Traveling on Extension Letter?

[Bear11 7]

18 minutes ago, OldUser said:

I'd love to see this information on official DR website to fully trust it.

 

Also here is another person (or is it you?) asking the same yesterday. Maybe you could share the knowledge?

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g147288-i27-k14260262-Indian_passport_with_US_green_card_visa_requirement-Dominican_Republic.html

It’s not me, I couldn’t find official but in DR consulate I told today, they said if you have Green Card no need a visa even if for my country required visa without GC

[Mike E 11,723]

2 hours ago, Bear11 said:

I just called to Dominican Republic consulate in Los Angeles, asked to apply for visa with national passport (because required) and they told me if you have a green card ( told them it’s expired) with extension letter OK, no needed visa, but how is true, anybody has experience?

I gave you several examples 

[OldUser 4,904]

1 hour ago, Bear11 said:

It’s not me, I couldn’t find official but in DR consulate I told today, they said if you have Green Card no need a visa even if for my country required visa without GC

Found this:
Any person who can legally travel or reside in the United States, Canada and the European Union (including Great Britain) does not need a visa to visit the Dominican Republic for tourist purposes and can enter the Dominican Republic with a Tourist Card and a valid passport.

 

http://www.domrep.org/visa.html

 

 

[Vpanda85 45]

6 hours ago, Bear11 said:

I just called to Dominican Republic consulate in Los Angeles, asked to apply for visa with national passport (because required) and they told me if you have a green card ( told them it’s expired) with extension letter OK, no needed visa, but how is true, anybody has experience?

I have travelled to the DR with an expired green card and I-797 extension letter twice (Dec 2021 and Dec 2022). I have an Indian passport and can confirm that I had no issues both times travelling to the DR. Your wife will not be able to use the E-Gates (while leaving the DR) and will have to wait in line to get processed by an immigration official. You can wait in line with her with your US passport as well or use the E-Gates.

 

The only minor inconvenience is that the airline (Delta) employees wanted to go through all my paperwork during boarding (while traveling back to the US) even though the person at the check in desk verified all my documents. Some of the airline employees took some time to read and understand the extension letter. I had no issues leaving the US either. 

[OldUser 4,904]

@Vpanda85 anything happened when you were entering DR? Did they look at your Green Card and extension letter? Did they have any questions? Did you have to pay any fees / get tourist card?

[Vpanda85 45]

6 hours ago, OldUser said:

@Vpanda85 anything happened when you were entering DR? Did they look at your Green Card and extension letter? Did they have any questions? Did you have to pay any fees / get tourist card?

No questions, I handed my passport, green card and the extension letter. They stamped my passport with the entry stamp. 

 

The entry fees for the tourist card should be included in the tickets. You have to fill out the Entry and Exit card online - https://eticket.migracion.gob.do/. This is required for everyone travelling to the DR, regardless of what passport you hold. 

[rohsha 10]

I was in the Dominican Republic last month. I also have an Indian passport and expired permanent resident card and extension notice. Had no problems going and coming. I had emailed the Embassy and had printed out their response confirming that I did not need a visa in case the airlines gave any problems. 
 

Mexico on the other hand does not accept extension notices(the airlines here will not let you board with an extension notice) and I had emailed the embassy in Chicago and they wanted me to get a tourist visa. 

[Cornflake 108]

I just got back from my short vacation in Chile. I had a flight LA-Houston-Santiago, Chile, and another flight was Santiago, Chile-Mexico City-LA. Stupid me forgot that Mexico is not the country I should travel to or use as a transit country. I know that because a year ago my friend was going to spend a nice time in Cancun with her husband when they (don't remember which airline it was) didn't let her even do a check in because she has an expired green card and an extension letter, which they don't accept. 

 

A day before my flight back to Los Angeles I realized that I have 2 hours layover in Mexico city, which is not a good thing. I decided to apply online for Mexican electronic visa just in case of any issues with my extension letter. Even though I wasn't planning even go out of the airport in Mexico. Anyway, only citizens from Russia, Türkiye and Ukraine can get electronic "visa" online. I successfully received my Mexico Electronic Travel Authorization within 2 minutes. 

Check in at Santiago de Chile airport went smoothly, without any issues, they asked for my Green Card, and I gave them my extension letter as well. The problem was at the Mexico city airport. 

First of all, Mexico City doesn't have transit zones, like, for example, different cities in Europe have, which means you have to go through all the checkpoints as if you're leaving the airport. It's not a big deal, but in that case, you have to have a proper visa to enter Mexico (if you're from the country which requires you to have a visa). And once again they don't accept or don't like (I don't know) these extension letters paired with an expired green card. When I arrived in Mexico City a woman at the checkpoint didn't speak English at all, and I don't speak Spanish. She asked for a visa, I showed her the Electronic Travel Authorization I received a day ago. She check it, checked something on the computer, and started filling out my information on a piece of paper. That not went well. She told me to follow her, and apparently, I ended up in the room for the second screening. She pointed to that paper several times telling me to sign it, every time I replied to her that I'm not gonna sign anything written in Spanish because I don't understand what's in there. Someone who worked in that room barely could speak English and explained to me that the paper said there was some alert when she check my name in the system. I said I'm not gonna sign anything anyway until I get the same paper but in English. They took my phone, and separated me from my husband. Long story short. Then they brought me an English version of that paper, but this time it said that there are some issues with my visa, not an alert thing. A man who looked like a boss was running back and forth with my passport and some other papers back and forth, and after like 30 min of waiting he came to me and said all good, don't worry, here is your mexican stamp in your passport, you can go. Also, he said that woman who brought me to that second screening room did a mistake and she thought I have one thing ( I didn't understand which one), but I have this Electronic Travel Authorization, so I have no problem entering Mexico.

So the bottom line is: do not recommend travel to Mexico with an expired green card, and an extension letter. 

[Mike E 11,723]

IME Cancun accepts extension letters. 

[Cornflake 108]

34 minutes ago, Mike E said:

IME Cancun accepts extension letters. 

My close friend had a different experience a year ago. She wasn't allowed to board the plane in Los Angeles with an extension letter. Also, there are multiple stories online about how people were denied. So maybe it's just bad luck for some people, but there are so many beautiful countries I'd travel to instead of Mexico because I don't wanna pay thousands of $ for my vacation and probably won't even be able to board the plane. I've been to Cancun, and Playa several times already. And to be honest, I prefer Dominican Republic, Aruba, or St. Martin. 

[Cornflake 108]

56 minutes ago, Mike E said:

IME Cancun accepts extension letters. 

Actually, here is the information from the official mexican consulate website. It seems like they want to see a VALID and UNEXPIRED resident card, otherwise, you need to apply for mexican visa.

General Information:

(Effective May 18th 2016)

• All foreigners, regardless their nationality, are required to present a valid and not expired passport or travel document when entering Mexico (traveling by air, land or sea).
• If you are a Permanent Resident of the following countries: Canada, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and any of the countries of the Schengen Area, you do not need a visa to enter Mexico for tourism, business or transit purposes. All individuals in this category are required to present their valid and unexpired Resident Card along with their passports. Both documents must be valid during your entire stay in Mexico. 
• US travel document holders must present a US valid Permanent Resident when entering Mexico if they are nationals of the countries listed in the following link: http://www.inm.gob.mx/index.php/page/Paises_Visa
• If you have a valid and unexpired visa of the following countries: Canada, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and any of the countries of the Schengen Area, you do not need a visa to enter Mexico for tourism, business or transit purposes. All individuals in this category are required to present their valid and unexpired visa along with their passports. Both documents must be valid during your entire stay in Mexico. 
• If the permanent resident card or US visa stamped in your passport is expired but you have an official document or form proving your legal status in USA, you must apply for a Mexican visa at this Consulate. All EAD cards, I-797 A Forms, Advance Parole Forms, I-20 OR DS-2019 are not accepted to enter Mexico. 

[cosmonauts 125]

1 hour ago, Cornflake said:

My close friend had a different experience a year ago. She wasn't allowed to board the plane in Los Angeles with an extension letter. Also, there are multiple stories online about how people were denied. So maybe it's just bad luck for some people, but there are so many beautiful countries I'd travel to instead of Mexico because I don't wanna pay thousands of $ for my vacation and probably won't even be able to board the plane. I've been to Cancun, and Playa several times already. And to be honest, I prefer Dominican Republic, Aruba, or St. Martin. 

I also traveled successfully through Mexico City from LAX-Santiago-LAX with an extension letter, perhaps things have changed after the pandemic (my trip was Dec 2019 - Jan 2020)

[Mike E 11,723]

11 hours ago, Cornflake said:

Effective May 18th 2016)

Dated before extension letters were widely in use.  This thread started April 27, 2017.  
 

We flew on an extension letter to Cancun last year as I’ve documented in this thread. There was zero questioning from the Mexican border guard.  
 

I’m going to guess that Mexican embassy policy has about as much relevance to Mexican border guard policy as U.S. embassy policy has to U.S. CBP policy.  
 

With extension letters the difficulty is, in order of most difficult to least difficult:

 

* the airlines and cruise lines.  Some are more difficult than others.  Some like Delta  flat out refuse to transport an LPR with an extension letter to Mexico.  Others need convincing. Of course some airlines have no problems with extension letters.  
 

* CBP.  I saw a report in 2022 or 2023 of a CBP officer at a land port of entry having never seen one and having no idea what it was. Or CBP sends the LPR to secondary. Of course some CBP officers have no problems with extension letters. Some don’t even bother to look at them.  
 

* border guards at countries that grant a visa waiver to U.S. LPRs. Mexico isn’t one of them in my experience or AFAICT the experiences of LPRs who have posted  their experiences in 2020, 2022 and 2023. I’ve yet to see a single case since 2020 of a Mexico denying entry to holders of expired green card and non expired extension letters.  
 

 

The above member  flew even after another  member insisted a visa was required. 
 

My wife’s  experience:

 

 

 

[victorv3 0]

I am another user with an expired green card + extension that is planning a visit to mexico. 

 

My US tourist visa still hasn't expired. Mexico allow citizens of my country to enter with a valid US tourist visa.

 

My question: is my tourist visa still valid even after receiving the green card? 

[OldUser 4,904]

5 minutes ago, victorv3 said:

I am another user with an expired green card + extension that is planning a visit to mexico. 

 

My US tourist visa still hasn't expired. Mexico allow citizens of my country to enter with a valid US tourist visa.

 

My question: is my tourist visa still valid even after receiving the green card? 

Technically, you're LPR and visa should have become invalid. Does it not have any stamp invalidating it?