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Can a minor who is a US citizen travel back to the United States from Jamaica with a parent on an expired passport?

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A US citizen cannot be denied entry to the US no matter what; as long as they make it to a US port of entry and can satisfactorily prove their US citizenship (and an expired passport is pretty good proof), they will be let in.

The problem is how to get to the US. I am assuming they are flying. US does not (yet) have pre-clearance facilities in Jamaica, so the airline must check that they have required documents before letting them board, and US citizen children arriving by air are required to have a valid US passport.

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    It's a good point. The issue could be more a matter of getting onto a plane than clearing immigration.
    – Mark Colan
    Commented Sep 2, 2017 at 15:10
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I cannot answer definitively, and possibly there is some wiggle room depending on the agent. But with today's immigration environment, you are taking a risk of significant inconvenience if the child does not have a current passport. I would not take that risk.

I suggest a visit to the passport section of the US Embassy, or a US consulate. They will be able to answer the question, and probably to renew the passport. I would not expect rapid service for a new passport, though if it is an emergency, they may be able to expedite.

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Can a minor who is US citizen travel back to the United States from Jamaica with a parent on a expired passport ?

Currently (2021-07-23), yes. From https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/world.php:

Nationals of the U.S.A. are allowed to enter with an expired passport. This does not apply to emergency passports which must be valid on arrival.

No idea for how long this policy will apply.

You may want to also call the airline to make sure they're also ok with it.

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    There are some other conditions that must be met. Most notably, the passport must have expired on or after January 1, 2020. See travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/passport-help/…
    – phoog
    Commented Jul 24, 2021 at 16:32
  • The biggest problem is that the airline needs to let you on board. It’s quite expensive for them to let you board and then you are rejected. Since they don’t know the laws 100% they might be cautious and reject you, with no legal recourse for you if they acted reasonably.
    – gnasher729
    Commented Jul 24, 2021 at 20:08

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