Can I just travel without US Passport?

[Susi100 0]

I am just curious if I am missing anything with that idea.....In case I don't receive my US Passport on time, could I not just travel with the passport from my country of birth to my country of birth, one way flight...? (The passport mailed to my US address, could by friends than mailed to me abroad and I could enter the US with it later)..... Because before when I travelled with Passport and Greencard, leaving the US, they never wanted to see the Greencard, just the passport anyway. Yes? No? Thanks

[Hypnos 6,576]

Federal law requires US citizens to enter and exit the US using an American passport.

Edited March 4, 2013 by Hypnos

[VanessaTony 3,567]

I am just curious if I am missing anything with that idea.....In case I don't receive my US Passport on time, could I not just travel with the passport from my country of birth to my country of birth, one way flight...? (The passport mailed to my US address, could by friends than mailed to me abroad and I could enter the US with it later)..... Because before when I travelled with Passport and Greencard, leaving the US, they never wanted to see the Greencard, just the passport anyway. Yes? No? Thanks

No. As you are a US citizen you MUST not only ENTER the US with your US passport, but also EXIT the US on your US passport.

[newacct 688]

No. As you are a US citizen you MUST not only ENTER the US with your US passport, but also EXIT the US on your US passport.

Right, but what exactly does "exit" mean? The U.S. does not have exit controls.

[Hypnos 6,576]

Likely the airline.

[Asia 2,496]

Right, but what exactly does "exit" mean? The U.S. does not have exit controls.

But isn't your passport checked during the check-in at the airport?

[NickD 202]

Wife never had to show her green card to leave the USA, and could have entered as well as a visitor, still can, because her US visa is still current. But only as a tourist with that I-94 stay limit. We dated for two years before getting married, lots of complications as she put it and was able to come here with that visa. Typically, they want to see your return ticket and that is the number of days you get to stay here. Recall one time, we wanted to spend a bit more time together and applied for that I-94 extension for around 300 bucks for an extra week. We took that I-94 limit very seriously thinking more in terms of our future together.

But it is also my understanding that the vast majority of illegals here are due to overstayed visas, so do they even check on these? Anyway, we were getting very serious and didn't want to risk it, so followed the law to the letter. Those parting days resulted in severe depression for both of us.

After three years of marriage, leaving was no problem, but coming back, we had to separate into different lines coming back because she had to show our POE's her green card. We also took getting her that US passport very seriously before leaving after she received her naturalization. She could not travel for eleven days, but could have done it the same day by taking off work for a couple of days and messing around in downtown Chicago. Still don't know why they can't relocate that office to O'Hare, never saw a plane land in downtown Chicago. Can't even find a place to park a car in that crazy place.

So, yes you can leave, but suggest you do it permanently. Just will be your luck you will get caught since there is some talk about cracking down on this. Its not that we have all these laws on the book, just not enforced, apparently. Somehow, when I think about the word, our congress, the word idiots come to mind. Just a bunch of spoil brat kids that never really had to work hard like we do to earn a living. Too bad their brains are not as large as their mouths.

[warlord 73]

When flying out of the US to a foreign destination they will need to see a passport. It will not matter what passport you show them as long as it is a valid passport. The reason is because they know people without a valid passport will be denied entry into the other countries. So this is done to eliminate people being refused entry when they land...

[Harsh_77 718]

Right, but what exactly does "exit" mean? The U.S. does not have exit controls.

Your passport is scanned before you are issued a boarding pass.

All you have to is swipe the machine readable portion and thats all they need.

[Harsh_77 718]

Wife never had to show her green card to leave the USA, and could have entered as well as a visitor, still can, because her US visa is still current. But only as a tourist with that I-94 stay limit. We dated for two years before getting married, lots of complications as she put it and was able to come here with that visa. Typically, they want to see your return ticket and that is the number of days you get to stay here. Recall one time, we wanted to spend a bit more time together and applied for that I-94 extension for around 300 bucks for an extra week. We took that I-94 limit very seriously thinking more in terms of our future together.

But it is also my understanding that the vast majority of illegals here are due to overstayed visas, so do they even check on these? Anyway, we were getting very serious and didn't want to risk it, so followed the law to the letter. Those parting days resulted in severe depression for both of us.

After three years of marriage, leaving was no problem, but coming back, we had to separate into different lines coming back because she had to show our POE's her green card. We also took getting her that US passport very seriously before leaving after she received her naturalization. She could not travel for eleven days, but could have done it the same day by taking off work for a couple of days and messing around in downtown Chicago. Still don't know why they can't relocate that office to O'Hare, never saw a plane land in downtown Chicago. Can't even find a place to park a car in that crazy place.

So, yes you can leave, but suggest you do it permanently. Just will be your luck you will get caught since there is some talk about cracking down on this. Its not that we have all these laws on the book, just not enforced, apparently. Somehow, when I think about the word, our congress, the word idiots come to mind. Just a bunch of spoil brat kids that never really had to work hard like we do to earn a living. Too bad their brains are not as large as their mouths.

Once she is issued a GC all her visas are cancelled in most cases they would put a stamp on her visa which says cancelled.

[NickD 202]

Once she is issued a GC all her visas are cancelled in most cases they would put a stamp on her visa which says cancelled.

I will tell her to point that out next time she comes back, its way back in her foreign passport and they never got back that far.

What an idiot I am, thought after she received her US citizenship, would only have one passport just like me to go anywhere. But thanks to our DOS agreements, she still is required to maintain her home passport as well.

[newacct 688]

But isn't your passport checked during the check-in at the airport?

Your passport is only shown to the airline, not the government. And it is only shown to the airline for the purpose of proving to them that you have permission to enter the destination country, not for "exiting" the originating country. So in the case that you are a dual citizen of the U.S. and another country, and you are a citizen of that country, and the U.S. passport does not have visa-free travel to that country, you would have no choice but to show that country's passport to the airline.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Right, but what exactly does "exit" mean? The U.S. does not have exit controls.

Your US passport details should be on your ticket. Your US passport is used as ID to leave the country and it will show up on manifests/airline details. Your foreign passport is basically just used as a "visa". You show it to prove you have permission to enter the destination country. you then use it to enter that country. Then use the US passport as a "visa" to leave the other country, and the US passport to enter the US.

It's a pain but it's US law to enter and exit the country on a US passport. They want to monitor their citizens.

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

When I travel to Europe, especially if I do a one way flight, I always use my UK passport for check-in and everything else. It has never once been a problem. *shrugs*

[Harsh_77 718]

Your passport is only shown to the airline, not the government. And it is only shown to the airline for the purpose of proving to them that you have permission to enter the destination country, not for "exiting" the originating country. So in the case that you are a dual citizen of the U.S. and another country, and you are a citizen of that country, and the U.S. passport does not have visa-free travel to that country, you would have no choice but to show that country's passport to the airline.

No that is not correct, Airline is not just looking at your passport.

Either your passport is machine readable and you scan it at a kiosk and in that case airline offical will only verify the details, if your passport is not machine readable airline official will input all your passport information in the system.

Your First Name, Last Name, DOB, Passport Number, Country of Origin and Date of travel are few things recorded.

All the airline working in US have to share their passenger details with govt.