USCIS Travel Document

USCIS Travel Document is a travel document issued by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to eligible non-U.S. citizen residents. It is a green passport-like booklet with the words Travel Document, a symbol, and other official wording in blue-gray.

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Quick facts Travel Document (Form I-327/Form I-571), Type ...

Travel Document (Form I-327/Form I-571)
Specimen cover of a USCIS issued travel document to a permanent resident
Identity page
Type	Identification, Travel Document
Issued by	USCIS (Currently) BCIS (2003) INS (prior to 2003)
First issued	1951? (first refugee travel document) 1952 (first reentry permit) 2003 (first version with joint design)
Purpose	Permit to Reenter/Refugee Travel Document
Valid in	United States
Eligibility	lawful US refugee or asylee (Refugee Travel Document) Permanent residence (Reentry Permit)
Expiration	Refugee Travel Document: At most one year Reentry Permit: At most two years
Cost	$630 (reentry permit) $135 (refugee travel document for minors) $165 (refugee travel document for adults)

To obtain a travel document, applicants must file Form I-131 and undergo biometric data collection while in the United States (usually before departure). This process incurs a fee and can take months or even years. Alternatively, applicants can choose to collect their documents from a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad after completing biometric data collection.

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History

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Reentry Permit

The formal statutory authority for “reentry permits” comes from the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (INA), enacted June 27, 1952. Under Section 223 of the INA (now codified at 8 U.S.C. § 1203), the Attorney General was empowered to issue a “permit to reenter the United States” to lawful permanent residents (LPRs) intending to depart temporarily and return. ^[1]

As of that 1952 law, the “reentry permit” was thus a legally codified, official mechanism for permanent residents who planned to travel abroad but return and maintain their resident status. ^[2]

Cover of an U.S Re-entry permit issued in 1994 by INS
Identity page
Visa pages

Refugee Travel Document

The Refugee Travel Document in United States is considered to be issued pursuant, at least in part, to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. Prior to 2003, both the Refugee Travel Document and the Re-entry Permit were issued by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), but the two documents differed in both design and appearance.

Cover of an U.S refugee travel document issued by INS
Identity page

Joint Designs

in 2003, the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS) — predecessor to USCIS under the Department of Homeland Security — announced a redesign of its travel‑document booklets (I-327 for reentry, and I‑571 for refugee travel) to a new “passport‑style travel document” with enhanced security features to reduce fraud.^[3]

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Types

At present, USCIS issues two types of booklet-style travel documents, which are broadly similar in appearance in their current versions. They are distinguished by the text printed in the upper-left corner of the data page: the Re-entry Permit reads “Permit to Re-Enter,” while the Refugee Travel Document is labeled “Refugee Travel Document.”

Re-entry Permit (Form I-327): a travel document similar to a certificate of identity, issued by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to U.S. lawful permanent residents to allow them to travel abroad for longer periods and return to the United States.^[4] Individuals whose application for permanent residency has not yet been approved can apply instead for advance parole (Form I-512).
Refugee Travel Document (Form I-571): a travel document issued to refugees or asylees. It shares the same design as the Re-entry Permit but does not provide the long-term overseas travel authorization granted by the latter. It is likewise issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and the two documents are nearly identical in appearance.

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Content

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Data page

The data page contains the following information^[5]:

Photograph
Type [of document, which is "PT" for "permanent resident travel"^[6]]
Country code [of the issuing country, which is "USA" for "United States of America"]
Passport Number
Surname
Given Name
Nationality
Date of Birth
Personal Number
Gender (M, F)
Date of Issue
Authority (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services)
Date of Expiration
Entries
Restrictions

The machine-readable zone is present at the bottom of the page.

Message page

Since the holders of this document are not U.S. citizens, the U.S. government is not obligated to provide the consular protections available to U.S. citizens abroad. Hence the message page does not contain the official message found in U.S. passports requesting protection for citizens; instead, it features a statement from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as the following:

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

This is NOT a United States Passport

This Travel Document does not protect your lawful permanent resident status for naturalization purposes.

Pursuant to the provision of section 223 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, this document is issued to the person named herein and may be used to readmit its rightful holder to the United States, if other wise admissible. See important information on pages 22, 23, 24 and on the inside of the back cover.

If this document is found, please return to:

USCIS, 7 Product Way, Lees Summit, MO 64002
THIS DOCUMENT AT ALL TIMES REMAINS THE PROPERTY OF THE UNITED STATES AND SHALL BE RETURNED TO THE GOVERNMENT UPON DEMAND.

This page has a line for the signature of a travel document holder. The document is not valid until it is signed by the holder in black or blue ink.

Purpose

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USCIS Form I-131 (Application for a Travel Document) is used to apply for the re-entry permit and other travel documents. This form can only be filed while the applicant is still in the United States.^[4]

Reentry Permit

The re-entry permit enables a lawful permanent resident (LPR) of the U.S. to travel outside the United States for time periods longer than one year and establishes that the LPR does not intend to abandon residence in the U.S. A re-entry permit prevents two problems:

An LPRs absence from the U.S. for over one year voids their Permanent Resident Card, in turn rendering the LPR as invalid for re-entry to the U.S.
An LPR taking up residence in an alternative country to the U.S (prior to the one year point) voids their Permanent Resident Card as the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services considers the action as an abandonment of U.S. permanent residency

If a U.S. permanent resident intends to take a trip abroad for over one year, they may apply for a re-entry permit. The resident is granted to travel for up to two years abroad without having to obtain a returning resident visa. It establishes that the permanent resident did not intend to abandon permanent resident status.^[7]

Another purpose for the re-entry permit is to serve as an international travel document instead of a passport for U.S. permanent residents who are stateless, who cannot get a passport from their country, or who wish to travel to a place where they cannot use their passport.^[8] A permanent resident who obtained permanent residence as a refugee may either apply for a refugee travel document or a re-entry permit, but not both.

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Acceptance in EU

As of 2013^[update], most Schengen Area countries accept the U.S. Re-entry Permit for visa issuance purposes. The Re-entry Permit is considered as an Alien's Travel Document.^[9]

Only Slovakia has explicitly indicated they will accept it, while other countries did not provide any information on their acceptance of it.^{[citation needed]}