International travel on a Green Card

[brad836 0]

salaam alaikum,

Any advice will be appreciated. My wife is planning on holiday by herself to Tehran to visit her family for 3 weeks. Inshaallah she will have no problems, but this is the 1st time she will be traveling abroad since she received her green card in August. Her passport has her family name, and her green card has her married name. What name should I use to buy the air ticket? What additional documentation should she take? I am most concerned about her re entry into the U.S. since as I'm sure you know the U.S. considers Iran to be a state sponsor of terrorism. Also what should she have with her to transit through Europe either through France, Germany, Russia, or Dubai. I have not chose an airline yet. I'm going to call the DHS, but first I wanted to get some great middle east visajouney advice.

thank you

[kofuku 0]

She may have problems for the simple fact that her green card does not match her passport. Can she get it amended to reflect her married name? When you buy the ticket, her name must match her passport. I hope there are others that can chime in with the transit visa questions. I'd work on getting her visa changed, if not, proof of name change(i.e. marriage certificate) should be accompanied with the green card.

[YuAndDan 153]

That is not a problem, book airfare in the name in the passport the airlines require the tickets to match the passport. When your wife returns to the USA only then dose the green card need to be used to re-enter the country. Many travel this way.

As a precaution have a copy of marriage certificate handy to show the name change.

[melly 0]

That still doesn't address the question of whether or not they will let her back into the country.

I had a friend who was born and raised in England, though his parents are from Iran and I guess he has a dual nationality. He was trying to come to the US over last summer to visit relatives and such and when he applied for a visa they kept him waiting about a decision for months and then finally denied him. I was very sad for him.

I'm not sure what the policy is if you have a green card, and perhaps it's easier for females.

Insha'Allah things will be okay and she'll have no problems.

[kitkat1 5]

That still doesn't address the question of whether or not they will let her back into the country.

I had a friend who was born and raised in England, though his parents are from Iran and I guess he has a dual nationality. He was trying to come to the US over last summer to visit relatives and such and when he applied for a visa they kept him waiting about a decision for months and then finally denied him. I was very sad for him.

I'm not sure what the policy is if you have a green card, and perhaps it's easier for females.

Insha'Allah things will be okay and she'll have no problems.

Unfortunately the story of a person who was denied a tourist visa has no bearing on a green card holder traveling with a passport in one name and a green card in another.

Brad, follow YuDan's advice. The name on the ticket needs to match the name on the passport. When she is going through immigration upon her return, it would be wise for her to have her marriage certificate to explain the name difference from her green card.

[melly 0]

That still doesn't address the question of whether or not they will let her back into the country.

I had a friend who was born and raised in England, though his parents are from Iran and I guess he has a dual nationality. He was trying to come to the US over last summer to visit relatives and such and when he applied for a visa they kept him waiting about a decision for months and then finally denied him. I was very sad for him.

I'm not sure what the policy is if you have a green card, and perhaps it's easier for females.

Insha'Allah things will be okay and she'll have no problems.

Unfortunately the story of a person who was denied a tourist visa has no bearing on a green card holder traveling with a passport in one name and a green card in another.

Brad, follow YuDan's advice. The name on the ticket needs to match the name on the passport. When she is going through immigration upon her return, it would be wise for her to have her marriage certificate to explain the name difference from her green card.

The reason I said what I did was because of this in the OP's post:

I am most concerned about her re entry into the U.S. since as I'm sure you know the U.S. considers Iran to be a state sponsor of terrorism.

To me, the passport matching the green card are a seperate matter as to whether or not they will let her, as an Iranian, back into the US.

[kitkat1 5]

To me, the passport matching the green card are a seperate matter as to whether or not they will let her, as an Iranian, back into the US.

It's highly unlikely that a British citizen had a tourist visa denied because his parents were Iranian. More likely, he was unable to prove to the CO's satisfaction that he was not planning to immigrate which is one of the key issues with a tourist visa.

On the other hand, a green card holder who has not violated any of the conditions of his legal resident status wouldn't normally expect to encounter problems at the POE.

[YuAndDan 153]

To me, the passport matching the green card are a seperate matter as to whether or not they will let her, as an Iranian, back into the US.

It's highly unlikely that a British citizen had a tourist visa denied because his parents were Iranian. More likely, he was unable to prove to the CO's satisfaction that he was not planning to immigrate which is one of the key issues with a tourist visa.

On the other hand, a green card holder who has not violated any of the conditions of his legal resident status wouldn't normally expect to encounter problems at the POE.

If a person has a Green Card it means that they checked out and are A-OK as far as Homeland Security is concerned, The customs and Border Protection service (CBP POE) will let a person holding a green card pass, that is their job, they know that they are OK by the Department of Homeland Security, which is over the Customs and Border Protection department, and USCIS. CBP will not detain or turn away someone holding a green card issued by USCIS and DHS

http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/structure/index.shtm (Notice USCIS, and CBP are listed as being part of DHS)

Edited November 22, 2006 by YuAndDan

[melly 0]

That still doesn't address the question of whether or not they will let her back into the country.

I had a friend who was born and raised in England, though his parents are from Iran and I guess he has a dual nationality. He was trying to come to the US over last summer to visit relatives and such and when he applied for a visa they kept him waiting about a decision for months and then finally denied him. I was very sad for him.

I'm not sure what the policy is if you have a green card, and perhaps it's easier for females.

Insha'Allah things will be okay and she'll have no problems.

Looks like YuAndDan was able to answer that specific question.

[zyggy 9]

To me, the passport matching the green card are a seperate matter as to whether or not they will let her, as an Iranian, back into the US.

It's highly unlikely that a British citizen had a tourist visa denied because his parents were Iranian. More likely, he was unable to prove to the CO's satisfaction that he was not planning to immigrate which is one of the key issues with a tourist visa.

On the other hand, a green card holder who has not violated any of the conditions of his legal resident status wouldn't normally expect to encounter problems at the POE.

If a person has a Green Card it means that they checked out and are A-OK as far as Homeland Security is concerned, The customs and Border Protection service (CBP POE) will let a person holding a green card pass, that is their job, they know that they are OK by the Department of Homeland Security, which is over the Customs and Border Protection department, and USCIS. CBP will not detain or turn away someone holding a green card issued by USCIS and DHS

http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/structure/index.shtm (Notice USCIS, and CBP are listed as being part of DHS)

The only persons who cannot be denied entry are US Citizens. Any alien can be denied entry to the US if the facts indicate that one is trying to enter the US under conditions that are not in conformance with the terms of the staus of which they are trying to enter. The only difference is that a Permanent Resident is given the opportunity to present their case before an immigration judge and the immigration judge will make the finding if one is inadmissible or not instead of CBP in the case of other aliens.

For instance, an alien can be detained if they are determined to have abandoned their permanent resident status and permitted to make their case in front of an immigration judge on whether or not their PR status has been abandoned or not.

Another example is one from real life...

A PR and her dual citizen accomplice committed murder in Canada and went to the POE to enter the US to get away, but no warrant had been issued for their arrest at the time. When they arrived at the POE, the officer was suspicious about the couple due to some of the items in the car that were used in the murder. CBP was able to detain the PR card holder and her car long enough for the RCMP to issue the warrant, but had to let the USC go because there was no reason in terms of US immigration law to detain the USC.

[brad836 0]

Well I phoned DHS and the person I talked to was very helpful. She said that the ticket should be purchased in my wife's married name on the green card, and she said she should have a certified copy of the marriage certificate present. I also phoned her uncle in Tehran and he called the equivalent office, and they also said that with the marriage certificate the passport not matching is not a problem on her entry and exit to Iran. I'm still not convinced with reentry to the US, so I will phone the airline and DHS one more time and then we're gonna purchase the ticket next week.

[Cassie 8]

In my experience travelling, my tickets have been in my maiden name to match my passport, and I carried a certified copy of my marriage lisence/certificate in case there were any questions. Since airport security checks your passport against your tickets before letting you proceed through security, it made things easier. When I go through US Customs upon re-entry to the US, the officers only checked my green card, they didn't need to see my passport or marriage certificate, even though I offered to show them.

You can take my experience for what it's worth, seeing as I have not travelled to the Middle East this way.