woodford02A

Let's say I am dual US and Polish citizen with both US and Polish passports travelling from US to France. Do I need to use my Polish passport to enter France or can I simply use US?
I understand the point about 'being a citizen and many/most countries require citizens to show their passports to enter', but in this example I am a citizen of Poland, not of France (both of which are EU, however)

Xyzzy

Good question -- IMHO you can use whichever one you wish to enter France, but if you subsequently depart the Schengen zone from Poland you will likely need to use your Polish passport. That will then inform your decision of which to use when entering the Schengen zone. Aside from any rules Poland may have, if you enter the Schengen zone with your US passport and leave with your Polish passport when you next attempt to enter with your US one they may presume you have overstayed, and that culd cause problems.

Barciur

To this point above, I know many people who enter and exit Poland on an American or Canadian passport. The Polish Border Guard guidance is murky, but it states that, and I am paraphrasing now, f you choose to enter Poland on a foreign passport, you follow the rules of that passport and will be treated as a foreigner at the border. If, in the process of border control, the border guard determines you are in fact a citizen of Poland, you will need to use a Polish passport. If you do not overstay and you do not have a child with you who is of a different citizenship, the general rule is don't ask don't tell. YMMV.

Obviously all will be different if, and when, ETIAS comes into play.

woodford02A

Thank you. Does this suggest my primary objective is to use Polish passport when having any possibility of interacting with Polish authorities in my itinerary? Your example is a good one: where maybe I fly into Berlin, enter Schengen at BER, train to Warsaw and fly home to US from WAW. In this example I should be using Polish passport all the way, yes?

If I simply fly to US to Paris and back to US (even with a connection in Amsterdam, for example), little risk in using US passport to both enter/exit France or Netherlands as no possibility of interaction with PL authorities.

My thinking is that in non-Poland EU countries, entering as an American may have better protections in case of an issue where I need the embassy/consulate. Am I thinking about that properly?
Plus I like to buy things with VAT refund to take home to the US!

Barciur

Yes, as long as you are leaving Schengen in WAW on a direct flight out of Schengen. If you fly with a connection in Schengen, it does not matter.

miamiflyer8

Assuming OP's Polish passport is valid, that should be used for both entry and exit from EU/Schengen as you can access a shorter line and/or automated gates. I see no benefit why you'd want to enter France with the US one.

It should be done as follows:

1) Either passport at airline check in when departing US. I'd go with US if traveling on a round trip so APIS doesn't need to be changed.
2) Enter EU with PL passport
3) Present US passport to airline check in
4) Exit EU with PL passport.

Section 107

The import of which passport to use goes far beyond deciding which one(s) to show at check-in and at the border. I have had this explained to me by a US CBP Officer since my kids have dual citizenship. Technically*, the passport used to enter a country will determine how that person is treated by the laws of the country.

So, for example, let's say a dual US/POL citizen enters France on a Polish passport, the fit hits the shan and the person gets caught up in a legal situation (such as being arrested for some criminal matter). Because the person used the Polish passport he is then recognized by France not as a US citizen but only as a Polish citizen. The person would not be eligible for USG consular assistance - only Poland would be permitted to provide consular assistance. But it could be possible that the US and France have a treaty/agreement over how such legal situations will be handled for a US citizen that is significantly more to the person's advantage than how a Polish citizen will be treated (I know, as FRA and POL are EU members that is probably unlikely but still, makes the point and these areas of law are VERY complex).

* Technically, because in reality situations can be much more complex and nuanced, and dependent upon all sorts of other factors so that, in practice, France might well recognize the person as a USC and allow USG consular assistance and follow procedures in accordance with any treaties or agreements.

Similarly, if a Polish citizen enters Poland on a US passport and gets caught up in legal situation, in practice Poland might well ignore the passport used to enter and decide to treat the person as a Polish citizen and not as a US citizen. And the time needed to work out exactly how the person is going to be treated can result in spending much more time in custody (or perhaps simply prohibited from leaving the country) than would otherwise be the case.

This not just limited to criminal law - it can impact chancery law (death, marriage/divorce and child custody cases) commercial law (business/shareholder/contract disagreements), property disputes, medical/health-care situations, all sorts of situations and they happen all the time.

A more concrete example: my kids are dual US/Mexican citizens. It is a serious crime for non-Mexicans to participate in political protest in Mexico. If my kids entered Mexico on their US passports and got arrested for participating in a political protest, they might well have a long stay in jail whereas if they entered Mexico on their Mexican passports then they are Mexican citizens exercising their constitutional rights and are therefore protected and released quickly.

If one has the option to use multiple passports, one should understand the potential issues/liabilities before deciding what to do.

woodford02A

Following this process, there should be no impact to my ability to use Global Entry upon returning to the US, correct?
As I understand, as long as APIS has my US passport info from the airline when coming back to the US, CBP will see this as well, right?

miamiflyer8

No impact whatsoever. GE will work as normal.

eamofly

Hello. New subscriber here. I searched for the answer to this question but couldn't find my exact situation.

I am a dual US/ EU passport holder, resident in the U.S. I am traveling to Europe and will stay for more than 90 days. On buying my ticket (with French Bee) I wasn't prompted to enter passport info but I expect I will be when checking in. My question is should I enter my U.S. or EU passport info then?

I know I should use my EU passport when entering Europe and my US passport when re-entering the US. My EU passport allows me to stay in Europe more than 90 days. But the US regulations say to exit using your US passport, hence my confusion.

Thanks for any advice on this.

Section 107

Welcome to FT!

For US citizens, when exiting and entering the USA, there are two aspects: 1) at check-in, documenting to the airline you are eligible to enter the destination country, and 2) at destination country immigration/passport control, documenting to immigration authorities you are eligible to enter. Remember that for US citizens, the USA currently does not truly have exit passport control.

Copied from Xyzzy's post:

I think this sums up what to do pretty well:

• Airline checkin in the US for departure to EU
  • Right now you can show either EU or US (but airline execs I know and have discussed this with suggest giving the airline your US passport).
  • In the future, when ETIAS comes into force, show the EU passport to the airline because the EU will require that data to be sent ahead of the flight.
  • re: the above two comments, it currently doesn't matter which you use from a US perspective. If you are a US citizen, departing the US on an EU passport you've not entered the US with is not going to cause any problems.

• Immigration on arrival in the EU
  • Show the EU passport because you are a citizen and many/most countries require citizens to show their passports to enter.

• Airline checkin in the EU for departure to the US
  • Show your US passport to the airline as the US requires you to enter on your US passport and APIS data sent ahead of the flight needs to contain your US data.

• Immigration departing the EU
  • Show the EU passport that you entered the EU with. The fact that you gave a different passport to the airline will not cause any problem.
• At the gate for a flight departing to the US: You may be asked to verify your travel documents at the gate before departure and so only show your US passport in this case.
• Immigration arriving the US
  • Show the US passport you showed to the airline.

Gwot

I am dual US/EU citizen, planning travel to Seoul. I want to use my EU passport.

I understand that on return, I should check-in with my US passport and enter the US with it (showing my other passport to exit control).

I bought the ticket through Delta, flying on Korean Air. Delta has my US passport info and KTN.

If I check in with Korean using my EU passport, will I lose the TSAPre? Will it screw things up because Delta has my US info?

What happens If I check in with the US passport and show up in Seoul and show them the EU passport?

I only want to use the EU passport because I'm excited I finally got it. No visa advantages or anything for this trip.

miamiflyer8

TSA Pre won’t be impacted. KTN isn’t tied to a passport for TSA Pre purposes.

Someone more knowledgeable than me will need to answer if you present a different passport on arrival at ICN. It could raise eyebrows at immigration if they scan a passport which wasn’t used in APIS. In the EU it doesn’t matter what you presented at check in vs. what you give at immigration, when flying to the EU I check in with EU my passport and US green card info but give the Schengen agent my national ID card when I land just for the heck of it.

Finally, I’d just go with US and use the EU one on a trip where it’s actually an advantage. No need to unnecessarily complicate things although you do present an interesting question.

Nayef

I haven't had precheck on its own in years, but does it have the same info as GE or NEXUS where a member can enter more than one passport? If it does, that's something OP could look into: adding their EU passport. Though if they're flying from the US they should probably still just use their US passport to go to Korea and come back as you said. It's exciting to have a new passport but carrying both passports carries the risk of losing the extra one.