Has anyone had trouble boarding a flight to the USA because green card is in MM/DD/YYYY format and card looks "expired"?

[jaysaldi 206]

Interesting thing happened with my wife yesterday checking in for a flight from Boston to Dubai.

 

Her date of birth is listed on the green card as "17 JUN 1988"  Noe that this is the DD/MM/YYYY format generally used all over the world.

 

However, green card says issue date is  "12/04/2020"  and expiration date  is "12/04/2022"

 

Well, you can imagine what happened. At the pre-check in screening, at check in, and at boarding document check we were challenged. Everyone thought the card expired on April 12 (12/04).

 

Supervisors were called, etc. and they fortunately knew that the US green card expiration date is in MM/DD/YYY format and approved her to board the plane.  

 

Why the USA uses letters for the month "JUN" on date of birth line but only numbers on the expiration date line, I have no idea.

Why the USA puts date of birth in DD/MM/YYYY and expiration date in MM/DD/YYYY I have no idea.

 

Have green card holders been denied boarding for this?

 

Is there a backup I should have for future travel that "proves" the card is not expired and that 12/04/2022 means December 4, 2022? 

 

I guess the transmittal letter "enclosed is your green card" might show this but I may have thrown that away. Is there any other documentation we could use?

 

 

Edited April 19, 2022 by jaysaldi

[Rocio0010 5,560]

11 minutes ago, jaysaldi said:

Is there a backup I should have for future travel that "proves" the card is not expired and that 12/04/2022 means December 4, 2022? 

She'll be filing for ROC somewhere around August-September I assume. When you file, you will get your 24 month extension letter. That is your proof of status.

[jaysaldi 206]

23 minutes ago, Rocio0010 said:

She'll be filing for ROC somewhere around August-September I assume. When you file, you will get your 24 month extension letter. That is your proof of status.

She can file on June 4 right? Is there a reason to wait until August - September?

[Rocio0010 5,560]

8 minutes ago, jaysaldi said:

She can file on June 4 right? Is there a reason to wait until August - September?

No reason to wait. Her green card expires in December. Hopefully you're familiar with the ROC process

 

[jan22 2,889]

25 minutes ago, Rocio0010 said:

No reason to wait. Her green card expires in December. Hopefully you're familiar with the ROC process

 

The reason to wait is the ability to file is limited to within 90 days of the date permanent residency began, which was 12/4/2020.   If that date is correct, the earliest you could file for Removal of Conditions would be September 5, 2022.  You can check the date on USCIS calculator at https://www.uscis.gov/forms/filing-calculator-for-form-i-751-filing-jointly-with-your-spouse.

Edited April 19, 2022 by jan22

[Rocio0010 5,560]

16 minutes ago, jan22 said:

The reason to wait is the ability to file is limited to within 90 days of the date permanent residency began, which was 12/4/2020.   If that date is correct, the earliest you could file for Removal of Conditions would be September 5, 2022.  You can check the date on

I stand corrected. I thought OP meant wait to travel!

[Rocio0010 5,560]

42 minutes ago, Rocio0010 said:

No reason to wait. Her green card expires in December. Hopefully you're familiar with the ROC process

 

OP, I misunderstood and thought you meant wait to travel. She doesn't need to wait to travel. She does need to wait to file for ROC until her 90 day window opens, as other post made by @jan22 has stated. Please disregard my previous advice.

[jan22 2,889]

26 minutes ago, Rocio0010 said:

I stand corrected. I thought OP meant wait to travel!

No problem.  Can see why you thought that, but since the question on waiting followed a sentence saying "She can file on June 4, right?", I read it differently.  Together we covered answers to however you read the question!

[jaysaldi 206]

2 hours ago, jan22 said:

The reason to wait is the ability to file is limited to within 90 days of the date permanent residency began, which was 12/4/2020.   If that date is correct, the earliest you could file for Removal of Conditions would be September 5, 2022.  You can check the date on USCIS calculator at https://www.uscis.gov/forms/filing-calculator-for-form-i-751-filing-jointly-with-your-spouse.

 

3 hours ago, Rocio0010 said:

No reason to wait. Her green card expires in December. Hopefully you're familiar with the ROC process

 

Thanks I guess I wasn't familiar, I thought she could file 6 months before the expiration of her two year conditional green card and had calendared that. I guess it's 90 days though? She came in on a K-1 visa and adjusted status and got her green card in December 2020.

[Rocio0010 5,560]

Just now, jaysaldi said:

 

Thanks I guess I wasn't familiar, I thought she could file 6 months before the expiration of her two year conditional green card and had calendared that. I guess it's 90 days though? She came in on a K-1 visa and adjusted status and got her green card in December 2020.

Use the calculator to know exact date https://www.uscis.gov/forms/filing-calculator-for-form-i-751-filing-jointly-with-your-spouse

[Timona 3,909]

Must have been a new employee who doesn't know US date format.

 

Wait and file a week in after your eligibility window opens..don't file same day...we see this occasionally with "itchy fingers."

[jaysaldi 206]

1 hour ago, Timona said:

Must have been a new employee who doesn't know US date format.

 

Well, I wouldn't expect every airline check in person around the world to know the US date format, and as I mentioned the date of birth on the same document is in DDMMYYYY format (with the month written in three letters).

 

It seems to me that the USA is setting up some green card holders for problems by doing it this way.

[Timona 3,909]

2 hours ago, jaysaldi said:

Well, I wouldn't expect every airline check in person around the world to know the US date format, and as I mentioned the date of birth on the same document is in DDMMYYYY format (with the month written in three letters).

 

It seems to me that the USA is setting up some green card holders for problems by doing it this way.

 

Date of birth is normally written that way to avoid confusion. However, I believe it's only the US that has the mmddyyyy format. I knew this while in high school. I'm sure an employee who regularly checks US bound flight should know this....but atleast you're all good. 

[aznhouston 124]

It happened to me last time I flew from Spain to the US. My conditional GC expired on 09/05 which is Sept 05th, but the check in agent at the airport read it as 09th of May, and asked if I have the extension letter. But they spoke little English, and he made a whole bunch of calls, eventually he got the answer that my card is still valid. smh.

[Dashinka 23,161]

7 hours ago, jaysaldi said:

 

Thanks I guess I wasn't familiar, I thought she could file 6 months before the expiration of her two year conditional green card and had calendared that. I guess it's 90 days though? She came in on a K-1 visa and adjusted status and got her green card in December 2020.

Just to be clear, she has to remove conditions using the I751 form, not renew a green card with the I-90 form.  As to your original topic, that does seem weird, I guess my wife was lucky as when she had her GC, it expired 3/15, so not too easy to confuse.

 

Good Luck!