____

I am contemplating whether I can take a domestic flight while being
out of valid immigration status. I have a valid passport and a J-1
visitor visa stamp with DS written on my I-94 but the attached
document authorizing my stay (the old IAP-66 form) has been expired
for a couple of years.

What do the airline personnel nowadays check from my passport? Do they
check the visa stamp, the I-94, and do they ask further papers to
prove my status? I need to show my passport for identification because
my state ID (drivers licence) expired and cannot be renewed while I am
illegally in the country. As far I can see (apart from my immigration
status) there is no reason to select me for some special (above normal
level) security checking. My looks and my passport are northern (or
western) European.

There is a University foreign student services page on the web which
states that they have received information about "internationals being
questioned and required to show immigration documents even when
boarding domestic flights. ... some airlines have questioned
individuals seeking to board a domestic flight and Immigration
officials have been called in to examine their documents." This sounds
particularly alarming to someone in my situation.

These kind of issues have been discussed sometimes in this group and
in other newsgroups. The general tone of the answers to those postings
even after sept-11 has been not to worry. That my foreign passport
would be for identification purposes only and the security checks
would not deal with immigration status in case of domestic US travel.
Can this still be expected to be true in a major international US
airport in September 2004?

Nomadic Existence

I think you could use an expired license fine for identification - after all, it's still a gov't issued photo ID of you. I fly alot and always use my DL, as it's just much less bulky than my passport. I don't think it's ever been scrutinised for expiration date, and people are settling into being more sensible and cursory about the checks. They do obviously match ID names to boarding pass names now.

Sylvia Ottemoeller

"Nomadic Existence" <member28195@british_expats.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected] m...

    > > I am contemplating whether I can take a domestic flight while being
    > > out of valid immigration status. I have a valid passport and a J-1
    > > visitor visa stamp with DS written on my I-94 but the attached
    > > document authorizing my stay (the old IAP-66 form) has been expired
    > > for a couple of years.
    > >
    > > What do the airline personnel nowadays check from my passport? Do they
    > > check the visa stamp, the I-94, and do they ask further papers to
    > > prove my status? I need to show my passport for identification because
    > > my state ID (drivers licence) expired and cannot be renewed while I am
    > > illegally in the country. As far I can see (apart from my immigration
    > > status) there is no reason to select me for some special (above normal
    > > level) security checking. My looks and my passport are northern (or
    > > western) European.
    > >
    > > There is a University foreign student services page on the web which
    > > states that they have received information about "internationals being
    > > questioned and required to show immigration documents even when
    > > boarding domestic flights. ... some airlines have questioned
    > > individuals seeking to board a domestic flight and Immigration
    > > officials have been called in to examine their documents." This sounds
    > > particularly alarming to someone in my situation.
    > >
    > > These kind of issues have been discussed sometimes in this group and
    > > in other newsgroups. The general tone of the answers to those postings
    > > even after sept-11 has been not to worry. That my foreign passport
    > > would be for identification purposes only and the security checks
    > > would not deal with immigration status in case of domestic US travel.
    > > Can this still be expected to be true in a major international US
    > > airport in September 2004?
    > I think you could use an expired license fine for identification - after
    > all, it's still a gov't issued photo ID of you. I fly alot and always
    > use my DL, as it's just much less bulky than my passport. I don't think
    > it's ever been scrutinised for expiration date, and people are settling
    > into being more sensible and cursory about the checks. They do obvious-
    > ly match ID names to boarding pass names now.

This thread made me think of the Pakistani woman with a South African
passport that got caught getting onto a domestic flight in Texas. The
circumstances were unusual. However, I would be concerned about flying
domestically while not in legal nonimmigrant (or other legal) status. See
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2004Jul31.html.

Monsieur Bah-Oui

[email protected] (____) wrote in message news:<[email protected] om>...
    > I am contemplating whether I can take a domestic flight while being
    > out of valid immigration status. I have a valid passport and a J-1
    > visitor visa stamp with DS written on my I-94 but the attached
    > document authorizing my stay (the old IAP-66 form) has been expired
    > for a couple of years.
    >
    > What do the airline personnel nowadays check from my passport? Do they
    > check the visa stamp, the I-94, and do they ask further papers to
    > prove my status? I need to show my passport for identification because
    > my state ID (drivers licence) expired and cannot be renewed while I am
    > illegally in the country. As far I can see (apart from my immigration
    > status) there is no reason to select me for some special (above normal
    > level) security checking. My looks and my passport are northern (or
    > western) European.
    >
    > There is a University foreign student services page on the web which
    > states that they have received information about "internationals being
    > questioned and required to show immigration documents even when
    > boarding domestic flights. ... some airlines have questioned
    > individuals seeking to board a domestic flight and Immigration
    > officials have been called in to examine their documents." This sounds
    > particularly alarming to someone in my situation.
    >
    > These kind of issues have been discussed sometimes in this group and
    > in other newsgroups. The general tone of the answers to those postings
    > even after sept-11 has been not to worry. That my foreign passport
    > would be for identification purposes only and the security checks
    > would not deal with immigration status in case of domestic US travel.
    > Can this still be expected to be true in a major international US
    > airport in September 2004?

You are illegal, and therefore not welcome here! Please pick up your
stuffs and go back to your country!

Mayo

All airports in the US are checking IDs - don't get confused about
that

before ID's were checked both at boarding at also as you went trough
security - now based on my recent experiences they only do it when you
go through security and at the checking desk where you get the
boarding pass. If you use an automated kisok to get the boarding pass
you need a major credit card or the itinerary number as well as some
additional information (which serves as some sort of ID) - In any case
TSA personnel check IDs wheyou go through security

As far as being illegal you should take care of that, but I believe
that as long as you have a valid US issued ID you can fly, they could
not care less if you are legal or not, if you use a passport then
there is a possibility that someone may check visa dates - but I think
that is very low - all they do is make sure the picture matches your
face and the name on the boarding card matches the ID

I noticed they do ask innocent questions - like "your going to white
plains - where is that?" or call you by your name after you move on to
wish you a good trip - I guess they are trying to catch people who may
be posing as somebody else. I travel out of a small airport frequently
and the people remember you after a few trips

I would not worry, if you have a US drivers license use that and you
will be fine. Just recognize that every time you abuse the system by
staying illegally here you give more amunition to those who want to
make it harder to immigrate and make the lives of all of us more
difficult