you the ability to return back to US legally. But what about using it as passport for entering to another countries? would it be enough for crossing the border of other countries? what shall i provide at the airport??
Colleagues - Any good tips for my situation??

thanks a million!
 
Most countries recognize the RTD as your "passport," but some, like Singapore, don't. You will be allowed back into the US, but you will most likely need visas for your destination countries. Where are you going exactly? Some people on this forum might know if you'll be successful.
 
cafeconleche said:
Most countries recognize the RTD as your "passport," but some, like Singapore, don't. You will be allowed back into the US, but you will most likely need visas for your destination countries. Where are you going exactly? Some people on this forum might know if you'll be successful.
Click to expand...

Thailand, China, Germany, Ukraine, Poland

Thanks again
 
Well, Germany doesn't require a visa on an RTD, so that's good. Unfortunately, I think the rest of those countries do.
 
cafeconleche said:
Well, Germany doesn't require a visa on an RTD, so that's good. Unfortunately, I think the rest of those countries do.
Click to expand...

cafeconleche about the Germany- how new is this information? cause i saw the same information posted in 2006 or 2007..kinda awhile ago.

Who else has any ideas?? or who has experienced that?:confused:
 
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