Does the US really know if you're a US citizen?
 

So yeah i have dual nationality with the UK and USA though I wasn't born in the US but recieved it as my parents were naturalized and I was under 18 at the time.

Anywhoo, am traveling from LHR -BNE VIA LAX and will therefore need to go through immigration and the US receiving APIS. The connection time is only like 3 hrs so would they really know if I didn't use the US Passport when flying to and from the US?

I don't have to pay a visa fee for Australia with my UK passport unlike the US and u have to enter and leave the usa on the same one and would make it a whole lot easier just to uk passport and avoid unnecessary questions

I have entered the US before on a US passport if that makes it more complicated

US law requires that citizens (even duals) use their US passport when entering the USA. Frankly, in this situation, I can't think of a reason why you would want to use your UK passport instead of the US one--I should think it would be more hassle and longer lines/wait at immigration if using the UK one.

If your name is the same on both passports, it is possible that if you try using the UK passport, that the computer will flag your previous entry as a US citizen with same name and date of birth. Then again, maybe not.

You can use your UK passport to enter and leave Australia. Though you may get some questions (and have to show both passports) to the airline check-in agent at your origin, or at some point in LAX. And carry documentation that UK citizens don't need a visa for Australia, in case it is asked for or you get somebody clueless. There are enough US-Other dual citizens travelling out there, so you'll hardly be blazing new territory on this issue.

CBP knows eeeeeeeverything!!

Here's my data point. I once forgot my green card at home for a flight to Asia connecting through the USA. Thought it wouldn't matter since my green card uses my Chinese name and my Canadian passport my English name. They found out, gave me hell at the counter :mad::mad:, secondary'ed me :mad::mad:, and thank goodness a more-than-helpful UA agent got me rebooked (and got more miles!)

Exit LHR on UK passport (required by law) but check-in on US (APIS)
Enter LAX on US (required by law)
"Exit" LAX on US (required by law)
Enter Australia on UK

Where is the issue?

+1

But lets not forget about getting finger printed as well when you come into the US, that alone should be enough reason to use the US passport

If you are a US immigrant who gets US citizenship, can you still retain your citizenship to some other country? I know most/all foreign nations are quite easy with giving citizenship to American citizens connected to them in some way, but somehow I got this notion that the citizenship process here required surrendering other citizenships previously owned. I'm sorta wondering, in hearing about dual citizenships, where that notion came from. I know the country has had fears about immigrants from places like Russia, Germany, and China.

Bearing in mind that the UK and the US have no exit controls (normally).

Yes. The US citizenship oath states that you "renounce all foreign citizenships" but this is symbolic and not recognised by any country other than the US. In practice, the US doesn't care if you hold another country's citizenship so long as you are a US citizen when its law requires. This usually boils down to entering the US on your US passport and filing your taxes every year.

What on earth are you talking about?

Indians in the US need nothing special to visit India. And starting recently, the can vote in every Indian election.

France gives dual citizenship to expatriate. And my impression is that this kind of thing is not rare at all. As I recall, Rupert Murdoch lived outside of Australia for decades and finally had to make a decision to have US citizenship. I guess when you're a billionaire, nobody is all that picky what you call "home". Truth is that when they can draft you and collect taxes from you, what more is really left to distinguish you from a "real citizen".

Ah. This is because India affords special status to non-Indian citizens of Indian descent. It's got nothing to do with whether or not those people hold US citizenship.

What do you mean? And how does this relate to US citizens?

Are you saying that US citizens who are expatriates in France can be naturalised as French citizens? But so can citizens of any country. Perhaps the applications might be treated a little more favourably if they are from the US in practice (if not in theory) but I know of no government regulation which treats US-citizen applicants for French naturalisation differently from those from any other country.

Rupert Murdoch was naturalised as a US citizen just like anyone else. FWIW, this was primarily to get round the US media-ownership laws which prohibited non-citizens from owning significant stakes in media companies. And he became American; this doesn't indicate how another country would treat a US citizen better as you are claiming.

How would a US citizen not living in the US be any more or less real than one living in the US? I don't understand.

I agree 100% with this, except as there are no longer any passport checks on leaving the UK, what the OP will do is to show his US passport at checkin to have the APIS data registered. However I guess there is still the question of the ETA for Australia. How does the OP get his ETA? Normally that too would be done at checkin in the UK. I do believe it is possible to get the ETA in advance for Australia so that there is no need to get it at checkin. Otherwise just explain what you want to do to the checkin agent.

Ah, I love being the target of people whose great joy in life is nothing but argument. Well, I must say that joy is more a MINOR one for me, so Ajax's provocative questions must go unanswered. He(?) must have more time and excess energy to waste than I have.

It's about letting facts dispel fiction. I don't see what the problem is with that.

"What on earth are you talking about?"

Only actual Indian citizens -- not Indians in the US -- can vote in Indian national elections. India still does not allow for Indian citizens to hold citizenship of a country other than that of India.

And there is not even a single Indian citizen resident in the US who is or has been able to legally vote in every Indian election.

All these threads about dual citizenship are entertaining, and usually filled with misinformation that somebody needs to correct, and normally does. Bankops gave a simple and correct solution, even pointing out, via parentheses, that one actually has no exit process in the US, but non-US citizens still need to give there I94 copy back, thus meaning one must present both the US passport and whatever will be used for entry at the flight destination.

There are no hassles at all doing that. It is legal and recognized.

BTW, many countries have different rights for naturalized citizens than are applicable for native born ones, including the US. The President of the US, for example must be native born. Naturalized Brazilians cannot be officers in the military nor be President, etc. Other countries have different rules. None have anything to do with entry and exit.

A final note. Passports carry POB. If a US-born person presents a non-US travel document showing US birth that will cause serious questions, at the very least, not to mention being illegal. So, show only the US passport to a US Immigration officer. Showing both is ok, but will often produce odd comments. As in "Mrs. jbcarioca, we need your OTHER passport here, the American one. OK".

Native-born in the US is for the most part a subset of natural-born US citizens. Naturalized citizens are not natural-born US citizens. Foreign-born citizens who acquire US citizenship on birth are natural-born US citizens (and that is how George Washington wanted it to be and had it).

It's not illegal if the US-born person wasn't born a natural-born US citizen or such person has voluntarily surrendered US citizenship. A child born in the US to a mother and father with diplomatic status in the US at the time of the birth is not ordinarily considered a natural-born us citizen.

Sorry darling - nope. I just try to get to the bottom of it when people make bizarre and outlandish claims that are almost certainly wholly wrong. @:-)