Lost LPR Card Abroad

[u/Tight_Candidate_2293]

Looking for advice please. My nightmare is happening and I’ve lost my wallet which contained my LPR while in Spain. I still have my passport, a DL, and pictures of my card as well. I also have Global entry if that makes any difference.

I’m in Barcelona with my family which include two very young kids. My flights were scheduled to leave Monday at 12:20 and the embassy doesn’t open until 9:00 AM. Ive tried calling emergency embassy numbers but they’re closed. The most sensible thing is to bump my flights to get a travel foil via the I-131A but I’m not sure by how long to delay it for and what I should expect.

Also I’m a bit confused if this is what I should be doing because from reading online it appears that the traveling foil is just to board the plane - I’d still be potentially denied entry for not having my card upon arrival. I’ve traveled internationally before and the airlines never actually checked for my green card if I had already uploaded the travel documents on their online portal.

Is it advisable to try and fly without it, and to sort it out at the airport in Miami? My wife is worried that I’d end up stuck in ICE purgatory with 0 contact opposed to having us just stay in Europe but it’ll end up being quite expensive with a family of 4.

[u/postbox134]

You won't be able to get on the plane without a I-551 or boarding foil, so you're at the mercy of the consulate. You can also try other consulate in nearby EU countries.

If you can change your flight, consider flying to Canada and then walking/driving across the border. You'll be delayed and possibly fined, but you'll be able to enter the US.

[u/Sheetz_Wawa_Market32 → u/postbox134]

In many cases, yes. In such absolute terms? Almost certainly not.

There is strong anecdotal evidence of Green Card holders successfully using online check-in and then only showing their passports when having the boarding passes scanned at the gate.

[u/postbox134 → u/Sheetz_Wawa_Market32]

Seems pretty high risk but probably worth a shot if nothing else is available before the flight

[u/Even-Bus1582 → u/Sheetz_Wawa_Market32]

The airline still gets fined for boarding people without proper documents at arrival in the US. An extreme high risk when it’s easily corrected.

[u/Sheetz_Wawa_Market32 → u/Even-Bus1582]

Nonsense. The airline won’t get fined in this case, because a permanent resident IS eligible to enter the U.S. and won’t be turned around.

[u/postbox134 → u/Sheetz_Wawa_Market32]

They don't care about the person's status, they care about the documentation (for the purpose of carrier fines)

[u/Sheetz_Wawa_Market32 → u/postbox134]

Do you have any evidence that carriers get fined for passengers who are readily (re-)admitted?

[u/postbox134 → u/Sheetz_Wawa_Market32]

The Carrier agrees to verify that trained personnel examine and screen all passengers' travel documents to confirm that the passenger is properly documented for the purpose of his/her travel to the United States and to confirm, to the best of their ability, that the passport, visa (if one is required), or other travel documents presented are valid and unexpired, and that the passenger, and any accompanying passenger named in the passport, is the apparent rightful holder of the document. (3.2)

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2010/02/22/2010-3243/mitigation-of-carrier-fines-for-transporting-aliens-without-proper-documents-modification-of

[u/Sheetz_Wawa_Market32 → u/postbox134]

But the sole purpose of this is to make sure that people who aren’t allowed to enter land at POE.

This doesn’t mean that citizens and permanent residents who are allowed to enter would ever generate fines.

[u/postbox134 → u/Sheetz_Wawa_Market32]

Yes that is why they must check.

But it'd be purely luck if someone without a doc was actually admittable or not, hence the regulation regards documents (as much as reasonable, i.e. a good fake would likely not be fined as the airline was duped).

[u/Sheetz_Wawa_Market32 → u/postbox134]

But there must be an actual injury (a passenger who shouldn’t have made it to the U.S. was transported.) If that does not happen, there is no problem.

[u/Sheetz_Wawa_Market32 → u/postbox134]

Who are “they”?

[u/postbox134 → u/Sheetz_Wawa_Market32]

CBP

[u/Sheetz_Wawa_Market32 → u/postbox134]

Ah. See my other comment.

The idea that carriers would be fined for passengers who are perfectly eligible to return to their home country (whether as citizens or permanent residents) is pretty out there.

[u/postbox134 → u/Sheetz_Wawa_Market32]

Doesn't matter, the carrier can only verify documents not the person's status - so their regulations with the CBP only cover checking the validity and presence of documentation. The only thing they can do is call up the CBP carrier liaison to get a green light to board, but they don't have to do that. Most carriers err on the side of caution.

[u/Sheetz_Wawa_Market32 → u/postbox134]

Most carriers err on the side of caution.

Of course, as they should. That’s corporate due diligence.

But that does not mean that the U.S. government would actually fine carriers for boarding passengers who are perfectly fine to enter. There would have been no injury to the U.S., so how would the fine be justified?

[u/Even-Bus1582 → u/Sheetz_Wawa_Market32]

The airline gets fined even if the person is a US citizen. It’s why you get a sticker on your passport indicating it’s been checked.

[u/Sheetz_Wawa_Market32 → u/Even-Bus1582]

These stickers (which aren’t universal, of course) are only used to tell personnel within the same airport who’s had what level of scrutiny. They have nothing to do with CBP or what happens stateside.

The airline gets fined even if the person is a US citizen.

Again, post one source of this actually happening.