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I am a dual citizen - Canada and Country B (a country in Asia that does not allow dual citizenship). I entered the US with an F1 visa on my passport from Country B. I took a leave from school and my i20 is terminated, so I'm required to leave the US in 15 days. If I leave the US to Canada with my Canadian passport, would there be a record showing my departure so that I won't be considered overstaying?

This is all confusing to me. With the pandemic going on, it's almost impossible to get a ticket and return to Country B within these 15 days.

I have an expired Canadian passport and tend to renew it once I'm in Canada.

Also, can I re-enter the US as a tourist with my Canadian passport and travel back to Country B and then back to the US once I have my new i20? This way I will not be a Canadian student. And since I usually enter the US from country B, the old i20 was issued on my country B passport.

The departure to Canada is basically just for not overstaying the 15-day limit. The trip from Canada to the US is so that I won't need to leave Canada with my country B passport that shows no record of ever going to Canada.

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    Do you have the same name, date of birth, and other personal information on both of your passports? Are you planning to go to Canada by commercial operators (airlines etc.) or private car/boat?
    – xngtng
    Mar 18, 2022 at 10:56
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    Yes, I do have the same names and all the other information on them, I'm planning to go there by train or bus because my Canadian passport has expired and as I was told I can travel to Canada by Land without a passport.
    – ttanya oi
    Mar 18, 2022 at 11:07
  • Your departure should be automatically recorded since CBSA shares entry information with CBP who does do matching based on names and dates of birth; although there is a chance that the automatic matching fails. You should keep evidence of your entry into Canada but the chance of scrutiny based on this is small for Canadian residents (or citizens).
    – xngtng
    Mar 18, 2022 at 11:23
  • You should probably include the information about the expired Canadian passport in the question itself (you can edit it) rather than just in a comment below.
    – jcaron
    Mar 18, 2022 at 14:30
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    Why do you need to travel to Country B? Why not just re-enter the US into F1 status with your Canadian passport once you have renewed it and you have gotten your new I-20?
    – user102008
    Mar 18, 2022 at 16:20

1 Answer 1

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Let's take this in steps.

You cannot be denied entry to Canada if you can prove you are a Canadian citizen. An expired passport should be adequate proof of citizenship. Therefore if you show up at a Canadian border with it, you should be admitted. However an airline may well choose not to let you on a flight, so you are probably better off trying to cross into Canada at a land border. If that's difficult you can try asking an airline if they will let you on a flight with an expired passport.

Dual citizenship is not uncommon, and US border records take account of it, so you should be recorded as leaving whichever passport you leave with. If you wish to play it extremely safe do something when you reach Canada that establishes you were there - an in person credit card transaction or photographing yourself at a landmark.

Once you reach Canada renew your passport. It takes 20 days from the US but is faster in Canada. If you had renewed it a month ago this would not be a problem.

Once you have a Canadian passport you can enter the US on F1 status without a visa. Or to maintain better secrecy wait until you receive your new I-20 and enter then (although I very much doubt the China Country B will discover what passport you used to enter the US). From there you can fly to Country B if you feel it is necessary.

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    As a Canadian citizen, OP can enter the US as an F-1 student without a visa. This would of course require a valid Canadian passport in addition to the new I-20.
    – phoog
    Mar 18, 2022 at 17:08
  • @phoog Didn't know that. Mar 18, 2022 at 21:59

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