Is a US Passport Valid to Enter the US THROUGH or UNTIL Its Expiration Date?
 

Sorry for the confusing title.

If a US passport expires on September 10th, does that mean it can be used to enter the US on September 10th - or only through September 9th because it expires on the 10th?

Yes, I know there are good reasons to renew the passport before that trip, but that's not my question.

US passports are valid until midnight on the date of expiration.

Technically that's midnight the next day ;) It may be more clear to say 11:59pm the day of expiration

Moderator's Note
 

I've edited the thread title for clarity.

TWA884
Travel Safety/Security co-moderator

Also - the trouble with CBP...

Two different questions. A U.S. passport is a valid travel document until 23:59:59 on the printed expiration date. But a U.S. passport is usable for the purpose of entering the United States even after it's expired because it remains valid proof of U.S. citizenship even after it's no longer a valid travel document.

(Incidentally, countries' willingness to accept their citizens back on expired passports is the reason the 3- or 6-month validity requirement is waived in some cases)

CBP may send you to secondary just to make sure you're not an impostor who got his hands on Mr. X's expired passport, but a traveller who arrives at a port of entry with his own expired U.S. passport will be admitted with relatively little hassle. GUWonder is correct--if you're flying, the real issue is convincing the airline to let you board.

I understand that if I made it to a US POE with an expired passport I would be fine and would be admitted. The problem would be that the airline would likely not allow me to board with an expired passport.

That's correct. You don't actually need a US Passport to re-enter the US. You'll be delayed, but once they verify your identity through database search, you're good to go. The problem is getting on the plane from wherever back to the US.

100% correct. And of course you can enter by land from Mexico or Canada. In the old days you did not even need ID though often they would ask for a drivers license.

Global Entry Machine Rejected the Passport
 

Original poster reporting back.

Today is the expiration date of the passport - and the Global Entry Machine said it couldn't accept the passport because it expires (or "expired", don't remember what it says) on September 10th (today's date.)

Huh, so if I'm in a foreign country, holding an expired US passport, an airline would rather me be stuck in a foreign country indefinitely, possibly overstaying a visa, than allow me to board a flight back to the US?

Yes.

Although looking at this as what an air carrier does or does not want is the wrong way to look at it. Air carriers would much prefer that there were no travel document requirements or, perhaps more particularly, that it was not their responsibility to check them.

Air carriers can be fined significant amounts of money for permitting a person to board without proper documents. While they may try to collect that from the passenger, pursuing many people for $10K or thereabouts can be fruitless. Thus, they train their people to require the documents and be done with it. As an institutional matter, carriers would far prefer to lose one passenger's business to paying a significant fine. This is not to suggest that CBP would impose such a fine here.

But, there is an option. Any US consulate can issue a temporary passport (passport replacing document) which is good for the dates and route of travel back to the US. That is why the best advice if you lose your passport, have it stolen or screw up and let it expire, is to head to the consulate, not the airport. The land border is fine if you are in Canada, but suffers from the same or a greater problem if you are heading to the US from other than Canada.