Returning to the United States on an Expired U.S. Passport

If you are overseas and your passport expired on or after January 1, 2020, you may be able to use your expired passport to return directly to the United States until June 30, 2022.

You qualify to travel on your expired passport if all the following are true:

You are a U.S. citizen.
You are currently abroad seeking direct return to the United States.
You are flying directly to the United States, a United States territory, or have only short-term transit (“connecting flights”) through a foreign country on your direct return to the United States or to a United States Territory.
Your expired passport was originally valid for 10 years. Or, if you were 15 years of age or younger when the passport was issued, your expired passport was valid for five years.
Your expired passport is undamaged.
Your expired passport is unaltered.
Your expired passport is in your possession.

You do not qualify to travel on your expired passport if:

You wish to depart from the United States to an international destination.
You are currently abroad seeking to travel to a foreign country for any length of stay longer than an airport connection en route to the United States or to a United States territory.
Your expired passport was limited in validity.
Your expired passport is a special issuance passport (such as a diplomatic, official, service, or no-fee regular passport).
Your expired passport is damaged.
Your expired passport is altered.
Your expired passport is not in your possession.

All other passport rules and regulations remain in effect. The Department of Homeland Security maintains discretion to reject any bearer in accordance with 22 CFR 53.2(b)(7) and 8 CFR 235.1(b)

If you are planning to return to the United States using an expired passport, you may wish to contact your airline, to confirm that your expired passport will be accepted for boarding.

While urgent travel back to the United States may be accomplished on an expired passport that qualifies for this exception, you will need to renew your U.S. passport, most commonly by mail, in the United States before you can depart the United States again. For planning purposes, domestic routine passport processing times are currently up to twelve weeks. In-person appointments at some domestic passport agencies and centers are possible, but extremely limited at this time and generally reserved for emergency life/death cases. For an additional $60, domestic applicants can request expedited service by mail to receive a passport in four to six weeks. The current processing times are reflected on the website of the Department of State, Travel.State.Gov (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports.html), as well as the process for renewing a U.S. passport upon return to the United States.

Any questions concerning the scope or implementation of this guidance, including the authorization for U.S. citizens to board an aircraft, should be directed to the appropriate Regional Carrier Liaison Group or other designated CBP official for adjudication prior to aircraft departure. For contact information, please visit the CBP website.