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US citizens who want to visit the White House are supposed to book a tour through their Representative or Senator. Which Representative or Senator should citizens not living in the US apply to, and what address should they use?

If I use my current address I think I might be denied as being outside of the congressperson's district; if I use my last address in the US (last valid more than twenty years ago) that might be considered a security or legal problem. Perhaps I should use the address of my hotel?

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  • I'm an expat. Twenty years would be a rather long temporary assignment :)
    – Max
    Commented Jul 8, 2015 at 12:00
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    Can non-resident US citizens vote in federal elections? How does that work in terms of repreentation?
    – CMaster
    Commented Jul 8, 2015 at 12:05
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    @CGCampbell but this isn't a question about immigration or moving for an extended period of time. This is a question about tourism. It just so happens that expats have a weird status with respect to the standard means of arranging a visit to this particular tourist site.
    – LessPop_MoreFizz
    Commented Jul 8, 2015 at 12:20
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    @LessPop_MoreFizz He IS an expat. The fact is that SE might be more likely to have other expats who have already asked and answered this question. If someone here has an answer, then by all means... I believe it should be migrated and flagged it as such, you are free to disagree.
    – CGCampbell
    Commented Jul 8, 2015 at 12:23
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    My situation is not much different than yours. I used the American citizen services unit at the US Embassy in London to set it up. Less hassle. I see you have already accepted an answer, but if it turns out to be difficult, consider the alternative.
    – Gayot Fow
    Commented Jul 11, 2015 at 20:11

1 Answer 1

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In general, Americans abroad are considered to 'reside' in their last state and county of residence before leaving the country.

The Federal Voter Assistance Program has a very informative website on this subject:

Your "legal State of residence" for voting purposes is the address where you last resided immediately prior to your departure from the U.S. This residence remains valid even though the citizen may no longer own property or have other ties to their last State residence and their intent to return to that State may be uncertain.

Should you be a US Citizen who was born abroad, many states have provisions allowing you to vote in the state and county in which your parents last resided.

So, with that in mind, you should contact the Senator from your last state of residence.

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    For completeness sake, do you have any reference for this claim: Americans abroad are considered to 'reside' in their last state and county of residence?
    – JoErNanO
    Commented Jul 8, 2015 at 12:31
  • @GayotFow as a former US expat, I was of the impression that this applies only to voting for president and that 1 I had no senator and 2 I was not allowed to hold a US driver's license. Do you have any evidence to support thesupposed "long-standing tradition"?
    – phoog
    Commented Jul 8, 2015 at 13:02
  • @GayotFow I see that I was mistaken about presidential elections; the absentee rules clearly apply for all federal elections. The driver's license issue has come up on expats a couple of times recently, with the conclusion that most states require you to be a resident for renewals, and that those living abroad are not residents of any state. That is why I was curious to know if you had evidence to the contrary.
    – phoog
    Commented Jul 8, 2015 at 13:34
  • @JoErNanO the reference is linked and quoted directly in the answer; it comes from the federal Foreign Voter Assistance Progran, a website run by the United States Government. If there's a more authoritative source on this matter, I don't know about it.
    – LessPop_MoreFizz
    Commented Jul 9, 2015 at 13:53
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    @GayotFow no. Foreign visitors can arrange a tour through their embassy, and citizens/legal residents who are not registered to vote are still considered constituents of the representatives for their state/district and can request a tour as normal as well.
    – LessPop_MoreFizz
    Commented Jul 11, 2015 at 19:32

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