I am a dual UK/US citizen. Originally British, naturalized American. I live in the US. I am on a trip to the UK and am due to return to the US tomorrow. Just realized that I do not have my US passport with me. (I picked up my son’s by mistake…). I do have a photo of my US passport on my phone. I also have my UK passport, which I used to leave the US and enter the UK on.

I’m worried the airline won’t let me board the plane without my US passport. I just applied for an ESTA in conjunction with my UK passport, but I’m worried that it won’t get approved due to being a US citizen. Has anyone been through this situation? Any suggestions? Please be kind - obviously I feel like a complete moron for failing to double check that I had the correct passport with me.

A US citizen must enter the US on their US passport. It is illegal for you to enter using your UK passport and ESTA.

I'd say there is a <10% chance the airline will let you board with the picture. More likely, you'll be heading to the US embassy to get an emergency temporary US passport.

+1. Do not attempt to travel without that emergency Embassy document.

I hope you manage to get this sorted out. As others have said, you will probably have to get an emergency US passport. I am just wondering how you managed to leave the US without your US passport? Did they let you travel on your British passport? I thought every American citizen had to leave and enter the US using their US passport.

In theory yes, but there are no outbound emigration checks when leaving the US.

As far as I understand there is no cross checking to see if you are a US citizen if you leave using a different passport.

Correct, at the TSA checkpoint you can use any valid passport (issued in your name) or Real ID.

At the boarding gate, for a UK-bound flight, no questions are asked when UK passport is presented.

Have your US passport couriered overnight to you. Might well be quicker than getting an appointment at Citizen Services at the US Embassy.

Well, I got lucky. I got an ESTA, exited the UK on my British passport with no issues, and when I got to CBP in the US the border guard was very kind and let me in on my British passport, after taking my fingerprints and looking at the photo of my US passport on my phone. I wouldn’t necessarily expect my experience to be typical though.