Travel to India with expired GC + extension letter in married name

[Rotnkid 33]

Hello, 

I am an LPR (came on K1) and have filed for ROC.  I am planning a trip to India soon and was wondering if I would have issues while flying back to the US with an expired GC and valid extension letter. The other issue is that my Canadian passport is in my maiden name and the GC and extension letter are in my married name. I am worried that the flight check in staff at the airport in India will not accept the expired GC + extension letter and if they do, may have an issue with the different last name  (though I will be carrying my marriage certificate as proof). I will be booking the ticket in my maiden name as that is the name on my passport. Has anyone been in a similar situation or has knowledge about it and can offer any advice?. Thank you.

[Chancy 6,241]

*** Moved from General Immigration-Related Discussion to Working & Traveling During US Immigration -- topic is about international travel with conditional GC ***

 

[Dashinka 24,493]

My wife traveled like this several times with no issues.  One suggestion, make a couple copies of the extension letter and keep the original safe as you need to present the original to CBP.  One time an airline clerk in Beijing asked to keep the letter my wife had, luckily she had copies.

 

Also, it is always a good idea to have a copy of the CBP carrier guide as sometimes you need to educate airline staff.

 

Good Luck!

 

https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2019-Mar/2019 Carrier Information Guide - ENGLISH.pdf

[OldUser 6,645]

Do you have time to update Canadian passport before the trip to reflect your current legal name e.g. married name?

 

If you do that, should have to problems at all.

Otherwise, see @Dashinka comment.

[OldUser 6,645]

Also, it wouldn't hurt to carry certified copy or marriage certificate proving the name change if you end up travelling on current passport.

[Mike E 11,739]

2 hours ago, Rotnkid said:

was wondering if I would have issues while flying back to the US with an expired GC and valid extension letter

 

2 hours ago, Rotnkid said:

I will be carrying my marriage certificate as proof

Yes you need that.

 

Legally you are covered. In practice, experiences are mixed.

[Rotnkid 33]

4 hours ago, Dashinka said:

My wife traveled like this several times with no issues.  One suggestion, make a couple copies of the extension letter and keep the original safe as you need to present the original to CBP.  One time an airline clerk in Beijing asked to keep the letter my wife had, luckily she had copies.

 

Also, it is always a good idea to have a copy of the CBP carrier guide as sometimes you need to educate airline staff.

 

Good Luck!

 

https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2019-Mar/2019 Carrier Information Guide - ENGLISH.pdf

Ok Thank you!. Will carry copies of the extension letter in addition to the original and also a copy of the CBP carrier guide. 

[Rotnkid 33]

4 hours ago, OldUser said:

Do you have time to update Canadian passport before the trip to reflect your current legal name e.g. married name?

 

If you do that, should have to problems at all.

Otherwise, see @Dashinka comment.

 

I was planning on doing that when I got married but then realized that I cannot simply renew my Canadian passport to change to married name. It is a whole process as getting a new passport for the first time,  which requires a Canadian guarantor, references etc. so have been putting it off. I should have still done it and now It is too late unfortunately. 
 

4 hours ago, OldUser said:

Also, it wouldn't hurt to carry certified copy or marriage certificate proving the name change if you end up travelling on current passport.

Ok thanks. Will do!

[Rotnkid 33]

3 hours ago, Mike E said:

 

Yes you need that.

 

Legally you are covered. In practice, experiences are mixed.

Thank you for the link to the thread. 
I hope I am not turned away because that will be an added stress especially since we will be flying with an infant for the first time. I was also thinking of maybe booking the tickets to return from India to Canada instead and then another separate ticket from Canada to the US, in the hopes that Indian immigration will have no issue as I only have to show my Canadian passport then. But I  am not sure if I am legally allowed to do that as I don’t have a residence in Canada anymore and wonder if they will ask anything about where I live etc. I am not sure when I can say that I am just transiting Canada, will there be an issue in doing that (trying to circumvent). 

 

 

 

[Lil bear 4,201]

9 minutes ago, Rotnkid said:

Thank you for the link to the thread. 
I hope I am not turned away because that will be an added stress especially since we will be flying with an infant for the first time. I was also thinking of maybe booking the tickets to return from India to Canada instead and then another separate ticket from Canada to the US, in the hopes that Indian immigration will have no issue as I only have to show my Canadian passport then. But I  am not sure if I am legally allowed to do that as I don’t have a residence in Canada anymore and wonder if they will ask anything about where I live etc. I am not sure when I can say that I am just transiting Canada, will there be an issue in doing that (trying to circumvent). 

 

 

 

If you are a Canadian citizen you can enter Canada no matter where you live 

[Mike E 11,739]

49 minutes ago, Rotnkid said:

I only have to show my Canadian passport then. But I  am not sure if I am legally allowed to do that as I don’t have a residence in Canada

Canadians have an absolute right to enter Canada.

 

I’ve traveled from India to Canada on my Canadian passport several times.

[Rotnkid 33]

58 minutes ago, Lil bear said:

If you are a Canadian citizen you can enter Canada no matter where you live 

Ok Thank you!

[OldUser 6,645]

1 hour ago, Rotnkid said:

I was also thinking of maybe booking the tickets to return from India to Canada instead and then another separate ticket from Canada to the US, in the hopes that Indian immigration will have no issue as I only have to show my Canadian passport then. But I  am not sure if I am legally allowed to do that as I don’t have a residence in Canada anymore and wonder if they will ask anything about where I live etc. I am not sure when I can say that I am just transiting Canada, will there be an issue in doing that (trying to circumvent). 

 

 

 

As a Canadian citizen, you're always welcome back to Canada, in any capacity. Whether you're transiting or coming back to work or live. That's what citizenship grants you.

 

If it makes financial sense and doesn't add too much of a delay to your itenary, then why not? 🙂

 

 

Edited August 3, 2023 by OldUser

[Rotnkid 33]

29 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Canadians have an absolute right to enter Canada.

 

I’ve traveled from India to Canada on my Canadian passport several times.

Ok Thank you!

That is good to know. I will explore the option of returning by the Canadian route. 

[Rotnkid 33]

4 minutes ago, OldUser said:

As a Canadian citizen, you're always welcome back to Canada, in any capacity. Whether you're transiting or coming back to work or live. That's what citizenship grants you.

 

If it makes financial sense and doesn't add too much of a delay to your itenary, then why not? 🙂

 

 

Thank you.

Yes, I will definitely explore that option. It will be much less stressful for me going the Canadian route with regards to the passport name issue. I just have to see, like you said, if it only causes reasonable delay (especially traveling with an infant) and yes the financial part.