Traveling with a non-citizen!

[rdrseller]

My daughter has asked to take her best friend with us on our 6/21 Glory sailing. I agreed, added her to the cabin and paid in full. Now I am thinking (and glad that I did, before we sailed) that she is not a US citizen. Her family is from Columbia. She does have a green card and a pass port.

 

Do I need for her to get some type of extra VISA? She will not be 18 at the time of the cruise and her parents have agreed to have a notorized authorization for her to travel with us. I just don't know if we have everything that we will need.

 

Any advise will be greatly appreciated.:)

[trock]

Save yourself alot of grief and contact the State Travel Dept or Homeland Security or an Immigration lawyer

 

Also get a notarized letter from her parents giving permission

[rdrseller]

Save yourself alot of grief and contact the State Travel Dept or Homeland Security or an Immigration lawyer

 

Also get a notarized letter from her parents giving permission

 

We already have the notarized letter. I was reading on the State Dept web page and it is just very confusing.

 

I will keep looking.

 

Thanks.

[NYCFOD]

I am an Australian citizen and US permanent resident, and have travelled in and out of the USA many times. As long as she has a current passport, her permanent resident card and a notarized letter from her parents giving you permission to take her out of the country, you should have no problem. As far as the Customs and Border Patrol are concerned she is preapproved to enter and leave the country, in fact at airports she gets to use the US Citizens line (a lot faster believe me).

[wrp96]

The one issue you might have is because she is a citizen of Columbia, she may need to get visas for some of the ports you are visiting. Check to make sure now while you still have time to get them (if they are necessary).

[sakapfet]

Save yourself some money, no need to contact a lawyer. My MIL, who is Polish, went on a cruise with the family with her tourist visa. I did call Immigration before we left and they said no problems. She did have no problems. All she had to do is to show her passport to prove that her visa is still valid.

[rdrseller]

I am an Australian citizen and US permanent resident, and have travelled in and out of the USA many times. As long as she has a current passport, her permanent resident card and a notarized letter from her parents giving you permission to take her out of the country, you should have no problem. As far as the Customs and Border Patrol are concerned she is preapproved to enter and leave the country, in fact at airports she gets to use the US Citizens line (a lot faster believe me).

 

Thank you. It sounds like we have all that we need.

 

I truely appreciated the information.

[Wennfred]

Just make sure that she isn't mis-taken for a crew member :confused: My Photo crewmember friend onboard Spirit and now Freedom is also from Colombia :D

 

 

 

Fred

[rdrseller]

Just make sure that she isn't mis-taken for a crew member :confused: My Photo crewmember friend onboard Spirit and now Freedom is also from Colombia :D

 

Fred

 

Oh Fred, thanks for the heads up! That would be bad! Hey, but maybe they would give us a nice OBC, if we let her work :D .....

[okgirl]

Save yourself some money, no need to contact a lawyer. My MIL, who is Polish, went on a cruise with the family with her tourist visa. I did call Immigration before we left and they said no problems. She did have no problems. All she had to do is to show her passport to prove that her visa is still valid.

 

I would research all agencies........There was a thread on here a couple of months ago about a family being denied boarding because they had their foreign exchange student with them and they needed some form that allowed for multiple entrances and exits to the US

[SpacemanSpiff]

I would research all agencies........There was a thread on here a couple of months ago about a family being denied boarding because they had their foreign exchange student with them and they needed some form that allowed for multiple entrances and exits to the US

 

The problem with that case was most likely the foreign exchange student was here on some kind of temporary student visa which restricts his ability to come back into the US, or at least limits his ability to come and go without a lot of additional paperwork, such as "advance parole" or such.

 

For a foreign resident with permanent residency status (i.e., "green card"), it shouldn't be a problem. The permission slip would be the tricker thing because she's a minor not travelling with a parent.

 

But I agree with the post above - might make sure there aren't any problems at the ports-of-call with tourist visas required there.

[caribbeanboy]

Being on the visa waiver program, I never have a problem with my Dutch passport. Don't even need a visa for those countries. As a matter of fact I can enter the USA as much as I want, and I do that all the time.

[katiel53]

I would research all agencies........There was a thread on here a couple of months ago about a family being denied boarding because they had their foreign exchange student with them and they needed some form that allowed for multiple entrances and exits to the US

 

 

I was just going to mention the same thing. The girl was denied boarding and it was quite a mess. I don't think you can take the word of anyone on these boards as their circumstances may be different. I would contact the State Department or Homeland Security. I think Homeland Security was the one who had the guidelines and she didn't meet them, but I am not sure.

 

Perhaps if you do a search about denied boarding you will get some info. Good luck and hopefully, it will all work out. Just don't leave things to chance.

[klfrodo]

While everyone on here has nothing but the best of intentions, I wouldn't trust anything I read here regarding a situation such as you may or may not have.

 

While the thought of "You'll have no problems" may be correct, the fact is that if you and your family are sitting on the dock watching the ship sail away, we CC'rs will not be reimbursing your lost money based on our advise.

 

As stated in an earlier post, get your TA involved now, and do your due diligence in researching this matter either thru internet research, thru an attorney, and or any other means at your disposal so when you get to the dock, you are 110% sure you have all bases covered.

[jdgirl]

If she has a valid passport and a green card she does not need anything else to re-enter the U.S. but may need visas in some of the islands you will be visiting and which may be under French, Dutch of British rule. Most are usually very accomodating to tourists particularly those who can clearly return to the U.S. as evidenced by a green card or valid , multiple entry U.S.visa. Getting back into the U.S. is usually the problem if paperwork is not in order and boarding may be denied for the same reason.

 

Occasionally, people who are in the process of applying for a green card but have not yet received it may be confused and state that they have one but it is highly unlikely that this girl's parents would let her go if there was any concern about her getting back into the U.S.

 

As for the Dutch citizen mentioning no problem traveling on the visa waiver, keep in mind that only certain select countries are eligible for the visa waiver which allows their citizens to essentially enter the U.S. for up to 90 days without a visa.

 

JDGIRL

[KroozNut]

While everyone on here has nothing but the best of intentions, I wouldn't trust anything I read here regarding a situation such as you may or may not have.

 

While the thought of "You'll have no problems" may be correct, the fact is that if you and your family are sitting on the dock watching the ship sail away, we CC'rs will not be reimbursing your lost money based on our advise.

 

As stated in an earlier post, get your TA involved now, and do your due diligence in researching this matter either thru internet research, thru an attorney, and or any other means at your disposal so when you get to the dock, you are 110% sure you have all bases covered.

 

This is the most sound advice regarding this issue :rolleyes:

 

If I were in your shoes, I would disregard pretty much everything else that's been said on this thread. It's too important an issue to not cover all your bases..

[jdgirl]

Do not be so dismissive because some of us actually know what we are talking about. However, you are correct that it is hard to distiguish between those who are simply trying to be helpful and are guessing and those who offer advice based on accurate and first-hand knowledge regarding the topic. An official source other than a chat board would be appropriate with the caveat that some TAs are also clueless when the question has to do with someone who is not a U.S. citizen.

 

JDGIRL