GC Holder: I need to bring my baby to USA for the first time

Hello All,

Me and my husband are GC holders and came back to India to try IVF (after multiple failed attempts in US). Fortunately we got lucky after a couple tries and are now considering bringing our kid back to US.

I am not sure if authorities in India or USA would pose any difficulties in our returning back to USA.

I would appreciate if you can suggest what steps we shall take to ensure smoth return or if you know of someone who has had a similar situation.

BACKGROUND: We came to India in Oct 2006, have Green Card, US Driving Licenses, House in US and keep close contact with our friends and relatives in USA. We also have a Re-entry permit and have visited USA in the past 1 yr. Our kid was born on 12th Nov, 2007 and we plan to return to US in June/July, 2008 once he get's old enough to travel by air comfortably.

LAW STATES: A child under two years of age who was born of a Permanent Resident mother during temporary visit abroad does not require an immigrant visa in order to travel to the United States. The child must be admitted to the U.S. within two years of birth and the accompanying parent must be applying for readmission upon first return after the birth of the child. Accompanying parent must carry documentary evidence of relationship to the child, including the child's passport and birth certificate.

I am not sure if Airline agencies would issue ticket or boarding pass to the baby without visa, or would the agencies in Europe (during the halt) or immigration officials in US, give any trouble.

Please provide your thoughts

Thanks

 

Thanks Pinky.... I went thru the websites you pointed out and they also state the same as i have found out from other sites. It helped reconfirm my understanding.

Would anyone know of someone who might have been in a similar situation. i.e. GC holder delivering a baby outside US. Personal experiences will help a great deal.

Thanks

 

Let me share our experience here, so you and others can benefit from that.

I found that everyone that we came across in our journey had never encountered such a case, due to which we faced lot of hurdles and delays at each stage. Be prepared for that. Keep a copy of the ruling, copy of a few people's experiences from the net, there is a note in this regard on mumbai american consulates website. Take all this with you and be prepared to educate every individual on your way about the law, as they are unaware of your circumstance. Also carry your childs birth certificate and passport and immunization records with you.

Make sure you meet all the criteria i had mentioned above (in my original posting).

At the Indian Airport, our airlies didn't agree our son could travel without a visa. They checked with immigration officials, they also refused. They later checked with American Airlines staff, hoping they may know more, they also said no. At this time our airlnes staff gave up and began to wonder what to do. Then their manager called up American Embassy and got someone over on phone who handles visa cases. I believe that american gentleman (an angel for us) was kind enough to take a call at the middle of the night and upon asking a few questions said that the baby can travel to US without a Visa.

Our son was to be provided immigrant visa (Green Card) upon arrival in US, he could not be given immigrant visa while outside the country, because GC's are only given while you are on US soil. Visitor or any other visa doesnt apply to him as those are non-immigrant form of visa's.

Anyway once we cleared the checks at the airline and were granted boarding pass, we had to get a letter from the airline to clear the immigration counters. That also took some 10-15 minutes to wait for the letter. After this we thought we are all clear till we land in US.

I knew we would not have any trouble in US. The airlines officials in India also said they'll send a message to our stopover country so they don't ask similar questions. It took us 2.5 hrs to clear the ordeal in India.

Unfortunately at the stopover country between India and US, we once again had to go through the same drill. It took a lot of coordinating to get them also to verify that our son was indeed allowed to board the aircraft without a visa. It took us another 2.5 hrs to obtain clearance here in lala land.

In US we didn't have any trouble, they were very courteous, helpfull and considerate. They did ask us a bunch of questions, but nothing out of the ordinary. Everything to ensure we were a genuine case. Here also it took us 1.5 hrs, but that was mostly towards filing for GC for our son. The questions didn't take more than 5-10 mins.

I wish we knew we would have so much trouble at the airport, immigration. Unfortunately the officials were not knowledeable of such cases, which caused us all this delay and unneccessary harrassment. Once the officials found out about the ruling and the law that governed the entry of baby's born abroad to GC holders, getting clearance didn't take time at each check point.

I say go ahead, take sufficient printouts from the net, so if you need to educate people on your journey, you are well prepared. I had also consulted with an attorney in US, he also had suggested that there would be no problem, as the child does not need a visa to travel. You can do the same to be sure. A small price to pay to be sure ($220 for 2 mins call).

Best of luck and hope things go fine with you.

 

i've replied to your post. please see the message board and best of luck. Let us know how it went.