jmastron

As mentioned elsewhere in the thread, giving your passport to the airline is NOT "exiting the US" with that passport. The airline is collecting that to ensure that you are eligible to enter the destination country. Yes, they transmit that to the destination and departure authorities. The US authorities use that data to record foreign citizens' exits to confirm they stayed within stay limits, which don't apply to US citizens who are eligible to come and go as we please. To the extent that they collect/match US citizen data for their own data collection purposes, they almost certainly can do so with the foreign passport data; it still isn't formally "exiting the US" with that passport.

If a US citizen walks or drives to Canada or Mexico, there's nobody you show anything to until the destination country's entrance, because there are (generally) no exit controls.

As far as I know, a dual national must:
1) Possess a valid US passport to travel -- so the answer in another thread about having an expired US passport was different; you will be let in as a citizen regardless, but there could be penalties for knowingly leaving without it.

2) Present that US passport to CBP agents when *entering* the country -- this, of course, always happens.

3) Present that US passport to *CBP agents* when leaving the country if there were such a checkpoint -- this rarely happens, but occasionally gate checks are done, and in that case you would show the US authorities your US passport.

Davvidd

It is what the US government says that a US citizen has to exit and enter with a US passport. The State Department site says by Law. Maybe they are wrong on the website. I am not going to say anything more on this matter as I am not a US citizen.

CKDGM

I am not a lawyer (and certainly not your lawyer), and this is not legal advice; it is my reading of the law and regulation in this area.

Perhaps your understanding of what it means to "exit with a US passport" includes requirements that are not part of the law.

The regulation in question is 22 CFR 53.1(a), as I have cited in another thread:

This implements 8 USC 1185(b), which says:
Neither regulation nor law has any mention of airline personnel, advance passenger information, or contains any requirement that the valid US passport be shown to airline personnel and/or sent by the airline to APIS. The actual US code even says "bears a valid United States passport" - which implies that carrying one, even if it's never shown to anyone, is sufficient. (Obviously if CBP requests to see it you would then have to show it, but doing so would itself demonstrate that you were in compliance with 8 USC 1185(b).)

vanillabean

The verb "use' is less than helpful in the following:

In any event, using my US passport in a reservation means I can check in online and get a digital boarding pass!

Xyzzy

The two sentences that come immediately after what you quoted (particularly the second) are also relevant here (blding added):

seawolf

Both of you are reading too much into this and need to understand the historical context.

• 22 CFR 53.1 and underlying US law predates APIS by several decades. This is your indication that you are reading too much into this and misinterpreting that it refers to the document details submitted to APIS when the intent is the document the traveler show to CBP.
• 22 CFR 53.1 has been rollbacked from a regulatory perspective. Historically you could have been jailed for up 5 years/$5000 penalty. That was removed back in 1978. It is on the books but it is not enforced and no penalty to be applied.

Vast majorities of US dual nationals don't know about APIS or the CFR requirement concerning travelling with US passports. They get by just fine without this knowledge.

I've said it multiple times on this and other threads. Show both/all passports at check-in at let the airline staff figure it out. APIS is air carrier responsibility not passengers'.

bocastephen

Yes, you're correct that it is a legal requirement that US citizens depart and enter the USA with their US passport - however, many, if not most, dual nationals with a passport that is used for simplified or visa-free entry to their destination simply use that second passport at all times during the trip, except when on their way back to the USA, when the US passport is used to establish their right to travel to, and enter the USA.

The systems used to track everyone's' comings and goings is not worth more than bantha fodder. I usually use my US passport to depart, just out of habit, my Canadian passport to enter and depart foreign countries (except when trying to fill my US passport with stamps first), then my US passport to check-in and return to the US. Quite often when leaving Taiwan, the check-in desk will flip through my US passport looking for my entry stamp, not find it and ask where it is, then I will show my Canadian passport so they can confirm the entry stamp, and that's all they need. No one really seems to care one way or the other - except one time traveling into Singapore where a busy-body immigration clerk happened to notice my US passport in my carry-pouch just out of view, then we ended up in an obnoxious argument with her making a fuss that it's not possible to have two citizenships and passports - aside from that one incident, not one single airline check-in agent or immigration inspector has cared which passport I presented, and the few times I used my Canadian passport to depart the US enroute to a foreign country by fishing the wrong one out of my pouch, I never got an unhappy letter or phone call from US immigration as a result.

So, it's basically a non-risk, law or not.

stifle

As I understand it, the Personalausweis is only good to travel within the EU.

Ari

Repeating something doesn't make it true. Most people check in online. Are you implying that all US dual nationals should check in with an agent? I think they would rather not take your advice.

I will send you a PM on why this no longer matters--as a practical matter.

Davvidd

Seawolf is correct that at the destination it is the airline's responsibility in not bringing in someone who is not eligible to enter the country. Right now there is not much fuss because not all the countries have it but when they get it they will start enforcing it. It is interesting to note that almost all airlines have online check in but many of them do insist in checking your passport at baggage drop and have designated counters for Internet or online check in. IATA's interest in this whole thing was to save paper and not act as an immigration agent but the national countries made it that it is the airline's responsibility to check the docs before boarding the flight.

jmastron

I agree with your last point, but not the first. Most airlines don't have a way to enter both passports either online or in-person, and you're just creating more confusion by showing them something they don't need.

I'll restate my basic premise -- the airline employees are not border control agents, and showing (only) your foreign passport to the airline is NOT exiting the country with it. Show your destination-preferred passport to the airline, HAVE your US passport (required to re-enter anyway), and IF and only if an actual CBP agent is checking passports at the gate or elsewhere, show your US passport to that agent.

As you said, even if that wasn't correct (and I believe it is), there's no enforcable penalty for it.

seawolf

I think you are misunderstanding me.

They OLCI with whichever passport let’s them OLCI. It’s really a simple as that.

The problem people seem to be having is they feel that for some reason this not good enough thus my recommendation if they feel discomfort they should show both passports at the airport.

Historically before OLCI you show both passports. That was all that was needed.

With OLCI just used the one that allows OLCI.

I do not understand why the dual citizenship thread (not this one) is still ongoing for >10 years.