We may need to head back to the US soon because of a possible family emergency. Our daughter has a Taiwan and US passport, and uses both on trips back to the US. The US passport needs to be renewed and our AIT appointment isn’t until the 24th.
Can she use only her Taiwan passport for the trip?
It might be possible to mail the passport to be renewed? My understanding is that entry to the US should be on the US passport, while entry to Taiwan is on the Taiwan passport.
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§ 53.1 Passport requirement; definitions.
(a) It is unlawful for a citizen of the United States, unless excepted under 22 CFR 53.2, to enter or depart, or attempt to enter or depart, the United States, without a valid U.S. passport.
(b) For purposes of this part “United States” means “United States” as defined in section 215© of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, as amended (8 U.S.C. 1185©).
This part of the next section (53.2) might be helpful, although it does not apply to Taiwan (which is an island, i.e., not contiguous with any US border)
(11) When the U.S. citizen is a child under the age of 19 arriving from contiguous territory in the following circumstances:
(i)Children under age 16. A United States citizen who is under the age of 16 is permitted to present either an original or a copy of his or her birth certificate, a Consular Report of Birth Abroad, or a Certificate of Naturalization issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services when entering the United States from contiguous territory at land or sea ports-of-entry; or …
So it may be a good idea to have copies of the documents mentioned on hand
Can you get an emergency renewal? Otherwise, a US citizen may still be admitted with an expired passport.
Thank you, everyone. It seems there is no definitive answer (but I haven’t had a chance to read through everything yet). It would make me very nervous entering the US like this.
“Conclusion : It would be by far the safest and most legal course of action to have your US passport renewed as quickly as possible. Usually embassy and consulates are happy to expedite if you pay the fast track fees.”
We called the AIT bright and early that Monday morning. They sent an email to let me in the gate. To make a long story short, we processed all the paperwork and got the renewed passport back later the same day. We departed for the US that night. They were great at the AIT!
I hope this helps someone else who runs into the same problem.
Great, so now you’re a dual passport holder of US passport and Taiwan
passport, right?
No, my daughter is. It was her US passport that needed to be renewed.