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I want to travel abroad soon but my American passport will expire in less than 3 months, so the airline won't let me fly on it. My French passport is valid. The country I am going to accepts French citizens. So I am wondering if I could leave the US with my French passport and reenter the US with my American passport. I will come back before my American passport will expire. With Covid 19 going on and the passport renewal being so delayed I don't want to send my American passport now and miss my trip. I wondered if this will work.

Ari Brodsky
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Marylene
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    There's no exit passport control in the US, so you can provide any passport details to the airline, they are for the destination country, not the US. But travelling internationally is not a very good idea these days, with new restrictions being imposed at a moment's notice. If it isn't absolutely necessary, I would strongly recommend against it. – jcaron Aug 14 '20 at 06:40
  • @jcaron US authorities do use these data, which together with the obligation for US citizens to use their US passport is the US and potential APIS requirements from the destination country makes this question a little more complicated than the earlier one. – Relaxed Aug 14 '20 at 09:23
  • @Marylene Are you having trouble with some online pre-registration of your data? What did the airline tell you? – Relaxed Aug 14 '20 at 09:26
  • One approach would be to present both passports at the check-in desk. The US passport could be recorded in their systems to avoid confusion for the US authorities and satisfy the requirement to use it when crossing the US border. The check-in agent could simply check the validity French passport to ensure the airline is fulfilling its obligations towards the destination country. – Relaxed Aug 14 '20 at 09:28
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    @Relaxed there is no obligation for US citizens to use their US passports in the US. There is an obligation for US citizens to "bear" a valid US passport when leaving or entering the US (apart from some regulatory exceptions). Nothing in US law prevents a US citizen with a valid US passport from using a foreign passport to check in for a flight leaving the US. – phoog Aug 14 '20 at 13:10
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    @phoog Good to know, that means the best approach is exactly the opposite of what I suggested earlier: insist on having the French passport recorded in any system they might use. – Relaxed Aug 14 '20 at 14:47
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    @Relaxed I've never checked in for a flight with one passport and used another one with immigration officials on arrival, but I don't get the impression this would cause a problem in the Schengen area (i.e., showing up with a document different from the one on the manifest). I'm a little skeptical about the impending introduction of ETIAS, however, and how various airlines will cope with dual US/EU citizens. My experience suggests that EU airlines will understand but perhaps make some implementation errors, while US airlines won't understand and will also make some implementation errors. – phoog Aug 14 '20 at 16:57

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US law allows this. It requires you to have a valid US passport when you leave the US, not to use it (the actual word used in the statute is "bear"). I do it all the time (with a Dutch passport). There are two possible problems, neither of which I have ever faced.

The first is that the airline might insist on seeing your US passport, or they might insist on seeing evidence that you entered the US using your French passport. I usually fly on European airlines, and they have always accepted my Dutch passport, but I have heard various things suggesting that US airlines might be less inclined to do so. If that happens, simply show both passports.

The second possible problem is that the country's immigration authorities might insist on seeing the passport that has been submitted by the airline in the advance passenger information record or any other passenger manifest. To prevent this from being a problem, if you have to show your US passport when you check in make it clear to the agent checking you in that you will be using the French passport to enter the destination country.

Finally, make certain before you travel that the restrictions imposed by your destination are indeed based on citizenship rather than residence or physical presence. You say "the country I am going to accepts French citizens," but if the restrictions are actually based on residence or presence then you might be unable to travel.

phoog
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