Traveling on two passports
#1
Original Poster
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Traveling on two passports
Mrs. JohnMacWW just got her Italian passport. (She claimed her Italian citizenship via her mother's father).
This summer she will make her first trip abroad with two passports. I would love any advice or thoughts on how to do this.
She will have a U.S. passport and an Italian passport. She will be visiting Europe some this summer. Also Bali in September
When do you use which passports?
What advantages do you get by entering a country on a Non-US passport?
If you enter a country on one passport, can you exit on the other.
Anything else?
This summer she will make her first trip abroad with two passports. I would love any advice or thoughts on how to do this.
She will have a U.S. passport and an Italian passport. She will be visiting Europe some this summer. Also Bali in September
When do you use which passports?
What advantages do you get by entering a country on a Non-US passport?
If you enter a country on one passport, can you exit on the other.
Anything else?
#2
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: EWR
Posts: 680
Mrs. JohnMacWW just got her Italian passport. (She claimed her Italian citizenship via her mother's father).
This summer she will make her first trip abroad with two passports. I would love any advice or thoughts on how to do this.
She will have a U.S. passport and an Italian passport. She will be visiting Europe some this summer. Also Bali in September
When do you use which passports?
What advantages do you get by entering a country on a Non-US passport?
If you enter a country on one passport, can you exit on the other.
Anything else?
This summer she will make her first trip abroad with two passports. I would love any advice or thoughts on how to do this.
She will have a U.S. passport and an Italian passport. She will be visiting Europe some this summer. Also Bali in September
When do you use which passports?
What advantages do you get by entering a country on a Non-US passport?
If you enter a country on one passport, can you exit on the other.
Anything else?
-As for which passport to use abroad, that depends on your destination (whether you are a citizen, visa requirements, etc.)
-Advantages of entering a country on a non-US passport: visa requirements. For example, as a US citizen if I wanted to travel to Brazil I would need to apply for a visa. If I enter using my HK passport, I don't need to apply for a visa.
-Enter and exit using the same passport
In your case, it wouldn't matter which passport she uses to go to Bali, because both US and Italian citizens require a visa.
#3
Join Date: Dec 2009
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Typically it is best to show the airline her US passport unless traveling to a place that would require a visa that her EU passport would allow without a visa.
When entering the EU it could be a 50-50 situation. Go with whichever has the shortest line. Some EU countries handle immigration/emigration differently.
For Bali it's Visa on Arrival for both US & Italian passport holders so no real advantage.
Legally speaking she is required to use her US passport to enter the US and if she has Global Entry it will be to her advantage.
When entering the EU it could be a 50-50 situation. Go with whichever has the shortest line. Some EU countries handle immigration/emigration differently.
For Bali it's Visa on Arrival for both US & Italian passport holders so no real advantage.
Legally speaking she is required to use her US passport to enter the US and if she has Global Entry it will be to her advantage.
#5
Join Date: Mar 2008
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Traveling on two passports
What she shows at immigration and what she shows at the gate are different...
I was connecting CDG-FRA-DTW and wasn't thinking when I pulled out my american passport at immigration in FRA (for leaving the country). The officer asked where my stamp was and it was then that I realized my error. I had to explain that I entered France (EU) on my Dutch passport. He questioned why I had two passports, gave me a thorough look through the docs and called someone over.
Dutch by blood and american by soil. Makes sense to me, but doesn't exactly translate well in an immigration line.
At the gate for the flight to the US, I showed the american passport, since I had already "left" the EU.
I was connecting CDG-FRA-DTW and wasn't thinking when I pulled out my american passport at immigration in FRA (for leaving the country). The officer asked where my stamp was and it was then that I realized my error. I had to explain that I entered France (EU) on my Dutch passport. He questioned why I had two passports, gave me a thorough look through the docs and called someone over.
Dutch by blood and american by soil. Makes sense to me, but doesn't exactly translate well in an immigration line.
At the gate for the flight to the US, I showed the american passport, since I had already "left" the EU.
#6
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A thread on the same topic http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/infor...uld-i-use.html
#7
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For example, as a US citizen if I wanted to travel to Brazil I would need to apply for a visa.
#8
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: EWR
Posts: 680
http://travel.state.gov/content/pass...ry/brazil.html
#9
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Scarborough
Posts: 596
Shouldn't she be entering Italy on the Italian passport ? That will also allow faster entry due to being EU/Schengen. I doubt if the regular "all passports" inspection lane is any faster than the resident line at any Schengen airport these days.....
Why get the Italian passport if not gonna use it to enter Italy? Entering Italy on US ppt would be termed as 'visitor' rather than being home...
Why get the Italian passport if not gonna use it to enter Italy? Entering Italy on US ppt would be termed as 'visitor' rather than being home...
#10
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Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 1,271
Lazard has given the correct advice. Always exit/enter a given country on the same passport. That just makes sense if you think about it. If you enter on one and exit on another than there is no indication that the holder of the entry passport ever left the country. In other words, it could lead to a belief you had overstayed.
US citizens are required by law to exit and enter the US on their US passport. Not a problem since the benefit of the second passport never has anything to do with entering/exiting the US anyway.
Entering Italy on an Italian passport has the benefit of the shorter line at Customs & Immigration. Just make sure to follow the enter/exit on the same passport rule.
Entering a third country (not US or Italy/EU) the benefit as stated may be related to a visa. You may not require one with one passport while entering on the other passport would require one. You may pay a lower visa fee with one vs. another. For example, an Italian passport holder is not required to have a visa to enter Turkey but a US passport holder is.
The real biggy though in having got her Italian passport is that she now has the right to live and work in any EU member country. She is also exempt from the Schengen 90 days in 180 rule that a US citizen has to comply with. So if she wants to spend an extended amount of time in Europe she can do so.
US citizens are required by law to exit and enter the US on their US passport. Not a problem since the benefit of the second passport never has anything to do with entering/exiting the US anyway.
Entering Italy on an Italian passport has the benefit of the shorter line at Customs & Immigration. Just make sure to follow the enter/exit on the same passport rule.
Entering a third country (not US or Italy/EU) the benefit as stated may be related to a visa. You may not require one with one passport while entering on the other passport would require one. You may pay a lower visa fee with one vs. another. For example, an Italian passport holder is not required to have a visa to enter Turkey but a US passport holder is.
The real biggy though in having got her Italian passport is that she now has the right to live and work in any EU member country. She is also exempt from the Schengen 90 days in 180 rule that a US citizen has to comply with. So if she wants to spend an extended amount of time in Europe she can do so.
#11
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-Always use your US passport when leaving and entering the US.
-As for which passport to use abroad, that depends on your destination (whether you are a citizen, visa requirements, etc.)
-Advantages of entering a country on a non-US passport: visa requirements. For example, as a US citizen if I wanted to travel to Brazil I would need to apply for a visa. If I enter using my HK passport, I don't need to apply for a visa.
-Enter and exit using the same passport
In your case, it wouldn't matter which passport she uses to go to Bali, because both US and Italian citizens require a visa.
-As for which passport to use abroad, that depends on your destination (whether you are a citizen, visa requirements, etc.)
-Advantages of entering a country on a non-US passport: visa requirements. For example, as a US citizen if I wanted to travel to Brazil I would need to apply for a visa. If I enter using my HK passport, I don't need to apply for a visa.
-Enter and exit using the same passport
In your case, it wouldn't matter which passport she uses to go to Bali, because both US and Italian citizens require a visa.
#12
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-Always use your US passport when leaving and entering the US.
-As for which passport to use abroad, that depends on your destination (whether you are a citizen, visa requirements, etc.)
-Advantages of entering a country on a non-US passport: visa requirements. For example, as a US citizen if I wanted to travel to Brazil I would need to apply for a visa. If I enter using my HK passport, I don't need to apply for a visa.
-Enter and exit using the same passport
In your case, it wouldn't matter which passport she uses to go to Bali, because both US and Italian citizens require a visa.
-As for which passport to use abroad, that depends on your destination (whether you are a citizen, visa requirements, etc.)
-Advantages of entering a country on a non-US passport: visa requirements. For example, as a US citizen if I wanted to travel to Brazil I would need to apply for a visa. If I enter using my HK passport, I don't need to apply for a visa.
-Enter and exit using the same passport
In your case, it wouldn't matter which passport she uses to go to Bali, because both US and Italian citizens require a visa.
#13
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No if the nation has exit controls.
(i.e. as per the previous example I use a HK passport to enter Brazil. I use the HK passport to exit Brazil and show the airline my Canadian passport to enter the USA without a US visa.)
(i.e. as per the previous example I use a HK passport to enter Brazil. I use the HK passport to exit Brazil and show the airline my Canadian passport to enter the USA without a US visa.)
#14
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Mrs. JohnMacWW just got her Italian passport. (She claimed her Italian citizenship via her mother's father).
This summer she will make her first trip abroad with two passports. I would love any advice or thoughts on how to do this.
She will have a U.S. passport and an Italian passport. She will be visiting Europe some this summer. Also Bali in September
When do you use which passports?
What advantages do you get by entering a country on a Non-US passport?
If you enter a country on one passport, can you exit on the other.
Anything else?
This summer she will make her first trip abroad with two passports. I would love any advice or thoughts on how to do this.
She will have a U.S. passport and an Italian passport. She will be visiting Europe some this summer. Also Bali in September
When do you use which passports?
What advantages do you get by entering a country on a Non-US passport?
If you enter a country on one passport, can you exit on the other.
Anything else?
#15
Join Date: Dec 2009
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Ease of travel? Employment? Easier relocation when/if .... hits the fan and 1 country becomes a Draconian Empire? That's why I have 2. Has saved me a bundle on visas and just makes certain kinds of travel easier. Also working in the EU with an EU passport sure makes things easier than being a "yankee" as I am referred to as from time to time by my European clients.
Failing to see why anyone needs a second passport - beeing the citizen of one country - what gives me the right to vote in yet another country? In my narrow area of friends, the only persons having double citizenships use it for tax evasions or other reasons most other people would oppose anyway
Last edited by Yoshi212; Mar 17, 2014 at 3:05 pm Reason: Punctuation.