Americans abroad whose passports expired during the pandemic era may still be able to use the defunct document to reenter the United States, the U.S. State Department announced on Monday evening. They will, however, need to meet certain conditions in order to qualify.
Subject to certain criteria, U.S. citizens still overseas whose passports lapsed on or after January 1, 2020, can use those defunct passports for direct return travel to the U.S. through December 31, 2021. The State Department advises any such travelers to confirm their eligibility using the COVID-19 Traveler Information webpage before finalizing arrangements to travel on an expired passport.
To qualify for this unique exemption, returning U.S. citizens must be traveling directly back to the U.S. or a U.S. territory, though short-term transit (a.k.a. connecting flights) through foreign countries is permissible. Expired passports must have originally been valid for 10 years or for five years if the individual was age 15 or younger at the time of issue. The document itself must be in the traveler's possession and must be undamaged and unaltered in order to be accepted by Customs and Border Protection officers.
The U.S. State Department and Department of Homeland Security partnered to provide this special dispensation in order to assist U.S. citizens, "who have been affected by appointment backlogs at embassies and consulates overseas caused by the COVID-19 pandemic." The exemption does not in any way apply to travelers who seek to depart from the U.S. for an international destination.
Starting in April of last year, U.S. Passport Agency operations were scaled back massively in efforts to reduce the number of employees in passport offices and minimize the potential for COVID-19 transmission. The agency stopped issuing new passports altogether, while renewal applications fell months behind in processing. As a result, according to USA Today, many American travelers who had their hearts set on trips to Europe this summer have been blocked by passport processing backlogs.
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