Travel within the USA

[Bill&Jade 0]

Hi,

Just had a quick question, and it might well be a stupid one too. Is it ok to travel to Alaska and Hawaii (via US airports only) without having applied for AOS yet?

Thanks in advance.

[jane78 12]

Hi,

Just had a quick question, and it might well be a stupid one too. Is it ok to travel to Alaska and Hawaii (via US airports only) without having applied for AOS yet?

Thanks in advance.

Yes it is ok--you are not leaving the USA and will not face a border crossing. Back when I was in F-1 (student) status my visa was expired for a while. You are allowed to stay legally in the USA on an expired F-1 visa as long as you are still enrolled as a full time student in your program ie. for the "duration of status." But if you leave the USA you must renew your visa before re-entering. For various reasons I did not want to go through the visa renewal process at home that year so instead my family and I decided we would meet in Hawaii instead of me going home for vacation. It meant I could take a vacation to somewhere warm without leaving the USA and triggering the need to file for visa renewal.

[GringoD 33]

related.... what documents are necessary to fly within the USA, then?

My lady came from Colombia last April 7.

We got married on July 1.

(ok, Okay! I'm going to start the AOS procession of paperwork this month)

But, what I.D./other documents are acceptable for her to fly commercially within the USA ... Right Now... before we have obtained AOS status?

[jane78 12]

related.... what documents are necessary to fly within the USA, then?

My lady came from Colombia last April 7.

We got married on July 1.

(ok, Okay! I'm going to start the AOS procession of paperwork this month)

But, what I.D./other documents are acceptable for her to fly commercially within the USA ... Right Now... before we have obtained AOS status?

To fly domestically you need your boarding pass and an I.D. Your wife can use her Colombian passport for identification by airline check-in staff and TSA officers at airport security.

More detailed info here:

http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/acceptable-ids

Edited January 2, 2013 by jane78

[dandk 72]

related.... what documents are necessary to fly within the USA, then?

My lady came from Colombia last April 7.

We got married on July 1.

(ok, Okay! I'm going to start the AOS procession of paperwork this month)

But, what I.D./other documents are acceptable for her to fly commercially within the USA ... Right Now... before we have obtained AOS status?

Since your wife I-94 is expired already, you should bring copy of your marriage certificate just in case.

[GringoD 33]

Thanks for the help.

I was thinking the same as you two stated.

But, we started talking about a little vacation travel this past weekend, and she stated a bit of concern about this issue.

[jaycali 415]

Legally, going from New York to Hawaii is no different than going from New York to Connecticut. Going from California to Alaska is no different than going from California to Nevada. Hawaii and Alaska are both integral parts of the US, no different than Kansas or New Jersey. Though they both require moving through international/Canadian airspace, you are not considered to have left the country, unless there is an international stopover.

The key here is not to have any stopovers. If you board a direct flight from Seattle bound for Juneau, it will be assumed that you have not left the airplane 36,000 feet over Canada. Likewise, if you board a direct flight in Los Angeles bound for Honolulu, it will be assumed that you have not left the plane in international airspace. Thus, you have not left the country. If AOS is not complete, you can forget about driving to Alaska through Canada, or jetskiing to Hawaii.

Entering Hawaii, you will need to fill out a Hawaii state customs form. This form is similar to the blue customs form you fill out when you enter the US. Entering Alaska you fill out nothing. Entering the US mainland again, there are no forms to fill out. The State of Hawaii does have an agricultural inspecting for passengers leaving the state as well. This involves a luggage x-ray machine and nothing else.

The only form of documentation you need in order to board a domestic flight in the US is a state issued photo ID. This can be a foreign passport, US driver license, green card, state ID card, military ID etc.

Edited January 10, 2013 by Jay Jay

[Bill&Jade 0]

Legally, going from New York to Hawaii is no different than going from New York to Connecticut. Going from California to Alaska is no different than going from California to Nevada. Hawaii and Alaska are both integral parts of the US, no different than Kansas or New Jersey. Though they both require moving through international/Canadian airspace, you are not considered to have left the country, unless there is an international stopover.

The key here is not to have any stopovers. If you board a direct flight from Seattle bound for Juneau, it will be assumed that you have not left the airplane 36,000 feet over Canada. Likewise, if you board a direct flight in Los Angeles bound for Honolulu, it will be assumed that you have not left the plane in international airspace. Thus, you have not left the country. If AOS is not complete, you can forget about driving to Alaska through Canada, or jetskiing to Hawaii.

Entering Hawaii, you will need to fill out a Hawaii state customs form. This form is similar to the blue customs form you fill out when you enter the US. Entering Alaska you fill out nothing. Entering the US mainland again, there are no forms to fill out. The State of Hawaii does have an agricultural inspecting for passengers leaving the state as well. This involves a luggage x-ray machine and nothing else.

The only form of documentation you need in order to board a domestic flight in the US is a state issued photo ID. This can be a foreign passport, US driver license, green card, state ID card, military ID etc.

[khwaidee1 196]

To fly domestically you need your boarding pass and an I.D. Your wife can use her Colombian passport for identification by airline check-in staff and TSA officers at airport security.

More detailed info here:

http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/acceptable-ids

Oh our wonderful TSA. Before my wife got her GC we flew from Santa Ana, CA to Reno, NV. On our return trip the lovely TSA agent looked in my wife's passport when checking her boarding pass. She told us that her visa was "expired". I told her I knew that as it is a one use only and my wife already entered the U.S. She went on to point out the expiration date on the K-1 telling me that it need to be taken care of right away. I tried to act as disinterested as I could and just said "yes mam" a bunch. She then had us stand aside while she called her supervisor. Really, my wife needs a visa to travel from Nevada to California? They conferred for a bit after which the supervisor then repeated everything the agent said, "visa is expired, it is not valid, needs to be taken care of right way, etc." At this point I'm just ignoring the guy because it's just plain stupid and they wouldn't let me talk anyway. They started to ask my wife questions and she didn't understand which made her uncomfortable. Finally I said enough, will be allowed to board or not? after which they begrudgingly let us pass but not before reminding us that her visa was expired. Sheesh, what a joke and a waste of 20 minutes. We got on the flight and had a good chuckle at the stupidity of these "Agents" in charge.

[C-ma'am 684]

**Post moved to Working & Traveling During US Immigration

[newacct 688]

The key here is not to have any stopovers.

including unforseen stopovers. e.g. Plane making an emergency landing in Vancouver.

[ryna 132]

Oh our wonderful TSA. Before my wife got her GC we flew from Santa Ana, CA to Reno, NV. On our return trip the lovely TSA agent looked in my wife's passport when checking her boarding pass. She told us that her visa was "expired". I told her I knew that as it is a one use only and my wife already entered the U.S. She went on to point out the expiration date on the K-1 telling me that it need to be taken care of right away. I tried to act as disinterested as I could and just said "yes mam" a bunch. She then had us stand aside while she called her supervisor. Really, my wife needs a visa to travel from Nevada to California? They conferred for a bit after which the supervisor then repeated everything the agent said, "visa is expired, it is not valid, needs to be taken care of right way, etc." At this point I'm just ignoring the guy because it's just plain stupid and they wouldn't let me talk anyway. They started to ask my wife questions and she didn't understand which made her uncomfortable. Finally I said enough, will be allowed to board or not? after which they begrudgingly let us pass but not before reminding us that her visa was expired. Sheesh, what a joke and a waste of 20 minutes. We got on the flight and had a good chuckle at the stupidity of these "Agents" in charge.

My wife and I only traveled once domestically by plane while she was awaiting AOS. She used her Colombian passport which, at the time, was a bit behind the times to say the least. It was current but looked more like an ID out of the 1980's than the 2010's - raised photo under a laminated data page, type-written letters, etc. Anyhow, the TSA agent was in training and mentioned the expired K-1 visa. The senior agent doing the training told him (correctly) that that was of no concern to them, the passport was for ID and boarding purposes only... However, she did ask my wife to come with her to a side area to inspect her passport more closely. My poor wife at the time spoke no English so she was completely lost. At least, the TSA agent let me accompany her and I, of course, understood what was going on so I was not worried. The agent put the passport under a microscope looking for evidence that the lamination had been cut, the picture changed, the name/dates/etc. altered. We chatted about how old-style it looked even though it was brand new. My wife looked at both of us with a very confused look on her face. After seeing that it hadn't been altered, she told us to have a nice trip - and then I got to explain to my wife what just happened. I have to admit those TSA agents were actually quite pleasant.

And, of course, my wife exchanged her old Colombian passport for a new electronic Colombian passport (i.e., modern-style) during our first visit back to Colombia. It turns out that Colombia had switched over to the new passports about a month after my wife's original one was issued.

[hmh33 117]

including unforseen stopovers. e.g. Plane making an emergency landing in Vancouver.

Despite how often this gets rolled out, it is NOT an issue. There are procedures in place such that in that kind of event, the passengers would remain legally airside.