Chet Hanks, nepo baby and official declarer of White Boy Summer, posted a video saying that he is currently stuck in Colombia with no way to get back to the United States. Last week he flew to Puerto Rico to celebrate his friend’s birthday. Afterwards, he decided to visit a friend in Colombia. He traveled there using his Greek passport.*
He said the reason he did not use his American passport is that it is about to expire. He explained that “sometimes they don’t let you in the country even if [your passport] hasn’t expired but it’s about to expire.”** When he arrived at the Medellín airport to return to the United States, he was told that if he uses a foreign passport to enter the United States, he needs a green card. The only embassy in Colombia where he can “get this shit settled” is in Bogotá and “I don’t want to go to Bogotá.” He concluded his video by saying, “Free me.”
* How is Chet a duel citizen? Chet’s maternal grandmother was an Albanian Greek and his mother Rita Wilson (an American citizen) was raised Greek Orthodox. Rita and her husband Tom Hanks have vacationed in Greece frequently and they own property on the island of Antiparos. They have also produced several movies based on Greece and the Greek community, including My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Mamma Mia! and sequels for both movies. They brought global attention and appealed for aid after a devastating wildfire ripped through the seaside village of Mati in 2018. As a result, in 2019 the Greek government granted Tom, Rita, and their children honorary Greek naturalization, citing their “exceptional services to Greece.”
** According to the U.S. Embassy: You can re-enter the United States with an American passport up to the actual date of expiration. The strict “six-month validity” rule that many countries enforce does not apply to U.S. citizens returning to the United States. While the passport must be valid upon arrival, it is legally permissible to use a passport that expires the next day. While the U.S. doesn’t require 6 months of validity for returning citizens, the foreign country you are visiting may require it. Ensure your passport meets the entry requirements of your destination, or you may not be allowed to leave that country.
