How does CBP know how long LPR has been outside USA?

[zuluweta 250]

Hi!

I expect to receive my green card sometime next week. I plan to accompany my spouse on a work-related trip to India sometime in December and I have several questions.

1. My passport expires on May 27, 2015. Will I still be able to travel on my current passport or should I apply for a new passport now?

2. This will be my first time traveling outside the USA with a green card. What immigration or travel documents will I need to present to the airline check-in counter? Is there immigration or passport control before getting to the boarding gates?

3. Upon re-entering the USA, what immigration or travel documents do I need to show to CBP? I know they ask you how long you've been away (I overheard the CBP officer ask this of a female Asian green card holder who was ahead of us in the queue last time I entered the US) but how does CBP know exactly how long you've been away if there is no I-94 involved? (I read that US citizens, US LPRs and Canadians don't get an I-94)

Thanks in advance for any helpful response!

[Mollie09 1,543]

DHS knows how long you've been away based on entrance records from CBP and exit records from flight manifests submitted to CBP.

To travel internationally, you need a passport. To re-enter the US, you only need your green card. There is no passport control in the US side, only when you arrive at your international destination.

Whether or not your passport validity will be an issue is determined by where you're going. Most places require passports be valid for 6 months after the visitor's authorized stay expires, so if you're given a 90-day authorized stay, you'd have to have a passport valid for 270 days from the date of entry. You should check that with the country you are visiting.

[S_R 148]

Your passport will be fine for the trip. The airlines will require both your Green card and passport to allow you board. You only need to present your green card at POE once you get back on US soil though. The CBQ officer will depend on what you tell them when it comes to days spent outside US shores. It's information than can easily be verified so they don't expect people to give in accurate information.

[Torete 121]

DHS knows how long you've been away based on entrance records from CBP and exit records from flight manifests submitted to CBP.

To travel internationally, you need a passport. To re-enter the US, you only need your green card. There is no passport control in the US side, only when you arrive at your international destination.

Whether or not your passport validity will be an issue is determined by where you're going. Most places require passports be valid for 6 months after the visitor's authorized stay expires, so if you're given a 90-day authorized stay, you'd have to have a passport valid for 270 days from the date of entry. You should check that with the country you are visiting.

That.

[belinda63 3,051]

The airlines keep records of everyone who is listed for a flight. These are submitted to various agencies. Computers are wonderful things to invade your privacy and if you haven't heard of Edward Snowden I suggest you google him.

The US government knows everything. Everything is computerized. How do you think they contact relatives or know how many people are on a plane when it crashes? You have to print a boarding pass (computerized) you have to pass through at least one checkpoint where they scan or check your passport (computerized). They know when you left and when you returned.