SadInStates

We just got notification out of the blue that my father in law only has days to live.
We managed to get tickets for us all to fly out to the UK on Wednesday morning to be with him, but I've just noticed that our 3 youngest kids US passports expired last July! They are aged 10, 12 & 14. They have valid UK ones.

Will they be able to leave and re-enter the US on just their UK passports? The rest of us have valid passports for both countries.

And if not, can we show their birth certificates, SS cards or even school photo ID (for the older 2 at least) as added proof?

We are nowhere near an embassy, we had to apply for our US passports at the local post office, and even a 24 hour service will be too slow.

Will we be able to leave the US on the promise that we renew at the embassy in London before we return even?

Any advice gratefully appreciated.

Englishmum

Sorry to hear of the sad news of your FIL.

It may be better to post your question on the USA forum where it is more likely to be noticed (it's already 10.11pm ET) and you may get a reply more quickly.

Perhaps if you can show proof why you need(ed) to travel to the UK imminently it will be a mitigating factor to show to the US immigration officers. TBH I honestly can't see them refusing to allow the children to return to the US when you fly back in if they're on valid British passports and have their expired US passports with them....but that's my personal opinion. When you fly out of the US it's only airline staff and the TSA who look at the passport to check that it's in date (the British ones are) and that the name on the boarding pass is an exact match to the name on the passport.

I'm sure you will be ok

SadInStates

Thanks for your reply, I'll do that.
We don't have any proof of why we need to travel, it was just phone calls from the family urging us to get there asap.

Jerseygirl

All US citizens are required to leave and enter the US using US passports. As USC's they cannot be refused admission into the US. You should carry their birth certificates as proof of place of birth. In fact I would carry as much ID with you as you can.

There are no immigration officers when you leave the US.

Edit: Upon entering the US the IO's will not be interested in the UK PP. In their eyes your children are only US citizens.

SadInStates

Thanks for the replies.

As we had to apply for our US passports through the post office, I shall go there first thing in the morning and see if they have any emergency travel documents or whatever that can be used in such cases.

Failing that, wouldn't it just be easier to just use our UK passports both ways (like holidaymakers), as we'll be leaving for good in 3 months anyway!

jbrown

It is illegal and, therefore, obviously a bad idea. A steep fine at minimum. You should be able to get an emergency travel document either here (24hrs might be pushing it though) or at the U.S. Embassy in London. Try calling the U.S. Embassy in London and see what they say.

Jerseygirl

As I said earlier in the eyes of the US authorities you are USC's only and therefore are required by law to leave and enter the US using US PP. Besides if you were truly tourists you would not be allowed to board the plane to the US without a return ticket. When the immigration officer asks you 'what is the reason for your visit' what will you say...would you lie?

SadInStates

Ok, bad idea there then!

I think we'll explain the situation at the airport (if we have no joy getting any emergency travel document at the post office where we applied for our passports first), and get them renewed at the US embassy in London beforte we return.

Thanks for all your help.

Jerseygirl

There is no immigration officials when you leave the US...just the airline check in. The airline check in staff are not bothered what PP you leave on...it's just that USCs should use a US PP. Now coming back to the US is a different matter...as you will go through immigration.

jbrown

My thoughts too. I would use the UK passports to leave (even though strictly not allowed), but return on valid US documents, whether that means an emergency document or renewed passports via the embassy in London.

Jerseygirl

In theory they are USCs so they must be admitted into the US with expired US PPs. Of course they need birth certificates etc as proof of ID and they may be detained a while. It would be best to get it sorted out in London though.

jbrown

Yes, and the difficulty is that it could also lead to questions about how they left the US on expired passports.

SadInStates

UPDATE:
Got back last night and thought I'd let you know how we got on.

As soon as we were able I checked the US embassy online and there seemed to be two options; 1) make an appontment, go there and wait 15 days for the passports to be sent to you, or 2) no later than 36 hours before your flight email the embassy stating the nature of your emergency travel to the US, and attend the appointment given to receive a limited use passport on the spot!

Well the first was no good as we didn't have 15 days!
The second wasn't going to work either as the earliest the funeral could be arranged for was 48 hours before our flights back again, and we weren't going to be in London until late the next day to stay overnight before our flights.

So we decided to take a copy of the death certificate and funeral programme to the airport as added proof and hope for the best.

The check in staff at Heathrow were brilliant! Just a couple of phone calls and the passports were ok'd.
And again at Atlanta, we were bracing ourselves for trouble, but the official didn't bat an eyelid, (or even mention that we had some expired passports!), and welcomed us back!

So we were either very lucky, or they are more understanding than are led to believe! Either way, it was a huge relief.

SadInStates

We flew into the UK on our British passports, and returned on our American ones. No questions were asked about it.

Englishmum

Cool!

What a sad occasion though, the reason why you had to travel.

When are you moving back to the UK? Have you decided where to live?