Passports

[PaddyBhoy 0]

quick history - I'm from Scotland and entered the US on a K-1 in June of 2006. After much filling of documents, paying hand over fist and being told twice(TWICE!) that my adjustment of status papers had basically been lost I finally received my Green Card about a month ago(woo-hoo!).

Now my wife and I want to travel back to Scotland to visit my family. My daughter is 13 months old and other than my mum + dad no one back home has seen her yet(other than in photos). So the question is this - can I get an American Passport using a 10 year green card?? I think I need to be a citizen but I'm not sure. Obviously I still have my British passport but would rather go through the immigration line at the airport with my wife/baby instead of being separated. I also need advice for my daughter - we want to travel between June and august, so that would put her being 16 - 18 months old. I've heard in other countries that you don't need a passport for kids under two. is that the case in the US?? If not, where does my wife apply for her and my daughters passport?

thanks for your time

[Otto 83]

You must be a US Citizen in order to obtain a US Passport - GC (10-year or 2-year) is not citizenship. Most PR/GC-holders go with their USC/spouse in line at the airport(s).

Your daughter will need a passport to travel internationally.

Edited January 23, 2009 by Karin und Otto

[rin and john 71]

You must be a US Citizen in order to obtain a US Passport - GC (10-year or 2-year) is not citizenship. Most PR/GC-holders go with their USC/spouse in line at the airport(s).

Your daughter will need a passport to travel internationally.

The airport does not distinguish between LPR and USC, so you and wife will go thru the same line (in the USA). Not sure about the European side, but in Thailand, when I am travelling with Rin I am able to use the Thai lane (much shorter and faster) than the foreigner lane.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

BTW PaddyBhoy: for post-US-naturalisation trips to UK, you can still use your British passport to enter there (though you will need to use your US passport to reenter US).

[Kathryn41 3,205]

You can pick up passport applications for your wife and child at any US Post Office. You can complete the forms and return them to the Post Office and they will go over them, make sure they are complete and then forward them with the proper fees on to the appropriate passport office for processing. My husband's took about 10 days in total, although that was about a year ago.

You would use your green card and your current passport (since you are not a US citizen yet) to travel - the green card allows you to join your wife and child in the US citizens/residents line at Customs and Immigration so you won't have to be separated.

Everyone travelling internationally via air needs a passport, including children, as they will not be allowed on the plane without one either leaving or returning. Effective June, 2009 every US citizen will need a passport to travel regardless of whether it is by air or by vehicle across Canadian or Mexican borders under the US government's WHTI (Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative).

Edited January 24, 2009 by Kathryn41