Urgent - need US Point of Entry help
 

My scatterbrain teenager is a US citizen and has to re-enter the US in PHL early this afternoon, arriving from ZRH.
He forgot to bring his US passport, but took his other nationality one - never realizing he would need the US one for re-entry.
The other passport is from a country in the visa-waiver program, so we instructed him to apply for an ESTA online, which was approved promptly.
He was able to board his flight and is on his way.

But now what to do upon arrival ?

To fill out the I-94 is not so problematic, but with further questioning - and being an uncomfortable teenager - should he tell the truth and state he's a US citizen ?
Should he get in the visitor lane or the citizen lane ?
Does it make sense and is it allowed to show a copy of his US passport on his phone ?

I have no idea for him on how to tackle this and appreciate all help.

TIA !

If I am not mistaken, US citizens should enter/exit US using US passports and/or citizen land @ POE. Even without his US passport at hand, your son shouldn't enter the States as a visitor.

Of course your son will tell the truth. @:-) I am not sure what would satisfy as the proof of his citizenship w/o his US passport. I'll leave it for other FTers to chime in. I don't think US can deny its own citizens to enter the country though. See if you can find some helpful info from this thread about using dual passports:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...questions.html

Check out this thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/pract...s-2-weeks.html

The OP in this thread had a US passport expire and used his French passport along with an ESTA to reenter the US. He said he had to go through a secondary interview which took about 45 minutes but other than the delay there were no real problems.

He should tell the truth. No i94 form to fill out anymore.
They may hassle him/her a bit but won't deny entry.

GUWonder ... where are you with your usual wealth of advise ? ;)

CBP will have his name on the flight list, is his nationality listed also?
I once asked the following question in another thread (I forgot the answer) "what happens if you lose your pp on the plane?" [I've seen people leave pp in the seat pocket, I've found drivers licenses--so losing a pp could happen.] My recollection was, that since citizens must be allowed re-entry to the USA, after verifying citizenship, he will be admitted.

1. USN's must enter the US as USN's even if they have multiple citizenship.

2. While a US Passport will speed OP's son through formalities, a USN cannot be denied entry for failure to present his passport. He has a right to enter the US.

3. OP's son will create world of long-term hurt for himself by trying to enter on another passport. All he need to is present himself as a USN, say that he forgot his passport and submit to the secondary questioning which will presumably confirm that what he says is the truth and he will be on his way.

Apparently - and I have not been able yet to confirm this myself - has he been allowed to board with his USN and not on the ESTA.

Your son should use the US Citizen line and identify himself as a United States Citizen traveling without his US passport. The entry will probably take a little more time than usual-- as long as it takes for him to wait for the right person and then convince that person of his citizenship. It might go a little faster if he is a naturalized rather than natural-born citizen, but it shouldn't male a big difference. He might get a lecture, too.

CBP cannot deny entry to a United States Citizen, and they are trained accordingly. Your son should not enter as a citizen of another country for a variety of reasons.

That would be a very interesting thing given that he doesn't have that passport on him, but it really makes no difference how things were entered into the computer. He just has to explain his situation when he gets to an officer and they will take care of him from there. This will not be the first time they will have encountered such a situation.

That he has a copy of his US Passport might be helpful to CBP, but isn't necessary. If the line for the primary passport control booths is long and your son can spot a roving CBP officer, he might want to walk up to that officer and explain the situation. That officer might walk him right to immigration secondary letting him skip the line for primary.

Pfff .... what a relief !
 

Update:

All went very well - took just minutes, without any delay or secondary - with his remark:

Thanks everyone - again, what a great learning experience ^

I'm pleased for you and for your son. One more step for you along the way of surviving being the parent of a teenager and you obviously have much to be proud of along with the gray hairs you're earning. :)

Thanks for your kind words!

Tell me about it ! ;)
4 more large, complex international trips on the schedule for the next two months and I will guide him from now on step by step @:-)

Congratulations! With the World Cup at stake, he had an excuse to be scatter-brained!

All the international travel coming up... you should sign up for Global Entry.