expired green card expired passport

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confusedstudent

Registered Users (C)
Hi,

I am trying to travel to South America September 7th to study Spanish, but my Green Card is expired, and so is my Vietnam passport. I know that I need a passport to travel outside the country, but in order to apply for a renewal of my Vietnam passport, I need proof of a Green Card - which is expired. What do I need to do to travel? What is the fastest way? I need to leave the US September 7th.

HELP!
 
File I-90 to apply for a renewed green card. If you file online you'll get an immediate receipt that you can print. Otherwise if you file by mail they'll send you the receipt in a couple of weeks.

Take the receipt and your passport (yes, even though it is expired) and the expired green card and go to an Infopass appointment to get a temporary I-551 stamp in your passport (also bring an unexpired ID like a driver's license, if you have it). That stamp is temporary proof of permanent residence and can be used to enter the US or accept employment or for almost any other purpose that requires proving permanent residence.

For overseas travel you still have the passport issue. You would use that I-551 stamp in the passport as proof of permanent residence when applying to renew your passport. Then you would have to travel with both the new unexpired passport along with the old passport because the old passport has the I-551 stamp.

If Vietnam will accept the expired green card, or other evidence such as the green card approval notice, you could apply to renew your passport first before applying to renew your green card. That would enable you to get the I-551 stamp in the new passport.

If Vietnam won't accept the I-551 stamp or other evidence of legal residence such as the green card approval notice, and they insist on seeing the unexpired physical plastic green card, then it looks like you're stuck until the physical card arrives in 2-6 months. You're also stuck if they take away the old passport when issuing the new one ... unless at another Infopass appointment the immigration officer will agree to give you a new I-551 stamp in the new passport after realizing you already got one a short time ago.
 
How long does it take to renew your Vietnamese passport?

Another thing you could do is to apply for a reentry permit by filing an I-131 with USCIS. The reentry permit can be used as a passport and you do not even need to get a temporary LPR stamp. You can use the RP to travel. You should enclose a note with your application indicating that you need to travel in early September. This way it they can speed up the processing for you.

A better option yet is to apply for naturalization.
 
Obtaining a reentry permit before September 7 is unlikely. Same thing for naturalization before September -- not possible in such a short time.
 
Jackolantern said:
Obtaining a reentry permit before September 7 is unlikely. Same thing for naturalization before September -- not possible in such a short time.
Click to expand...

Depending on the Vietnamese bureaucracy getting a passport renewed before September 7 may not be realistic either. At least for a reentry permit application, if you submit proof of the urgency of your request they have been able to expediate your application. They have issued RPs in two or three weeks.
 
I have asked the Vietnam Embassy about renewing my passport and they were not very helpful. They want my physical green card. How do I go about applying for a reentry permit with an expired green card? And do I use that reentry permit as a passport? How long should that take?
 
I still have the expired one. They won't accept it. I think I'm going to just apply for the reentry permit and I called and the lady said it shouldn't take more than two months if I expedite it and I can in this case because while down there I'm documenting a surgical mission. I just need their letter and I should be good to go. Any other advice? Thank you all!
 
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