Having a U.S. Passport is a Travel Privilege
- Kimi's Travel Thoughts
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
At the top of January 2024, I was running errands on a work from home day and decided to listen to a podcast I follow but rarely listen to. The podcast is called Code Switch which is one of the NPR podcasts. The episode that caught my eye as I was deciding what to listen to was titled, "Can you travel the world -- ethically?" and the topic was centered around the power of a U.S. passport. It reminded me of an particular request I receive at work that I had been able to quickly realize after putting the pieces together.
With a U.S. passport, you can jet-set to pretty much any place you want without any issue. However, traveling to the United States or other countries can be more complex, costly, and time consuming if you possess a passport from certain countries that are not the U.S.
I don't typically talk much about my job on my blog because my work is separate from the topics I write about the vast majority of the time. This is one of the rare instances where my blog content intersects with my work experience. With my old job, I frequently worked with international college students, several of whom will ask me to provide a letter inviting their families to a graduation ceremony that is so far away (sometimes over a year away) that I can't even state a specific graduation ceremony date in the letter. This letter is then shared with their families to take to a visa appointment in their home country in an effort to help their family members obtain an appropriate visa (such as a tourist visa) to enter the United States.
I've gone through the visa process to work in Canada, and, if you've never attempted to obtain a visa for another country, it requires money and sometimes a lot of documentation. Now, imagine if you had to spend a bunch of time and money preparing and gathering documents besides a passport just to be a tourist in another country. That is why having a U.S. passport is a privilege. Travelers from the United States don't really have to worry about applying for a tourist visa just to check out other countries. Rather, U.S. travelers just take their passport with them and show it to a border officer who may or may not actually put a stamp in your booklet before letting you on through after asking some standard questions. Depending on the country, you can even pay for expedited entry through programs like Global Entry or Nexus. It's not so simple for people who are citizens of another country trying to use their passport to travel somewhere.
In the episode of Code Switch that I was listening to, they had an author, Shahnaz Habib, as a guest to discuss her book titled "Airplane Mode" and she mentioned that she chose to become a U.S. citizen and get a passport because of the power and privilege that comes with owning a U.S. passport. With a U.S. passport, you don't have to jump through hoops and that is very appealing if you are a person who is interested in visiting other countries. It's easy to understand why she chose this option.
Circling back to my old job, think about how you would feel if you are looking forward to graduating and your family may or may not be able to attend if they are traveling from another country because they have to first successfully obtain a visa. You'd probably feel stressed, worried, and anxious from the anticipation of the results of the visa appointment. This is what citizens of countries across the globe face when trying to travel to many countries that require the use of a passport to enter along with many other barriers. They are restricted from seeing the rest of the world with the same level of ease that U.S. travelers and the like often get to experience.
The next time to pick up your U.S. passport for a trip to another country, remember how much simpler it likely is for you to make the trip and consider how others around the world may not get to enjoy the power and privilege that comes with having a U.S. passport.