VISA Information for Countries
- Thread starter wantmygcnow
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balilumber
New Member
Thanks........a lot for this information. You ROCK the Thread 
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So I went shopping on Timatic for a little bit, and here's a comprehensive but not exhaustive list of countries you can travel to using your RTD (I-571). This is exclusively from Timatic. Please make sure to check with the respective embassies before booking anything as sometimes entry depends on your nationality, and policies can change. Also, a lot of these countries are so small their immigration websites are very basic and don't cover everything.
I tried to include as much pertinent information as I could from whatever results I obtained from Timatic. These results are based on a 15-day vacation, with return tickets arriving on 10/01/19, and with an RTD (I-571)valid from 7/01/19 to 7/02/20. Countries will have different policies on how long your RTD must be valid for at the time of entry, so double check that as well.
——Americas——
Canada - RTD + GC
Bahamas - depends on nationality shown on RTD
Belize
Dominican Republic (must have return ticket)
Colombia - depends on nationality shown on RTD, check conditions
Ecuador
Guatemala - RTD + GC
Haiti - (check conditions)
Honduras
Jamaica - (return ticket required)
Mexico - RTD + GC
Panama - depends on nationality shown on RTD
St. Martin, Aruba, Curacao, & Caribbean Netherlands [Bonaire, St Eustatius, Saba]
Turks & Caicos (return ticket required)
——Europe——
Belgium
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Croatia
Cyprus
Germany
Georgia - Even though their portal says it’s possible to visit without a visa, Timatic says you DO need one. Check with the airline. Seems to be based on nationality though - https://www.geoconsul.gov.ge/HtmlPage/Html/View?id=956&lang=Eng
Hungary
Montenegro
Netherlands
Slovakia
——Africa——
Cape Verde
Comoros - depends on nationality shown on RTD
Kenya - check conditions
Maldives
Seychelles
Uganda
These are the countries with big hubs you can transit through without a visa. You must have an onward ticket to 3rd country and leave the same day. Cannot change terminals, though some countries will make exceptions according to some users' experiences here. Might also depend on Nationality shown on RTD, double check with Timatic or transiting country embassy.
Canada - RTD + GC. RTD only holders can apply for a transit visa, which is free.
France (Paris) - Must be transiting from non-Schengen state to non-Schengen state.
Ireland (Dublin)
Turkey (Istanbul)
Qatar (Doha) - While it seems like it's possible to transit without a visa. The Qatar website mentions nothing about traveling with an RTD. Timatic also says a transit visa is required. It seems like either an ETA or transit visa is required to travel with RTD.
https://www.visitqatar.qa/plan/visas-requirements.html
United Kingdom - Gatwick (LGW), Heathrow (LHR) or Manchester (MAN)
United Arab Emirates (Dubai or Abu Dahbi)
I tried to include as much pertinent information as I could from whatever results I obtained from Timatic. These results are based on a 15-day vacation, with return tickets arriving on 10/01/19, and with an RTD (I-571)valid from 7/01/19 to 7/02/20. Countries will have different policies on how long your RTD must be valid for at the time of entry, so double check that as well.
——Americas——
Canada - RTD + GC
Bahamas - depends on nationality shown on RTD
Belize
Dominican Republic (must have return ticket)
Colombia - depends on nationality shown on RTD, check conditions
Ecuador
Guatemala - RTD + GC
Haiti - (check conditions)
Honduras
Jamaica - (return ticket required)
Mexico - RTD + GC
Panama - depends on nationality shown on RTD
St. Martin, Aruba, Curacao, & Caribbean Netherlands [Bonaire, St Eustatius, Saba]
Turks & Caicos (return ticket required)
——Europe——
Belgium
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Croatia
Cyprus
Germany
Georgia - Even though their portal says it’s possible to visit without a visa, Timatic says you DO need one. Check with the airline. Seems to be based on nationality though - https://www.geoconsul.gov.ge/HtmlPage/Html/View?id=956&lang=Eng
Hungary
Montenegro
Netherlands
Slovakia
——Africa——
Cape Verde
Comoros - depends on nationality shown on RTD
Kenya - check conditions
Maldives
Seychelles
Uganda
These are the countries with big hubs you can transit through without a visa. You must have an onward ticket to 3rd country and leave the same day. Cannot change terminals, though some countries will make exceptions according to some users' experiences here. Might also depend on Nationality shown on RTD, double check with Timatic or transiting country embassy.
Canada - RTD + GC. RTD only holders can apply for a transit visa, which is free.
France (Paris) - Must be transiting from non-Schengen state to non-Schengen state.
Ireland (Dublin)
Turkey (Istanbul)
Qatar (Doha) - While it seems like it's possible to transit without a visa. The Qatar website mentions nothing about traveling with an RTD. Timatic also says a transit visa is required. It seems like either an ETA or transit visa is required to travel with RTD.
https://www.visitqatar.qa/plan/visas-requirements.html
United Kingdom - Gatwick (LGW), Heathrow (LHR) or Manchester (MAN)
United Arab Emirates (Dubai or Abu Dahbi)
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busydoingnothin
Active Member
Did you check Slovenia and Luxembourg as well?
Yes, I checked both. I was a little surprised by this as well. While Travel Doc says that a visa is not required for Slovenia, but it is required for Luxembourg, Timatic says a visa is required for both.
Oh yes, another tidbit of info when traveling to Mexico. According to Timatic, you don't need a GC if - "Passengers with a US Travel Document (Form I-571) issued to refugees for a maximum stay of 180 days, if their original passport was issued by Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Rep., Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong (SAR China), Hungary, Iceland, Ireland (Rep.), Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Korea (Rep.), Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao (SAR China), Malaysia, Malta, Marshall Isl., Mexico, Micronesia (Federated States), Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Fed., San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, USA, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay or Venezuela."
If your original passport was from any other country, then you need both RTD and GC combo.
If your original passport was from any other country, then you need both RTD and GC combo.
busydoingnothin
Active Member
Good luck and keep us updated on your trip
Enjoy your vacation.cafeconleche
Registered Users (C)
BTW, at some point about ten years ago, you could visit Croatia and Hungary (and maybe Slovakia?) with an RP visa free as well. I visited Croatia with it before it was in the EU, and I had an RP plus Schengen residence permit (though I did not show them my residence permit). They were a bit confused but let me in eventually (twice). Second time was a bit iffy and scary, like traveling from West to East Berlin, as i was on a night train. Police banging on doors and asking for passports, walking away with my strange document, my following them out of fear of losing it, etc...
Arrived in New Zealand safely. Nothing to report really. Confused check-in Air New Zealand person, but checking me in after I showed her that I got back from New Zealand 6 months ago. New Zealand passport control, the guy confused about searching for my visa...whether it was under COP or USA. Supervisor showed him how to do it, I was done in under a two minutes.
One issue I thought would be tricky is my RTD expiry: It expires Nov 1st, 2019....thought they would see that and prevent me from boarding. Didn't
happen. But not recommended. 180 days until I apply for a USA citizenship, hopefully that would be successful, so I can move on from the difficulties of an RTD....which I have been using since 2016. Back in USA three weeks from now.
One issue I thought would be tricky is my RTD expiry: It expires Nov 1st, 2019....thought they would see that and prevent me from boarding. Didn't
happen. But not recommended. 180 days until I apply for a USA citizenship, hopefully that would be successful, so I can move on from the difficulties of an RTD....which I have been using since 2016. Back in USA three weeks from now.
hope there wasn't any problem coming back in?
Can anyone tell me how fast or slow you get stamp at Amsterdam airport? I'm flying to amsterdam and will arrive there at 9:15am, and I have a flight to Milan at 11:50AM, but it is not a connecting flight so I have too claim my baggage in amsterdam and check in for my flight on different airport, do you think I will have enough time?
What time did you arrive in amsterdam and what time was your next flight to Budapest?
busydoingnothin
Active Member
I'm afraid, it might be a little bit tight. Which airport is your flight to Italy from?
This is a really subjective question and there's no real answer for it. There's too many factors that come into play here. How many other international flights arrive around the same time? Are those international flights carrying mostly EU nationals or tourists? Will your flight be delayed because of weather or something else? How busy will AMS be when you land? Will the plane get to the gate right away? How many officers do they have on duty at the time? Will someone ahead of you take longer than usual for whatever reason, thus reducing the number of officers admitting people by one or two? Will the officer who sees you not know what an RTD is and have to ask someone else for help? How long will that person take to come and help?
There's simply no way to tell. A good rule of thumb is that you should leave at least 3 hrs between international connecting flights. AMS is a pretty big and busy international hub in Europe. You're arriving around 9:15AM, which is around the time most flights coming from the Americas arrive. If this were me, I would not book another flight out of AMS until 1PM or later.
So, I'm sitting at LAX, waiting for my connecting flight to Boston. Arrived here from New Zealand. The RTD + GC report:
Auckland, NZ: Tried to check-in. Like always, the Air New Zealand agent on duty didn't know about the RTD. Stood there for about 10 minutes while she ran around trying to confirm i'm allowed to board the flight back to LAX. She finally let me in.
LAX: After the usual questions, what do you do, where do you live, how long were you away, the CPB officer sent me to secondary, just like last time in Feb earlier this year. There were lots of people in secondary. After a two hour wait, I was called out and given back my boarding pass, RTD and GC, no questions asked.
I think in LAX, their process is to send everyone to secondary, everyone with RTD/AP. I thought I saw a couple of people carrying the same RTD/AP green book. On my next trip, I will avoid LAX, unless waiting for 2 hours is not an issue for me. I think what I have learnt over the last four years using the RTD+GC is that, despite everything, airlines still don't know the RTD, so you must always be prepared to be delayed in the least, worse, possible denial of boarding. So you should always have that in the back of your mind when using it. In the face of these delays, etc, always remain calm...I saw a guy arguing with officers, demanding to know why he was sent to secondary. That is not good, they ended up 'examining his record to see possible opportunities to block his entry.
Lastly, the Trump admin continue to turn the screws on us....sending us to secondary examination even when there is nothing wrong. Always have your documents in order before leaving the country, this govt. likes to block people from coming back. If you are unsure about your situation, do not leave the country until you are 100% certain that there are no issues with your case.
Anyway, it's good to be back home, even if the current admin doesn't want us here.
busydoingnothin
Active Member
Came back from Europe in June and had no issues getting in. The officer didn't ask a single thing. Just did fingerprints as usual and that's it. Never in the last 4 years have I been to secondary.
Correct. In my post, i clearly said its an LAX thing, not all airports. I have used many other airports in recent years, including Honolulu, NJ, Chicago, etc.
busydoingnothin
Active Member
I wouldn’t quickly jump to conclusions and blame it on Trump though. It could scare those traveling on RTD+GC. Perhaps you’re right , it could be an LAX thing
Asylum seeker
Registered Users (C)
I'm asylee and already have a green card through asylum, but not a citizen yet as you see from my timeline.
I'm planning to drive my car to visit Canada for a few days and come back. I know I don't need a visa to visit Canada because I have a green card. My question here is: Can I travel to Canada and come back to the United States using just my green card with NO RTD OR NO ADVANCE PAROLE without having any problems when I return or in the future when I apply for citizenship.
I'm planning to drive my car to visit Canada for a few days and come back. I know I don't need a visa to visit Canada because I have a green card. My question here is: Can I travel to Canada and come back to the United States using just my green card with NO RTD OR NO ADVANCE PAROLE without having any problems when I return or in the future when I apply for citizenship.