HELP! My wife stuck in Brazil airport (TAM/Rio) with an extension letter (non-original)

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Here is the other thread people are referring to: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/343941-wife-and-baby-stuck-in-peru-please-help/

The member DID come back and explain what ended up happening so read the entire thread.

[Boiler 46,159]

That's helpful. Can you explain the distinction?

http://brazil.usembassy.gov/immigrant-visas/other-services/transportation-letter.html

At the top it says "Expired conditional green card" and that seems to be the case that applies here.

A green card is evidence of status, not the status itself.

The letter (original) extends the Card status, so we are not dealing with an expired Green Card.

None of this matters of course if you are dealing with Airlines and Consulates staff who do not know or care.

This does seem to be a Rio issue. No idea why.

[Calypso 464]

I truly hope that your wife returns to the US very soon. I traveled with a physically expired green card and an extension letter last May to the Philippines. No one ever asked for my extension letter, not even Singapore Airlines or any officer at LAX. Once my green card was swiped, I was good to go.

[menina 50]

Many airlines personnel are completely ignorant about the extension letter. I have not been very impressed with TAM airlines--had multiple problems with them unrelated to green card things, and they were completely unwilling to help resolve the problems. That being said, we also had problems with American Airlines not wanting to accept a valid, unexpired visa for Brasil, so the paranoia factor seems to have affected more than one airline. Those who are saying that all you need is the ORIGINAL extension letter and the expired green card are correct. I have never heard of this additional travel document the consulate is telling you to get. Maybe if you try a different airline or another airport employee that would help. Perhaps printing the rules from the USCIS website would convince them. Good luck to you! I hope she can get home soon without more problems and expense.

[Gosia & Tito 199]

If it helps, I just traveled in January with my expired conditional GC and extension letter. I flew United and they didn't give me any problems getting on the plane. They did read the letter (original). Not sure if United is available for your wife's flight.

United would be available from Lima, Peru (daily flight), and TAM can get her to Lima in a couple of hours. I would check with TAM first about the documents she will have in hand and get as possible a written confirmation with contact info, such the whoever is taking her documentation at the airport can contact the person who 'authorized' traveling and as well your wife can contact same person if everything else fails. At same time, have the backup plan with United. I believe United also does Buenos Aires, that might be easier to get to.

[del-2-5-2014 1,339]

I am assuming that one Spouse is a USC. In that case the embassy personnel ought to be ashamed for not bending over backwards to help the Spouse of a USC that is coming home.

This stuff that I read just makes me very sad.

[mandixon 9]

Hey everyone--

TL;DR: Help! My wife is stuck in Rio with an expired greencard and a copy of her extension letter. What do we do?

My wife is currently stuck in Rio (not her departure city) because a TAM employee at the gate wouldn't accept a greencard and a *copy* of the extension letter. From other posts, it seems we messed up. She should have had the original extension letter though that may not have worked.

The airline is sending her to the consulate in the morning. Looking around a bit, I found something on the Brazilian embassy site that says anyone who is "removing conditions" needs to get something called a "boarding foil" (formerly a "transportation letter") if they want their airline to let them leave Brazil. I think this is what they are sending her to get.

(Warning to others: this contradicts many posts on VJ saying a green card and an original extension letter are fine.)

Worse, the site says it may take *5 days* to verify your immigration status and give you a "boarding foil". This is insane. LINKbrazil.usembassy.gov/immigrant-visas/other-services/transportation-letter.html (I don't have permission to link yet, I'm a new user)

Five (business?!) days is totally not okay for us. So I'm wondering if there's anything we can ask for that will speed this up.

Questions:

A. Has anyone been through this "boarding foil" process in Rio (or Brazil)? If so, could you describe what happened and what the time frame

was? Has anyone talked their way through this with the airline after running into a similar barrier?

B. Do airlines have any ability to verify immigration status electronically? Can we put down a large deposit covering the cost of her return if she's sent back (which we know she won't be)?

C. Is the following our best plan?

1) Visit the consulate in the morning and see what they say (particularly re: wait time)

2) If the turn around time is more than two days AND the airline commits to accepting the original extension letter, consider Fedexing the original (which can arrive in two days).

3) Keep pestering to get the airline to accept a copy of the extension letter, or give us another option (though I'm not sure what else we should be asking them for).

D. Does anyone have any other suggestions or information on what to expect?

Thanks!

I was in similar situation back in 2010. I wanted to travel back to USA with an expired GC stamp in my passport (extension of my conditional GC)and a USCIS letter stating that the conditions on my GC were removed. First, most airlines refused to sell the tickets to me. I finally found one airline that sold the tickets, but the security at the airport refused to let me board the plane. They asked me to come with them to an office to "calm" me down. We talked about the situation in the office and they explained to me that any airline that takes me to the USA will have to pay 40.000 dollars as a fine for bringing someone without proper documentation + possibility of fine, imprisonment and/or removal from USA for failure to travel with proper documentation. The letter that I had stated that I shouldnt travel outside USA. I traveled before receiving it with my valid GC stamp which expired when I was abroad. A friend scanned the removal of conditions letter and sent it to me.

So the security kept calling the US consulate for instructions. They finally got through. The consulate asked them to send me over immediately. So I took a taxi and went to the consulate. At the consulate, a homeland security officer interviewed me about the situation. In about 30 mnts, he determined that my reasons for not having the proper documentation were legitimate and he ordered a staff member to issue me a "letter of transportation". I paid around 160 dollars for it. The letter was valid for travel for one week. I went back to the airport immediately but I missed all planes going to USA that night. I spent the night at the airport and flew the following afternoon.

At JFK, things went smoothly. They took me to an office and asked about my long absence from USA and my GC situation and I was good to go. I traveled couple of times afterward with no issues at all.

I hope this helps!