Travel Abroad, and immigration coming back home ?

[cjtowerman 0]

After one gets the immigrant visa, and the permanent resident card, what is it exactly, which allows one to come back into the U.S. after a trip abroad? Is the passport and Permanent Resident card a tandem set for all international travel, until one becomes a citizen and gets a U.S. passport?

I ask in that a friend left the U.S. by air for Honduras, then while attempting a land crossing to Mexico from Guatemala, was asked for the permanent resident card by Mexican immigration. The card was back in Honduras for safe keeping, since it has no application to Guatemala or Mexico. There was no intention to overstay a tourist visa in Mexico, nor was there any intention of going onward into the U.S. by land. She is still a citizen of Honduras, not the U.S., so I am unclear why this mattered? Apparently, the Mexican immigration people see the expiration date for the CR1, with a IX expiration date of 4 October 2005, and nothing else, and want some confirmation (I guess)? But, this has nothing to do with Mexico, right?

Back to the original question, and more: when someone returns to the U.S., they need the passport with U.S. immigrant visa and the permanent resident card, and/or what else, if anything? And, what happens to you if you are abroad at the time you need to file to remove the conditional status (I-751), or if your permanent resident card is "lost"?

[zyggy 9]

After one gets the immigrant visa, and the permanent resident card, what is it exactly, which allows one to come back into the U.S. after a trip abroad? Is the passport and Permanent Resident card a tandem set for all international travel, until one becomes a citizen and gets a U.S. passport?

Yes...

I ask in that a friend left the U.S. by air for Honduras, then while attempting a land crossing to Mexico from Guatemala, was asked for the permanent resident card by Mexican immigration. The card was back in Honduras for safe keeping, since it has no application to Guatemala or Mexico. There was no intention to overstay a tourist visa in Mexico, nor was there any intention of going onward into the U.S. by land. She is still a citizen of Honduras, not the U.S., so I am unclear why this mattered? Apparently, the Mexican immigration people see the expiration date for the CR1, with a IX expiration date of 4 October 2005, and nothing else, and want some confirmation (I guess)? But, this has nothing to do with Mexico, right?

I don't know.. maybe the Mexican authorities are having problems with Guatemalans overstaying in their country and not US Permanent Residents...

Back to the original question, and more: when someone returns to the U.S., they need the passport with U.S. immigrant visa and the permanent resident card, and/or what else, if anything? And, what happens to you if you are abroad at the time you need to file to remove the conditional status (I-751), or if your permanent resident card is "lost"?

Yes.. you need the passport and the GC...

For the I-751, you'll get an NOA extending the validity of the GC.. if the card is lost while you are abroad, you'll need to go to the embassy and get a letter that serves as temporary evidence of your GC status...no different if you lost your passport abroad.

Edited April 18, 2006 by zyggy

[john_and_marlene 162]

2 conditions are evaluated for visa requirements for international travel... country of citizenship and country of residence. Honduran citizens who are residents of Honduras require a visa for travel to Mexico. Honduran citizens who are residents of the U.S. do not require a visa for visits of 180 days or less, but do require proof of residence.

For other country/resident combinations look at this site: http://www.delta.com/planning_reservations...ation/index.jsp

[desert_fox 32]

I ask in that a friend left the U.S. by air for Honduras, then while attempting a land crossing to Mexico from Guatemala, was asked for the permanent resident card by Mexican immigration. The card was back in Honduras for safe keeping, since it has no application to Guatemala or Mexico. There was no intention to overstay a tourist visa in Mexico, nor was there any intention of going onward into the U.S. by land. She is still a citizen of Honduras, not the U.S., so I am unclear why this mattered? Apparently, the Mexican immigration people see the expiration date for the CR1, with a IX expiration date of 4 October 2005, and nothing else, and want some confirmation (I guess)? But, this has nothing to do with Mexico, right?

Mexico requires citizens of Honduras to have a Mexican tourist visa in their passport, or apparently a US Green Card in combination with his Honduras passport. Since he didnt have the required documents, he was inadmissible to Mexico.

Mexico makes its own visa requirements for ppl from other countries.

Believe it or not, Mexico has a big problem with illegals from south of their border.

[Cassie 8]

when a permanent resident travels outside of the US, the "green card" is necessary to get back into the US.

[cjtowerman 0]

Well, she does have a Mexican tourist visa, but they focused on the expired U.S. marriage visa and lack of a Green card in her possession.

[zyggy 9]

Well, she does have a Mexican tourist visa, but they focused on the expired U.S. marriage visa and lack of a Green card in her possession.

Well they may have thought that her purpose for going into MExico had changed.. I know that the US has been putting a lot of pressure on Mexico to try to stem the flow of people from Central American to get to the US through Mexico. Since she had an expired US visa, they may have thought she was trying to transit through Mexico to get back...