lululondon

New to the forum, first post, apologies in advance if this is misplaced or otherwise erroneous!

Just today discovered US born daughter's US passport expired Feb 1st, want to go on holiday in a few weeks out of the country. Like me, she holds both US and UK passports, her British passport is still valid and unexpired.

Leaving America won't be a problem: all the family has a valid passport of either the US (me, my partner and our son) or the UK (daughter).

Question is what happens returning home into the US at the end of our overseas holiday? If she returns into the States using her unexpired British passport and therefore as a British citizen, they will presumably seek a ticket back out (which she will not have). Can we just show them her just expired US passport/ American birth certificate etc along with the UK passport?

We will apply for the renewal tomorrow but unlikely to arrive in time. Even the expedited service in downtown DC takes 8 biz days for a minor so wouldn't solve the problem.

Anyone have experience with this or advice?

TIA
Londoner in Maryland.

lansbury

I would be concerned the airline would not let her board coming back out of the UK. UK passport she needs an ESTA, and would they accept an expired US passport. What is likely to happen at check in is in the lap of the gods.

Hopefully if it is Heathrow they would ask the US CBP staff working there.

Guindalf

You state 'in a few weeks' in the OP. This would give ample time to get a new passport as it's likely to only take about three weeks to do so. February is a quiet month for the passport office so processing is a lot quicker than, say, June, so go ahead and do it asap.

This is by far the best and safest route to take, IMHO. Oh, and don't actually book flights or any other travel until the passport is in hand.

NatashaB

I would apply for the new passport now and not risk it. Technically as a US citizen she is meant to enter and leave the US on her US passport (whether you use the UK one when entering the UK to allow you to get into shorter lines is up to you).

lululondon

Thanks for your feedback - OP here.
lansbury - good point. It's not even the UK that we would be going to, but Mexico! Not sure if this would make it easier or harder! Sorry for my ignorance, but having had a US passport since 2010 I am not sure what an ESTA is -- is it a visa that's necessary to accompany a UK passport on every entry into the US? In which case yes, that would seem to be a problem since I assume they won't give her one of those because she is already a US citizen....hmm.

Guindalf - I am of course kicking self for not realizing passport was expiring Feb 1st sooner, but husband only just got "given" a few weeks free between jobs (being freelance and at mercy of others for paid gigs means have to take what we can when we can for time off together as a family, so this rather came out of the blue!) so travel would have to be sometime in 3rd week of Feb. Even if apply today of course may not come soon enough to actually buy flights that aren't astronomical. Although we could buy flights and go to the DC bureau place, they even say 8 working days, which could still be too long (and you have to show proof of travel, which we don't have yet). I remember in the old days in London you could just pop down Petty France and nip off to the airport with your new passport in hand same day!

lululondon

Natasha B - yes I read that too, but then again I also read it's illegal and impossible to leave the country on a foreign passport if you're a US citizen, but lots of us do and no one has ever batted an eyelid, so I wonder if everything they say is always what they do? Question I am asking myself is do I want to take the risk....seems to be who you get on the day?! About to apply via Post Office, but then realized we'll have to surrender her just expired US passport to do so, so won't even that handy piece of proof with us anymore!

Noorah101

There are several passport offices in the USA that do same-day service. Try finding one of those and make a quick trip there.

Rene

ian-mstm

There is no immigration exit control in the US, so no one will care what passport you use to leave the US. It's getting back in that will be the issue. That said, your daughter is a US citizen regardless of the passport she uses. The maximum penalty she'd face by entering the US on some other passport is a nominal fine - which I doubt will even happen.


So what? She's got a US birth certificate - and that is much better proof of her status as a US citizen than the US passport.


Google is your friend! ESTA is permission to travel in order to ask for visa-free entrance to the US. Your daughter can't use ESTA because she is a US citizen and has the right to enter the US.

I think you need to remember that - she has the right of entry to the US.

Ian

MarylandNed

I certainly would not risk travelling without a valid US passport.

This is how to get expedited service although that can take up to 3 weeks:

https://travel.state.gov/content/pas...expedited.html

It might be better to wait until you're within 2 weeks of travel and take this option:

Washington Passport Agency

RainyDays

My children are dual citizens (based in the UK) and neither of them even owns a US passport. We vacation in the US every year. But (and this is a big one) we always have a return ticket. That might be the catch.

NatashaB

If they have US citizenship then they are required to enter and leave the US on US passports.

Pulaski

No, the catch is that what you're doing is making your children break a US law. Why do you think that is a good idea?

sir_eccles

It used to be there was a potential for a hefty fine for a USC entering without a US passport, it was also once considered an act of relinquishment. Now you are likely to get away with it unless your passport shows your place of birth is in the US. In theory the CBP guys can issue a "passport waiver" for a price.

Here is a good summary of the history of the law.

The Isaac Brock Society | The history of the requirement that U.S. citizens only use U.S. passports to enter the U.S.

Wintersong

When you check in online for the return flight, you are asked what your status is in the US. On entering 'US citizen', you are required to enter your passport number. I'm not sure how you'd get around this without a valid US passport.

I'm also operating under the assumption that they do actually check your passport details against the information you entered during the online check in process.

lululondon

Hi all, OP here. I see this thread has taken another turn (that of the issue regarding whether or not dual citizens can get away with coming and going from the US without a US passport at all). My kids both have US passports and were both born here (i've actually only ever got around to getting a UK passport for the older one, will get one for the youngest eventually, just hasn't been necessary so far) so that isn't an issue for me, but it's an interesting train of thought!

My original question was about getting back *home* into the US with an expired US passport (my ten year old daughter) on a current UK passport. @RainyDays, yes, you don't have the same problem since you always have a ticket back out again and are based in the UK. In our case, we would be ending our destination back home here in the US, so we realize this would not fly with immigration and are taking up MarylandNed's suggestion and heading downtown to DC tomorrow morning for an appointment to renew daughter's US passport. Since we now have flights booked and can show our intention to travel within 3 business days, all should *hopefully* be straightforward and I'm hoping to get the new passport in hand by end of play tomorrow or early next week (we fly on Wed)! Fingers crossed. I've read great reviews since posting here last about the DC experience (thanks for suggesting MarylandNed, the official site doesn't exactly advertise that you can get the renewal straight away, for obvious reasons) and your combined suggestions steered me away from risking either delays applying through the post office or trying to get back in to the country without the valid document.

So - thanks all and I'll post results when it's all done!
PS: I didn't know that about it being illegal to come into the US without a US passport if you're a citizen. As it happens we all have them, but I wonder, is it the same thing in the UK? I had to enter back into Heathrow one year on my American passport because the UK one had expired. They were really nice to me and when I showed them the expired passport and said I was intending to renew it while back in the UK, they said I could even have just gone through the UK immigration line instead of having queued up with all the foreigners, which being a good citizen and an excellent queue-er I had done