Do you have a valid passport?

When the USCIS officer asks whether the applicant has a valid passport, the applicant should respond honestly with yes or no, depending on whether the applicant currently holds a valid passport from any country. The N-400 application asks about passports as part of the immigration history. USCIS officers ask about valid passports for several reasons. First, passports are part of identity verification and travel documentation. Second, the passport history confirms travel records and physical presence calculations. Third, applicants with current passports should bring them to the interview, where the officer can review entry and exit stamps. Fourth, the question tests basic English communication.

Most applicants hold a passport from their country of origin (or country of citizenship if different from country of origin). Permanent residents are generally expected to maintain a valid passport from their home country (or another country if dual citizens) for international travel, since the U.S. does not issue passports to non-citizens (only to U.S. citizens and to U.S. nationals from territories like American Samoa). U.S. permanent residents traveling abroad use their home country passport along with the U.S. green card (or, for trips longer than 1 year, a reentry permit Form I-131).

Applicants who have allowed their passport to expire and have not renewed it should bring the expired passport along with any explanation. Applicants whose home country does not issue passports to certain categories of citizens (refugees, stateless persons, certain political dissidents) may have a U.S.-issued refugee travel document or refugee travel document. Stateless applicants may have alternative travel documents.

The applicant should bring all current and expired passports used during the residency period. Officers often want to see entry and exit stamps to verify travel history. Applicants from countries that do not stamp passports (electronic exit/entry, automated systems) may have travel records that cannot be verified through stamps; the officer can pull I-94 records of U.S. arrivals and departures.

Applicants who have passports from multiple countries (dual or multiple citizenships) should disclose all passports. Naturalization in the United States generally requires renunciation of allegiance to other countries (in the Oath of Allegiance), but many countries do not accept renunciation as terminating their citizenship, and many naturalized U.S. citizens hold dual or multiple citizenships.

Applicants who have lost or had stolen passports during the residency period should be ready to explain. Applicants whose passport has been seized by their home country government (rare but possible for political reasons) should disclose this. Honest answers paired with documentation are the right approach.