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So I'm in the process of getting my US passport but I also have my foreign passport that I traveled with this April. I used my Green Card to travel with it but they already accepted my US passport. (I did not know I was already a US citizen until now). So I'm a dual national now.

My question is:

I need to travel to my my country of birth in August. The passport issuing office has my Green Card because I had to give it to them. Is it possible to travel with my foreign passport and have someone send me my US passport to where I am abroad and use it to travel back to the US?

If not, would it be possible to get an emergency passport at the US consulate?

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  • What country would you be in? That is, to what country would the passport be mailed?
    – phoog
    Jul 13, 2021 at 7:19
  • I will be in Honduras
    – Osckiie
    Jul 14, 2021 at 2:41

1 Answer 1

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Technically as a US citizen you are supposed to exit and enter the US on your US passport. However this is rarely checked, almost never enforced, and never punished - especially on exit where no passport checks are done.

It is perfectly legal to mail a passport. US passport service will not mail it overseas, so you will need to get someone to collect it from your home address and send it to you. Given the nature of the document I recommend a courier requiring a signature and recorded delivery.

Your other option is to call the passport service and see if they will convert your application to "expedited", so it will be delivered before you leave. It involves a fee payment, but it is probably less than couriering the passport, and gives you peace of mind.

You should not try to obtain an emergency passport from the consulate.

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    It's perfectly legal to mail a US passport, but some other countries prohibit mailing or courier-ing their passports across national borders. Jul 12, 2021 at 13:47
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    @DavidSupportsMonica the only law I know about prohibiting the sending of passports across borders is India's. That law doesn't concern India's passports but India's borders. If Osckiie's "country of birth" is India, therefore, or any other country with a similar law, then the second paragraph of this answer is incorrect, whether the passport being mailed is from India, the US, or any other country.
    – phoog
    Jul 13, 2021 at 7:17

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