Dual-passport holder denied boarding
 

My BF and his son were booked to fly from LHR to ORD today. His son was born in the US but lives in London and has dual citizenship. He always travels on his UK passport, and doesn't even have a valid US passport. (The most recent one expired and is in the US at his Dad's house.)

The BA ticket agent asked him where he was born (he told the truth, but it's also printed on in passport), then told him that because he was born in the US, he would have to travel on a US passport if he wanted to go to the US. He told the agent that didn't have a US passport, and they refused to check him in. (They mentioned that the US would fine BA if they allowed someone to travel and the person was denied entry.)

I know a lot of people on FT have dual citizenship, so I'm hoping for some more insight. Was their reasoning legit? Have any of you encountered this in the past?

(As to next steps...In the worst-case scenario, he'll have to spend the day at the US Embassy getting a new passport. I suspect the easiest thing to do will be to simply get a refund from BA, and buy a new ticket on AA, United or Virgin Atlantic.)

Thanks for your help!

They a have valid point, it is a State Dep. requirement that US citizen entered US using US passport.

A simple 5 second Google:

http://213.70.135.238/cons_new/faqs/...#citizenship03

So BA were right based on that. As to next steps, I doubt you'll be eligible for a refund from BA unless it was a flexible ticket as I'm sure the CoC state it's the responsibility of the pax to ensure they have all the right documentation, etc.

Thanks for the quick responses! I appreciate the link to the US Embassy...silly me when to the US Department of State and Immigration & Naturalization websites, which take a while to navigate!

I don't want to get in the way of the OP, but it sounds like they might now have the answer they were looking for. Anyway, as someone who has no connection with the USA, just out of curiousity I followed that link (and then some more...)

This seems particularly harsh:

Nice and welcoming!....

"Even if your child holds nationality of a country other than the U.S., if your child has a claim to citizenship, he or she must be in possession of a valid U.S. passport to enter and exit the United States."

Children in the USA are not allowed to renounce nationality until the age of 18 and this means that you could be born in the usa and the very next day you left and never returned, you are still American until your 18th birthday and you have made a triip to the US Embassy and officially renounced US nationality. It gets interesting if you are male because when you turn 16, you could possibly be drafted into the US armed forces!!!

some airlines (think bearded one) go further and say that they will not transport anyone to the US with a non-US passport but born in the US unless they show their certificate of renounciation!

That would be a rather amazing thing to occur, since we don't currently have a draft and don't require selective service registration until 18.

It is a bit annoying! My BF says they've never previously had a problem with him entering the country on his UK passport. I can't tell whether it's a recent requirement, or how strictly it's enforced, so for now he'll just have to get a new US passport.

The irony is, he could fly to Canada or Mexico on his British passport, then enter the US with his birth certificate and ID :eyeroll: No one ever said that US laws made sense.

Thanks all!

my bad, i got the age wrong, but im sure there are some countries who conscript 16 year olds for national service etc and also you may not have the draft currently active but US males still have to register for the SSS for a potential draft if they get dragged into a big war and they need cannon fodder!

I have dual US/OZ citizenship and both countries made it pretty clear that I have to enter each country on its respective passport. Australia doesn't want to be issues visas to its own citizens, same for the US.

I think the fly into Canada plan makes the most sense but remember that even land crossings will require a passport sometime in 2009.

Err, you got the age wrong, and the country wrong, but indeed there are some countries that conscript people at some age ... somewhere ... I kind of lost the logic of your argument as it pertains to entering the USA ? :rolleyes:

Not to nitpick - and please don't take this as hostile - but I think your title is a misleading and goes to the heart of this person's travel troubles.

He is not a dual passport holder - he is a dual citizen and he does not have the 2nd passport. If he did, he wouldn't have any problem.

When I read the title of this thread initially, I was all ready to get my knickers in a twist for some poor schlub who'd been wrong'd by rabid over-zealous immigrations people who spotted a 2nd passport in his wallet and denied him entry. It seems to me they are following procedure and they aren't out of line or arbitrary about it.

Here's a question - can't he flash the British passport to get on the flight and then sort it out with immigrations when he gets here? Can the US Immigration people deny him entry into the US since he is a US citizen. I'm very naive, as you can tell. (oh nevermind, I just reread the part about BA not letting him board.)

It's not a recent requirement however, it is possible that nobody had previously asked him where he was born if it isn't on his UK passport. As such, he could have gone through the process before and gotten into the US - he just would have been breaking the law.

It should be noted that the US can't refuse entry to a citizen but can detain them for breaking the law, and of course can detain someone while verifying their status - so it's probably better for him that BA figured it out and not the immigration agent. Is the OP absolutely sure that the son entered the US previously on a UK passport? If he had a valid one in the US that had expired I think it is far more likely he had used that in the past (otherwise there would be an issue with which queue you use and how truthful he was).

Oh, and yes - crossing a land border does work with the specified ID until June 1, 2009 - although if he lives in the UK I am not sure how he would have a US or Canadian drivers license to go with the birth certificate....

Most countries require citizens to enter on the countries passport to avoid issues with thinking someone has overstayed their visa etc. It is a pretty reasonable requirement IMHO.

It's been a US rule since at least the mid-1990's when I became a dual US/Aussie citizen; as alief said, they make it clear that you need to use each country's passport when entering that country.

In my experience it's always been strictly enforced.

(The guy at the US consulate also said that *both* countries expected you to use *their* passport entering any third country, and then he grinned and winked. This, of course, cannot be enforced...)

There is a workaround to OP's problem:

1) BF should have told the check-in agent that he had previously renounced his US citizenship
2) On arrival in the US he would probably have been asked why he was not entering on a US passport, but more than likely probably not.