The officer very likely will ask every time. That is because it is extremely unlikely that the passenger does not have his passport with him. As I explained earlier it is because usually the passenger needed that passport to get into the country that he was going to. That does not mean that it is an automatic secondary if the passenger doesn't have the passport. The officer wants the passport to stamp the admission stamp in. This is important if the passenger decides to naturalize later down the line because the stamps in the passport are one of the things that is used to determine if physical presence requirements have been met. However, this is becoming less important as computer systems continue to become more sophisticated.

FB

How would a lawyer help?

Here is the answer:

hi, yes i lost the passport that match my GC and don't have time to make a new one thats why i wanted to use my italian one.
thanks

really?

What do you mean the "matches" you LPR card? Also, as an aside if you are making your passports I think I understand why you are afraid of having problems

FB

I see/ so what happen if the person lose his pasport with all the stamps in it?

I am starting to wonder if there is more to the story.

FB

There are other ways of confirming travel and of proving presence in the United States. However, they are not as easy and can be labor intensive for the applicant so they are avoided. It is becoming less of a problem as the computer systems get better at storing and retrieving information in a usable form quickly.

FB

lol..no not me! i have to go to re make a new passport and that take time.
and i mean the italian passport is not my original i use when i got my GC.

They make their best guess. I know somebody who's been a US LPR for something like 30 years. He travels internationally at least once (and often twice) a month and has for that length of time, but he's never been close to being outside the US for 180 days (longest is just over a month). He's applying for naturalization and they ask for all international travel as an LPR. That's hopeless in his case! An immigration attorney basically said "document the recent stuff from frequent flyer records and don't sweat the old stuff".

In the late 1970's my older brother was living in India and had several passports; he was involved with a "group" who's leader was in prison there on trumped up charges by the Indira Ghandi government. My brother had legally changed his name a few times in the USA and traveled sometimes on his USA passport which was not under his birth name, an Indian one and I think one from S. Korea or Taiwan. He told me that it had to do with in some countries his "group" was outlawed and may have even been on some kind of Interpol watch list so he had to be careful if he wanted entry. He said that at the time passports were easy to doctor up, he used an artist spray called Workable Fixit that made erasing entry and visa stamps easy.

This was also back in the days when it was possible to call an airline to check if a certain passenger you were expecting was on a flight and I remember calling as I was expecting him on a flight into LAX but didn'e know if he had made the flight and when the agent asked what my brother's name was, I paused and answered, "well I don't really know." Long pause from the agent as well...

True story and he eventually left that "group" and is an potter living in Taiwan. We are an American family I guess...

Let's consider a hypothetical situation - you are inspecting an alien who presents GC with nationality A and a passport with nationality B. Obviously, the place of birth and the date of birth should match, but names may differ. What is the likely scenario from your side? This is what stephg was asking about.

As a side note, when I lost my GC and received a temporary I-551 stamp in my passport at the local USCIS office, I travelled with it several times. The passport was always swiped by the CBP, but the stamp was never looked at and the officer never typed anything in the computer after I explained that I had this temporary stamp. So, I assume that the passport may be linked to the GC in some ways either by the combination of DOB, name, nationality, etc or directly through the passport number (although it could change easily). Could you confirm my assumption, FB?

OP has been out of the US for more than three years. It is likely that he has lost his right to LPR.

Oh. He didn't mention that.

Three years?!? Seems like the OP should contact clergy in addition to a lawyer.

Your post makes much more sense now-- now I understand why the OP came here.

The OP left that part out, that changes the situation significantly from a Immigration stand point. He still will only need the LPR card but he is going to have to explain the absence from the United States for that length of time. He is also going to have to be prepared to answer questions on why he is returning to the US now. Is it to visit or does he intend to resume his residence in the United States. He must be prepared to be placed in removal proceedings and plead his case before a judge. It may not come to that depending upon why he was out of the United States that long and his current situation.

As an aside, in another recent thread a certain amount of indignation was expressed as to why certain questions are asked of LPR's upon their return to the United States. This is an example as to why those questions are asked. I understand that the passenger may not realize the significance or relevance of the questions being asked but I promise there are very real reasons for those questions. The officer is not asking them for the fun of it.

FB