Do you need green card to depart US?

[Wonderer 0]

My wife has a flight to Peru and we are days away from getting her green card. Since she will be there for a month I am going to mail it to her. Will she have any problem leaving the US without her green card?

[Bobby+Umit 161]

My wife has a flight to Peru and we are days away from getting her green card. Since she will be there for a month I am going to mail it to her. Will she have any problem leaving the US without her green card?

I would suggest you go get her passport stamped, before leaving without the GC.

No problems leaving, but what happens if you have a problem getting the GC?

She would have issues trying to get back in most likely.

[payxibka 10,045]

My wife has a flight to Peru and we are days away from getting her green card. Since she will be there for a month I am going to mail it to her. Will she have any problem leaving the US without her green card?

On the outbound flight they should not have too, but my wife was asked for hers. Don't know what would have happened if she did not have it.

[TayRivers 4]

My wife has a flight to Peru and we are days away from getting her green card. Since she will be there for a month I am going to mail it to her. Will she have any problem leaving the US without her green card?

On the outbound flight they should not have too, but my wife was asked for hers. Don't know what would have happened if she did not have it.

My wife was asked for her greencard everytime we checked in for a international flight.

[mooninlove 1]

when I checked in at that time for my flight to PI, they asked my ID & GC. Better be safe than sorry..

[Susita 175]

what if she has AP? will that work?

[TayRivers 4]

what if she has AP? will that work?

No AP will not work if the person has already been approved for AOS, Once approval is given the AP is void and you need either a Greencard or a I-551 stamp in your passport.

[Susita 175]

what if she has AP? will that work?

No AP will not work if the person has already been approved for AOS, Once approval is given the AP is void and you need either a Greencard or a I-551 stamp in your passport.

Ahhh shucks

[payxibka 10,045]

but if AP is all you have because your I-485 is still being processed ,then it will work

[Wonderer 0]

thanks for all the replies.

[TayRivers 4]

but if AP is all you have because your I-485 is still being processed ,then it will work

Inthis case the AOS has already been completed and the OP is just waiting for the Greencard so any AP would not be valid.

[motu 6]

My wife was asked for her greencard everytime we checked in for a international flight.

Interesting - we have flown from Denver; from Miami and from Minneapolis to foreign countries ( to Mexico, Panama, Colombia, India) and the only time she was asked to produce her grencard was for the flight to Mexico (she has a Colombian passport). Colombians need a visa for Mexico but not if they have a greencard. She had visas for India in her passport and no greencard was asked for. Colomobians do not need a visa for Panama and again no one asked for the greencard. My gut feeling is that the airlines look at the passport and then they punch it in and know whether the person needs a visa or not - and may ask for a greencard if the visiting country allows entry based on that for example Mexico, Canada, UK etc. So, it all depends on where she is going - since she is going to her home country - no one will ask her for the greencard on her way home - only on her way back - she will need to show valid status. Good Luck and have fun

[conquest 0]

You would actually trust mailing a green card to peru? Wow you are brave. That kind of thing is highly sought after on the balck market and if some one thought they could use it you will never see it again and then you will have to reapply for another.

[TayRivers 4]

My wife was asked for her greencard everytime we checked in for a international flight.

Interesting - we have flown from Denver; from Miami and from Minneapolis to foreign countries ( to Mexico, Panama, Colombia, India) and the only time she was asked to produce her grencard was for the flight to Mexico (she has a Colombian passport). Colombians need a visa for Mexico but not if they have a greencard. She had visas for India in her passport and no greencard was asked for. Colomobians do not need a visa for Panama and again no one asked for the greencard. My gut feeling is that the airlines look at the passport and then they punch it in and know whether the person needs a visa or not - and may ask for a greencard if the visiting country allows entry based on that for example Mexico, Canada, UK etc. So, it all depends on where she is going - since she is going to her home country - no one will ask her for the greencard on her way home - only on her way back - she will need to show valid status. Good Luck and have fun

On every occation that my wife was asked for her greencard at check-in she was traveling back to the UK, her home country.... So you statement is not always true.

The bottom line about traveling without your greencard is that you are taking risks that it could get lost in the mail or something happens and you need to re-enter the US before you have the greencard in hand..

Easy to fix, Make a Infopass appointment and request a I-551 stamp in your passport BEFORE you leave the US.

You would actually trust mailing a green card to peru? Wow you are brave. That kind of thing is highly sought after on the balck market and if some one thought they could use it you will never see it again and then you will have to reapply for another.

Yes it will cost you $$$ to get a replacement greencard if it was to get lost. I would never mail it anywhere.

[Krikit 1,164]

I was not asked for my GC when travelling overseas or to Canada or Mexico, but I was asked for it upon my return trip from overseas. It probably has a lot do with with which country your passport is issued from. If it's a country where a visa is normally required, the GC will suffice in place of the visa, depending upon which country you are travelling to. (i.e. Canada will allow the GC to trump a visa for certain nations.)

No AP will not work if the person has already been approved for AOS, Once approval is given the AP is void and you need either a Greencard or a I-551 stamp in your passport.

The AP will work if the AOS has been approved. There are quite a number of us who were out of the country when their GC arrived. All we did was use the AP to return to the US and all went well.

Moving to the Working & Travelling Prior to GC forum.

Edited June 18, 2009 by Krikit