Has anyone been stopped and asked to see their Green Card?
#16
Re: Has anyone been stopped and asked to see their Green Card?
I guess if you have an L visa or H1b you should have your passport.
#18
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Re: Has anyone been stopped and asked to see their Green Card?
#19
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 906
Re: Has anyone been stopped and asked to see their Green Card?
Once, outside Tuscon. Just received a verbal telling off.
My logic was it was cheaper to pay the fine that the replacement cost of a green card.
My logic was it was cheaper to pay the fine that the replacement cost of a green card.
#21
Re: Has anyone been stopped and asked to see their Green Card?
My Iranian husband (green card holder at the time) was in the oriental carpet repair business in the USA. He once had to do a road trip from California to Texas to deliver a bunch of rugs. He and another Iranian guy (from the rug shop) were driving a company van, and at some point in Texas they got stopped at a checkpoint. The officer asked what was in the back of the van, and the other guy said "rugs", but with his accent it sounded like "drugs"! You can imagine the scene after that. Hubby had to show his green card then.
Rene
Rene
#22
Re: Has anyone been stopped and asked to see their Green Card?
We travel across West Texas a few times a year ( skiing and camping trips) and I would dearly love to avoid driving those non-motorway roads through those godforsaken towns, however, I have been advised to NOT travel on the highway from Albuquerque to El Paso to join the IH10 to San Antonio - those checkpoints are common, unannounced, a bit scary and there may be a few to navigate on my route that way.
As you drive up to the checkpoint there are cameras that catch front passengers faces and license plates. Those cameras are for Drug enforcement use, not border patrol. I have no idea what kind of facial tracking they're doing, maybe that's what got me pulled over???? I as said I go through these checkpoints a lot, just not that one though.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United...or_checkpoints
Last edited by jkeller; Dec 13th 2018 at 6:14 pm.
#24
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Joined: Jan 2006
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Re: Has anyone been stopped and asked to see their Green Card?
Given all they can do is ask whether you're a citizen, you're not required as a citizen to carry any proof. I've been through these checkpoints a few times and just answered I was a citizen. Of course, they could hassle you at this point, but I'm not going to start carrying citizenship proof around to travel in my own country.
The scary thing is they can do this within 100 miles of any border, including seas borders. That encompasses huge population areas on the east and west coasts.
The scary thing is they can do this within 100 miles of any border, including seas borders. That encompasses huge population areas on the east and west coasts.
Last edited by Giantaxe; Dec 13th 2018 at 8:18 pm.
#25
Re: Has anyone been stopped and asked to see their Green Card?
I don't carry mine. I've never been asked for it other than employment and gun purchases.
I have a copy of it on my phone. Doesn't seem worth the hassle. If I lose it I have to go through the entire lengthy process of replacing it for the 1 in a million chance I ever get asked for it outside of employment and gun purchases.
I have a copy of it on my phone. Doesn't seem worth the hassle. If I lose it I have to go through the entire lengthy process of replacing it for the 1 in a million chance I ever get asked for it outside of employment and gun purchases.
#26
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Joined: Jan 2016
Location: Cambridge, MA
Posts: 239
Re: Has anyone been stopped and asked to see their Green Card?
Given all they can do is ask whether you're a citizen, you're not required as a citizen to carry any proof. I've been through these checkpoints a few times and just answered I was a citizen. Of course, they could hassle you at this point, but I'm not going to start carrying citizenship proof around to travel in my own country.
#27
Re: Has anyone been stopped and asked to see their Green Card?
Given all they can do is ask whether you're a citizen, you're not required as a citizen to carry any proof. I've been through these checkpoints a few times and just answered I was a citizen. Of course, they could hassle you at this point, but I'm not going to start carrying citizenship proof around to travel in my own country.
The scary thing is they can do this within 100 miles of any border, including seas borders. That encompasses huge population areas on the east and west coasts.
The scary thing is they can do this within 100 miles of any border, including seas borders. That encompasses huge population areas on the east and west coasts.
I can't quote the actual legal requirement but there is one on the USCIS site that says a PR must carry their green card with them at all times. Many are just carrying a snapshot on a phone which can just as easily be stolen, lost or the phone destroyed as the actual card. In the age of the dinosaur it was recommended that you carry the green card as directed and keep a photocopy of the front and back in a safe place at home. Now people are doing it the other way around.
#28
Re: Has anyone been stopped and asked to see their Green Card?
Having been through the process to get a replacement GC following it going missing on holiday, I can say it is an awful lot easier to replace a phone though. I totally understand the logic. It took me the best part of a year to get my replacement back.
#29
Re: Has anyone been stopped and asked to see their Green Card?
I always carried my GC. For a while before I got my NY driver's license it was the only pocket-sized ID I had. The only time I was asked for ID by an LEO was after a minor train derailment I was involved in when the NYPD wanted everyone involved's address in case of any follow-up. The cop didn't know what a GC was and was a bit miffed it didn't have my address on.
When I naturalized I decided I still wanted a pocket-sized proof of my new status, because Trumpism. I considered the passport card but as my driver's license was up for renewal I opted for a NY Enhanced Driver's License instead.
When I naturalized I decided I still wanted a pocket-sized proof of my new status, because Trumpism. I considered the passport card but as my driver's license was up for renewal I opted for a NY Enhanced Driver's License instead.
Last edited by rpjs; Dec 14th 2018 at 1:55 pm.
#30
Re: Has anyone been stopped and asked to see their Green Card?
Given all they can do is ask whether you're a citizen, you're not required as a citizen to carry any proof. I've been through these checkpoints a few times and just answered I was a citizen. Of course, they could hassle you at this point, but I'm not going to start carrying citizenship proof around to travel in my own country.
The scary thing is they can do this within 100 miles of any border, including seas borders. That encompasses huge population areas on the east and west coasts.
The scary thing is they can do this within 100 miles of any border, including seas borders. That encompasses huge population areas on the east and west coasts.