shdflyer

Mrsshdflyer is a dual-citizen (Canada/US). She is traveling urgently for a family situation from USA to YVR with her Canadian passport and does not yet have a US passport.

She will likely be returning to the USA next week with her Canadian passport, US Naturalization Certificate, and USA REALID driver’s license.

It is clear to me that CBP will allow her to enter the USA at YVR immigration as she can prove that she is an American citizen, but at check-in at YVR will UA refuse her travel if she checks in with her Canadian passport?

*** Do they specifically ask “Are you a US citizen” when checking in the traveler?

If so, what if she answers “no”, gets her bp and heads to immigration, would that work?

Thanks!

mahasamatman

No.

No.

tessy143

The airline has nothing to do with it, you just simply need a valid passport (Canadian Passport will do). Then when going thru US Customs they’ll ask the purpose of your trip to the United States and how long you are staying?
To which you will reply that you’re going home and you live there. They will then check your 1-94 document for your visa status or ask you to provide proof of residency (you show them your Drivers license) and you’re on your way.

Steve M

That's not clear to me. At a port of entry on US soil, it's true that a US citizen can't be denied entry for any reason, but I don't think a US citizen has an absolute right as a matter of law to pass through a CBP pre-clearance checkpoint on foreign soil. Do you know for sure that CBP policy is to allow this?

A US citizen would not have a valid I-94 or a visa status. I would assume that any previously-valid I-94 or visa would be cancelled upon naturalization. I would also assume that the still-valid Canadian passport of a naturalized US citizen would be flagged in CBP computers as belonging to a US citizen, so I would not expect to be able to play dumb and pretend to be a visiting Canadian under such circumstances. Maybe someone has specific experience and can tell us that this would indeed work, but I would assume the opposite absent that specific information.

luke5111

Son is dual citizen with primary being US and secondary UK. Flying TATL on United in September but US passport has expired and was only submitted for renewal a couple of weeks ago. I had the understanding the US Citizens are required to exit and re-enter the USA with their US passports. Not sure how that is enforced but interested in definitive answers if you have them.

paperwastage

In your case, https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/34383725-post11.html.

If/when the airline agent at checkin makes a fuss about it and deny you(expired usa passport not valid, UK passport no está visa). Ymmv, would recommend having valid USA Passport

prestonh

Going to Canada on thr Canadian passport should not be an issue. How are you certain of admissibility to the US in the return if you are not convinced you can travel out as a us citizen? The return trip would be my concern. Afaik realid will not work for intl. air travel so you might have to come back on the Canadian passport?

EmailKid

Ya, US law is pretty straightforward:

U.S. citizens traveling internationally by air are required to present a valid U.S. passport to board a flight to the United States.

US Customs and Border Protection official website.

May have to drive to Washington state and fly from there (or take a ferry from Victoria)

Land or Sea Travel: U.S. citizens (including infants and children) entering the United States by land or sea are required to present a valid WHTI-compliant travel document. These include:

• U.S. Passport or U.S. Passport Card
• Enhanced Driver's License
• Enhanced Tribal Card
• Trusted Traveler Program (TTP) cards* (Global Entry**, NEXUS, or SENTRI)
• U.S. military orders (PCS) with valid military ID. Accompanying immediate family members can use any WHTI-compliant travel document.
• U.S. Merchant Mariner Credential with official travel letter.

From same web page.

mahasamatman

The U.S. has no exit requirements.

JimInOhio

No, the general rule around the world is a citizen of a country must enter their country with a passport issued by that country. For example, a US/Canada dual citizen must enter Canada with his/her Canadian passport and enter the US with his/her US passport.

I'm not sure every country enforces this but it's a pretty good rule of thumb to go by.

zkzkz

It's not a general rule around the world. It happens that the US has always had this rule and Canada has relatively recently adopted it as well.

However this is a rule about what documents they want you to present at US immigration. It isn't a rule about admissability. A US citizen is always admissable to the US.

I would probably just show the airline the Canadian passport but at US immigration show the naturalization papers and say you're waiting for your passport but had to travel before it was issued. I wouldn't expect that to be a problem. At worst they would hold you up for a bit while they search for pending warrants if they think you're lying and that's why you just don't want to show them a US passport.

I wouldn't lie or omit the fact that you're a US citizen and I would be sure to carry something solid that proves citizenship (though I might think twice about carrying those naturalizaion papers if they're hard to replace).

jpezaris

I believe there are ways to get a passport issued on short notice (same day), even when an application is pending. The OP might want to follow up with the US State Department to see what options there are there.

PTahCha

+1 on this. Apply for an US passport at the US Consulate in Vancouver. Here's more information: https://ca.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen...ces/passports/

On the off chance if she has NEXUS, she can use the NEXUS card to enter the US by air from Canada.

Not good advice - US Citizens need to enter the US with US passport. Using the Canadian passport 1) implies that you are only visiting and not living in the US and 2) requires ESTA.

docbert

Canadian citizens do not require an ESTA to travel to the US. The OP's plan will work due to that.

If their passport was from any other country then it would be a different story (ESTA would be required, and they couldn't obtain an ESTA without lying about their citizenship on the application).

limey1K

This is very important. As a dual passport holder myself and a US citizen, I am always very careful to adhere to this.

https://travel.state.gov/content/tra...tionality.html