Green Cards and Transportation Letters
Installment Sixty-Eight
Legal permanent residents (LPRs) of the U.S. receive permanent resident cards (often referred to as “Green Cards”) entitling them to live, work and move freely into and out of the United States. To travel abroad, an LPR must furnish their card along with a passport from their country of origin. If an LPR loses their card while abroad, then the LPR may apply at a U.S. Embassy for a Transportation Letter to allow them to reenter the U.S. This installment of Ask the Consul educates readers about Green Cards and what to do if yours has been lost of stolen.
Q: What is a Green Card?
A Permanent Resident Card, commonly known as a Green Card, is evidence of your status as a legal resident with a right to live and work permanently in the United States. It also is evidence of your registration in accordance with U.S. immigration laws and as such is very valuable.
Q: Why do I need a Green Card?
The Immigration and Nationality Act states that, “Every alien, eighteen years of age and over, shall at all times carry with him and have in his possession a certificate of alien registration issued to him … any alien who fails to comply with these provisions shall be guilty of a misdemeanor” and may be subject to fine and/or imprisonment upon each conviction. The Green Card is important not only to establish your identity, but to confer the rights and privileges associated with your status as a legal permanent resident.
If you are an LPR visiting Guyana, the airlines will normally not board you for return travel to the U.S. without your Green Card and valid Guyanese passport. If your Green Card is lost or stolen, you must contact the U.S. Embassy to apply for a transportation letter, as described below. If your Guyanese passport has been lost or stolen, you must contact Guyanese immigration officials.
Q: If my Greed Card has expired while I am abroad, can I still return to the U.S. with it?
Before leaving the United States to come to Guyana, you should check with the Department of Homeland Security to ensure you will not have any problems when you attempt to return to the United States. Please refer to the following website: http://www. uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis
Q: What do I do if my Green Card is lost or stolen while I am abroad?
The first thing you should do is try to recover your card. A Green Card is an inherently valuable document, as it entitles the legitimate bearer to benefits, including entry into the United States. Part of your efforts at recovery should be to immediately inform local law enforcement of your situation; a police report documenting the circumstances of your loss or robbery will be necessary for returning to the U.S. After providing your statement to the police, you should contact the consular section of the U.S. Embassy at 225-4900, extension 4909. The Embassy will instruct you on how to apply for a transportation letter, which will allow you to return to the U.S. Once you are back in the United States, you will immediately need to apply for a replacement of your legal permanent resident card with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Please note that U.S. citizens in Guyana who have lost or have had their passports stolen are not eligible for a transportation letter. Instead, an American citizen must come to the Embassy to apply for a U.S. passport to travel back to the United States. The processing time for a replacement of a U.S. passport is approximately seven to ten business days.
Q: What is the process for getting a Transportation Letter?
To apply for a Transportation Letter, an LPR must appear at the Embassy, provide evidence of the Green Card having been lost or stolen (such as a police report), and submit a completed Transportation Letter application, including the USCIS Form I-90. A consular officer will assist you in completing this application. You must pay a $250 processing fee. The U.S. Embassy normally requires that an applicant wait 30 days after applying to receive their letter.
Q: Why do I have to wait 30 days to receive my Transportation Letter?
A common pattern of immigration fraud perpetrated in Guyana over recent years involves LPRs who claim that their Green Card is lost or stolen, but who in reality, have sold or loaned their card to impostors who in turn hope to enter the U.S. illegally. The 30-day waiting period is intended to deter this type of immigration fraud.
Q: What are the consequences of committing Transportation Letter fraud?
LPRs who knowingly relinquish their Green Card to an impostor and attempt to obtain a Transportation Letter are committing a serious immigration offense. If you are caught, you will lose your LPR status and be permanently ineligible to enter the U.S., including as a tourist. Similarly, if caught, the impostor who attempted to travel under your identity will be deported and permanently barred from immigrating to or even visiting the United States of America. Remember to safeguard your documents as they are extremely valuable.
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“Ask the Consul” is a periodic column from the U.S. Embassy answering questions about U.S. immigration law and visa issues. If you have a general question about visa policy please email it to us at AskGeorge@state.gov. We select questions and publish the answers in Stabroek News and on our website at http://georgetown. usembassy.gov/guyana/ask_con.html. For more information about visas please see http://www.unitedstatesvisas.gov or http:// georgetown.usembassy.gov/.
Other than the questions we select, we DO NOT respond to questions sent to Ask the Consul. Please contact the visa inquiries unit (email visageorge@state.gov or call 225-7965 between 8 am- 12 pm and 1 pm- 4 pm Monday through Friday) if you have questions about a specific case.