Help! Misplaced green card!

[lovetravel_23]

Hello, I am about to leave for Japan tomorrow (well, it's now later today) and I realized that I cannot find my green card.
1) when I depart from the U.S. on a flight, do they check for your green card?
2) It seems like once I get to Tokyo I can submit I-131 application for travel document?

Qs: do you think it would be a good idea to go ahead and go and apply for the travel document to return home (in 3 weeks)? Or is it a crazy idea?
If anybody has experience applying for travel document at the embassy in Tokyo I would appreciate hearing the experience.

Thank you!

[okccanary]

I know i'm late but it is a crazy idea. You legit need to show your GC to get back to the US. I could be wrong but i thought the I-131 is used if you are planning to stay out of the country for a long time and you are showing that you are not abandoning your permanent residency. I believe you would still need to have your GC to show even if you successfully got the I-131 and from looking at other people timelines on here it seems that the I-131 takes months to get.

Honestly if you have left the US and are currently in Japan, then the best idea would be to pretend you lost your GC in Japan and get a temporary one thing stamped into your passport from the US Embassy. Do you at least have a copy of it to show?

[newacct]

1. No, they only care about your ability to enter the destination country
2. You could file I-131A for a transportation letter with a US consulate for boarding the flight back, but that will cost $575, and once you get back you will still need to file I-90, with a cost of $540, to replace your green card. It is cheaper if you file I-90 before you leave the US, and then call USCIS to get an I-551 stamp for proof of permanent residency while your I-90 is pending, before you leave the US; that way, you can use the I-551 stamp in place of a green card do not need to pay the additional cost for the I-131A.