USCIS Travel Document

Last updated
Travel Document
(Form I-327/Form I-571)
USCIS travel document.jpg
Specimen cover of a USCIS issued travel document to a permanent resident
USCIS Re-Entry Permit.jpg
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 inFlag of the United States.svg United States
Eligibility
ExpirationRefugee 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)

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.

Contents

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.

History

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]

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.

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]

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.”

Content

Data page

The data page contains the following information [5] :

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

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:

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.

Acceptance in EU

As of 2013, 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 ]

Accepting Countries

See also

References

  1. ↑ "8 U.S. Code § 1203 - Reentry permit". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  2. ↑ "U.S.C. Title 8 - ALIENS AND NATIONALITY". www.govinfo.gov. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  3. ↑ "Redesign of Form I-327, Permit to Reenter the United States, and Form I-571, Refugee Travel Document". Federal Register. 2003-07-30. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  4. 1 2 "I-131, Application for Travel Document". USCIS. Retrieved 2019-10-09.
  5. ↑ "ICAO Doc 9303 Part 4: Specifications for Machine Readable Passports (MRPs) and other TD3 Size MRTDs" (PDF). International Civil Aviation Organization. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 20, 2020. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
  6. ↑ Coss, Elyssa (2023-11-02). "What Does "Type PT" Mean in a Refugee Travel Document". TouristSecrets. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  7. ↑ How Do I... Get a Reentry Permit (PDF), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, August 2008
  8. ↑ "Advance Parole, Reentry Permit, and Refugee Travel Documentation for Returning Aliens Residing in the U.S | U.S. Customs and Border Protection". www.cbp.gov. Retrieved 2019-10-09.
  9. ↑ Table of travel documents entitling the holder to cross the external borders and which may be endorsed with a visa, Council of the European Union, February 2013, p. 136, archived from the original on 2013-08-30, retrieved 2013-09-28
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