In January 2012, we had detailed the procedure for a legal permanent resident (LPR) to obtain a “Transportation Letter”, which can be found here. Introduced in April 2012, the Lincoln Boarding foil has replaced the “Transportation Letter”. In this article, we take a look at the current procedure to obtain a “Boarding Foil” from India.

Situations Under Which a Boarding Foil is issued

One may apply for the boarding foil under one of the following circumstances.

• If the I-551 (commonly referred to as green card) is lost or stolen while abroad;
• If an LPR has travelled outside the U.S. without possession of their “green card” or other travel document that would have otherwise allowed them to return to the U.S.;
• If the “green card” expired while abroad, the permanent resident may approach the consulate / embassy for the boarding foil. In some situations, such permanent residents with expired green card may return to the United States using the expired green card. It is important to understand traveling with expired “green card” is different from a LPR who has abandoned his/her status as legal permanent resident by staying outside the U.S. for more than 365 days without a valid re-entry permit. Discussion on abandoning status as LPR or situations under which one can travel using an expired “green card” is beyond the scope of this article;

How and Where to Apply

An application for “boarding foil” should be accompanied by relevant supporting documents and duly completed form I-90. There is no fee for this service and the application can be made at any one of the U.S. Embassy or U.S. consulate(s) in India by contacting them directly. It may be recalled that applications for immigrant visa can be made only at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi or the U.S. Consulate in Mumbai. However, the boarding foil is issued by the respective U.S. Embassy / Consulate which has jurisdiction over the applicant’s place of residence. Once the appointment is scheduled, the applicant is required to create a profile on www.ustraveldocs.com/in prior to attending the consular interview.

Conclusion

It is important to check validity of travel documents and do the needful prior to leaving the United States. Once abroad, necessary precaution should be taken to safeguard the original travel documents. Information about boarding foil can also be found here. It is also important to check the relevant consular website for up-to-date information. We at Murthy Immigration Services Pvt. Ltd., have helped several LPRs with their application for boarding foil and our experienced Attorneys are available for assistance.

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