Carrying green card on you?

[Ellie-and-David 38]

But since the law requires to keep it on you at all times, I wonder where you law-abiding people keep it during sex, in the sauna, or in the shower. The only place i can think of is very dark and I won't slide it in there, no way!

Now that is none of your beeswax

Said it before, will say it again....cost is NOT a consideration when it is a legal requirement for me to present it. I'm not doing a danged thing against the rules until I am a citizen and can guarantee nothing is going to separate me from my BFG.

When I get my citizenship...I am going on a criminal rampage

[Mimino 2]

didn't think it was going to stir such a discussion lol thank you, all!

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Do you know how much it will cost when you lose your GC, together with your wallet, your driver license, and all of your credit cards?

My GC is where my passport, my valuables, and my gun are: in the safe at home.

But since the law requires to keep it on you at all times, I wonder where you law-abiding people keep it during sex, in the sauna, or in the shower. The only place i can think of is very dark and I won't slide it in there, no way!

Hence, since many people use common sense anyway, I keep it in the safe. Always. Except, when I'm traveling outside the country, that is.

Do you know how lovely it would be to be stopped for whatever; being requested to show your greencard, not having it; being sent for months to an immigration detention center?

your "logic" on this might sound ok; and I could agree with you. But the law is the law.

And the bolded part is just lame; you are better than that.

[pushbrk 12,898]

Hey, all!

Do you have to carry the green card on you all the time after you get it?

Thanks,

mimino

The law specifically requires an LPR to carry their card. My wife and daughter have theirs in the safe with the passports, cash and handgun. We considered the consequence and likelyhood of loss or theft greater risks than the consequences of being asked for it unexpectedly.

Edited October 29, 2009 by pushbrk

[duster 0]

This is an interesting thread and I have followed it to the point of actually going to the bank this morning and removing my GC from my safe deposit box and it is now residing in my wallet.

I too thought that the risks of losing it far outweighed the costs of not carrying it; I have been asked for it twice, once when applying for my concealed weapons permit and then again when I purchased a gun. Apart from that it has lived in the safe deposit box.

Notwithstanding the likelihood or not of a formal or legal request to produce it on the spot, I will carry mine from now on!

Edited October 29, 2009 by duster

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Whether or not to carry the GC "at all times" is a personal decision. The merits and advantages can be argued both ways. I'd just like to offer some food for thought, if I may.

1) A survey on another site asking the same question a few months back revealed that about 85% of GC holders do not carry their card with them and instead keep it in a safe place.

2) The only time the card is really needed is when reentering the country after having traveled abroad. A foreign passport with a GC serves the same purpose as a US passport.

3) Imagine the following scenario:

You lose your wallet with your driver license, you bank ATM card, your credit cards, and . . . your GC.

You now go to the DMV and ask for a new driver license. A USC will show their passport and that's it. YOU as a LPR, however, will be ask to proof your legal presence by showing your GC. Oh, wait, that you lost as well. The only US government-issued photo ID you have! So they'll ask you to come back once you have a new GC. You pay $300, send in form I-90 and wait. And wait. And wait. And take the bus. Ride the bike. Walk.

Then you go to the bank. You need money. ATM card gone. No problem, get a new one. All you need is your driver license. Oh, wait, that's gone too! No problem, luckily you have a government-issued photo ID: your GC. Oh, no, that too you lost. You lost it all with your wallet. So here too you wait for the GC to arrive. Eventually. Until then you do what? Use your credit cards that you lost as well?

Hence, if you keep your GC with your passport, none of the above problems will even become such. Put the card where your passport is, and that's it.

A fine up to $100 for not having it on you? How about a $300 fine for losing it, plus the unspeakable hassle associated with it?

I live in SoCal since January 1992, have been driving very close to the Mexico border (Escondido) several times, and not once in 18 years has anybody even remotely mentioned the GC.

The primary form of identification in the US of A is the driver license. Border control near the Mexican border is looking for people (primarily Mexicans, I assume) who have been crossing the border illegally, not people who are driving on the freeway in their very own car and have a driver license. People who live near the Mexican border know the traffic signs showing a man, a woman, and a child running across the freeway. The first time I saw those signs I hardly couldn't believe that they are real, but they are.

Just my two cents. Feel free to carry at all times, if you like. It's always a good thing to obey the law. And it's always a good thing to use common sense. There you have it. Whatchagonnado?

[duster 0]

Hey Just Bob, great posting, thanks.

On reflection I must agree with you; a $100 fine is nothing compared to the cost of replacement and the hassle factor so eloquently spelled out in your posting.

Guess its going back to the bank in the morning then!

Slightly off topic I know, but an earlier poster mentioned keeping his/her GC with the passport and the gun in a safe!

Surely the gun should be kept handy; not many home invasions are perpetrated by people who will allow you a couple of minutes to crack open the safe and get your firearm!

[Jasman0717 9]

Claudeth usually carries her's but not always

[Malrothien 6]

I'm a PR of Canada (USC) and I ALWAYS carry my permanent resident card with me - right along with my SSN and SIN cards.

[visacheck 3]

Whether or not to carry the GC "at all times" is a personal decision. The merits and advantages can be argued both ways. I'd just like to offer some food for thought, if I may.

1) A survey on another site asking the same question a few months back revealed that about 85% of GC holders do not carry their card with them and instead keep it in a safe place.

2) The only time the card is really needed is when reentering the country after having traveled abroad. A foreign passport with a GC serves the same purpose as a US passport.

3) Imagine the following scenario:

You lose your wallet with your driver license, you bank ATM card, your credit cards, and . . . your GC.

You now go to the DMV and ask for a new driver license. A USC will show their passport and that's it. YOU as a LPR, however, will be ask to proof your legal presence by showing your GC. Oh, wait, that you lost as well. The only US government-issued photo ID you have! So they'll ask you to come back once you have a new GC. You pay $300, send in form I-90 and wait. And wait. And wait. And take the bus. Ride the bike. Walk.

Then you go to the bank. You need money. ATM card gone. No problem, get a new one. All you need is your driver license. Oh, wait, that's gone too! No problem, luckily you have a government-issued photo ID: your GC. Oh, no, that too you lost. You lost it all with your wallet. So here too you wait for the GC to arrive. Eventually. Until then you do what? Use your credit cards that you lost as well?

Hence, if you keep your GC with your passport, none of the above problems will even become such. Put the card where your passport is, and that's it.

A fine up to $100 for not having it on you? How about a $300 fine for losing it, plus the unspeakable hassle associated with it?

I live in SoCal since January 1992, have been driving very close to the Mexico border (Escondido) several times, and not once in 18 years has anybody even remotely mentioned the GC.

The primary form of identification in the US of A is the driver license. Border control near the Mexican border is looking for people (primarily Mexicans, I assume) who have been crossing the border illegally, not people who are driving on the freeway in their very own car and have a driver license. People who live near the Mexican border know the traffic signs showing a man, a woman, and a child running across the freeway. The first time I saw those signs I hardly couldn't believe that they are real, but they are.

Just my two cents. Feel free to carry at all times, if you like. It's always a good thing to obey the law. And it's always a good thing to use common sense. There you have it. Whatchagonnado?

There is a higher chance of losing your GC compared to being stopped at a check point and asked for your greencard especially if you dont even go near any border. I think being sent for months in a detention center for not carrying your GC is waaayyy exaggerated.

Yes, maybe one might encounter the hassle of explaining why you dont have the GC but I would rather do that than the hassle of losing my wallet.

I would think that CBP are top of the line when it comes to technology. They could easily check their system if you are a legal resident or not.

Now I need to make a photocopy of my GC coz even that, I dont have.

[Cerize 0]

I myself am not sure if I will be caring the card with me but a copy of such maybe enough. Now if we happen to have a situation like what the post above mentioned then maybe we should do what Bob said keep it in a safe place with your gun and ammo.. because if you think you will end up paying around 300+ dollars to replace your GC and wallet with ID/DL and other information you have in your wallet. Now I have been told to not carry the SS card and I havent unless I needed to go to the bank or another place where they ask to see a second form of ID but that is another case.

I live in San Diego a border city and been to up north like San Bernardino, Long Beach etc. only once I was traveling on a bus and was asked for my visa and passport (I had at the time) provided the information and that has been the closes to being stopped by a BP agent. I have also seen those border point between San Diego and the OC and never seen cars stopped by BP either. I have never seen border patrol agents stopping people randomly on the streets, you only see them talking to the mexican restaurant people or ordering burritos. There are sings of people running NEVER have I seen actual people running and have asked many of my friends and family and have not seen such either. I see border patrol all the time but they dont bother you, or at least I have had the lucky chance of not being stopped by one. Even when I was on a visa I did not carry it with me all the time...

Edited October 30, 2009 by Cerize

[TBoneTX 45,309]

I think being sent for months in a detention center for not carrying your GC is waaayyy exaggerated.

You think? Or you know?

[TBoneTX 45,309]

I see border patrol all the time but they dont bother you, or at least I have had the lucky chance of not being stopped by one.

The bolded part is the only statement that remotely redeems your post.

[visacheck 3]

I think being sent for months in a detention center for not carrying your GC is waaayyy exaggerated.

You think? Or you know?

People caught crossing the border illegally is sent back home immediately so long as they dont have arrest warrants in the US, but a permanent resident not carrying GC spends months in a detention center?! Tell me thats not exaggerated?

I read somewhere that the penalty for not carrying GC is $100 and/or jail time of not more than 30 days. Realistically, i dont think anyone would go to jail for not carrying his/her GC.... detained a couple of hours, maybe worst case scenario.

Edited October 31, 2009 by visacheck

[Mimino 2]

when i came to the u.s. on f-1 visa, i have never carried my passport around to prove my status, as it was not a requirement. why is the green card any different? weird stuff.