US Passport

[Dakine 26]

Anyone here applied and received a US passport recently.

Just wondered how long it takes now?

[illnevergetthis 5]

I applied for my passport in August. I also did an expedite and paid for overnight service. I mailed it off USPS on Saturday afternoon and had the new one in my mailbox the following Friday at 10am. So, I had mine in less than a week. I got my old passport back the following week.

If only immigration could work this fast!

[venusfire503 54]

I applied for my passport in August. I also did an expedite and paid for overnight service. I mailed it off USPS on Saturday afternoon and had the new one in my mailbox the following Friday at 10am. So, I had mine in less than a week. I got my old passport back the following week.

If only immigration could work this fast!

illnevergetthis,

Just wondering - you mean you got your 'foreign' passport back the following week, or were you renewing an American passport?

Also, is a valid 'foreign' passport needed to get an American one, or can it be expired, or is just the certificate of naturalization necessary (no passport at all)?

Just wondering.

venusfire

Edited October 11, 2009 by venusfire503

[Dakine 26]

My main concern is my wife will be taking the oath for USC and from what I understand she won't be able to travel home after she gets her US until she get a US PP.

From what I understand they take the GC at the oath ceremony. I guess her Philippine passport will be invalid also.

Only good thing is we won't have to deal with USCIS ANYMORE.

[raymaga 25]

I got my passport in a couple of weeks after applying.

It was really quick.

[jsnearline 2]

The following thread can give you a rough idea of what to expect based on the timelines of other VJ mambers who have already applied for passports.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=215372

[illnevergetthis 5]

illnevergetthis,

Just wondering - you mean you got your 'foreign' passport back the following week, or were you renewing an American passport?

I was renewing my American Passport. I couldn't believe how fast they processed it...even with the expedite.

Also, is a valid 'foreign' passport needed to get an American one, or can it be expired, or is just the certificate of naturalization necessary (no passport at all)?

I don't know about this, but I will see if I can find out for you.

[illnevergetthis 5]

Also, is a valid 'foreign' passport needed to get an American one, or can it be expired, or is just the certificate of naturalization necessary (no passport at all)?

Venusfire,

Here is the link for applying for your American passport. From what I read, you do not need your foreign passport. There is a list of items that you can use; a couple of them are your certificate of citizenship or your naturalization certificate.

http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/first/first_830.html

I hope this helps, sorry about the confusion.

[lucyrich 20]

Yep, to get a US passport, you only need your naturalization certificate.

The rule is, once you are naturalized, the US government considers you to be a US Citizen, and a US Citizen only. Your old government might (or might not) still consider you to be one of their citizens, but that's a matter between you and your old government, and the US government doesn't really care. As far as the US is concerned, you're just a US Citizen, with all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of a native-born US citizen. Except you can't become president.

In particular, any foreign passport you may hold is no longer relevant as far as the US government is concerned. They don't take it away from you (it belongs to the country that issued it), but they don't require you to show it to get a US passport. In fact, a foreign passport isn't even listed as one of the acceptable identifying documents to get a US passport. Also, after you're a US Citizen, they don't want you to use a foreign passport to cross US borders. But depending on your country of origin, you might still find the old passport useful to go to your old country, and/or to enter other countries.

[antda 13]

(note: I posted this on another vj n-400 message thread, but I thought it might help here too)

Hi Eveyone,

As a Canadian, you are allowed dual citizenships of both Canada and the USA. And yes, by all means, keep your Canadian passport, especially more so if it is still valid and you can still travel with it to Canada after you get US Citizenship. And no, you will not be fined by either country, for keeping such, nor will your passport get taken away. Just go into Canada with your Canadian passport, and come back to the USA with your American passport. There are Canadians that do this (you can find more info about that on the VJ Canada forums), and have had no problems doing this, and in fact can be an advantage when travelling.

As for me, after I become a US Citizen, I'm going to keep my Canadian passport (lol..I just renewed it anyways..so it's new and I better get use out of it) to travel to Canada, and apply for a US Passport Card (and/or a NYS Enhanced Driver's License), when I travel back to Canada and come back to the USA by land (I live close to the border). Hopefully I shouldn't have any problems then with my travels, when I have such documents.

As well, from what I've read on VJ, it takes about 4-6 weeks (normal processing) or 1-2 weeks (expedited processing) to get a US Passport, so you shouldn't have any problems travelling after citizenship, if you apply for your US Passport right away. Remember though, that as a US Citizen, you would have to get a US passport or other US WHTI document to travel, and you cannot use your Green Card (they take that away during the oath) and cannot use your Citizenship/Naturalization certificate (it's not a travel compliant document) and cannot use your Canadian Passport to get back into the USA (as according to the USA, you're American, not Canadian). So make sure your get your US passport before you travel out of the USA as a US Citizen.

Hope this helps. Good luck on your immigration journey too.

Ant

[griffin 7]

Greetings!

I had mine both passport and passport card for nine days. No need to expedite