Originally Posted by
luitje
I would buy them on the name in Russian passport.
If you think about the routine of getting to/out of Russia, this is the most sensible option of all.
1. Checking-in in the US: give your Russian passport to the agent. They do not care how you got to the US, but they would be keen to make sure you have paperwork to enter Russia.
2. There's no immigration control when leaving the US (unless TSA decides it doesn't have much to do and starts checking passports at the gate)
3. Russian immigration: give them your Russian passport. they don't care how you got into the US and they neither will they check your boarding card.
4. Checking-in for your return flight. Give both of your passports to the check-in agent. There are quite a few Russians travelling on two passports, so it won't be a big surprise to anyone.
5. Immigrations. Give your Russian passport. Immigration officers do not care how and if you gonna make it into your country of destination (these are you and your carrier's problems), but they do need to make sure you stayed in Russia legally. And they will need your Boarding card too. Different names on your passport and your ticket will raise questions.
5. Border Control in the US. Give your US passport to these guys. They will not need your tickets or boarding cards.
This sounds like a sensible solution if your flight out of Russia is non-stop arriving straight to the US. But what do you do when you have to change planes in another country on the way?
Let's assume I purchase my ticket in my maiden name as stated in my Russian passport. But my flight back is not direct - I have to change planes in Korea. When I fly out of Russia and check in with the airline, I would give them my Russian passport. However, at the same time they also issue a boarding pass for my connecting flight from Korea.
I know for a fact that when I board my connecting flight in Korea, the airline will want to check my boarding pass and the passport and they will want to see my US passport because that's my destination and my proof of legal entry. But my US passport has a different name! So what do I do? I don't think they will let me board the flight if the name on the ticket is different from my US passport.
Has anyone had problems going through Russian passport control with the ticket in the US married name and Russian passport in the maiden name? I actually have a notation on page 35 that the "Bearer of this passport also is knows as XXX" (my US married name). So I've been buying my ticket in my married name but last time the lady at the Russian passport control gave me hard time about it.
Any thoughts?