If your passport expires while you are outside the US, you will not be able to use it to return.
The United States Embassy in the DR reported this past Thursday that after June 30 of this year, US citizens would not be able to travel with an expired passport.
This means that if the US citizen is outside their country after June 30, they will not be able to use their passport to return to the US if it is expired, so they must renew it as soon as possible.
“After June 30, 2022, US citizens will no longer be able to use their expired passport to return to the United States. To renew your passport, make an appointment with us,” the embassy wrote in a statement.
The embassy noted that it has resumed routine services in Santo Domingo and that the US Citizen Services Unit continues to provide routine services to US citizens in the Dominican Republic, including routine and emergency passport appointments.
You can use the passport browser available on the consular agency page to apply for a passport. The Passport Navigator will ask you simple questions to help you make an appointment at the US Embassy in Santo Domingo or the Consular Agencies in Punta Cana or Puerto Plata.
Routine passport renewals by mail take three to four weeks. However, if you are traveling within two weeks and need an emergency passport, please follow the instructions at the link below.
In December of last year, the US State Department approved that US citizens abroad could return to their country with an expired passport. The measure was taken to reduce travel difficulties created by the global COVID-19 pandemic and the reduction in staff at US embassies and consulates due to the pandemic. They had announced that it would be in force until March 2022.
