Major Travel Changes Coming December 2025:-
If you’re planning to travel in 2025 and beyond, here are four new travel rules if you are a green card holder or a non-citizen that you need to know. These are new changes that will be effective in December 2025 and beyond. About four new changes that going to be impacting green card holders and other non-citizens. Specifically, if you’re going to be traveling in and out of the United States, you need to know these rules.
Expanded CBP Data Collection:-
This is all based on recent changes that coming from the State Department to CBP that they’re going to be implementing as you enter the United States. This is all coming from CBP’s mandatory data collection practice which will be effective on December 26, 2025. About facial recognition, fingerprints collection, and other data that they’ll be required to collect from non-citizens, including green card holders coming to the United States. This is actually changing the current procedures that they already take pictures of people coming to United States, but this is going to be expanding it beyond that. Mandatory exit photography and increased travel monitoring. This rule requires green card holders to submit facial scans not only upon entering the United States, but also when they leave the country.
Mandatory Exit Photography and Constant Monitoring:-
This is something that didn’t exist before, but now they’re going to require that when you exit the United States. What it does, it creates a comprehensive records of the green card holders entry to United States, but also when they leave. In the past, many green card holders thought, oh, we can just show up here, come to United States, but then we can exit from Mexico or any other land border like Canada, and nobody’s going to know how long we spent in the United States. Well, all this is going to change right now. Why are you doing this? because they want to increase CBP’s ability to track your entry and exit as a green card holder, but also so they’ll be able to figure out if you’re violating the residency requirement, which means that as a green card holder, you shouldn’t be spending more than 6 months overseas. And if you do, you should be applying for a re-entry permit. Well, now they’re going to have all the tools to see if you’re doing that or not.
No More Age Exemptions for Biometrics:-
Maria, who travels frequently between San Diego and Tijuana. Now, Maria will have to have her face scanned upon entering the United States, but also when she exits to go to Sanro. If she travels multiple times through the year, CBP’s sophisticated system could flag her and send her to secondary inspection where there she’s going to have to explain why she’s going back and forth so often and where is her true residency. The removal of age exemption for biometric scanning. Before the rule change, children under 14 and adults over 79 were exempt from the biometrics requirement. The new rule effective December 26, 2025 eliminates these exemptions. So children under 14 will need to go through this process as well as adults over the age of 79. Which means that if you’re a green card holder, no matter how old you are, you need to go through the entry scanning and the exit scanning every single time you travel. Guess what’s going to happen? It’s going to create more delays entry because families were traveling with their kids are going to have to scan the whole family. And guess what? People are going to miss their flights. So be mindful of what’s going to happen after December 26, 2025. Let’s look at another example. The Carsten family is a green card holder family from Germany. They travel to United States with their 5-year-old daughter.
Increased Identity Verification and Likely Delays:-
At the airport, Anna must now stand in line for the scanning requirements, which could be challenging because she’s small. She might not understand what they want, and it could cause delays for her family. We’re all traveling together. Number three, enhance identity verification with potential for processing delays. Facial recognition scans will cross reference other documents the travelers have to present. For example, your green card, your passport and your ID and that all have to be integrated with other federal databases. Well, that verification will cause delays of course. Now remember guys, this is all supposed to be more efficient and increase securities. But as efficient as they are, there could be discrepancies. People could change their appearance. Sometimes there could be some outdated photos that you present versus what they have. And all these things could cause delays, additional scrutiny, and guess what? Your travel experience will be changed forever. Mustapa, a green card holder from Egypt, has grown a beard since his original green card photo. Since his original green card photo was taken years ago at the US airport, the US new system flags a mismatch between his green card and the picture that taken at the airport.
Integrated Federal Databases and Higher Scrutiny:-
As a result, Mustapa is now being sent to secondary inspection. And guess what? He’s going to miss his flight. This is going to happen more and more, guys, with these new requirements. And new green card holders are a target for this. Number four, border the government data integration and increase scrutiny. This rule integrates CBP’s biometric data information with other government federal databases potentially including IRS, Social Security Administration, DMV, and other immigration records. All this is going to be enhancing their ability to track your movement as a green card holder. This could increase the problems if you’re not in compliance and it could also impact your travel ability in case you owe taxes or other issues that will be now shared in this integrated system. For example, Priya, a green card holder from Pakistan has issues with IRS. Now upon exiting the United States, she’s flagged in the system because the system is integrated. And now she’s sent to secondary inspection and potentially not only misses a flight, but the ability to leave the United States altogether. These are real life situations that you’re going to be facing as green card holders and non-citizens.
Real Travel Consequences for Green Card Holders:-
SYou need to be aware that if you’re traveling off as a green hold, if you’re spending more time outside the United States, if you have issues with IRS or other administrations, this could be flagged upon entry and upon exit, which was a new thing that we haven’t seen before, where people are going to be prevented from leaving the country because of a mismatch in the system or god knows whatever happened. So remember, this is happening. You need to make sure you check your records, run your credit reports, make sure that everything is good in your background. So when you exit the United States or when you enter, you’re not going to have any issues and you’re not going to be sent to secondary inspection.