AA_EXP09

If you're talking about Singapore I would prefer PR over changing IC (hint: no NS and access to CPF money once I'm finished my work term. I do have to mind tax rules back home, though at least for the UK the rules for residence are more clear than in other nations. I also love the tax credit for the CPF contribution as I essectially get a portion of my income tax free so long as I save it, plus it bears interest at a competitive rate goven the security of the CPF.)
Even people from less developed nations (i.e. Malaysia, Philippines) feel the same way (from those I have talked to.)
Even if you do decide to switch it is much easier to resume UK citizenship (as you would have renounced to become a citizen of a Commonwealth country.)
As for friends-I have met people who have work passes/PR that are from Germany, UK, USA, Canada, France, Australia, so I am still 'reminded' of home and we share our experiences as such, though it can't really be replaced.

JohnMacWW

They can ask you to "denounce" your citizenship. Some oathes, etc can be considered a denouncement by other countries if they are worded in certain ways. When my wife was getting her Italian Citizenship recognized there was a scrutiny of what her grandfather had or had not done in the U.S. at least officially. The consulate official said that they had seem Rome reject citizenship applications for people claiming such under an ancestor who had taken certain actions to denounce their Italian citizenship. It helps, in fact, when the ancestor never became an American citizen since that suggests that they (and thus all their offspring) never quit being "Italian". We got points for her family having been members of an Italian Catholic Association.

EtoileFilante

German-US dual citizen here (born in the US, but acquired the German passport on a technicality, thanks to my German grandparents). Just wanted to add my experience to the discussion for what it's worth.

Last summer, I traveled to Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. As many have already said, I showed my American passport at ORD, and when they saw I didn't have any of the required visas, they figured out very quickly that I must have had a second passport, and asked to see it. I pulled out my German passport, they took a quick look at it, and gave it back to me. No one made any comments, and no one had any issue with the fact that I have two passports; they just wanted to make sure that I would not be turned away upon entering Brazil (I flew into SP if that makes a difference). The workers at ORD did not care at all that I had a second passport.

I will admit that I was a bit nervous upon arrival in Brazil as it was my first time traveling with both passports in hand, but when I got there, I did not even mention I was American at all - only showed my German passport, and got my stamp in the German passport without any fuss. The same thing happened when I flew from Brazil to Argentina, and when I took a ferry from Argentina to Uruguay (and back).

No one in South America ever even saw my American passport, and I had no issues traveling as a German citizen down there, although I should add that I am also trilingual. I speak English, Spanish, and French, and had no issue communicating, even in Brasil, mostly thanks to my Spanish. Not sure how I would have fared without my Spanish, though. Anyway, I saved money by using my German passport, and would have had to pay hundreds of dollars for the visas I would have had to get if I didn't have the German passport.

Going back to the US was no issue either. I was half-expecting the customs area in Houston (no direct flights from EZE to ORD anymore, sadly) to say something since I had no South American stamps in my US passport, but he didn't even care about that (or notice it, and if he did, he chose not to comment on it). In fact, I never even mentioned that I also have a German passport once back stateside (in ORD or in Houston), and I was never asked. All he cared about was that I relax about missing the second leg of my flight back to ORD (we arrived late, and I hardly had any time to change planes even before our late arrival).

Moral of the story? Never show both passports unless explicitly asked (as I was at ORD), and if asked, comply and don't make a big deal out of it. They are only looking out for you - imagine what would have happened had I arrived in Brazil without a visa and without my German passport. I would have had to fly back home, and I'm sure it would have cost me a fortune! No fuss needs to be made - most people at airports do not care if you're a dual citizen or not as long as you don't seem nervous or unsure about what you are doing while dealing with them. In fact, I'm pretty certain many, many people passing through ORD have more than one passport; I even know one person who is a triple citizen (US, Dominican Republic, and Trinidad) and many of my friends are dual citizens. Confidence is key to traveling on two passports, as is knowing when it is appropriate to show which passport! ALWAYS think before pulling out either one - if you pull out the wrong one at the wrong time (ie, if I had pulled out the US passport while traveling to and from Argentina to Uruguay), it can cost you (both financially and lawfully). Just use common sense and you should be fine.

GUWonder

Alberto Fujimori was no minor when he used a Japanese citizen passport after becoming Peru's President and being known to Japanese officials to be a citizen of Peru too.

The Japanese government only could deny such dual Japanese citizens their Japanese citizenship after following some explicit procedures. When those explicit procedures have not been taken by the Japanese government, even many such middle age or older adult Japanese dual-citizens have been able to retain dual Japanese citizenships of the sort that many dual Japanese citizen minors and young adults have from birth.

kebosabi

Technically, but it's unenforceable. I can go on about this but it'll be too long of a post.

Being said that even though I am of Japanese descent, I do not currently hold a Japanese citizenship (when I was born in 1980, the Japanese law at the time stated that Japanese citizenship rights were handed from paternal line, not the maternal line. And while my mother was Japanese, my father was Japanese-American therefore I wasn't allowed Japanese citizenship. The Japanese citizenship law changed three years after I was born )

But I could gain Japanese citizenship as a returning person of Japanese descent if I ever decide to move out of the US and decide to live and work in Japan instead, all the while still being able to retain my US citizenship.

Christopher

The point is though that it's up to the "other" country, not the US (in this case), to decide whether the "other" citizenship is lost or not. Many countries have strict requirements for the renunciation of citizenship, the UK being one of them. It doesn't matter what a British citizen might say to some US official or write on some US form - if that British citizen hasn't followed the reunciation procedures as laid down by UK law and regulation, the British citizenship is not renounced.

AA_EXP09

Etoile-for Uruguay US passport holders also have visa free...

silvergirl

No my other nationality is not Singaporean, I just work here on EP. I am swiss (born) and british (naturalised). I am planning to apply for PR later this year (agree with you re CPF benefits) but I would never go for citizenship (which would mean give up my others). There really would be no reason or benefit to do so and I am not planning on staying here forever. NS not an issue for me as am female and no kids. You do realise PR also 'qualifies' for NS if male and young enough?

AA_EXP09

I was told by ICA that my application was processed under PTS scheme, hence no NS.

SeriouslyLost

Unless the regs have changed in the last ~3 years, no, you couldn't. Japan requires you present the paperwork for renouncing your other citizenship. You could live & work in Japan, yes, but that's that's trivially true for almost any nationality if you have a work sponsor or can self-sponsor.

(Eg. In the case of the US, renouncing it makes it difficult to get back. Some other countries aren't so annoying about it. The UK, for example, allows you to renounce in order to obtain another citizenship and then will reissue your UK citizenship and passports)

GUWonder

Sort of lost post.

GUWonder

Even absent Japanese rules changing in the last three years, what kebosabi noted may be lawfully permissible under some conditions to some adults -- whether those conditions are applicable or not come down to details applicable to the individual of Japanese descent and the action/non-action of an applicable Japanese parent. The Alberto Fujimori matter was very interesting and educational for myself too, and he was born well before 3 years ago or so.

SeriouslyLost

That situation is a lovely example of the application of the "In principal..." aspect of most Japanese laws. They allow for exceptions up front, but knowing how to get the exceptions (or being important enough socially to get them) is another matter entirely. For the vast majority of people/plebs, "In principal..." simply means "No, you can't..."

JohnMacWW

So far this thread has given me two good rules to generally follow

• Leave and enter a country you are citizen in with the passport of that country.
• When entering "foreign" counries you are free to use either passport.

That leads me to this question:
What reasons would one have to use a particular passport over the other for foreign countries (not the ones that a dual passport holder is a citizen of)?

I suspect that one reason might be if there was a visa requirement for citizens coming from one country but not the other.

And obviously if the line was different and shorter at immigration control for one country (like the EU versus everyone else lines for most EU countries).

I also think that if you were going to a country that did not "like" people from one of your countries (mostly Americans here I suspect) then, if you could pull it off, you could take on the complete persona of being from the other country which would be begin with the passport and continue with language, dress, tipping rates, etc.

mandolino

Or it costs more.
USA is usually one of the easiest passports to enter countries with, judging by the issues our service techs from various countries have. The exception I know of would be Brazil - perhaps some other South American countries.