SPEIDEN

Can a US passport holder request a record of their travel history? I have traveled out of the country and would like to have documentation when my passport was used. If yes what agency would I contact??
TIA

cordelli

This page has information on how to obtain records of your passport

http://travel.state.gov/passport/npic/npic_872.html

but says travel information is not available. Of course we all know that's not really true as they were accessed before the last election for some of the people running.

But it's a place to start and ask what is actually available to be released.

clacko

for quite a while, my passport has been scanned on reentry, so i'm sure its stored somewhere....also, the info is given to the airline when departing & may be filed somewhere....

you might find a contact # for us immigration at an airport or google...

i doubt that the custom/immigration form which you fill out is entered or scanned....

of course, your pp shows the rentry stamp which may be half of what you're asking....

good luck...

magiciansampras

This raises an interesting question. Does the government know where you have been or just when you return?

LizzyDragon84

You may want to try filing a Freedom of Information Act request. That might give you some detail as to where you've been and what flights you took to get there.

Athena53

Someone on FT reported an Immigration person in the US scanning their passport and saying, "Wow, you've been to a lot of places". She clammed up after that.

I'm curious what gets saved and where. I've just assumed that when it gets swiped at ORD or DFW, the fact that I entered the US at a particular date/time/place gets stored. I cannot imagine that the actual landing forms I fill out get keyed in by someone- saved for X years in a box or scanned and saved, maybe. But when my passport gets swiped at LHR or MAD- is that saved on the chip itself? That would mean any country with compatible software would have access to the entire record.

gfunkdave

I did a FOIA request of my record a couple years ago. It took them 11 months to get back to me. They sent me a slightly-redacted printout of pretty much every place I'd had my passport scanned on entry along with the PNR for most of the flights, including ip address I booked the flight from.

magiciansampras

Wow, fascinating. Thanks. ^

DesertNomad

I would assume if it is scanned, then there is a record - no matter where it is in the world. Except at major airports though, I have rarely had mine scanned... and it certainly hasn't been scanned at most land crossings like Rwanda to D.R. Congo.

I would guess that 50% of my border crossings are by land and I can't remember it ever being scanned.

Bigzamboni

How much are they actually allowed to ask? My impression was that their job is to determine if you are allowed to enter the United States, if there are any arrest warrents outstanding, etc.

Yesterday on my return from Germany I was asked how a student can afford to travel as much as I do, was asked numerous questions about my work, finances, etc.

B747-437B

The physical passport retains no information regarding travel history. However, various databases do retain passport information for purpose of entry/exit monitoring. This is then linked with PNR data provided via APIS to get a pattern of where you have supposedly been. If you however depart the USA on a different PNR than your onward travel (wholly outside the USA including airspace), the onward travel will not be recorded in the database.

Athena53

I don't remember the exact details, but I think it was just an offhand observation, not a question they were supposed to answer.

Fornebufox

Anecdote as data point: a European friend who travels around the US every year or so couldn't remember the address where he'd be staying on his first stop (with a friend). The CBP agent prompted him, "oh, last time you stayed at xxx," reading from the computer screen. So I infer their information can be pretty detailed. Whether they'd release it readily is another question.

alanh

They can ask pretty much anything. What you're obligated to answer is a lot more restricted. However, if they think you're being uncooperative they can send you to secondary screening. In addition to determining your citizenship, they're also trying to determine if you're carrying contraband, which is what a lot of the questions to citizens are about.

If the secondary screening doesn't turn up anything they are obligated to let you in, assuming you're a citizen.

You have to give your passport info to the airlines which is shared with the US government, so I'm pretty sure they have a complete record of all of those trips. I've not recently gone to Canada or Mexico by land, so I'm not sure what exit checking is done there. Reentry is logged, I'm sure, at least since they started requiring passports.

carsonheim

big brother is watching....