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I took the following flight route from Hong Kong to Charlotte, North Carolina with 1 stopover in Los Angeles LAX:

  1. On December 29, 2017: Cathay Pacific flight 880: Hong Kong HKG 00:15 (local time) - Los Angeles LAX 21:00 (local time)
  2. On December 30, 2017: American Airlines flight 1871: Los Angeles LAX 00:28 (local time) - Charlotte CLT 08:05 (local time).

When applying for U.S. citizenship, in the N-400 Application for Naturalization Form (mirror)), in the travel history section, should I indicate 12/29/2017 or 12/30/2017 in the column "Date You Returned to the United States (mm/dd/yyyy)"?

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The US officer at LAX airport (= LOS port of entry) didn't stamp my passport. I didn't have to go through the immigration at CLT.

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  • Check the stamp on your passport, The date of the stamp is when you returned to US.
    – Nobody
    Commented Sep 25, 2021 at 6:33
  • @scaaahu Thanks, the US officer at LAX airport (= LOS port of entry) didn't stamp my passport. I didn't have to go through the immigration at CLT.
    – Franck Dernoncourt
    Commented Sep 29, 2021 at 3:53
  • According to the comment below your linked question, the commenter got a receipt. Do you have that kind of thing? My personal experience dealing with immigration is that they are government workers, they follow rules. They want to see official records. Boarding pass or itinerary are for references, are not official records.
    – Nobody
    Commented Sep 29, 2021 at 4:02
  • @scaaahu I got a receipt but didn't keep it. Lesson learned! I've indeed asked for my official records.
    – Franck Dernoncourt
    Commented Sep 29, 2021 at 4:05

1 Answer 1

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All international flights to the US (except those departing from non-US airports with US Preclearance Facilities) clear US Immigration and Customs when first arriving on US soil. Your departure airport HKG does not have a US Preclearance Facility.

Thus, you will have "returned to the United States" at LAX on December 29, 2017.

(Note that this answer does not address a traveler's "arrival date in the US" when the traveler passes US Immigration and Customs overseas in a US Preclearance Facility, and physically arrives in the US on the next calendar day. I don't know the answer to that question.)

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