OT - US Travel - UK New and Second Passport Users
Jul 8, 2007, 12:12 am
#1
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OT - US Travel - UK New and Second Passport Users
I'm going to post this off topic information here as this is the unofficial FT British forum.
Just a quick heads up on a situation I had at LAX while inn transit to Fiji last Thursday. Immigration took me aside for a secondary interview on Thursday night and basically left me waiting for over an hour. That was scary!
The reason? They wanted to know why I was using a passport issued last December and what had happened to the old passport (renewed because it was full). This was in spite of the fact that I have already entered and left the US on my newer passport twice!
Lots of other Brits were in the secondary interview room and many were being asked the same question (and others had been pulled aside for as little as filling their birth date in the wrong place on the Visa Waiver form - the easiest of mistakes to make).
All I can say is thank goodness I didn't try to enter the US on my recently acquired second passport - I think that could have been a nightmare!
The implications? I think the Department of Homeland Security might finally be tying together all that finger print and photo information we give them whenever we enter the US. As such, I would advise second passport holders to be careful in choosing which passport they use to enter the US and always try to use the same passport.
Just a quick heads up on a situation I had at LAX while inn transit to Fiji last Thursday. Immigration took me aside for a secondary interview on Thursday night and basically left me waiting for over an hour. That was scary!
The reason? They wanted to know why I was using a passport issued last December and what had happened to the old passport (renewed because it was full). This was in spite of the fact that I have already entered and left the US on my newer passport twice!
Lots of other Brits were in the secondary interview room and many were being asked the same question (and others had been pulled aside for as little as filling their birth date in the wrong place on the Visa Waiver form - the easiest of mistakes to make).
All I can say is thank goodness I didn't try to enter the US on my recently acquired second passport - I think that could have been a nightmare!
The implications? I think the Department of Homeland Security might finally be tying together all that finger print and photo information we give them whenever we enter the US. As such, I would advise second passport holders to be careful in choosing which passport they use to enter the US and always try to use the same passport.
Jul 8, 2007, 3:26 am
#2
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That's a very valuable heads up. I look forward to secondary on my next visit then! Interviewing you 'just' because you renewed a passport before expiry does seem a bit of a waste of time and effort on their part....
Like you I've always been careful about which passport I use for the US, whereas somewhere like HKG or SIN are comfortable with you shuffling between them on different visits.
Like you I've always been careful about which passport I use for the US, whereas somewhere like HKG or SIN are comfortable with you shuffling between them on different visits.
Jul 8, 2007, 4:51 am
#3
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Yes, be aware. Perhaps take the cancelled passport with you?
As a visa holder, I do sometimes travel on a renewed passport using the valid visa in the old passport, which of course I show together at Immigration. I get a handwritten 'VIOPP' (visa in old passport) annotation next to the stamp. It does look as though visa waiver passengers may need to take precautions in similar circumstances.
As a visa holder, I do sometimes travel on a renewed passport using the valid visa in the old passport, which of course I show together at Immigration. I get a handwritten 'VIOPP' (visa in old passport) annotation next to the stamp. It does look as though visa waiver passengers may need to take precautions in similar circumstances.
Jul 8, 2007, 7:46 am
#4
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OT: Dual nationals
I happen to have two passports, as I am a dual national. This is actually quite convenient as I can have one passport left in some consulate being visaed, whilst I use the other for travel.
However, I have basic principals I try to follow - UK passport for the US and its buddies and the Swiss for axis of evil. That way all the funny visas and entry stamps are never seen by the US officials.
However I nearly got caught out recently in Bogota. I had managed to lose my UK passport at Madrid airport and ended up doing my tour of South America on my Swiss passport. No problem until I got to Bogota, which I had visited once previously 2 or 3 years ago. I was somewhat concerned as flipping through my passport I couldn't find any Colombian stamps, so assumed I had last entered on my UK passport. My fears were realized when the immigration officer typed what I assume was my name and birthdate into his computer and came up with a UK passport, whilst I presented him with a Swiss passport. He spoke no English and my Spanish wasn't going to go far enough to explain dual nationality.
So we had this dialogue:
Immigration officer: Ingles (pointing to his screen)
Me: Suiza (pointing to my passport on his desk and pleading ignorance)
This "two-word" dialogue went on for a couple of minutes, until he gave up, opened my passport and put a couple of stamps into it.
Big sigh of relief. I had a wonderful time in Bogota by the way. And the security on exit from the country is something special. Thorough, but really thorough (looking for drugs), but always with a smile and with courtesy.
However, I have basic principals I try to follow - UK passport for the US and its buddies and the Swiss for axis of evil. That way all the funny visas and entry stamps are never seen by the US officials.
However I nearly got caught out recently in Bogota. I had managed to lose my UK passport at Madrid airport and ended up doing my tour of South America on my Swiss passport. No problem until I got to Bogota, which I had visited once previously 2 or 3 years ago. I was somewhat concerned as flipping through my passport I couldn't find any Colombian stamps, so assumed I had last entered on my UK passport. My fears were realized when the immigration officer typed what I assume was my name and birthdate into his computer and came up with a UK passport, whilst I presented him with a Swiss passport. He spoke no English and my Spanish wasn't going to go far enough to explain dual nationality.
So we had this dialogue:
Immigration officer: Ingles (pointing to his screen)
Me: Suiza (pointing to my passport on his desk and pleading ignorance)
This "two-word" dialogue went on for a couple of minutes, until he gave up, opened my passport and put a couple of stamps into it.
Big sigh of relief. I had a wonderful time in Bogota by the way. And the security on exit from the country is something special. Thorough, but really thorough (looking for drugs), but always with a smile and with courtesy.
Jul 8, 2007, 11:50 am
#5
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Interesting, catandmouse. I'm in the same position and have wondered what if ...
For China, there's a definite advantage in using my Swiss passport (except I forgot last time
). Single entry visas cost $20, but $30 for UK and US passport holders, for example.
Within most of Europe (and at insecurity at US airports), I only use my Swiss ID card - conveniently wallet-sized and WITHOUT all the dreadful superfluous info to be included on UK ID cards if they ever get off the ground.
For China, there's a definite advantage in using my Swiss passport (except I forgot last time
). Single entry visas cost $20, but $30 for UK and US passport holders, for example.Within most of Europe (and at insecurity at US airports), I only use my Swiss ID card - conveniently wallet-sized and WITHOUT all the dreadful superfluous info to be included on UK ID cards if they ever get off the ground.
Jul 8, 2007, 1:36 pm
#6
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I have a UK and a USA passport, and follow the general rule of using the UK passport when flying to the UK or Europe and the US passport when returning. It's the "shorter line" rule, and so far, no problems. I don't give BA my passport information in advance because I usually use two passports on different legs of the trip; this still seems to work in the modern era.
My sister-in-law has Mexican, Austrian, and USA passports -- and lives in the UK. She's one of several triple nationals I know (USA/France/Canada is another combo, as is Israel/USA/UK and Switzerland/Austria/USA).
My sister-in-law has Mexican, Austrian, and USA passports -- and lives in the UK. She's one of several triple nationals I know (USA/France/Canada is another combo, as is Israel/USA/UK and Switzerland/Austria/USA).
Jul 8, 2007, 3:16 pm
#7
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I thought the US enforced US passport holders to enter the country with the US passport? So in that sense there is no choice AFAIK...
Jul 8, 2007, 4:05 pm
#8
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This is so ridiculously true. Recently Boris Johnson wrote how he had been refused entry to the US whilst on holiday with his family as he was not travelling on a US passport. He happened to have been born in New York and thus is automatically a US citizen. The fact that he is a member of the UK parliament cut no ice with US immigration. In his article, he wrote that he was renouncing his US citizenship. Is this possible ? Or do the US gummint keep their claws on you for life.
Last edited by SoundMuppet; Jul 8, 2007 at 4:33 pm
Jul 8, 2007, 4:14 pm
#9
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You can certainly renounce your US citizenship with a sworn statement before a consular officer.
There's no point, as a US citizen, entering using a foreign passport -- the lines are longer! I'm a great believer in using whatever line is shortest, which in most places around the world, is for that country's own citizens.
There's no point, as a US citizen, entering using a foreign passport -- the lines are longer! I'm a great believer in using whatever line is shortest, which in most places around the world, is for that country's own citizens.
Jul 8, 2007, 4:34 pm
#10
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I also have a couple of passports: Two German oney and a British one.
I have two German passports because one is usually at an embassy for visas...
I have entered the US on all 3 passports in the past, as one of my German passports is also already full of visa stamps even though it is still valid until 2010 (got refused entry into China on the Macau border...thank god!).
I carry both of the passports with me to document that one of them is actually full and I therefore have a second one. In the US I usually hand over both passports at immigration. (same in Australia actually, as the electronic visa is for my first one) .... what a hassle to jugle these passports around.
I have two German passports because one is usually at an embassy for visas...
I have entered the US on all 3 passports in the past, as one of my German passports is also already full of visa stamps even though it is still valid until 2010 (got refused entry into China on the Macau border...thank god!).
I carry both of the passports with me to document that one of them is actually full and I therefore have a second one. In the US I usually hand over both passports at immigration. (same in Australia actually, as the electronic visa is for my first one) .... what a hassle to jugle these passports around.
Jul 8, 2007, 4:49 pm
#11
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This is so ridiculously true. Recently Boris Johnson wrote how he had been refused entry to the US whilst on holiday with his family as he was not travelling on a US passport. He happened to have been born in New York and thus is automatically a US citizen. The fact that he is a member of the UK parliament cut no ice with US immigration. In his article, he wrote that he was renouncing his US citizenship. Is this possible ? Or do the US gummint keep their claws on you for life.
Dave
Jul 8, 2007, 4:54 pm
#12
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Jul 8, 2007, 5:02 pm
#13
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US nationals must always be in possession of and use a valid US passport to enter the US, viz. State Department advice and 22 CFR § 53.
Ex post facto edit -- as much as I like the bloke (if I was going to vote Tory the buffoon Oxbridge toff is the type I'd choose) he's simply not in the right. It's his responsibility and his alone having had a valid US passport, even if it lapsed, to meet his responsibilities under the law.
Ex post facto edit -- as much as I like the bloke (if I was going to vote Tory the buffoon Oxbridge toff is the type I'd choose) he's simply not in the right. It's his responsibility and his alone having had a valid US passport, even if it lapsed, to meet his responsibilities under the law.
Last edited by vla; Jul 8, 2007 at 5:07 pm
Jul 8, 2007, 6:58 pm
#14
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US nationals must always be in possession of and use a valid US passport to enter the US, viz. State Department advice and 22 CFR § 53.
Ex post facto edit -- as much as I like the bloke (if I was going to vote Tory the buffoon Oxbridge toff is the type I'd choose) he's simply not in the right. It's his responsibility and his alone having had a valid US passport, even if it lapsed, to meet his responsibilities under the law.
Ex post facto edit -- as much as I like the bloke (if I was going to vote Tory the buffoon Oxbridge toff is the type I'd choose) he's simply not in the right. It's his responsibility and his alone having had a valid US passport, even if it lapsed, to meet his responsibilities under the law.
de iure Boris was clearly mistaken but, rereading the original article, his destination was not the US. As far as I am aware, the US is the only country in the world not to recognise international transit, and, even if Boris knew that he had to travel on a US passport to enter the US, it is a perfectly reasonable assumption to make that this is not necessary simply to transit.
This drives me to distraction. I am a frequent traveller to Central American countries. The most convenient and cheapest connection from LON is always via MIA but for the last few years I have flown via MEX or other connections to avoid US immigration. The greater cost and time is always worthwhile to avoid the inconvenience and, as one is now aware, to avoid possible immigration rules of which one had no idea.
Although I consider myself British, by dint of my somewhat exotic family history, I actually have six legal nationalities and travel on whichever passport is more convenient (or often the first one I pick up if I know there will be no visa issue). I have never had a problem entering a country of which I am a citizen but with a different passport.
My undoubtedly never-to-be-realised dream is for a BA LHR-PTY flight and COPA, a great little airline, in OneWorld
Jul 8, 2007, 7:31 pm
#15
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I also hold 2 passports. French and British. When, as crew we went to a "dodgy" part of the world I would use my French one, because many people hate the Brits, yet all like the French.
In the middle east I wouldn't mind being a French hostage as opposed to a Brit hostage!
In the middle east I wouldn't mind being a French hostage as opposed to a Brit hostage!