Help with an immigration question...please.

[KevinK]

as someone already said both us and argentine law allow the owners of expired (less than one year) passports to return to the country of their passport with an expired passport. they may require a non stop or direct flight as it is only to that port that you are authorized

 

[nlaruccia]

My passport expired last year and I didn't realize it until I was in Ezeiza ready to board the plane. I have a European passport and was able to get on the plane, but I can tell you that they won't allow you on the airplane with an expired U.S. passport. To be safe, you should renew it. It only takes a couple weeks to renew.

 

[Sleuth]

There's lots of opinions here, but not a lot of facts.

• You can enter the US on an expired passport though you may have to go through secondary screening.
• They leave on their Argentine passports, so they have absolutely no problem with flights. They do not have to show their US passports until arrival in the US.
• Yes, they will need a certified letter allowing them to travel without the mother.

 

[citygirl]

DaVe - I'm not sure your 2nd point is accurate. The OP stated that the husband/child do NOT have a visa for the US in their Argentine passports. So presumably they would in fact have to show their US passports at the airport (as proof of being able to enter the US) when leaving Arg even though they are exiting on Arg passports. (Every time I go to a country where visas are required, I have to show proof of having visa before boarding the plane to said country).

Again, they may be able to enter the US on an expired passport but I would be awfully hesitant to gamble on that being easily done.

But the bigger issue (for me) would be if the airline will even let them on the plane with an expired passport. According to a few posters here, they could not.

AGain, I will ask the OP - since it's 3 months away - why would you not go to the US Embassy in Buenos Aires and just get new passports instead of running the chance of getting denied entry?

 

[CarverFan]

Even if it is legally permitted to enter US on an expired US passport, it will be pot luck as to whether the airline staff actually let your husband and son board (even with the required parental permission letter). It's on their head and if they're not 100% sure of the rules or have had a bad day, they'll turn them away.

 

[syngirl]

AGain, I will ask the OP - since it's 3 months away - why would you not go to the US Embassy in Buenos Aires and just get new passports instead of running the chance of getting denied entry?

Yeah i don't understand why this isn't being considered as a solution. I know for Canadians it's more expensive to renew at an embassy instead of in country and it takes a couple of weeks instead of 3 days or whatever it is in country but it's still the exact same paperwork to get it done. and we re months away from their flights...

 

[ghost]

The OP has vanished.

 

[yoga*bird]

I am here. Thanks, you guys for all the ideas and posts. I wish my husband wasn't so stubborn and would just go with me to renew the darn passport. We don't live in BA so we have to travel there thus a day's outing there and back. That being said, he thinks he isn't going to have any problems. I made an appointment with the embassy and he told me to cancel it. SO, let's see what happens to them.

I am going to keep an open mind and not count on spending my holidays with them. He seems to believe that he is right about this issue. End of point for him...but I feel there will be an issue when they want to leave because gate agents don't handle any abnormalities well. All I can do is hang onto some of those positive posts and hope that the check in and gate agents will know what to do so we will be together for the holidays. I honestly don't want to tell my husband "I told you so".

 

[yoga*bird]

There's lots of opinions here, but not a lot of facts.

• You can enter the US on an expired passport though you may have to go through secondary screening.
• They leave on their Argentine passports, so they have absolutely no problem with flights. They do not have to show their US passports until arrival in the US.
• Yes, they will need a certified letter allowing them to travel without the mother.

We have the travel letter covered but there are not visas in the Argentine passports so they can't travel to the USA on an Argentine passport without a visa (in my mind) but my husband says that they can just show the US passports to prove US citizenship. But my argument is that an expired passport is no longer a valid document...I hope I am wrong.

 

[citygirl]

It is a valid document for identification purposes but I bet he's going to have a damn hard time convincing a gate agent to let him on the plane with it.

I certainly don't mean to get into your business but if I were you, I would call the airline tomorrow and ask them what their policy is. And when they tell you he needs to have a valid document, I would be taking that to your husband and convincing him he needs to spend a day to come to BsAs and renew.

Because even if he gets in to the US, he's going to have the same issue traveling out of the US since he'll need to exit on the passport he entered in on.

And seriously - why in god's name would he not want a valid and current passport? It's completely illogical (IMO).