# US Citizens Leaving the country **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 12, 2015, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-citizens-leaving-the-country/724963 "2015-07-12T19:20:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-citizens-leaving-the-country/724963/41 "2015-07-14T09:25:13Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Customs and Border Protection collects information from sea and air travelers electronically. If you fly out of the United States, your name and passport information are on a manifest held by the carrier, which is sent to Customs and Border Protection. > > Yes, you must go through immigration when you return to this country. Since the US requires flight plans to be filed to enter this country, the government will know if you fly into a random airport, and generally either be okay with it if the airport has a CBP presence, in some cases send a CBP agent to the airport, or tell you to land elsewhere. Hell, my dad has an inbound entry on the files at Ellis Island, and he was _born_ here. [it was back in 1925, my grandparents wandered west to east around the world. I can not imagine wanting to take a 3 year old around the world back in the days of steamships … for fun. _Sigh_ I am spoiled!] ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-citizens-leaving-the-country/724963/42 "2015-07-15T01:21:05Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > I’ve at times held multiple passports with different numbers, and have switched between them for different legs of a trip. This hasn’t triggered any extra scrutiny and I doubt the discrepancy was noticed. I’ve also been to at least one non-computerized international border crossing that almost certainly wasn’t reported in any centralized way. I knew a family that switched sisters flying back and forth between Aus and the USA. One sister would fly out, and a different sister would fly back on the return ticket and original ID… never triggered any extra scrutiny and I doubt the discrepancy was noticed. The US embassy here told me that they now (post 9/11)specifically do not approve of different ID’s on different legs going into the USA. You have to be approved to board on the same ID as you are approved to enter with. But…They also still require you to enter on your American passport. So when you turn up in the USA, the imigration officer insists on your American passport, even though you boarded and registered on a foreign passport with an entry visa. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-citizens-leaving-the-country/724963/43 "2015-07-15T02:56:20Z")
In my case, they were multiple US passports (personal and official) and more complex itineraries rather than legs of a single flight. If they are tracking these things, they probably think some version of myself has been lost in China since 2008. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-citizens-leaving-the-country/724963/44 "2015-07-15T06:20:42Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I know someone who has been overseas all summer. He received an invitation (I think via email) from the local US embassy for an Independence Day picnic. So presumably they keep track of Americans in town. (And that might come in handy, if there is a civil disturbance or natural disaster.) No way, he must have contacted the embassy and given them the info he was in the country. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-citizens-leaving-the-country/724963.md?page=2)