Boarding Foil: Eligibility, Filing I-131A, and Airport Use

A boarding foil is a single-use travel sticker that a U.S. embassy or consulate places in your passport so an airline or ship will let you board a flight back to the United States after your Green Card was lost, stolen, or destroyed abroad. You obtain it by filing Form I-131A, paying a $575 fee, and attending an in-person appointment at the nearest U.S. post. The foil confirms to the carrier that USCIS recognizes you as a lawful permanent resident and has authorized your return for inspection at a U.S. port of entry.

Why Airlines Insist on It

Under 8 U.S.C. § 1323, a carrier that brings an improperly documented passenger to the United States faces a $3,000 fine per person, plus a potential surcharge equal to the ticket price.¹ No gate agent will absorb that risk on your assurance that you are a permanent resident. The boarding foil is the machine-readable proof they need.

Who Qualifies

The boarding foil is available to lawful permanent residents, including conditional residents, whose Green Card or reentry permit was lost, stolen, or destroyed while they were outside the United States. You must also meet the applicable time limit:

If you traveled without a reentry permit, your absence must be less than one year, measured from the date you left the United States to the date you pay the I-131A fee.²
If you had a valid reentry permit that was lost or destroyed, fewer than two years must have passed since your departure.³
You must not have abandoned or otherwise lost your LPR status.

If your absence has already run past those limits, the I-131A route is closed and your path back is the returning resident (SB-1) visa, covered below.

When You May Not Need a Boarding Foil at All

USCIS advises checking with your airline before filing anything, because Customs and Border Protection policy lets carriers board certain LPRs without a foil:²

An expired 10-year Green Card, if you have been abroad less than one year, is often enough on its own.
Conditional residents holding an expired 2-year card plus a Form I-797 receipt notice for a properly filed I-751 or I-829 generally do not need a foil, provided they have been abroad less than one year. The receipt extends the card’s validity.⁴
LPRs in the U.S. military or federal government service, and their dependents, traveling on official orders are exempt regardless of how long they have been away.

Individual airlines sometimes refuse anyway. If yours won’t board you despite falling into one of these categories, you’ll have to file the I-131A.

What to File and Bring

Form I-131A is on the USCIS website. It asks for your full legal name, date of birth, and A-Number, along with an explanation of how the card was lost and when you last left the United States. Inconsistencies between what you write and what government databases show will slow the process or trigger a denial, so be careful with the details.

For the appointment itself, bring:

Your valid passport (the foil goes inside it).
One passport-style photograph taken within the last 30 days.²
A police report, if the card was stolen rather than lost.
Proof of when you departed the United States, such as a boarding pass or flight itinerary.
Any secondary evidence tying you to LPR status: a photocopy of the missing card, a prior I-551 stamp in an old passport, or similar records.

Any document not in English needs a certified translation. The consular officer verifies your identity and status in a single sitting, so gaps in the file mean requests for more evidence and additional weeks of waiting.

Paying the Fee

The filing fee is $575, paid online through the USCIS payment system with a credit card, debit card, or U.S. bank account.⁵ Embassies will not accept payment in person. Anyone can pay on your behalf as long as they enter your correct name, date of birth, and A-Number, since that information prints on the foil itself.² If your own cards won’t work in the country you’re in, a family member back home can handle it. The fee is non-refundable whether or not the application is approved, so confirm you’re eligible before paying.

Scheduling and the Interview

After paying, contact the U.S. Embassy or Consulate serving the area where you are located to schedule an in-person appointment. Wait times vary; large posts in major cities often have backlogs while smaller ones sometimes take walk-ins.

At the appointment, a consular officer reviews the form, examines your documents, and verifies your status through government databases. USCIS may also take biometrics — fingerprints, a photograph, or your signature — to confirm your identity and run background checks.⁶

Processing after the interview typically runs from one business day to several. Do not book a return flight before the foil is physically in your passport. If the post is backed up or needs more verification, a non-refundable ticket becomes an expensive mistake.

What the Foil Does at the Airport and the Border

The boarding foil is a machine-readable sticker in your passport, valid for a single entry within 30 days of issuance.⁴ You show your passport with the foil to the carrier at check-in and again to the Customs and Border Protection officer when you land. The foil gets you to the inspection booth. It does not guarantee admission: CBP can still question you about your absence and your ties to the United States, as they would with any returning LPR.

The foil itself is not a replacement Green Card and does nothing for domestic purposes. It does not appear on the Form I-9 list of acceptable documents.⁷ Ask the CBP officer at the port of entry for an I-551 stamp in your passport; that stamp serves as temporary proof of both identity and work authorization until your new card arrives.

If Your Application Is Denied

The decision on Form I-131A is discretionary, and there is no appeal.⁶ If the officer concludes you don’t qualify, you are abroad without a foil, without the $575, and without any administrative remedy.

What comes next depends on the reason. If the problem is the length of your absence, an SB-1 returning resident visa may still be possible. If the officer concluded your status was abandoned or terminated, talk to an immigration attorney about whether it can be restored or whether you need to immigrate again from the beginning. This is why the eligibility check before paying matters.

Replacing the Green Card After You Get Home

Once you are back in the United States, file Form I-90 to replace the lost or stolen card.⁸ You are legally required to carry a valid, unexpired Green Card as an LPR, and the boarding foil doesn’t meet that obligation once you are on U.S. soil. Check the current I-90 fee on the USCIS fee schedule before filing; the fee structure was updated in 2024 and older figures circulating online may be wrong.

USCIS will send a receipt notice that extends your proof of status while the replacement card is produced. Physical cards commonly take several months. In the meantime, the receipt paired with an I-551 stamp keeps you covered for employment and identification purposes.

Children Born Abroad to LPR Parents

A child born outside the United States to an LPR parent may also need carrier documentation for the first trip home, generally when the child is under two and traveling with you. Ask the airline first; some will board the child without a separate foil. If the carrier refuses, you’ll need to file a separate Form I-131A for the child, with its own $575 fee.²

When You’ve Been Abroad Too Long

If you have been outside the United States for more than a year without a reentry permit, or more than two years with one, the boarding foil route is unavailable. The alternative is the SB-1 returning resident visa, filed through the U.S. Embassy or Consulate where you are.⁹

To qualify, you must show three things: you were an LPR when you left, you always intended to return, and your extended stay was caused by circumstances beyond your control. That last element is where most SB-1 cases succeed or fail. A serious family medical emergency or a foreign government blocking travel can work in your favor. Preferring life abroad or letting time slip away generally will not. SB-1 applicants also have to establish eligibility for an immigrant visa, including a medical examination.⁹ The process is longer and much less certain than the I-131A. If you know a trip may run past a year, apply for a reentry permit before you leave.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1323 – Unlawful Bringing of Aliens Into United States
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-131A, Application for Carrier Documentation
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. International Travel as a Permanent Resident
4
U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual. 9 FAM 202.2 – Lawful Permanent Residents
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1055, Fee Schedule
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Form I-131A, Application for Carrier Documentation
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card
9
U.S. Department of State. Returning Resident Visas