Unused visa(s)
 

Hello all!

I have several unused visas in my passport that have since expired (plans change a lot!)... They are for:

-Jordan
-Syria
-Uganda
-Vietnam

I have never had a problem with them until this last weekend when I flew into YYC and the Canadian officer put me through secondary immigration screening because of them (I have a US Passport). Then the US officer on the return also gave me secondary (The Canadian officer scribbled something on my stamp -- "V-4-10-08/2C/Q") I am guessing the 4-10-08 is the date I must leave by since it is excatly 6 mos from my arrival date of 4-4-08). I am wondering if this was some code for the US officer to give me the secondary as well. The US officer looked at my Syrian visa and asked why I never used it. I told him the truth that I was going to go, but plans changed last minute. He also questions me about the Vietnam visa (but not the Jordian visa). He said "why would you want to go to Vietnam? You are too young to have been in the war. No one would want to go to Vietnam for fun." He told me that I should not have unused visas that are expired. He said it could render my passport "useless and invalid."

Has anyone else had any experience with being questioned about unused and/or expired visas?

Thanks!

I have a couple of unused Visas (India and China). Now I had entered India before under a different Visa and I have finally entered China under a different Visa as well. But I have never had anyone from any country ask me about them. (I guess it is possible that India and China don't rate the same as Vietnam and Syria.) :rolleyes:

I've had a (used) Syrian visa - no problems. However, what I would recommend (if possible of course) is to try and get dual citizenship. You can then use one passport for the 'east' and one for the 'west.' It makes things SO much easier in the US/Canada/UK etc.

Cheers,

Our old passports had an unused China visa. The only time it was mentioned was once when the airline was going to deny us boarding because our visa was expired--they found the expired one and quit looking, never mind that they had to go past other used ones, suggesting that such trips were frequent and it would make sense to look some more.

you make it sounds like getting a citizenship is akin to going to market shopping. i'm sure most people who are eligible have either done so or have very good reasons not to. However, once you have two passports, it's great! the only caveat is that i'm wary of using my non-US passport to enter countries as I've read on some State Dept website that in case of dual nationality and if there's an emergency in a country you are visiting, you are only able to obtain services from the country on whose passport you've entered.
In other words, if you enter Syria on non-US passport and get in trouble, you can't run to US embassy to ask for help. Now, i've never tested it, but every time I decide which passport to pull out, i think how much hassles it saves me vs potential downside. Maybe that's all bull..if someone can disprove, i'd love to hear.

That's why I added "if possible of course." While it certainly isn't easy, you'd be surprised by how many people I found that qualify for citizenships that they don't have.

Cheers,

Symptomatic of middle America not knowing what goes on in the world and see the world through domestic American eyes which for Vietnam would be purely historic. Tourism is Vietnam is a boom industry. However many decades since The Vietnam War?

I still cannot get over the US immigration officer who would not believe that I did not study in the US because I spoke English fluent. I have lived in the England for the past 25 years. What language do they think people speak in England? German?

I don't think that's exactly right. If you're an American citizen and go to the U.S. Embassy, they will assist you. The problem can arise if you're arrested and ask for consular assistance: the police/authorities will probably only treat you as a national of the country whose passport you entered with.

Unused but expired visas shouldn't be a problem or render a passport invalid for the average pleasure or business traveler. I'm amazed that UMassCanuck got those comments about Vietnam--truly clueless. Probably the best answer to give any officer that asks about same is "I got sick just before the trip and had to cancel my plans."

I have two unused visas.. one expired for Ghana (I went through transit, didn't need a visa after all), and one for Somaliland, which expires next week. We got the visa but then weren't able to change our Ethiopian return flights to get extra time to visit Hargeisa.

Just exactly how do you propose that a US citizen go about shopping for a second passport, if you don't mind my asking?

Among many hundreds of visas over the years, perhaps a dozen went unused. I've never had that be any issue whatsoever... either in applying for subsequent visa (such as in China or various Mideast countries), or in PP renewals, or in arrivals overseas or back in the US. Other than a myriad of reasons as to why a visa would go unused, nothing singularly nefarious comes to mind that would cue an immigrations officer in the absence of any other suspicious elements.

There are a few ways to do it--but they're all costly and time consuming. Apart from dual citizenship, gotten by residency or marriage, some countries have a policy whereby you can invest a certain amount in the country and they'll give you a passport--I know with Austria it's $5million, and with lesser-developed countries it's less. There was an article in the Economist about it a while back.

That's ridiculous -- as long as you're a US citizen, you're entitled to consular services. The US embassy will have absolutely no idea what passport you used to enter the country (what, you think they're patched into the local immigration computers?).

I suspect what you're heard/read is a mangled version of the fact that, if you're a dual national and arrested by your other country of citizenship for (say) military service obligations, the fact that you're also an American citizen is irrelevant. In these cases, the other country may deny you consular access, because you're considered a citizen and not a foreigner.

you may be right on that point. But it's easy enough to check on what passport you entered a country - just open the passport and look for entry stamps. only a few European countries don't stamp. otherwise, almost always there will be an entry stamp.