this is not correct. passport is NOT banned, but it raises concerns about reavailing yourself to your COP. 223.1(b) specifically says that asylee need RTD to REENTER , UNLESS you have a parole. the reason why it says that is, your asylum status is NOT valid for you to reentry withiut RTD or parole. 223. is talking about reentry …that after reentry with RTD, CBP officer should admit you with the same status as a Asylee/refugee !

@Immigration Guy : Thanks for sharing this; it’s definitely an important conversation to have. That said, I want to clear a few things up, especially for folks reading who might not know how risky this is. If you got your green card through asylum, you’re still expected to travel using a Refugee Travel Document (RTD), not your passport from the country you fled. That’s what the regulations say (8 C.F.R. § 223.1(b)) and USCIS hasn’t updated that, as you noted.. I get that the Mahmood v. Sessions case you brought up adds some gray area, but it doesn’t override the current rule. Until something changes officially, using your country’s passport can backfire big time. We’re talking potential fraud accusations, green card revoked, even deportation proceedings, as you very well mentioned. The safest route for now is to follow what USCIS expects. Court rulings might influence future policy, but USCIS still enforces what’s currently on the books. At least, that's my 2-cent.

@Lilo Pelekai 223.1(b) has 0 information about Green Card holders based on asylum/refugee. 223.1(b) is solely explain the situation how asylee/refugee can enter the US after being abroad, and that is RTD. every time you come back to the US with RTD ,CBP officer admit you and technically “grants” you refugee/asylee status. when you have a Green Card, you immigration status is Lawful Permanent Resident. i agree with what you said, but for interpretation of 223.1(b) let’s read stuff clearly.

@i l : lol. We're saying the same thing. Nowhere did I say that 8 C.F.R. § 223.1(b) says anything about green card holders based on asylum. Maybe saying green card based on asylum needs an RTD for travel and not the home country passport while citing 8 C.F.R. § 223.1(b) for the proper documentation to have on that status within the same paragraph created confusion. Sorry about that. 🙂

thank you @i l and @Lilo Pelekai for chiming in. I misquoted from the beginning, it is true that 223.1 doesn't mention LPRs it's the 223.2(b) (2) (i) that indicates you must be in the US when you apply and must be a refugee, asylee or LPR as direct result of your asylum/refugee status. I agree with you guys fully and it's very interesting to me that this has never been elaborated any further. I've also seen many travel with re-entry permit without actually exceeding the 6 months out of the US rule. lastly, I've also seen many individuals travel with COP passport without having any issues at the border which is why I worked on digging into this matter

@Immigration Guy here is something to think about…i just thought of it today and idk the correct answer…. if you have a GC your travels not supposed to exceed 6month without a reentry permit(bumps up to 2 years)…. now RTD is valid for 1 year and you can enter the US even on the last day of the validity…. so technically you can stay outside of the US with GC and RTD for 1 year….would i? no, because 50/50 shot that CBP has no idea how RTD work and will make your life super difficult

@Immigration Guy You're very welcome. 🙂 Yes, the thing with traveling with the COP after asylum and on LPR based on asylum is that this can blow up to the immigrant's face at any time, including at the time of the naturalization. Because technically, using anything tied to the COP after asylum like passport and such means the fear of persecution from said country no longer exists. And there's also the fact that just because many people have gotten away with it doesn't mean they always will. I wouldn't want to live with the fear of revocation over my shoulder at all. So, I wouldn't risk it. 🙈

Everyone I know with an asylum-based green card has traveled using their home country passport. I saw someone on Facebook share that she traveled abroad, and when she came back, she showed her home country passport. The CBP officer took her to secondary and, on the way there, asked if she had another passport. She said yes, her Russian one. The officer told her, “Just use your passport and green card next time for a smoother process.” Also, honestly, it’s nearly impossible to plan travel with the RTD, it’s only valid for a year, and some countries require at least 6 months’ validity to even let you in. Just my personal take: be honest about your passport situation with DHS, USCIS etc, especially if you’ve renewed it. I would definitely understand if RTD was given for 5 years validity, also wait time is insane 14-15 months. few months ago someone shared here in Lawfully that his/her RTD was denied because she has already her green card, ao she assumed that she can renew her home country passport?

@God Bless America agreed. also, i saw stories when GC+RTD during CBP questioning, officer requested his COP passport saying how do you travel ?? and when he said with RTD , officer suspected him going back to his COP and that is why he hide it… also, people saying that going to embassy in the us is dangerous and crazy….if you are that big of the profile person then yes….but let’s be honest majority of ppl wont have any problems in the embassy on the Us soil….

@i l agreed 👍🏼 If you are not Navalny, you should be ok ;)

I would like to add that I have read in multiple places that for reentry to the US after a short trip abroad, you don’t need to present anything besides the green card. You need a travel document/passport to board the plane or to use to enter another country for entry, but when returning, green card should be sufficient with CBP per 8 CFR 211.1(a)

@good human that is correct, but if CBP officer asks you for your passport or any other documents, you have to provide. to enter the US yku need only valid entry document, which is Green Card.

@God Bless America thank you for sharing this. even I've been asked similarly once and that's one of the things I've brought up to a couple of attorneys. the response I get is always along the lines of the odds are low but if you were to get in trouble for this it'd definitely be at the naturalization process and kind of hard to argue on why did you not fear traveling with the passport type of scenario. even at the case I quoted above in the post, the government did not raise any flags up until that guy ended up bringing his family to the US-Mexico border and tried to get them in so I think this sheds a bit of light as to how things work lol. @i l and @i l great points here. have you guys heard anyone enter and only show the GC?

@good human * meant to tag you on the above comment lol ^

@Immigration Guy yes , multiple times. you need just a GC to enter, but of course they ask for passport, i guess that depends on the officer and his mood. also, different countries have different ways how they issue passports. Immigration laws have a lot of grey areas or areas where you don’t have a one type of answer!😀🤷🏻‍♂️

interesting, out of all the cases I've had as paralegal maybe they all just happened to show the passport as well, I didn't get a chance to have one that got in by just showing the green card @i l

Thank you, @good human .

anybody have traveled just using his cop passport and green card I have both but expired in February and I’m planning to travel in November

bryan@ i traveled in dec & cameback midarch used cop with green card , now I am confused, i have travel plan I future, can I travel with rtd or cop , I eligible for apply rtd and safe when I came back

@Harjinder singh @Harjinder singh I don’t know brother I’m talked to 10 different lawyer they all told me that I don’t have a problem using my cop passport because my case is base on a violent group and not against the government but I have both I just don’t know if another country would let me use my cop passport it is almost expired most of the countries require at Les 90 days