travel out of U.S. on non-US passport?

H

Hannah7

Registered Users (C)
Guys, after you become a citizen. Is it possible to travel outside of the US on non-US passport?

Hypothetically, say you owe IRS excess of 50,000 dollars. According to new law you are no longer eligible for a passport. Can you use your second one to escape?

Not that I am planning to do anything illegal I am just very curious how this works.
 
The U.S. has no exit checks. Anyone can travel out of the U.S. as long as they can enter the destination country. Plenty of dual nationals accidentally, intentionally (sometimes to avoid effects to their other nationality), or out of ignorance leave the U.S. without a U.S. passport.

There is a law that says U.S. citizens have to enter and exit the U.S. with a U.S. passport, but there are no consequences for violating it. It is effectively meaningless for exit since there are no checks.

As long as you're not under some kind of court order or something that you can't leave the U.S., it's not really "escaping".
 
There is a law saying US citizens must enter the US with a US passport, but I'm not aware of any laws or regulations regarding exit requirements. If there were exit regulations, they would be not only unenforceable, but in conflict with other countries' laws. For example, Mexican law requires Mexican citizens to enter Mexico on a Mexican passport, so a dual US-Mexico citizen traveling from the US to Mexico would be unable to safisfy both laws simultaneously.

The USA doesn't care what passport you're using unless you're in the process of entering the US.
 
Harry Callahan said:
There is a law saying US citizens must enter the US with a US passport, but I'm not aware of any laws or regulations regarding exit requirements.
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INA 215(b) (8 USC 1185(b)) says:
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.
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Harry Callahan said:
If there were exit regulations, they would be not only unenforceable, but in conflict with other countries' laws. For example, Mexican law requires Mexican citizens to enter Mexico on a Mexican passport, so a dual US-Mexico citizen traveling from the US to Mexico would be unable to safisfy both laws simultaneously.
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Not true. Leaving one country and entering another country are different things. It is common for dual nationals to exit one country with one passport and enter another using a different passport.
 
Ok, notice the wording. One is required to bear a US passport. This is not the same as being required to use the US passport. You can present another country's passport as long as you also bear a US passport.

At a land border with no exit controls, leaving one country and entering another are just about the same thing.
 
Harry Callahan said:
Ok, notice the wording. One is required to bear a US passport. This is not the same as being required to use the US passport. You can present another country's passport as long as you also bear a US passport.

At a land border with no exit controls, leaving one country and entering another are just about the same thing.
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Right, the U.S. has no exit checks at any borders, so there's no actual difference between "bearing" it and "using" it to leave. But obviously you cannot possibly "bear" a U.S. passport if you don't have one, like the OP.
 
Op said: "Can you use your second one [passport] to escape?"

Since "second passport" implies having two passports, I assumed the OP does in fact have a US passport but simply wishes to use the second passport to leave. This is totally legal.
 
There may not be exit checks on the land borders, but there are checks on the air borders for sure. If you have green card and want to depart from the U.S. , after showing them your non-US passport at the check-in they always ask for your green card or status in the U.S.

So I am "afraid" what would happen in a hypotetical case when one leaves U.S. passport home and decides to travel on his/her second (EU) passport. Will they let you go after a question "what is your status in the U.S. " ?
 
Hannah7 said:
There may not be exit checks on the land borders, but there are checks on the air borders for sure. If you have green card and want to depart from the U.S. , after showing them your non-US passport at the check-in they always ask for your green card or status in the U.S.

So I am "afraid" what would happen in a hypotetical case when one leaves U.S. passport home and decides to travel on his/her second (EU) passport. Will they let you go after a question "what is your status in the U.S. " ?
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No, there are no checks on any borders. Check-in is with the airline, and airlines only care about your ability to enter the destination country. Airlines do not have jurisdiction to check anything immigration-related with respect to the U.S., and they never do.
 
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