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I lost my US passport in Croatia over the summer. I was given a temporary one by the US embassy in Croatia. And I have not been able to renew it yet and get the full passport with a chip.

I have a flight to Canada in 2 days and I was wondering since my Temp passport document does not expire until July of 2023 if I will have any issues using it. I also have a Croatian passport but I do know that you cannot leave and come back to the US without anything but a US passport. Will I have an issue flying because of this?

Monika Markovic
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  • Are you asking about issues using your temporary passport to travel to Canada? Or in general? – Traveller Sep 27 '22 at 23:03
  • So the temp passport looks just like a regular one, only with four pages and it shows expiration in January. It does not have any info about restrictions on traveling with it. But basically it does not have a chip so I am wondering if they will allow me to travel to Canada with this document? – Monika Markovic Sep 27 '22 at 23:38
  • You should be able to use your Croatian passport to enter Canada, assuming you get an eTA and don't plan to stay for more than 6 months. Canada does not require US citizens to enter with a US passport. – Greg Hewgill Sep 28 '22 at 00:20
  • If i try to use the temp passport and they say no is that an option, as I would then need to use that same passport to come back to US. Which I have read is not suggested. But my temp passport is still valid – Monika Markovic Sep 28 '22 at 00:36
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    You can use your Croatian passport to enter Canada, and then use your US temporary passport to enter the US. There is no reason you need to use the same passport for both. – Greg Hewgill Sep 28 '22 at 01:25
  • Okay! That makes sense, but do you think I could use US temporary for both and not use the Croatian one at all? Sorry I meant my temp expires in July! – Monika Markovic Sep 28 '22 at 01:57
  • Canada may or may not allow you to use a temporary US passport to enter. You can certainly offer it, the worst they can say is "no" and you can then offer the Croatian one. (I have two passports and this sort of thing happens from time to time. "oh, you want the other one, hang on"...) – Greg Hewgill Sep 28 '22 at 02:09
  • Haha oh wow! I have just never used my Croatian passport before, even when going to Croatia. It was my understanding that switching could upset them. I am flying out of NJ and going to Canada only for a few days so I will try and hopefully the airline doesn’t stop me as well :) I just wasn’t sure if US would question why I don’t have stamps haha. Thank you so much for your insight! – Monika Markovic Sep 28 '22 at 04:03
  • @GregHewgill last I checked, which was just s year or so ago, Canada had less stringent documentary requirements for US citizens than the US had (or claimed to have). Separate non-passport proof of identity and citizenship was sufficient, such as a driver's license and a birth certificate. – phoog Sep 28 '22 at 06:53
  • Wow that’s kinda crazy. So I will bring some backup then just in case. Thank you so much!! – Monika Markovic Sep 28 '22 at 07:09
  • Related question https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/52100/i-have-two-passports-nationalities-how-do-i-use-them-when-i-travel – Traveller Sep 28 '22 at 08:45
  • When checked through the Emirates website, for US citizens travelling to Canada, the answer is “There are no specific visa and passport requirement”. First time I’ve ever seen that! – jcaron Sep 28 '22 at 12:52
  • Some countries issue emergency passports which are supposedly only valid to return home. No idea how they enforce it (probably on exit checks, which the US does not have) or if the US falls in that category. – jcaron Sep 28 '22 at 12:53
  • So they are supposed to take it supposedly but they can’t really because I need to turn in the temp to get a new one. – Monika Markovic Sep 29 '22 at 03:39

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Canada doesn't seem to say anything much about US passports. I can't even find something that says whether a visitor's passport -- of any nationality -- must be valid for a certain period of time when the visitor arrives in Canada.

If you look at the information for international visitors, there is a link to a page purporting to give entry requirements by country. This isn't particularly helpful for you, however, because for US citizens it simply says

U.S. citizens must carry proper identification such as a valid U.S. passport.

The words "carry proper identification" are a hyperlink back to the first page.

Now in the past, Canada used to be fairly explicit that US citizens could enter as long as they can prove both their identity and their US citizenship, and that this could be done using multiple documents, such as a driver's license and a birth certificate. This was even true for some years after the US began introducing stricter documentary requirements at the border.

Over time, Canada became increasingly vague, recommending that you use a passport but making it difficult to determine what the absolute minimum requirements are. The lack of clearly stated requirements concerning passports suggests that any passport will do.

An eTA application can take up to 72 hours, though they are usually granted within a few minutes. Some peace of mind is probably reason enough to spend CAD 7 on an eTA application with your Croatian passport, but it looks like you would probably be fine with your temporary passport. At this point, it's all about your risk tolerance.

If your temporary passport works, it will be a bit simpler to use it for travel in both directions, but it's not particularly complicated to travel to Canada with the Croatian passport and back with the US passport, and it's certainly not illegal. There is no penalty for violating the US law on the use of US passports by US citizens, and furthermore you would not be violating it: It does not require you to "use" a US passport when you leave the US, only to "bear" it.

phoog
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  • Hmm okay! Thank you! So only question I have is do I need to do the eTA beforehand just in case or can this be done at the airport? Other thing is that when I was looking online yesterday to do an eTA It said US citizens don’t need it so I just stopped there. – Monika Markovic Sep 29 '22 at 00:34
  • @MonikaMarkovic US citizens don't need eTA, that is correct. You need it if you plan to use your Croatian passport. I think you can do it at the airport but the longer you wait to do it the more likely that it wouldn't be approved in time. – phoog Sep 29 '22 at 00:53
  • I just did the eTA and got an email for approval not even 5 mins later. I did put my BiH/ Croatian/ US citizenship on there ‍♀️ – Monika Markovic Sep 29 '22 at 03:40
  • @MonikaMarkovic sretan put! – phoog Sep 29 '22 at 04:59
  • Awww thank you!!

    Update for you guys. I’m in Canada and didn’t have to resort to using my Croatian passport . I feel like the TSA at Newark doesn’t care I guess they have bigger fish to fry. But when I got to Canada the guy was like what brings you to Canada? I’m like “ visiting friends”. Then he was like “and who are these friends” lol. Like idk people I grew up with and then he’s like ok. Haha. I think there was a pause in when my temp passport was scanned by the TSA but ‍♀️ they didn’t seem to care.

     – Monika Markovic Sep 30 '22 at 06:09
  • @MonikaMarkovic that reminds me of one time my wife and I went to Canada to visit some old friends of hers and the question was "where did you meet these friends." She said "I don't remember"! Maybe she went on to say "in a bar somewhere" but I was hoping she'd remember the name, as if it would be useful information. – phoog Sep 30 '22 at 08:38