[glow=red,2,300]Travel Documents[/glow]

[AngelGrl]

Hi.

This post has helped a lot, so I'm going to try to throw one of my last questions here. I live in U.S. with a greencard and I'm a citizen of Belarus, but I have problems with my passport (it will expire when i'm planning to be in europe) so im trying to work around getting a new passport.

My friend suggested an idea, but I'm not sure how valid this is. He said I can apply for a travel passport of some kind, granted to permanent alien residents of U.S. and I can get by with that.


Is this valid idea, because it sounds pretty good???

Thank you

[WillTravel]

I don't know about this. I'd be suspicious, but the government officials would be the ones to ask. I'd try to get an answer in writing for such an important matter.

Also keep in mind that your passport, whatever type it is, should be valid for 6 months past your departure date. I'm just mentioning that because you said your current passport would expire while on the trip.

[LHR02]

The rule of thumb for travel is that your passport must ve valid for 6 months beyond your travel dates. At least for US ones. Many European countries will not let you in if this is not the case.

I could well be wrong, but someone is filling your head with pipe dreams. There is simply no way you can get a US passport unless you are a 'citizen' of this country. A green card/residency card does not give you citizenship priviledges. Period. My daughter in law has been here for 4 years, married to a US citizen for 2 years and just this past summer got her green card....after being married for 18 months. They went through pure hell just to go to Mexico for their honeymoon.....this prior to her green card. She was here on a student Visa and once she left the country, for any reason to anywhere, her visa was null and void and she would be refused re-entry. They have literally spent thousands of dollars on her immigration status...and are looking now at an additional 5-8 years before she is eligible for citizenship and a US passport.

Renewing your current passport would seem to me to be the only sensible course....to do otherwise is going to be illegal, expensive as hell and quite likely will cost you your rights to return to this country.

If you are determined to go this route, it seems to me your only option is to hire an immigration attorney and follow his advice. Prepare right off the bat to pay a very hefty retainer and most charge in the $300-500 an hour range to work your case.

At the risk of sounding contrary.....your seeming opposition to simply renew your own passport is baffeling to me. You would take these enormous risks because of what?? Since your first post this has been on my mind.....having such personal experience with immigration, legally, I can't help but be amazed that you would even consider for a moment trying to do so illegally. Especially with the current tone and climate of security and immigration matters today. If I understand you correctly you already have your green card. Why in the world would you jeapordize that status if you want to be here and intend to stay? Baffeling again. I tell the truth when I tell you my son and his wife have spent 8-10 k already on her attorney and status and would never, ever, ever do anything to try and beat the system and risk it all. Frankly.....to me...this is plain stupid thinking. Stop the nonsence, just renew your passport. If it is going to be long and involved, start now. It need not be totally expired to renew it....and it seems you still have plenty of time.

For the record, I checked again. There is no such thing as a 'travel passport' for non-US citizens. A passport is the most valuable identity document you can have and no country plays games with their citizens identities. You are whistling in the dark here...and being foolish with something too important to play around with.

Hate me if you will......but you need to hear some hard truths.

ging

[LHR02]

BTW...here is the link to the State Department Passport pages....read each and every page if you will, but no where, anywhere in all these links will you find any such nonsense as a non-citizen travel passport...it does not exist. Check carefully the required forms and documents necessary to obtain it......again, no where does a 'green card' appear.
Your friend is wrong. Period. You are a citizen of Belarus and you must travel on your country's passport. Honey, that is the plain facts of it.

travel.state.gov/passport/index.html

[MuvverRussia]

From a European perspective dustoffmom is completely correct. A green card is worthless over here - you'll be travelling as a Belarus citizen and as such will require the correct passport and visas (as I have previously mentioned).

Speak to the Belarus embassy (http://www.belarusembassy.org/) - they are the only people who can help you out and I would advise you to follow their advice.

Also, I have semi personal experience of this situation. My Aunt is a resident alien (having been so for around 30+ years), and yet she still requires a current UK passport for when she travels outside the US/UK - if there was a simpler option she would have taken it.

[Eagle]

AngelGrl, As far as I know, it is not possible to obtain a Passport for any country, unless you are a citizen of that country (by birth or naturalized). A Green Card does not confer citizenship, only the right to legally work in the U.S.

In order to avoid severe problems when you travel, it would be best to renew your Belarus Passport before you leave the U.S. (as pointed out in the previous Posts, you won't be able to return to the U.S. without a valid Passport!). Not sure where you're located in the U.S., but from what I could determine the only Embassy for Belarus is located in Washington, D.C. -- I couldn't find any listings for consular branches in any other cities.

It would be a good idea to contact them, either by Phone or E-mail to find out the best way to renew. Most countries have some provision for renewal of Passports at Embassies, as a service for their citizens who might be travelling for extended periods of time. Keep in mind this process might take several weeks or months, so it would be best to start on this as soon as possible!

Unless you have some way of obtaining "dual citizenship" (one or both parents born in a country other than Belarus?), then your ONLY option is to renew your present Passport.

Good luck with this! I hope it all works out for you.

[LHR02]

Eagle, she is in Boston...and there is consulate in NYC..attached to the UN which she might be able to use. However, even Washington is not all that far from Boston and easily done by flight or train. If she is planning a big European trip she should surely be able to get herself to one of the above, Not sure why this bothers me so....maybe just seeing all the stress Sonia is having with her Colombian nationality.

[Eagle]

Dustoffmom, thanks for the clarification. I checked the web site and could only find the one Embassy listed for Belarus. This appears to be their only Embassy in North America? I didn't see any listings for one in Canada (although I was in a hurry so only had a quick look).

Sorry to hear that your daughter-in-law is having so many hassles with her citizenship application. Based on my own experiences with I.N.S. I gather this is not an easy process. One of my Sons was thinking of joining the Marine Corps a few years ago, so we made several visits to Seattle to check into that. However, I.N.S. made it perfectly clear that without any relatives in the U.S., we weren't welcome so we didn't pursue that any further. Hopefully, things will start to "fall into place" in your case fairly soon, and you can all put this behind you.

AngelGrl, it occurred to me after I posted my last note, that you could also make a stop in Belarus on your trip and renew your Passport there. You may have to be prepared to wait there for a few weeks while they process your application. Not sure if Belarus has any provisions for "expedited processing" as we do here in Canada? In our case their is an extra charge made for faster processing, so you would have to factor this into your budget as well.

Good luck to all!!! Hope this gets sorted out satisfactoriily for you.

[LHR02]

Thanks Eagle! It isn't that she is having any more problems generally than any one else would. It's simply a mind numbing process full of so much paperwork and quite frankly the American end of it is for the most part rude and uncaring. She was originally here on a student visa, that's where they met, and months before it's expiration she began the process to 'renew'...this before they were even married. With mere weeks to go she was paniced as she had not recieved her papers. Calls made and oh well, seems they never got some form or something from her. Luckily she had fedEx'd it all and had proof more or less...INS telling her too bad, she'll have to return and reapply from there. Here comes the first attorney and his fees. With 2 days to go, and she is quite literally totally packed up with plane ticket as she is going to have to leave here in 2 days time the attorney finally got that straightened out. Then they got married and went to change her status with INS. Not so fast! That is no longer a 'guarantee' it seems. INS is wise to that game. You have to 'prove' you are really married and not simply on a green card hunt. They have had to have a dozen or so interviews over the past 2 years, have had INS sort of 'pop' into their home unexeptedly, bank accounts, utility bills...more paperwork. It's insane! And again, here is the attorney and his bills which frankly I can't imagine not having in this process. Again, the forms, the documents, the mix ups....it's simply overwhelming for the average person to try and keep straight. They had a meeting again in September and were so dreading it....thinking they would want still more and more proof. The one nice thing that happened in this whole mess......once there they very matter of factly told her she was approved. A happy day. A week later she got this big official looking letter 'Welcome to the United States'. God she was so happy! So they immediately asked about how to start the naturalization process.....HA! Maybe in 5 years! But at least for the moment now they do not have to live in fear that there will be some sort of problem with her Visa and she could suddenly be told to get out. And...they can finally take that trip to Mexico or the Caribbean now.....she won't be refused re-entry!

It's damn hard to get here legally, takes loads of time and loads of money too. And of course things get more difficult every day. Again....can't imagine being so 'casual' about one's status or passport.

[AngelGrl]

wow. alrite, i guess no kind of travel passport for me. and to answer someones question as to why i would go to such length to do it "illegaly" is here. first of all, im not trying to do this illegaly, only finding out ways if I can renew my passport w/o leaving U.S. or somehow use my greencard status to get something.
As to you I would go to such length to avoid getting a new passport from belarus is because the law there states that i would have to be there in person to pick up the passport. my dad still lives there, so if i go there, i don't think i will end up returning here. (don't ask, long family fights). so i'm just trying to figure out a way if I can do this from Boston. But thank you everyone for clarifying stuff. And the websites help. Realy, thank you so much.

[Eagle]

AngelGrl, thanks for the clarification on your situation. I can appreciate why you don't want to return to Belarus. Hopefully you will be able to get this all sorted out at one of the Belarus Embassies in the U.S. I'm hoping they will have some provision for renewals at an Embassy, as people who are travelling (such as yourself) aren't always able to get back to the "home" country.

Again, good luck with this and I hope it all works out for you!