Help, help! New traveller with passport problem!
 

Hi Everyone.

Sorry if this is in the wrong place. My wife and I are going to Europe in a few months. We have a complicated problem and have NEVER travelled overseas before, and I'm quite concerned. Please help.

1) My wife and I both have dual citizenship; me Canadian (born in Canada) and German/EU. My wife Canadian and Polish (born in Polish).
2) We'd like to use both Canadian and EU passports to travel.
3) It turns out when my wife came to Canada, and got her citizenship card when she was 8, her MIDDLE NAME didn't get transcribed. She is officially xxxxxxx here. But in Poland she isxxxxxxxxx. So her Canadian passport says xxxxxxxx (and the ticket that I booked), but her Polish passport says xxxxxxxxxx

Is this a huge problem? I have no idea if this is nothing or a big deal. Again, we have no experience flying oversears on one passport, let alone too. Will the airports not let us get our boarding passes?

Thanks!

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

Any reason why you each want to use two passports, instead of just the Canadian ones? You may be manufacturing a "complicated problem" where none exists.

I just thought that's what you're supposed to do (legally) and doesn't it mean quick/easy access into the EU through EU customs?

Will you have to fill in Advance Passenger Imformation prior to the flight? If so, use the passport that matches what you put in the API as I'd be surprised you could specify two different passports for that.

Help, help! New traveller with passport problem!
 

Nobody will really care about that. EU immigration won't cross check your tickets and they won't care about middle names on them either.

Just use the canadian passport for your tickets and canadian border control and the EU passport for EU border control or canadian passport on all occasions.

No.

Don't sweat it; you'll be fine.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

If the EU requires EU citizens who are dual nationals to present EU passports for entry, then you are right. (I don't know whether the EU requires that.) But I suspect that the other poster -- who indicated that the presence or absence of a middle name on the plane ticket is irrelevant -- is correct.

You are not required to use your EU passport, but you can - and it would make your immigration/customs process quicker.

Yes. You will be shot on entry at any EU border crossing. :rolleyes: Or not.

You shouldn't have a problem. As long as the basic details match you won't have an issue. As other posters have said, it might be easier just to stick with your Canadian passport. As long as none of the countries you are going to visit require a visa from Canadians, you're OK.

The only European countries where Canadians would need a visa would be Belarus and Russia.

Relax and have a good trip.

OP, you might want to remove the name in your post unless it is simply an example.

Hey thanks - I did pre change the name. And thanks so much everyone!

Does Germany still have the restrictions on dual citizenship....? Otherwise, as people have said, just hand over both passports at each border crossing and let them use whichever they want.

To the OP - I can confidently say that you will have no problems. Neither Canada nor the EU requires that its citizens enter the country on their particular citizenship (unlike the US, for example). I have many friends who have dual Canadian/EU citizenship and they travel to the EU on their EU passport and back into Canada on their Canadian passport.

The spelling of a middle name is not relevant between tickets/passports/ID cards in this case. There are plenty of cases where Mr First Middle Last actually has documentation that reads Mr Middle First Last etc, so don't worry.

Yes, although not within the EU. And, as always, there are ways around the others, but none of these issues are relevant in the OP's case.

My recommendation would be to use the Canadian passport, you should still take the Polish and German passports but focus primarily on one passport.

The middle name discrepancy could be an issue for the airline. As the airline will need to match your APIS data to the passport presented at checkin.

FYI, the airline will attempt to use APIS data (e.g. passport information) obtained from the outbound leg to the inbound leg. This could cause some problems when the return portion. If you utilize the Canadian passport for airline purposes and the EU passport for entry and exit to EU, the checkin desk may have additional question if the search your Canadian passport for an EU Schengen entry stamp. Again not a big deal but expect some additional questions.

Also, OP could you please post your flight routing. This would help answer your question as most people are assuming you are flying nonstop from Canada to Europe. You could however be connecting in the USA.