Father A Daughter Traveling To The Usa Any Problems?

[LiveSteam]

I would like to know since my wife has not able to get a green card for travel to the US I have decided to visit my parents with my 7 year old daughter from Thailand. She has a Thai passport and a US passport and I would like to know if I have any problems from the Thai government or the US government with this travel. What passports should I use and where?

Hope I can get some help from this Forum.

LiveSteam

[Slaps]

Don't see any problems if the mother is agreeable, your daughter leaves on her Thai pp and enters on her US pp

but still yet to do this myself so good luck, I'm sure Mario or someone will be along soon

[grumpyoldman]

Green Card? Isn't that for working in the U.S.?

What you need is to get her a visa, right?

I would look at the Thai Immigration website regarding this because showing up in the U.S. with a seven year old girl and no Mom will raise suspicion.

I figure they'll have you have her birth cert and some other docs.

[Mario2008]

You use both passports. At checkin you show the passport on which you baught the ticket and the US passport to confirm she doesn't need a visa for the US. At immigration you hand over the Thai passport and fill out a departure card for her. On arrival in the US you show the US passport and also leave on the US passport. At check-in in the US you (also) show the Thai passport to confirm she doesn't need a visa. She enters Thailand on her Thai passort and gives returnes her depature card.

(For her the departure card work the other way around. When she leaves she gives the entry part and when she returns she gives the departure part)>

Since this is your first travel with her, take along a copy of the birth certificate and a note, including a copy of her ID, from the mother giving consent to travel with you can be usefull.

[LivinginKata]

Moved to the Visa to other countries section.

[LiveSteam]

You use both passports. At checkin you show the passport on which you baught the ticket and the US passport to confirm she doesn't need a visa for the US. At immigration you hand over the Thai passport and fill out a departure card for her. On arrival in the US you show the US passport and also leave on the US passport. At check-in in the US you (also) show the Thai passport to confirm she doesn't need a visa. She enters Thailand on her Thai passort and gives returnes her depature card.

(For her the departure card work the other way around. When she leaves she gives the entry part and when she returns she gives the departure part)>

Since this is your first travel with her, take along a copy of the birth certificate and a note, including a copy of her ID, from the mother giving consent to travel with you can be usefull.

Thank-you very much for this Mario2008 this is a big help and I will follow that advice. Thanks everyone.

LiveSteam

[Brigante7]

Green Card? Isn't that for working in the U.S.?

What you need is to get her a visa, right?

I would look at the Thai Immigration website regarding this because showing up in the U.S. with a seven year old girl and no Mom will raise suspicion.

I figure they'll have you have her birth cert and some other docs.

I'm sorry but since when does travelling with your own child raise suspicion? You both have legitimate passports and the OP is her father, where is the suspicion? What is US immigration going to do, take your own child away from you? Can you just imagine the newspaper headlines in the US that a citizen was returning to the country with his daughter and the goverment took the child away, yeah right.

To the OP, she's your daughter so you have absolutely nothing to worry about and if anybody tries to tell you otherwise then stand your ground.

Brigante7.

Edited February 27, 2010 by Brigante7

[7by7]

Brigante, it is unfortunate that some international marriages end in divorce with child custody disputes and that some parents who do not have custody do abduct their children and flee back to their home country. See here for one recent high profile (in the UK) example.

Although I do not believe the OP to be doing this, it is a valid concern of any country's immigration officers and Mario's advice to the OP "Since this is your first travel with her, take along a copy of the birth certificate and a note, including a copy of her ID, from the mother giving consent to travel with you can be usefull" is sound.

[shawndoc]

Green Card? Isn't that for working in the U.S.?

What you need is to get her a visa, right?

Nope. Green card is all that's needed to enter the US. It is a slang term for "Permanent Resident Card". It basically means you have a legal right to be in and work in the United States, and takes the place of a visa when traveling abroad.

Depending on the type of Green Card, it may be revoked if you travel outside the United States for more than 6 months or need to apply for a Reentry Permit. But regardless of type of Green Card, you can leave the US for up to 6 months at a time and return without needing a visa or additional paperwork.

[Brigante7]

Brigante, it is unfortunate that some international marriages end in divorce with child custody disputes and that some parents who do not have custody do abduct their children and flee back to their home country. See here for one recent high profile (in the UK) example.

Although I do not believe the OP to be doing this, it is a valid concern of any country's immigration officers and Mario's advice to the OP "Since this is your first travel with her, take along a copy of the birth certificate and a note, including a copy of her ID, from the mother giving consent to travel with you can be usefull" is sound.

That I understand 7by7, what I was getting at is would the same advise be given to a woman travelling with her child? There is a story in the UK press today about a man who was threatend with arrest because he took a picture of his 4 year old son in public, that's my problem and until people stand up to jobsworths like this and the ones at airports it will only get worse.

Brigante7.

[7by7]

what I was getting at is would the same advise be given to a woman travelling with her child?

As far as the UK is concerned; yes. I suspect the same is true for the US.

[BKK03]

When my son was a young one, we traveled out of country often. I wrote a letter of agreement stating my wife agreed for my son to travel out of country with me to a specified location during specified dates. Then I had an attorney put it on his letterhead with our signatures, certify it, and had two people witness the document (office staff). In the years that she and I traveled separately with our son, we never had a problem. Our letter provided home and work addresses along with telephone numbers, personal information copied from our passports, and the name, address, and telephone number of a relative to contact in case of emergency. Our letter was kept on file in the attorney’s office and all it took was a telephone call to get a new one. It was the same letter with a change of dates, locations, and parent’s name.