State Department: Recently expired passports can be used to return to US

Illustrative: A US passport. (vlana/iStock/Getty Images)
Illustrative: A US passport. (vlana/iStock/Getty Images)

The US State Department says citizens abroad may be able to travel on recently expired American passports, in some cases, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“US citizens currently overseas whose passports expired on or after January 1, 2020, may be able to use their expired US passport for direct return travel to the United States until December 31, 2021. Certain criteria apply, and we encourage US citizens to confirm their eligibility for traveling on an expired passport at https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/ea/covid-19-information.html prior to finalizing travel arrangements.”

But the same does not apply to those in the US.

“Recently expired passports cannot be used to travel from the United States to an international destination or 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,” it says.

Travelers at Ben Gurion International Airport on April 18, 2021. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

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