tony126

Not having used my GC yet but is it less hassle on re-entry to the USA.?

ImHere

In theory yes. And depending on the POE you can use the Citizens/PR line....much much quicker than queueing with the tourists.

candy wy.

i found it a lot less hassle. only took 15mins through immigration rather than the 1hr 30min.

Yorkieabroad

'xactly!

tony126

I was intending to come thro the US citizens line with my wife as I understood that is what the PRC/GC allowed you to do. Right or wrong?

Yorkieabroad

Thats what I do, whether I'm with the wife or not - never had a problem

elfman

As an aside: Last time I flew out of Britain to the USA (Jan 04) I had a strange experience with a rather officious woman at LHR who was checking everyone's passports actually at the door of the plane. The conversation went like this:

(she sees the US visa stamps in my passport)
-do you have a green card?
-Yes.
-Can I see it?
(I get it out of my wallet, she looks at it and hands it back)
(me) can I ask why you need to see that?
-because you're not allowed to leave the country without it.
-really? Even if I have a valid UK passport?
-yes, if you're flying to the US we have to check that US citizens have the right travel documents.
-but I'm not a US citizen.
-Yes you are, having a green card means you're a US citizen.
-no it doesn't, it means I'm a legal permanent resident.
-yes it does.
-no it doesn't.
-yes it does.
This went on for a while before she just waved me onto the plane because a large queue was forming behind me. I still think it's a bit disturbing that someone in her position would be that ill-informed.

Bob

depends on the airport, at Logon, they weren't allowing LPR's through the quick line last year...

ImHere

As I said...depends on the POE. Some have Citizens/PR (Newark for one) marked and some have a seperate PR line. If PR isnt marked on the notice board (citizens only) you can try it but they will most likely send you to the tourist drones queue.

tony126

Charlotte, NC is the airport I will be using so I will check it out on my return. Thanks for the comments.

silvermine

i think that hits it on the head.. if you have a GC that's all they need to see.
with the new GC they place it on the machine and prolly your whole dossier flashes up for them (the info is discreetly hidden from u). frankly, it makes sense that would be all they want. they couldn't give a hoot what kind of passport from some other country you have.
and, it's only the airline that wants to know if you can legally enter the US so
they don't have to fly you back.. they are covering themselves.
and these days the airlines also have those pesky terrorist lists to deal with.
(ala cat stevens etc...)

naturally i would also never leave the US w/out a passport but that has to do with getting into the foreign country, not the US.

next time i'm coming back in i'm going to hand them the GC only and see what happens.. which will hopefully be

immigration: how long have you been away ?
me: since last wednesday
immigration: business or pleasure?
me: business
immigration: welcome back
me: thanks, have a nice day!

silvermine

hahahah, that cracked me up! did the person work for the airline?

silvermine

i came back through logan last november and the GC line was the same as for
US citizens.

Bob

must have changed it then, but they were having work done on the terminal I guess...was amusing seeing people with greencard being told to get out of the quick line and queue with the rest of us phlebs for 2 hours *l*

ladyofthelake

I recently encountered someone at check in who seemed to think that every child must now travel on their own passport; no exceptions. This is not necessarily so. My daughter still travels with me, on my passport, not her own. As the passport was issued before the regulations were changed, and it hasn't expired, it's still perfectly valid. It took 15 minutes for this woman to be persuaded otherwise.