what travel documents would my wife needs for domestic or internationa

[seafood10]

what documents should she needs if she wants to travel domestically in the US or internationally? i applied for cr1 for my wife and guangzhou granted her a visa to come to the us and that visit expired in 6 months. we have been married less than 2 years. from what i read here, does that visa automatically becomes her 2 years green card? yes or no?

1. if no, would she get her 2 years green card in the mail after she arrives in the us? and how long do we need to wait?

2. once she get her 2 years green card, if we want to visit sf from nyc, is that all she need for id for domestic flight?

3. how about when we travel internationally to other countries, like england, france, or back to china etc.?

[Randy W]

what documents should she needs if she wants to travel domestically in the US or internationally? i applied for cr1 for my wife and guangzhou granted her a visa to come to the us and that visitvisa expired in 6 months. we have been married less than 2 years. from what i read here, does that visa automatically becomes her 2 years green card? yes or no?

 

1. if no, would she get her 2 years green card in the mail after she arrives in the us? and how long do we need to wait?

 

2. once she get her 2 years green card, if we want to visit sf from nyc, is that all she need for id for domestic flight?

 

3. how about when we travel internationally to other countries, like england, france, or back to china etc.?

 

The visa was for a one-time entry, and is no longer valid. She needs an I-551 green card, which should come in the mail within 1 month of arrival. If you need one sooner, you can make an InfoPass appointment to get an I-551stamp in her passport which is good for one year.

 

Her passport is all the ID she'll need domestically. I don't think she'll even have trouble traveling on that before her green card arrives.

 

For travel to a foreign country, she'll need visas for any country which requires one for Chinese citizens. The green card (or I-551 stamp) is needed only for return to the U.S. DO NOT travel to a foreign country (including China) without the green card or I-551 stamp.

[dnoblett]

In my wife's case when traveling domestically in the USA we only used her Driver's license, and carried the green-card as a back up, the TSA had no problems with this, however when traveling in and out of Canada we had her passport along but never needed it when making crossings by car, only my passport and her green-card was used to enter Canada and return into NY State.

 

1. Passport + Visa is marked I-551, so upon entry to the USA it becomes a temporary green-card usable for travel and employment, until the actual card arrives in the mail.

2. Yes, Green-card or passport is sufficient for domestic travel in the USA

3. Green-card/Passport is allowed VISA-FREE travel to Canada, Mexico, and the islands of the Caribbean, however travel to Europe WILL require visitors visa, UK has a separate Visa than the rest of Europe, The EU mostly is covered by the Schengen Visa program available through the participating countries various consulates or Embassies in the USA.

http://www.schengenvisa.cc/

[seafood10]

how would she get those visa to travel to other countries when she is here in the US? Does she needs to go to the chinese consulate to obtain those visa? And is it hard to obtain those visa?

[dnoblett]

how would she get those visa to travel to other countries when she is here in the US? Does she needs to go to the chinese consulate to obtain those visa? And is it hard to obtain those visa?

Not from Chinese consulate, they issue visas to visit China, not other countries.

 

You would need to contact consulate or Embassy of the first country you intend on visiting if they are Schengen country that visa will cover the other participating countries not UK or Ireland which have different visas.

 

Again North American countries will accept green card and not need visa.

[Randy W]

how would she get those visa to travel to other countries when she is here in the US? Does she needs to go to the chinese consulate to obtain those visa? And is it hard to obtain those visa?

 

To visit Brazil, she would need to get a visa from the Brazilian embassy or consulate. To visit Japan, she would need to get a visa from the Japanese embassy or consulate. The process is the same as it is for you, but she may be required to show her green card when applying for the visa in order to prove legal presence in the U.S.

 

We don't get much feedback on how difficult it is how to actually get the visa, but I suspect it's much easier than applying for the same visa within China.

[seafood10]

but doesn't she need to use her chinese passport to travel internationally?

 

for chinese citizen with chinese passport, whenever they travel to different countries, don't they required the chinese governement the stamp of approval before they can travel oversea?

Edited December 12, 2012 by seafood10 (see edit history)

[Randy W]

but doesn't she need to use her chinese passport to travel internationally?

 

for chinese citizen with chinese passport, whenever they travel to different countries, don't they required the chinese governement the stamp of approval before they can travel oversea?

 

?? What are you thinking?? The passport is the Chinese government's stamp of approval.

 

She's not in China anymore.

[dnoblett]

but doesn't she need to use her chinese passport to travel internationally?

 

for chinese citizen with chinese passport, whenever they travel to different countries, don't they required the chinese governement the stamp of approval before they can travel oversea?

Yes, need to have Chinese passport to travel internationally, and NO there is no getting approval from the Chinese government, when the Chinese government issues that passport it IS approval to travel out of China, a visa is a foreign government's approval to enter their country, this is the case when you applied for a USA Visa for your spouse, and is the case for any other country wishing to visit.

[seafood10]

so when she return from her international trip back tot he US, the chinese passport with her green card will be suffice?

[dnoblett]

so when she return from her international trip back tot he US, the chinese passport with her green card will be suffice?

Yes.

 

My wife and I made I believe 14 trips over to Canada, and on every return to the USA the passport and green card was all that was needed to visit Canada and return, nothing more.

 

This is the same with any trip abroad, Passport+foreign visa to visit the foreign country, and passport+Green Card to re-enter the USA.

 

Exception is Canada, Mexico, and Caribbean Islands, US Green-card holder is allowed to visit without needing to first get a visitors visa.

 

Other exceptions would be countries that allow Chinese Citizens to visit visa free.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_requirements_for_Chinese_citizens

[seafood10]

if my laopo every need to renew her chinese passport, how would she do it while in the US? By going to the chinese consulate in nyc?

[dnoblett]

if my laopo every need to renew her chinese passport, how would she do it while in the US? By going to the chinese consulate in nyc?

Yep, if you live in the jurisdiction of that consulate.

 

http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lgxx/zzjg/vpnas/

 

Jurisdiction map: http://houston.china-consulate.org/eng/vp/t53292.htm

 

http://houston.china-consulate.org/eng/vp/W020031130754155169321.gif