Traveling with a Green Card and no Passport

[dargor5]

I wanted to leave this as my experience because this was a very hard answer to find online. I am from Venezuela and is almost impossible to renew my passport, but my wife and I are legal permanent residents (green card).

On Jan 15 we went on Princess cruise with just our green cards, no passports. We will try Royal next but from what the lady at port mentioned to me, you can in fact cruise with just your green card as long as is a closed loop. Only issue is you will not be able to do pre check in, you have to do the whole thing in person (it was just 10 minutes for us).

For anyone saying "what if an emergency" I have an answer. For us green card holders when flying to the US, CBP (custom border protection) only cares about our status so they only need our green cards. It is stated on the CBP website that a green card is sufficient to enter the US by land, air or sea (it is on their website just a google away)

During disembarkation my wife and I went through the same line as US Citizens as they already have your biometrics when they scanned our cards to get on the cruise.

For reference this was leaving from Galveston, 7 day cruise, ports of call: Roatan, Costa Maya and Cosumel

[reedprincess]

14 minutes ago, dargor5 said:

I wanted to leave this as my experience because this was a very hard answer to find online. I am from Venezuela and is almost impossible to renew my passport, but my wife and I are legal permanent residents (green card).

On Jan 15 we went on Princess cruise with just our green cards, no passports. We will try Royal next but from what the lady at port mentioned to me, you can in fact cruise with just your green card as long as is a closed loop. Only issue is you will not be able to do pre check in, you have to do the whole thing in person (it was just 10 minutes for us).

For anyone saying "what if an emergency" I have an answer. For us green card holders when flying to the US, CBP (custom border protection) only cares about our status so they only need our green cards. It is stated on the CBP website that a green card is sufficient to enter the US by land, air or sea (it is on their website just a google away)

During disembarkation my wife and I went through the same line as US Citizens as they already have your biometrics when they scanned our cards to get on the cruise.

For reference this was leaving from Galveston, 7 day cruise, ports of call: Roatan, Costa Maya and Cosumel

Good to hear first hand, thanks.

Keep in mind, this only applies to closed loop cruises that only visit WHTI countries, same as the birth certificate sailings...

So, not OK for round-trip Panama Canal or Tahiti, Samoa, etc.  

It's a unique loophole, so to speak, that only applies to US closed loop sailings to WHTI countries, which is most of the Caribbean, Hawaii, MX, Canada (although you cannot do any land tours into Canada on these).

Glad it all worked out for you - happy sails!! 

[Rick&Jeannie]

Welcome to Cruise Critic @dargor5!

[chengkp75]

Just know that even on a closed loop cruise, some countries that are port calls require the passports for US green card holders, depending on where their citizenship is.

[Philob]

37 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Just know that even on a closed loop cruise, some countries that are port calls require the passports for US green card holders, depending on where their citizenship is.

MIL has a US green card and was required to have her Chinese passport in possession for our cruise to Mexico (round trip from LA/San Pedro).

[pdmlynek]

On 2/8/2023 at 1:03 PM, dargor5 said:

I wanted to leave this as my experience because this was a very hard answer to find online. I am from Venezuela and is almost impossible to renew my passport, but my wife and I are legal permanent residents (green card).

On Jan 15 we went on Princess cruise with just our green cards, no passports. We will try Royal next but from what the lady at port mentioned to me, you can in fact cruise with just your green card as long as is a closed loop. Only issue is you will not be able to do pre check in, you have to do the whole thing in person (it was just 10 minutes for us).

For anyone saying "what if an emergency" I have an answer. For us green card holders when flying to the US, CBP (custom border protection) only cares about our status so they only need our green cards. It is stated on the CBP website that a green card is sufficient to enter the US by land, air or sea (it is on their website just a google away)

During disembarkation my wife and I went through the same line as US Citizens as they already have your biometrics when they scanned our cards to get on the cruise.

For reference this was leaving from Galveston, 7 day cruise, ports of call: Roatan, Costa Maya and Cosumel

 

Thank you for the contribution. 

 

Well, sure, you are able to come back into the US on your Green Card.  The GC documents that you are legally allowed to enter the US.  

 

But the problem is: what documentation do you have that you are legally allowed to be in other countries that you'll cruise to?  If a cop stops you in one of the countries you are visiting, and you have no passport on you, you may be treated as an illegal alien.  

[dargor5]

On 2/11/2023 at 11:38 PM, pdmlynek said:

 

Thank you for the contribution. 

 

Well, sure, you are able to come back into the US on your Green Card.  The GC documents that you are legally allowed to enter the US.  

 

But the problem is: what documentation do you have that you are legally allowed to be in other countries that you'll cruise to?  If a cop stops you in one of the countries you are visiting, and you have no passport on you, you may be treated as an illegal alien.  

One thing I can tell you is in the 5 cruises I've been to, none tell you that you must leave the ship with your passport. It was usually your driver's license and the seapass or roomkey, 

[dargor5]

On 2/8/2023 at 12:19 PM, reedprincess said:

Good to hear first hand, thanks.

Keep in mind, this only applies to closed loop cruises that only visit WHTI countries, same as the birth certificate sailings...

So, not OK for round-trip Panama Canal or Tahiti, Samoa, etc.  

It's a unique loophole, so to speak, that only applies to US closed loop sailings to WHTI countries, which is most of the Caribbean, Hawaii, MX, Canada (although you cannot do any land tours into Canada on these).

Glad it all worked out for you - happy sails!! 

This is true. It only applies to closed loop and there are certain island that do require passports so we made sure of that 🙂

[TheOldBear]

21 minutes ago, dargor5 said:

One thing I can tell you is in the 5 cruises I've been to, none tell you that you must leave the ship with your passport. It was usually your driver's license and the seapass or roomkey, 

That's a requirement that will vary by the port and year.

 

In 2017 we needed to present passports in LeHavre at the beginning and end of the shore excursion - and collected an actual stamp for each. That was our last year for actual stamps in the passport.

In 2019 we were told to carry a passport, but it was not examined or stamped [LeHavre and Hamburg].

Last year [2022] for visits to Norway and Belgium the passport stayed in the safe.

[SelectSys]

@dargor5 Interesting case when your home country is somewhat outside of the mainstream in the US.  Have you considered applying for US citizenship as a long term solution.  I don't know how long you have had your "green card," but going through the naturalization process seems like your best bet for the "long haul."

 

If you are still interested in renewing your Venezuelan passport in the US this link at least describes the process: https://passport.today/venezuelan-passport-renewal-usa/

 

Naturalization information is found here.  You really don't need a lawyer to fill out the forms if you have a good command of English: https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learn-about-citizenship/citizenship-and-naturalization

[dargor5]

I wanted to do an update on this and I will keep doing it as I try new lines:
Royal Caribbean is good with Green Card no passport

Celebrity Cruises also good with Green Card no passport (just did a sailing 2 weeks ago)
 

In case you wonder if it is port related, so far I've tried Galveston and Ft Lauderdale, but TMK the documentation is a cruise requirement, not something that changes by port. 

As always this is only for closed loop cruises and there are some (few) exceptions.