TD requirement for US born child?
- Thread starter Fan99
- Start date
None needed. He/she is a citizen of the United States. We went through a POE, I got my TN my wife her TD and our daughter went through on her Canadian passport which shows her U.S. birth place location, had a brief discussion with the officer urging her to get her US passport. After getting settled in the US, my daughter now has her US and Canadian passport.
SusieQQQ
Well-Known Member
I presume the officer explained to you that by law USCs have to enter and leave on a US passport. Obviously they weren’t going to hold your minor child accountable.
I never stated she was minor. She is an adult. They had no problem with her coming in on her Canadian passport. I suppose that's the advantage of dual citizenship.
SusieQQQ
Well-Known Member
Actually no, you /she got lucky that they accepted the proof of her birth. Glad she is now in compliance.
Officially:
U.S. nationals, including dual nationals, must use a U.S. passport to enter and leave the United States. Dual nationals may also be required by the foreign country to use its passport to enter and leave that country. Use of the foreign passport to travel to or from a country other than the United States is not inconsistent with U.S. law.
https://travel.state.gov/content/tr...nality-Dual-Nationality/Dual-Nationality.html
1AurCitizen
Registered Users (C)
Being friendly is one matter, enforcing compliance with the law is another. The US State Dept is very clear, the law says a US Citizen must use their US passport to enter the US. She ought to use her US passport the next time she enters the US from Canada, not all CBP officers are nice and willing to look the other way.
But there isn't anything they can do to "not look the other way". Either she is a US citizen or she is not. If she is not, she can enter as a Canadian visitor. If she is a US citizen, she cannot be denied entry no matter what. So either way, they let her in. And there is currently no penalty or other consequences for a US citizen to enter without a US passport, besides perhaps a lecture from the officer.
SusieQQQ
Well-Known Member
...as long as they have other evidence that they are a citizen. Not all passports show birth location (ours don't) and not all citizenship is derived through birth. So other people expecting the same kind of friendly leniency OP got shown at the border may not have quite the same experience trying to enter as foreign nationals if they cannot actually show they should be allowed in.
1AurCitizen
Registered Users (C)
Hypothetically, what if a USC lacking a passport encounters a CBP officer who on a bad day withholds admitting that individual. While a USC cannot, and must not, be denied admission, can't underestimate the power trip of an officer who woke up the wrong side of the bed. They would eventually be let in, but why go through what could turn out to be several hours confined in Secondary.
To clarify, passports are required for air travel, but encouraged for land border crossings when alternate documents suffice to establish USC status.
To clarify, passports are required for air travel, but encouraged for land border crossings when alternate documents suffice to establish USC status.
Right, but if the OP's daughter is not a US citizen, the alternative is that she's a Canadian citizen visiting on a Canadian passport and is not required to have a US passport, so lack of evidence of US citizenship should not lead to denial of entry either.
SusieQQQ
Well-Known Member
So this is all fine and dandy for Canadians, great. People from other countries reading this without qualification might think it's all fine and dandy for them too, but for many countries, if not most, that won't be the case. Most people need something other than a passport (ESTA, visa) to enter, so without that and without proof of US citizenship they have a problem. Part of the reason we answer questions and debate things in public on this board is for other/future readers to get appropriate information. There are many more non-Canadians than Canadians out there.