Traveling on Advance Parole

[toddandhien 2]

My wife has not received her green card yet but we had applied for and received Advance Parole when we filed for AOS. We just returned from a trip outside the US and we came back through SFO.

We went together through the US Citizen line for immigration. No hassle at all. The officer knew exactly what the form was and only asked my wife to do biometrics then sent us to what they called "secondary processing". Went down the hall, handed the officer her passport, I-94 and AP approval. They said have a seat and we will take care of the paperwork. 5 minutes later, the officer came back and said "you guys are good to go!" No interview, no questions at all. She came here legally, had no overstays and has an interview pending for 12/29 so we sailed right through.

We flew China Airlines and when we checked in to come home, they had no problems with using the AP instead of a visa.

All in all, it was no more or less problematic on this trip than any other that I have been on, with or without my wife.

[Gage 2]

Sounds like the same exact situation my wife will be in soon on her return trip to Russia to visit family. Was your wife's airline ticket in her married name or maiden name? My wife's is in her married name, which of course doesn't match her passport, which we've heard could be a major problem. In any case, we recently got it fixed as we managed to get the Russian Consulate to put a notation about her name change in her passport.

[toddandhien 2]

The plane ticket was in her maiden name because the name on the ticket and the passport need to match. However, the Advance Parole approval was in her married name because that's how we filed for AOS. No problems and the name issue was never mentioned.

You were smart to get the name change issue resolved before traveling. Maybe no problem for recently married women because name change is common? Not sure. But I do know that they are becoming more and more strict about ticket and passport names matching due to security concerns.

[Chien Patterson 0]

Sounds like the same exact situation my wife will be in soon on her return trip to Russia to visit family. Was your wife's airline ticket in her married name or maiden name? My wife's is in her married name, which of course doesn't match her passport, which we've heard could be a major problem. In any case, we recently got it fixed as we managed to get the Russian Consulate to put a notation about her name change in her passport.

Hi,

I'm in the same situation as your wife right now . When I booked the airline ticket, I did explain to the Travel Agency that I'm waiting for my Green card, and going to use my AP document to go back my home country Vietnam. So the problem is that the name on my AP is my married name while the name on my Passport is my maiden name. Then I asked them which name I should use to put on airline ticket, they told me to book with my Married Name! Today I came back to that Travel Agency to complain about that and asked them to change my name on airline ticket. Today they said totally opposite to what they told me when I booked Airline ticket: They said the name on Airline ticket needed to match the name on Passport, and they couldn't change the name on ticket for me. The only way to do is to cancel the reservation and rebook ticket with new name, which costs about $250 and we have to pay for the ticket fare difference which is more than $1000 now. They are not helpful at all! They just wanted to do trick to charge us more. They even told me that: I would not be able to board with that Advance Parole document, many people booking airline tickets with them had problem when boarding with that document, the airline just denied boarding them and only Re-entry permit worked. It's stupid! What's the Advance Parole for then? I guess they even don't know what is that document. This Travel Agency is SUN LIGHT TRAVEL at 2569 King Rd in San Jose. For anyone that wants to go to Viet Nam: You should never deal with this SUNLIGHT TRAVEL! They have bad customer service, not helpful at all, and always do tricks to charge you more money.

Well, my husband and I are going to leave US for Viet Nam on next Friday night, January 30th, 2010. We just have 5 days to deal with this problem. Do you have any suggestion for us now? Go to VN Embassy to get notation on my passport that my name is changed? Or go to China Airline office to deal with them, ask them to change name on airline ticket for me or give me a note to get boarded?

How long does it take to get notation of name change on passport at Embassy? What documents do I need to show at Embassy? and how much does it cost?

Is it ok if we just travel with my name on airline ticket and passport is different but we have marriage certificate with us?

Could you please help to reply as soon as possible? We don't have much time now. Please help us so we can work this out on the best way.

Many Thanks!

Chien Tran Patterson

[Bobby+Umit 161]

Hi,

I'm in the same situation as your wife right now . When I booked the airline ticket, I did explain to the Travel Agency that I'm waiting for my Green card, and going to use my AP document to go back my home country Vietnam. So the problem is that the name on my AP is my married name while the name on my Passport is my maiden name. Then I asked them which name I should use to put on airline ticket, they told me to book with my Married Name! Today I came back to that Travel Agency to complain about that and asked them to change my name on airline ticket. Today they said totally opposite to what they told me when I booked Airline ticket: They said the name on Airline ticket needed to match the name on Passport, and they couldn't change the name on ticket for me. The only way to do is to cancel the reservation and rebook ticket with new name, which costs about $250 and we have to pay for the ticket fare difference which is more than $1000 now. They are not helpful at all! They just wanted to do trick to charge us more. They even told me that: I would not be able to board with that Advance Parole document, many people booking airline tickets with them had problem when boarding with that document, the airline just denied boarding them and only Re-entry permit worked. It's stupid! What's the Advance Parole for then? I guess they even don't know what is that document. This Travel Agency is SUN LIGHT TRAVEL at 2569 King Rd in San Jose. For anyone that wants to go to Viet Nam: You should never deal with this SUNLIGHT TRAVEL! They have bad customer service, not helpful at all, and always do tricks to charge you more money.

Well, my husband and I are going to leave US for Viet Nam on next Friday night, January 30th, 2010. We just have 5 days to deal with this problem. Do you have any suggestion for us now? Go to VN Embassy to get notation on my passport that my name is changed? Or go to China Airline office to deal with them, ask them to change name on airline ticket for me or give me a note to get boarded?

How long does it take to get notation of name change on passport at Embassy? What documents do I need to show at Embassy? and how much does it cost?

Is it ok if we just travel with my name on airline ticket and passport is different but we have marriage certificate with us?

Could you please help to reply as soon as possible? We don't have much time now. Please help us so we can work this out on the best way.

Many Thanks!

Chien Tran Patterson

Your international flight ticket needs to have the name on your passport, I don't know why they told you different.

AP isn't used for "boarding" aircraft, it's only used to allow you entry back into the US. (an no other country). AP is used when you normally wouldn't be allowed to come back into the US - say, you came in on a K-1 visa, which only allows a one time entry (and your in the middle of AOS).

So - your options are as follows.

1. Get the ticket changed to the passport name. (probably the fastest/cheapest way)

2. Change the passport at your embassy. (notes will probably not work) - can't tell you how long it will take yours or cost, going through the Turkish embassy will take us 3 weeks to get the new documents.

3. Airline (TSA) will probably not allow you to travel if your passport/ticket are different names - Airlines have their own rules, TSA may require secondary screening if your documents do not match. (in my travels for my job, i've seen people turned away for having mismatched documents (both TSA/Airlines).

(You should carry your marriage certificate along with your other documentation anyway - till you change all your ID's)

[Chien Patterson 0]

Thanks Boddy+Umit for answering me!

But Now I'm so much worried . We are going to leave on this Friday, just less than a week left to deal with this issue.

If things work as you said, now we are in huge trouble (.

Change name on my passport seems impossible 'cause it takes up to 2-3 weeks.

Changing name on tickets will cost us a lot of money then :|

Hey Toddandhien and Gage, can you tell me what you guys experienced when you flew with Advance Parole document?

Gage, did you travel Ok with the notation on name change on passport?

Thanks so much!

- Chien

[Chien Patterson 0]

Hi everyone,

I didn't do anything with the name different on Air-line Ticket and Passport. We went to China Airline office to ask them help us change the name or put a note on my ticket so I would be able to travel internationally but they told us not to worry about that, they knew that Advance Parole document and we'd be able to check in normally.

At the Air-port, I showed my Passport and AP to check-in, the lady didn't ask any question about the name different on those 2 documents and air-line ticket. The TSA checked them, too. He didn't ask for Marriage Certificate, either. He even said congratulation on our new marriage . Such nice people!

I had no little hassle at all!

Just to tell any person in similar situation to me that: You will have no problem traveling internationally with Maiden name on passport but Married name on Advance Parole and Airline ticket.

Cheers,

- Chien Tran Patterson

[wratran 0]

My wife has not received her green card yet but we had applied for and received Advance Parole when we filed for AOS. We just returned from a trip outside the US and we came back through SFO.

We went together through the US Citizen line for immigration. No hassle at all. The officer knew exactly what the form was and only asked my wife to do biometrics then sent us to what they called "secondary processing". Went down the hall, handed the officer her passport, I-94 and AP approval. They said have a seat and we will take care of the paperwork. 5 minutes later, the officer came back and said "you guys are good to go!" No interview, no questions at all. She came here legally, had no overstays and has an interview pending for 12/29 so we sailed right through.

We flew China Airlines and when we checked in to come home, they had no problems with using the AP instead of a visa.

All in all, it was no more or less problematic on this trip than any other that I have been on, with or without my wife.

Did you travel to Vietnam?. My wife is a VN citizen on AP. We will go back next month. She is on the K1 visa.

1) does she need a VN visa?

2) I thought the K1 visa in obsolete once you arrived in the USA....all she have is the AP paper and VN passport....is this enough?

3) did your wife have problem leaving VN?

4) did they ask for the AP paper?

[Chien Patterson 0]

Hi Linh and Ngan,

I'm a VN citizen, also arrived in US on K1 Visa. I and my husband just came back Vietnam 3 days ago. All I need were VN passport and Advance Parole (and Marriage certificate), no need for VN Visa. Bring the Marriage certificate with you for just in case. As I said in the previous post, when I came back, the Airline and TSA didn't ask to see my Marriage certificate but I think sometimes they may want to see it. I'm still in VN so I don't know if I have problem leaving VN yet, but I guess not. I will tell you then .

[Krikit 1,163]

At the Air-port, I showed my Passport and AP to check-in, the lady didn't ask any question about the name different on those 2 documents and air-line ticket. The TSA checked them, too. He didn't ask for Marriage Certificate, either. He even said congratulation on our new marriage . Such nice people!

I had no little hassle at all!

There is no need to show the AP when exiting the US. That document is for entering the US.

Just to tell any person in similar situation to me that: You will have no problem traveling internationally with Maiden name on passport but Married name on Advance Parole and Airline ticket.

This was true in your case. But it isn't true for all cases. I have travelled with a family member who was refused check-in because their passport and their ticket names did not match. Major to-do to get it changed within a couple of hours of the flight. It is never recommended to tell people they will have no problem in such cases.

[wratran 0]

Hi Linh and Ngan,

I'm a VN citizen, also arrived in US on K1 Visa. I and my husband just came back Vietnam 3 days ago. All I need were VN passport and Advance Parole (and Marriage certificate), no need for VN Visa. Bring the Marriage certificate with you for just in case. As I said in the previous post, when I came back, the Airline and TSA didn't ask to see my Marriage certificate but I think sometimes they may want to see it. I'm still in VN so I don't know if I have problem leaving VN yet, but I guess not. I will tell you then .

Let me know if Tan Son nhat people give you problem when leaving

[Chien Patterson 0]

There is no need to show the AP when exiting the US. That document is for entering the US.

This was true in your case. But it isn't true for all cases. I have travelled with a family member who was refused check-in because their passport and their ticket names did not match. Major to-do to get it changed within a couple of hours of the flight. It is never recommended to tell people they will have no problem in such cases.

I understand your point, I just mean the situation similar to mine. The case is that: People just got married and changed their name using husband family name. Then they will have married name on all new documents including Advance Parole, and Maiden name on old documents like Passport.

So documents needed for traveling internationally are

- Passport : Maiden Name

- Advance Parole: Married Name

- Marriage certificate (to prove name change): Married Name.

So now when people book airline tickets, they will definitely have mis-matching name either between Airline ticket and Passport (if put Married Name on air-line ticket) or between Airline ticket and Advance Parole (if put Maiden Name on Airline ticket).

- Most of the cases put Maiden name on airline ticket to match the name on Passport which works.

- Some other cases like don't know which name to put on air-line ticket and come up with Married Name to match the name on Advance Parole. Then they'll be worried about check-in at the airport. And I know almost all of them will try to do something like change name on passport or change name on Airline ticket which costs a lot of money. If I had decided to change my name on airline ticket at Travel Agency, it would cost almost $1000. If you don't mind throwing away that money, it's Ok. But I don't want to, so I just checked with the Airline Agency I flew with (I flew with China Airline) so it didn't cost me a penny.

It's true that there is no need to show the AP when exiting US, but if you put Married Name on airline ticket, you need something to show your ID with photo and AP is the only document showing your Married name with Photo. That's why it works for check-in at the airport. If you don't have anything to show your Married Name, I guess you cannot check in then.

I don't know how is the mis-matching name between Airline ticket and Passport of your family member, but for my case, it's understandable. The newly married couple cannot have all documents with new name, so as long as you have enough and proper documents to show your name has been changed, I believe you can travel abroad.

Another thing is to check with the Airline Agency to make sure it works.

I just want to help people, not to make people in trouble. So it applies to the cases similar to mine and flying with China Airline. I was in a big head-ache finding how to change name on passport within 2 days, which is impossible or change name on air-line ticket, which costs me almost $1000. Then I figured it out that I don't need to do anything and don't need to spend a penny so I need to tell to help people of my case.

If you don't mind throwing money away, then go ahead .

Cheers,

- Chien Patterson

[Chien Patterson 0]

Let me know if Tan Son nhat people give you problem when leaving

Hi Linh&Ngan, We were back to US a week ago and we didn't any problem leaving Vietnam or getting into US. No one ever asked about my name different on the documents. They knew the case, so don't worry.

Cheers