ajax

When US citizens are departing the US, they must show the airline officials their US passport. Among other things, this ensures that the DHS does not expect to receive a green I-94 slip for a non-US national (normally these are surrendered to airline officials upon embarkation of the aircraft). No one goes through passport control when departing the US like they do when, for instance, leaving the Schengen Zone.

I also fail to see how your son can have a green card and a US passport.

Pingpong11

Yes, I am very sure. I was surprised when the passport service mail back his green card to me. He is 12 years old and he became US citizen under my citizenship automatically. So we just sent in all the paperwork to apply him US passport. I did send in his green card along with all the other document they needed. But when they sent his US passport to us they also mailed his green card back. That's why his has both.
So my plan is he uses his "old" passport and green card leaving and entering "old" country and leaving "old" country with the "old" passport and green card as well. Then he enter US with his US passport. Is that going to work?
Thanks for reply.

Aviatrix

How about cases where someone with dual citizenship (say US/UK) departs the US to travel to a country where US citizens need a visa but UK citizens don't? Aren't airline check-in staff meant to check that the passenger has the right documentation for the country they are travelling to?

(I vaguely remember reading somewhere on FT, probably many years ago, that in those situations the passenger should present both passports... which would make sense. Not sure that is the correct answer though, as it's only a vague recollection!)

tentseller

It depends on what this old country is and what their polices are regarding dual citizenship or their nationals acquiring a second citizenship. Some countries has no problem with multiple passports and some view it as treason.

We can't comment unless we know what this old country is.

ajax

You show both passports. This is what I do, and I have both US and UK citizenship and always travel with both passports in my possession.

FWIW, there are very few countries for which UK citizens don't need a visa and US citizens do. Several (e.g., Argentina) have much more stringent and onerous entry requirements for US citizens, but IME if you show the 'easier' passport at the border this is sufficient.

Most importantly, DHS need to be informed of the US citizens on board the plane by the airline transporting them.

GUWonder

Argentina's "more stringent and onerous entry requirements for US citizens" than UK citizens is that US citizens have to pay a visa reciprocity fee at EZE/AEP (but not at most other international ports of entry in Argentina). And the reciprocity sticker is sold at the major Argentine ports of entry and good for ten years for US citizens. But in general, there are indeed not a whole lot of countries where one OECD country passport is much better than another OECD country passport in terms of visa-on-arrival/visa-waiver facilities.

With regard to the post about "exit visas", "Western" countries have them too in some form or another. The US has a de facto "exit visa" regime for US citizens as becomes evident when a free US citizen wishing to depart from the US on a flight is denied a US passport upon applying for such.

The US Permanent Residency status card may no longer be valid in the US after a person becomes a US citizen and/or is recognized by the US as a US citizen/national, but that doesn't mean such US citizen/national can't still have it some way.

soitgoes

The green card in this case is now an historical artifact. It is not a valid travel document.

tcl

+1

It is however still a valid document for records purposes. For example, your son may have school, medical and benefits records registered under that card and sometimes that card will need to be shown to obtain/transfer these records at a later date. So keep it safe but use the passport for travel from now on.

Airlines are required to check for entry/exit permits for the countries they fly to & from, so in this case DHS wants to know if they expect to get a green visa slip for non-Americans to reconcile entry and exit.

Pingpong11

Thanks guys for the reply. I understand it now.

celle

I have dual citizenship, UK and NZ.

If I am flying to a country that requires a visa or other form of pre-required clearance, I use the passport of the country for which this is not required, or for which I have the pre-clearance. For example - If flying to Turkey, I use my NZ passport, because NZ citizens do not need a visa, whereas UK citizens do.

If flying to the US, I use my NZ passport, because that is the passport for which I have an ESTA.

In both these instances, I book the flight and fill in API (if required) using the NZ passport details. I present the NZ passport to airline staff at the check-in counter, because they do need to check that I have the correct documentation to enter the country to which I am flying.

However, I may present a different passport to customs/ immigration. For example: on leaving the UK recently, flying to the US, I presented my UK passport at LHR, because that is the passport on which I entered the UK. And yes, the UK does still occasionally check passports on departure.

I leave and re-enter New Zealand using the NZ passport.
I leave and re-enter the UK using the UK passport.
(Enter and leave each country using the passport of that country, as others have advised.)

To those who have raised the question about loyalty to one country or another, should war break out between the 2 countries to which I have citizenship - when taking up NZ citizenship, I was notified that I would be required to choose one country or another in those circumstances. That is a moral decision in which I would be entirely free to choose for myself, based on my perception of the rights and wrongs. Since NZ and UK are unlikely to declare war on each other, it's not a question that concerns me.