Adam is from Taiwan and lives as a permanent resident in Seattle. 

"I traveled with my girlfriend who is American to Thailand and Hong Kong. She has an American passport, but I only have a green card. So she has no trouble to enter or leave both countries. But I needed a visa for both places. I did get a visa for Thailand, but I didn't know I needed it for Hong Kong. The reason I didn't know about Hong Kong is because I checked with the visa service CIBT, some webside visa service and my travel agent. None of them knew that I needed a visa for my Taiwan passport. I am from Taiwan, but have lived in US for 12 years now.

First day on the trip, we arrived Vancouver, Canada, from Seattle. I found out the I brought the wrong green card. I had trouble getting past the gate to my next flight. The Canadian office was very nice to us. Having my American girl friend along did help to smooth the process. I had to show them my business, insurance card, credit card, etc., whatever I had at that time. I didn't have my drivers license. I don't know why I didn't bring my drivers license with me but had a business card. They let us pass to the next flight, but told us I would have trouble coming back. So we decided to let my friend in Seattle FedEx my green card to Hong Kong a few days later when we would arrive in Hong Kong from Thailand. It would solve my problem then. We went to Thailand and had fun for a week. It is wonderful place to shop and see.

Leaving Thailand and heading to Hong Kong. I run into another problem that I needed a visa for Hong Kong even though I am from Taiwan (they think it's part of China). My girlfriend went in to try and get my green card, then we could go back home and forget about Hong Kong. I was stuck in the airport and didn't know what to do. We finally found out that she had trouble bringing my green card to me without a boarding pass. Our boarding pass was effective two days later. Then another problem came up. The FedEx express letter was not there, and I didn't know where it was. We were really in trouble that time. I knew I had to get out. Especially because my girl friend didn't have enough money, and all our traveler's checks are in my name. I was stuck in the airport for 6 hours. I was in the airport and she was in a Hong Kong hotel, somewhere. We could only contact each through my cell phone and her hotel phone, and my cell phone's battery could not last very long.

Finally, a Hong Kong officer told me to try the "Guarantee Out" from you airline provider. From that point I asked a Cathay Pacific employee about it. They knew about this kind of thing, and I told them the real trouble about myself, and my girlfriend. So they helped me go through the process which included changing our flight to the next day at noon. I finally went in to Hong Kong without a visa and with my girl friend. But I had to be back at airport by 12:00 the next day. Tracking a package isn't easy. We were very lucky to have the FedEx manager to help us track my letter and after looking around two FedEx stations, we finally got my letter. From that time we know we were safe to go back home. We did spend one hour with peace of mind looking around Hong Kong. That's the end of the story.

Now I am back in Seattle safe and sound. I am wondering what it would happen if I would not have found the FedEx letter."

09/10/2002