Citizenship interview in 2 weeks. Can't find passport!

Q

qrx

Registered Users (C)
I immigrated from Taiwan over 30 years ago and have been a permanent resident in the US since. I never traveled outside the country, so I never needed my passport and haven't seen it in over 30 years. Now that I need it for my naturalization interview, we can't find it. Most likely it is somewhere in our house, or possibly accidentally thrown out or destroyed, but we have been searching for weeks and can't find it.

I considered reporting it lost and reapplying for a new one, but I can't do that either! The passport application requires national ID (there were no national ID's back when I immigrated) or some household registration number (which I don't have since I don't live there).

What can I do???
 
Probably the first step would be calling USCIS's 800 customer (dis)service line and see what they recommend. Maybe the answer is as simple as providing a sworn affidavit that you can't currently locate your original passport and are unable to get a new one for the reasons listed. Don't know for sure though, however others have asked the same question recently, so please let us know how things work out.
 
Some day 2 years ago at JFK POE USCIS officer asked for Green Card only, I asked what about passport and he replied - I dont need this shit.
 
I tried the USCIS number. She was very confused and told me to get a new US Passport from travel.gov. Obviously I can't do that because I'm not a citizen yet. She seemed angry and kept saying "then you'll just have to find your passport". I might try calling again but from my experience with USCIS, most telephone reps seem uninformed.

I was thinking maybe I should reschedule my interview to give myself more time to search for my passport, but from reading other threads on here, it sounds like you shouldn't reschedule unless it's a life-or-death emergency.

I hope they don't ask for it but I don't know if I will be so lucky.

I will post when there is new information. In the meantime, I still welcome any suggestions!
 
RSury is right. Contact your embassy and ask them to help you. If that doesn't work, or if you are still not able to get a passport, I would NOT reschedule the interview (if you haven't found your passport yet, you probably just won't find it). I would go to the interview and explain the situation and ask the IO what to do........In the meantime, call the USCIS again and hope that you'll find a more knowledgeable person. Also, do an infopass and go talk to an IO at your local USCIS office.
 
I wasn't trying to be a smart-a$$ when I called it the 800 disservice line... they really are quite unhelpful most of the time! However, now that you've called them, you can truthfully tell the IO that you did try to find out what to do, but they were not of much assistance.

Certainly your local embassy/consulate would be another good avenue to pursue. Beyond that, I definitely think I'd attend the interview as scheduled, and take it from there.
 
WE FOUND IT!!! :) :) :) :) :) Our house has been in an uproar! I can't believe how happy I am to see this little piece of paper.

Now, only a few days left to prepare for the interview!
 
Now that you've found it, I won't be surprise if the IO doesn't ask you for it. Good luck on your interview.
 
Not to nit pick, but there is no Taiwanese "Embassy" in the US, since the US does not recognise it as a sovereign state. There is a "Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office". They probably handle passports.



RSury said:
Why don't you contact your embassy and see what/how they can help you.
Click to expand...
 
is the passport valid ???

Now that you found your missing passport, Has it expired or is it still Valid ?

Just curious :rolleyes:
 
Actually I believe (but I'm not entirely sure) that an expired passport is fine - if you don't have a current passport, it is highly unlikely that you left the country (and, you shouldn't need it after your oath).
 
Expired in the 80's. It's vintage, just like everything else in our house LOL.

Interview letter says expired passport is ok, otherwise we wouldn't have spent all this time looking for it!
 
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