Carrying GC

[amyandjorge 76]

Wondering if my husband should carry his GC around anymore. He now has a OH DL, so I am thinking that should be enough for ID purposes. I hear the replacement card is $400 and well he has put his passport in the washing machine before

Of course if we wanted to travel he would need the GC, but is it possible for him to be detained or something within the US with just a DL? We're trying to avoid extra costs but more importantly safety.

Thanks for your help!

[N M 96]

Wondering if my husband should carry his GC around anymore. He now has a OH DL, so I am thinking that should be enough for ID purposes. I hear the replacement card is $400 and well he has put his passport in the washing machine before

Of course if we wanted to travel he would need the GC, but is it possible for him to be detained or something within the US with just a DL? We're trying to avoid extra costs but more importantly safety.

Thanks for your help!

I carry mine. It's tucked away in my wallet with my drivers' license, and as a result I've never lost it, thrown it in the wash etc.

Page 9 of this guide states that if you are an LPR aged 18 or over you must carry proof of your immigration status:

http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/M-618.pdf

In an ideal world, a drivers' license should suffice as proof, but I guess that technically, a license only proves that you demonstrated your legal status at the time the license was issued. Not since.

I wouldn't want to run fowl of any cop or ICE agent that considered a drivers' license to be insufficient.

[Darnell 8,478]

Ya, there's the law, and then there's what works.

Suggest this -

make a copy, front and back. Laminate the copy, keep in wallet.

Then

Keep Original Green Card in the 'important documents' lockbox you have at home.

When the cops want to check his status, they will see the copy, and is huge possibility they detain him until YOU show up with the greencard in hand at the police station. Detaining is not arrest, and the 'original at home' explanation can be understood by all PDs.

Good Luck !

[scotinmass 588]

I've been here for over 2 years and I only just discovered I am supposed to always carry my green card. I never have except when I am traveling abroad. I still don't carry it. I prefer to have it locked in the safe at home. When I fly within the US I use my Massachusetts driving license as ID.

[amyandjorge 76]

Hm, carrying a copy sounds like a good plan to me, as long as we don't go too far from home.

Thanks for the link, I kind of supposed he should carry it with him (esp considering his demographic...) but wasn't sure.

[TBoneTX 43,059]

Hm, carrying a copy sounds like a good plan to me, as long as we don't go too far from home.

This is the key consideration. If you venture within a 100-mile radius of either U.S. border (especially the southern), you WILL be in deep trouble without complete documentation.

If you absolutely must make a copy to carry, enlarge the output so that you can't be accused of unauthorized photocopying of an official governmental document (this from an attorney, whom I asked).

Bear in mind also that being detained must be reported on green-card renewal applications and the N-400, and it won't look good.

[ceresa 3]

I used my green card as ID to get into a bar here once, they wouldn't accept it cus it wasn't a drivers licence! I guess they thought getting a Texas Drivers licence is a lot harder than a United States government issued green card

I never used to carry mine, til I got stopped by border patrol and they asked for it! Now I carry it

[TBoneTX 43,059]

I never used to carry mine, til I got stopped by border patrol and they asked for it! Now I carry it

Count on CBP agents' ALWAYS being in a foul mood and looking to nail somebody. This will dictate our behavior in regard to carrying the green card.

[DaveE 178]

My wife and daughter carry theirs all the time. We have copies in the safe, but they carry the originals. If they lose them, so be it, we pay the piper.

Don't know what would have happened if they hadn't had the originals when we were in New Mexico a few months ago and hit a check point. Gee sir, we were scared of losing them and the originals are back in Georgia. Don't think that would have cut it.

Of course, I know many people on this forum do exactly the opposite.

[TBoneTX 43,059]

Of course, I know many people on this forum do exactly the opposite.

Si, man, which is curious and disturbing in two ways: They should (and most DO) know better, and they're openly advocating that people violate Federal law.

One member of Germanic extraction (who surprisingly hasn't been along yet) very breezily dismisses the necessity of following this law. How very reckless that advice is, if someone of Hispanic origin (at the least) is going through a checkpoint or will encounter a Federal agent at random elsewhere.

[SapphireDreams 71]

Just curious as to how they expect an American to prove their citizenship at a checkpoint? It's not like everyone carries a passport or birth certificate, or do they if they live near a checkpoint? And it's not like every American looks a certain way.

I'm truly just curious.

I carry my GC, but I've always wondered if it is even necessary! I have a DL from New York that isn't easy to get without proving status, so I can't see hwo that wouldn't cover me.

[TBoneTX 43,059]

Just curious as to how they expect an American to prove their citizenship at a checkpoint? It's not like everyone carries a passport or birth certificate, or do they if they live near a checkpoint? And it's not like every American looks a certain way.

I'm truly just curious.

I carry my GC, but I've always wondered if it is even necessary! I have a DL from New York that isn't easy to get without proving status, so I can't see hwo that wouldn't cover me.

One partial answer is that if a non-USC falsely claims to be a USC, deportation is possible. If a non-USC tells the truth that he or she is not yet a USC, then proof of lawful status is required.

[SapphireDreams 71]

One partial answer is that if a non-USC falsely claims to be a USC, deportation is possible. If a non-USC tells the truth that he or she is not yet a USC, then proof of lawful status is required.

Thanks, that makes sense.

[Kajikit 65]

I NEVER carried mine. I was too afraid of losing it.

[DaveE 178]

Just curious as to how they expect an American to prove their citizenship at a checkpoint? It's not like everyone carries a passport or birth certificate, or do they if they live near a checkpoint? And it's not like every American looks a certain way.

I'm truly just curious.

I carry my GC, but I've always wondered if it is even necessary! I have a DL from New York that isn't easy to get without proving status, so I can't see hwo that wouldn't cover me.

What happens is that the Border Patol agent specifically asks you, "are you a US cticzen", or "is everyone in this vehicle a US citizen". They know what happens if you falsely claim to be a citizen.