Ok to travel with 2 passports? (One is cancelled passport but with valid visa inside, other is new passport)?

Question

My close friend once lost his South Korean passport with his F-1 student visa inside so he called and reported his passport stolen/lost and it was cancelled. He then got a new passport, but later found his old passport with his valid visa inside. Now, He is in South Korea but he's trying to come back to the states as soon as he can........Can he travel without any problem using these 2 passports?????

I called the Immigration department and one person I talked to said it would be fine, and then another person said that if he has been in Korea for some time (which he's been there for 2 weeks now) then he can't use his visa without first going to the US Embassy in Korea to have the Visa transferred into his new passport.......

So what exactly should he do?? Will it be ok to just travel with the 2 passports, or should he go to the US Embassy first??

Please, any answers would help! Thank you so much !

when he reported the old passport lost/stolen, the passport was cancelled, but not the visa (it is still valid with a couple years left on it still)

Answer 1

That combination of documents is acceptable, as long as both passports show him to be a citizen of S. Korea.

When a passport containing a valid visa expires, the expiration of the passport has no effect on the validity of that visa. The holder, however, shall be informed, at the time of application for admission, of the need for a new or renewed passport.

The passport should be valid for a minimum period of 6 months from the expiration date of the initial period of admission or contemplated period of stay in the United States. The passport may be either the one in which the visa stamp has been placed, or a new passport.

Thus, an alien can present two passports, one, which fulfills the visa requirement and the other the passport requirement. The alien's nationality, as indicated in the new passport, must be the same as that shown in the passport bearing the visa stamp.

Answer 2

Normally it not only acceptable but commonplace to travel with two passports when one is new and the other holds your visa. However, as he reported one passport as lost/stolen it needs to be taken out of circulation. Yes he should have the visa transferred by the embassy. DO NOT do it yourself.

Answer 3

His old passport and it's contents are no longer valid. It has been CANCELLED along with any visas attached.

Answer 4

To be on the safe side, I would recommend going to the US Embassy & getting the visa transferred. He will have a much easier time re-entering & less likely to be hassled by Immigration/Customs.

Answer 5

If he wanted to make sure with the issue, he can contact American Embassy in Seoul. He can even e-mail and get response quickly.