The actual API (Advance Passenger Information) is a UN security council requirement. This is the basis of it.
In its resolution 2178 (2014), the Security Council called upon Member States to require airlines operating in their territories to provide advance passenger information (API) to appropriate national authorities to detect the departure from, attempted travel to, entry into or transit through their territories of FTFs. In resolution 2396 (2017), the Security Council built on
resolution 2178 (2014) by creating new international obligations. In addition to reaffirming its requirements on API, the Security Council called on Member States to ‘develop the capability to collect, process and analyze, in furtherance of ICAO standards and recommended practices, passenger name record (PNR) data and to ensure PNR data is used by and shared with all their competent national authorities, with full respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.’ In addition, enhanced use of lists with known criminals and terrorists is of the highest importance.
Originally Posted by
kyanar
A lot of these are partially correct, but not entirely. Especially in the case of dual citizens travelling between their two countries of citizenship you'd encounter a very un-fun experience.
For a start, as you recall the gate agent will scan your passport through the reader before letting you on the plane - it will appear with either a green light which you no doubt recognise and an "OK TO BOARD" response, or a red light and "DO NOT BOARD". This is checked - in real time - with the border agency of the country you are travelling to. If you do not have an API record for the plane, this will usually result in "DO NOT BOARD" and the agent must request a "Governmental Override" from the border agency.
Typically for a dual citizen, they in many cases actually present both passports at each end of travel, as they must leave each country on the passport they entered on, and cannot travel on each other's passport to the other country, as they cannot be granted a visa (and therefore will be denied boarding by the API check). Another option is to present the exit immigration control with the opposite passport to the one that is presented to the airline (and included in API). This carries risks where the API is used by the immigration agency to determine your exit (ahem, USA) - there is actually a working group proposing multiple passports in an API record to solve just such a problem.
Incidentally, an ESTA/ETIAS/ETA isn't really a yes/no result as to whether travel is allowed, it's merely permission to approach immigration control and request entry into the country. You can still be denied, and returned to your origin country at your own expense.
This was an issue raised at the first and second ICAO TRIP Conferences in Montreal. They do not seem to take in consideration that there are certainly multi millions of people who have dual passports. I am certainly hoping that they can do this ASAP. It is not a technical issue at the back end but IATA was reluctant at that time because obviously of the cost of transmission of data and it is going to double with two passports and the governments are reluctant to let them charge a high fee on the passengers as obviously there all sorts of taxes on the air traveling public now.
Why all machine readable passports are only now accepted is because of ICAO requirements and why all the same is also the same. ( This is not about your comments Kynar as I am just adding to what you eloquently have said).