ssg10

Hi,

A friend is a green card holder, which was obtained as Chinese citizen and he also has canadian passport from naturalization.

In general, not only if he goes to mexico but to other foreign countries as well and gets in with Canadian passport (checked in airline counter with canadian passport as well), then what is the rule when going to back to US?
Does he need to use canadian passport when checking in airline counter in mexico (or other countries) and green card, or present Chinese passport with green card?

Mexico does need to know if this canadian person exit the country and go back, right? Does it mean he has to use his candian passport and GC to check in?

redadeco

His Canadian passport is fine to check-in for the flight back to the US.

GC is only needed once he arrives in the US.

notsosmart

Your friend will be fine. As long as all docs check out.

He should just use his Canadian passport, IMO. It will "look" better, all around. But since I'm guessing he is Chinese, he can use that passport too. What he shouldn't do is mix-and-match foreign passports, that is bound to arouse suspicion.

US customs and border protection are not as draconian as the media would like you to believe (not yet, at least )

cafeconleche

How is he still Chinese when he naturalized as a Canadian? China doesn't allow it, either you are mistaken, or he is fraudulently using a Chinese passport.

redadeco

Good catch

Although I think only the Chinese care about this, as long as the passport has not been confiscated/cancelled by Chinese authorities it should be valid for travel (though with much more restrictions than a Canadian passport).

cafeconleche

Yes, but it is essentially a legally (de jure) invalid passport. If found out at some point during a journey, couldn't there be a heap of trouble?

Anyway, I think a GC can be used with a passport that is not listed in the GC, as the GC is valid by itself to enter the US, and the passport just shows the passenger was allowed to fly, and sometimes where he/she has been. I think the GC can also be updated, but that's a waste of money.

Section 107

In what way(s) are you suggesting an alien registration card can be "updated"?

cafeconleche

I mean the nationality of the holder linked to the card.

redadeco

The country listed on my GC is different than the one which issued the passport I'm traveling on 90% of the time, never a problem.

You just need to be the same person.

Section 107

Ah, ok. There is no requirement to inform CIS of such a change in biographical information. Pretty much the only time that might come up is when requesting a replacement LPR card (such as around card expiration, name change due to getting married/un-married or the card has been lost/mutilated) but even then, CIS neither requires nor asks about that after LPR has been granted and there is no form where one could give that information.

Such a change potentially could be an issue if CIS believed that LPR status was granted to the beneficiary because the beneficiary made a material misstatement of facts, or omitted certain facts regarding nationality during the application process and the CIS would have made a different decision but for the misstatement/omission. But that is a quite different situation than what we are talking about.

Menko

From my experience, the native passport is "voided" when someone accepts a different or new nationality. In addition, the GC alone is insufficient to travel internationally by itself - one MUST have and utilize a valid/current passport! However, with the new laws of permitting now dual, in some cases even multiple, citizenships this is a totally new ball game. But I'm pretty sure one must use the same current/valid passport when exiting and entering the USA.