Is it possible to apply for 1st passport after naturalization at US embassy overseas?

2

2scoops

New Member
For example: I take my oath and receive my naturalization certificate at a USCIS office in the US. Then I travel to my home country using my original passport to enter. Can the US embassy/consulate over there accept my application for my very first US passport?

Has anyone ever done this?

Thanks for any info! :)
 
Are you in a hurry to your home country?

I haven't seen any cases, not even one. but if you are in a hurry and/or you have no time to get your US passport in usa, you might contact your passport agency first or US consulate/US embassy in your origin country. (by the way, remember your home country will be USA after taking an oath. :) just say origin country). http://travel.state.gov/passport/forms/ds11/ds11_842.html (it said "if you are overseas and need to apply or renew your U.S. passport, please contact the nearest US Embassy or US consulate.")

It may be extremely difficult to get a new passport at US consulate because US consulate/US embassy may have no information on you at your origin country or any other country immediately after you become a US citizen (it means if staff at US embassy/conslate cannot find any information on the computer system, then they will need more time to require more information from Dept of State or USCIS in order to issue the passport). Also, I have heard of other cases (for example. in middle east, if you commit a crime in a foreign country, your US passport is seized and held by police or court. You may not be allowed to apply for another US passport until you get cleared or something like that. It is part of communicaiton rules between US embassy/consulate and your origin country or foreign country)

Since no one has ever done this before, please use at your own risk.
 
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Sure, go ahead and do it...except for the fact that it's ILLEGAL!!

All US citizens must leave and enter the US with a US passport.

IF your former country allows dual citizenship and lets you keep your old passport despite acquiring US citizenship, then you may enter and leave that country with your old passport.

However, that still doesn't solve the leaving US problem. Additionally, you surrender your permanent resident card. I'm not sure your airline will let you check in with a foreign passport and no valid visa/I-94(W)/perm. res card.

So, I'd say no. If you're in a hurry, go to one of the passport issuance centers. Make an appointment early and you can get a passport on the same day.
 
OP,
Just to give you an example, for Indians what you suggest would be illegal because the Indian passport becomes invalid as soon as that person takes the US oath. So travelling with the old Indian passport back to India is possible but illegal . The airline will let the person board the flight to IN because they don't know the nature of the traveller's citizenship. If this misuse is discovered by Indian authorities at a later point, then there are fines and other penalties.

Of course this is a specific ex and the rules vary for other countries. But then the US pp can be obtained in less than a week so most people just do the expedited application.
 
Yeah, applying for a same day passport seems to be the only option. By the way, with the new biometric passports, I tink they're issued in the US and sent to foreign consulates. I don't think the new passports are produced abroad.
 
Hey guys, you seem not to know 2scoops/TwoScoops very well ;) I am not trying to pick on him, but he always comes up with this trick questions that most of the time don't really apply to him, he just asks the questions for the fun of it, and they are usually always about bending some law, either in the U.S. or abroad. In some places such a poster could be deemed a troll, but I have to agree that 2scoops always comes up with non-offensive, puzzling, paradoxical questions, so I don't mind, but just keep it in mind when you are burning your neurons to answer a question that is just purely hypothetical.

Now, to answer the original question from 2scoops I think this was already asked before and I believe somebody pointed out that it was possible. Anyway, one way or another it doesn't look advisable, you should be able to get a U.S. passport in short time with a valid airplane ticket and who knows what hurdles you would have to jump to get the passport at the embassy. You could perhaps do a search on embassy and passport in this forum and see if you come up with the thread.

Furthermore I think that even if possible these passports are of limited time validity so you'll end up spending more time and money.

My 2 cents.
 
TheRealCanadian said:
I'd be curious how you can use a passport (any passport) to leave the US, since the US has no exit controls.
Click to expand...

I've had an interesting situation occur to me a couple of years ago. My fiancee and I were going on vacation to St. Lucia. We booked the trip through a travel agency that was well aware that I'm an LPR, so I figured everything was good to go. Upon our arrival at JFK Airport, the clerk at the counter asked to see our passports. My fiancee presented her passport, which was scanned into the computer. When I presented my travel document, the clerk told me that St. Lucia requires a visa for non-U.S. citizens, and that I cannot be allowed to board the plane, as I will be sent back to the U.S. upon arrival at St. Lucia and American Airlines will be fined $10,000 for allowing me on the plane (we ended up going to Bahamas instead).

Pardon my ignorance on the topic, but isn't that a form of exit control?
 
Yes, at the place where you "check in luggages" during your trip, the person at the ticket counter will ask for your Passport.
They will verify things, and who knows they also "type some data into the computer", so maybe they record your passport information into the system.
 
Jackolantern said:
Where did you read or hear that a US Passport is required for a US citizen to leave the US?
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8 USC § 1185(b) Reproduced below:

"(b) Citizens
Except as otherwise provided by the President and subject to such limitations and exceptions as the President may authorize and prescribe, it shall be unlawful for any citizen of the United States to depart from or enter, or attempt to depart from or enter, the United States unless he bears a valid United States passport."

There are exceptions. The most obvious ones include travel to bordering countries (Canada, Mexico, certain others in the WH). However, this probably doesn't apply anymore because of the WHTI.
 
CrossHairs said:
Yes, at the place where you "check in luggages" during your trip, the person at the ticket counter will ask for your Passport.
They will verify things, and who knows they also "type some data into the computer", so maybe they record your passport information into the system.
Click to expand...

Exactly. I saw them swipe the passport through the optical reader. Again, isn't that exit control?
 
TheRealCanadian said:
I'd be curious how you can use a passport (any passport) to leave the US, since the US has no exit controls.
Click to expand...

The fact that the government does not maintain passport controls does not imply that there are no regulations regarding the travel of US citizens. The US government generally maintains a good faith belief that its citizens abide by the law. Only when a law is violated and the violation is discovered are penalties imposed.

For example, while US citizens may not travel to Cuba without DoS permission, the government and coast guard do not stop every vessel that sails away from US shores searching for citizens and ensuring they don't travel to Cuba.

Similarly, in theory there is no exit control, but there are laws that govern exit.

However, practically, the DoS and CBP impose certain duties on carriers (esp air carriers) regarding document review. When it comes to international travel, this includes verification of immigration documents. For example, it is the responsibility of an air carrier to ensure that a non Citizen/LPR has a valid I-94. It's also the carrier's responsibility to retain the I-94 and submit it to CIS. Similarly, every time I've traveled pre-citizenship, I've been asked to produce my LPR card in addition to passport. Not sure if this is a requirement imposed, but certainly seems like one.
 
At the time of checkin at the airport, they check your indian passport for its validity, and then your visa validity if you are on a visa OR they check your greencard validity.

Since you'll surrender the greencard at the time of your oath I dont see how you can board the flight.
 
I figured the best place place to ask this question is the US consulate itself. They just opened half an hour ago and I called the consular section. The answer was "yes, ma'am, it's possible, but we highly recommend against doing that, as all passport applications are forwared to the national paspsort center in the States, then returned to us here...... which may or may not take up to 4 weeks" so there it is, 46 cents well spent........ :)
 
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Well this is an interesting discussion indeed. I am currently overseas on business and this is my first trip outside using a US passport. While exiting the US, in order to complete my check-in formalities I had to scan my US passport and while in the club room got a "DOC OK" stamp. Others had to que near the boarding gate to show their visa and passport to get the same stamp.

All in all, I don't think the airlines will allow you to board an international flight without proper passport/visa. It may well be that the foreign country will not let a person in to their country without a proper passport. So even if US allows one to depart, the foreign country might not let the person in.

Regarding Vorpal, most countries have a visa requirement related to the passport one carries. It may well be that Russian passports do not recieve the visa on arrival benefit as may the US or European passport do. Our neighbouring countries Canada and Mexico recognize the green card. However, even Mexico had withdrawn this benefit for US LPRs with passports from Asian countries right after 9/11, but I believe re-instated it later.

Twoscoops, if you do manage to experience your hypothetical questions, please do post your experience. I definitely don't see your hypothetical questions, anything but brain stimulating excercises, but do enjoy reading them:)
 
Huracan, thanks for the headsup about 2scoops and her inane queries.

2scoops, I guess you did not read my post above. The state dept ph line gave you the wrong info . The ex I gave for India is proof that what the st dept told you is not applicable for India. So the correct answer to your op is "It depends".
 
Regardless of any law, the outbound scan/inspection of documents is for the airline to confirm that you will be able to enter the country you are arriving at; they do not want the fines, inconvenience etc of having you refused entry because you did not have the right documentation.

Anyway, I agree with the others, try to get the passport before you leave since if anything goes wrong in the process you'll be stuck unable to return as you will have no proof to the airline that you may return to the country. Since you will have no greencard you would have to use a visa(-waiver) and Immigration is sure to spot this when you arrive. As stated by others, if you are a citizen you must use your US passport to enter; not having one will be trouble.

Speaking of which, I used my US passport for the first time last week for a trip home to England. Of course I used my UK passport for entry to the UK, but I showed my US passport at all other times. After 11 years of coming in/out with an H1B, GC etc, this was without doubt the easiest and most pleasant ever entry to the US - well worth all the hassle of waiting.

Paul
 
I don't know whether this is relevant at all, but you can get a US passport from one of the national passport agencies on the same day (I did that). All you need is to show evidence of your travel.
 
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