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US Passport, born in Ireland, can use EU-citizen Passport Control?

US Passport, born in Ireland, can use EU-citizen Passport Control?

Old Oct 9, 2018, 12:23 pm
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US Passport, born in Ireland, can use EU-citizen Passport Control?

My wife, who was born in Ireland, and possesses a US passport was in the line for Non-EU passports at the Dublin passport control station. It was a long line and when she finally got to the station, the officer told her that as her US passport listed her country of birth as Ireland, she could have gone through the EU passport line.

First time I have heard of that, anyone else done this?

--p
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Old Oct 9, 2018, 12:49 pm
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Originally Posted by renault4
My wife, who was born in Ireland, and possesses a US passport was in the line for Non-EU passports at the Dublin passport control station. It was a long line and when she finally got to the station, the officer told her that as her US passport listed her country of birth as Ireland, she could have gone through the EU passport line.

First time I have heard of that, anyone else done this?

--p
The passport control person may have assumed your wife was an Irish citizen or had Irish legal residence status available to her by way of being a US citizen with Ireland listed as the birthplace.

When was she born and is her family name Irish-sounding?
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Old Oct 9, 2018, 12:53 pm
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Never heard that before, and I was born in London and travel back to the UK usually on my US passport. I know the immigration officers realize I'm English as the first question they ask is "Visiting family?". None have ever said to use the EU controls.
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Old Oct 9, 2018, 1:02 pm
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I suspect that it was a combination of a series of assumptions by passport control and the fact that the choice of line is not particularly strictly enforced.

I presume that he figured that she was a dual national. In fact, she might be a dual national, but not hold an Irish passport.
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Old Oct 9, 2018, 7:01 pm
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Thanks all

My wife does hold a current EU passport and is an Irish citizen; perhaps all this pops up on the immigration officers monitor, even though she is traveling on the US passportwhich also might explain why the officer made the statement in the first place.
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Old Oct 10, 2018, 12:55 am
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Originally Posted by renault4
Thanks all

My wife does hold a current EU passport and is an Irish citizen; perhaps all this pops up on the immigration officers monitor, even though she is traveling on the US passportwhich also might explain why the officer made the statement in the first place.
Wait, so why did she not enter using her EU passport? Does her employer require her to enter using her US one? I dont think there is any other reason why one would do that.

Note it is perfectly possible to be travelling with two passports, using whichever one is easier at each respective entry/exit point.
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Old Oct 10, 2018, 1:05 am
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Originally Posted by renault4
My wife does hold a current EU passport and is an Irish citizen; perhaps all this pops up on the immigration officers monitor, even though she is traveling on the US passportwhich also might explain why the officer made the statement in the first place.
Just use the EU passport next time. Take both passports and just show the EU passport upon arrival in the UK. Your wife will be able to use the e-gates.
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Old Oct 10, 2018, 2:27 am
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Originally Posted by renault4
Thanks all

My wife does hold a current EU passport and is an Irish citizen; perhaps all this pops up on the immigration officers monitor, even though she is traveling on the US passportwhich also might explain why the officer made the statement in the first place.
As an Irish citizen at Irish passport control, her presenting the US passport at passport control there in the staffed EU line would work. If she wasn't an Irish citizen and just showed up in the staffed EU line with a US passport, there may be issues at times, even as the staffed EU line can process even non-EU/non-Schengen country nationals if they want to do so.
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Old Oct 11, 2018, 9:05 am
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This is a yes and no issue. Yes she could get in the EU national line and no, there is no guarantee the agent she got in that line wouldn't question why she was in that line with a US passport, regardless of place of birth. Being born somewhere does not mean you have legal status in that country. For example, what if for some reason she had renounced Irish Citizenship? If she had done that, she would have no legal status in Ireland. The Immigration Agent has no way of knowing her legal status just because her US passport shows Ireland as her place of birth.

Always bear in mind that Immigration Agents are people. They have good days and bad days, get out of bed on the wrong side, have an argument with their spouse,etc. and always have the POWER to take it out on YOU if they choose to do so. Err on the side of caution.

It does however make sense to use her EU passport if she has one. The only rule to remember when travelling with more than one passport is that you should always enter/leave a country on the same passport. So leave US on US passport(actually required by law of all US citizens); enter Ireland on her Irish Passport (there is no such thing as an EU passport); leave Ireland on her Irish Passport; enter US on her US passport.

There are times when having 2 passport does have advantages such as in this case. Another example is where entering on one passport may require a Visa (and paying for one) while entering on another passport may be done on a 'Visa Waiver' (which costs nothing).
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Old Oct 11, 2018, 10:15 am
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Originally Posted by dulciusexasperis
So leave US on US passport(actually required by law of all US citizens); enter Ireland on her Irish Passport (there is no such thing as an EU passport); leave Ireland on her Irish Passport; enter US on her US passport.
Well, yes except there are no routine emigration checks when leaving the US or Ireland, so when leaving Ireland you need to show your US passport to the airline otherwise they will not let you board a flight to the US. Not so much an issue in the other direction for the moment. Of course if US CBP decides to do a random passport check on leaving the US you should show them your US passport.

Another example is where entering on one passport may require a Visa (and paying for one) while entering on another passport may be done on a 'Visa Waiver' (which costs nothing).
Again true except with the current case in point, a US 'visa waiver' does not cost nothing.
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Old Oct 12, 2018, 10:14 am
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Originally Posted by :D!
Well, yes except there are no routine emigration checks when leaving the US or Ireland, so when leaving Ireland you need to show your US passport to the airline otherwise they will not let you board a flight to the US. Not so much an issue in the other direction for the moment. Of course if US CBP decides to do a random passport check on leaving the US you should show them your US passport.



Again true except with the current case in point, a US 'visa waiver' does not cost nothing.
Well I am not sure what you were trying to communicate but whatever it was certainly isn't clear. If you do not use the same passport when leaving a country (any country) as you used when you entered that country, then it is possible to end up being flagged as having 'overstayed'. That will then mean having a problem if you ever decide to return to that country. Let me ask you D!, do you have 2 passports and have you travelled much using both in one trip? In regards to this specific post, the rule that applies is the law that says a US citizen MUST leave and enter the USA on a US passport.

Regarding a US visa waiver, what has a US visa waiver got to do with what I wrote? Some countries require that you pay for a visa or for a visa waiver, like the USA. Some countries make you pay for a visa but not for a visa waiver. Therefore, there are cases where entering on a passport that gets you a free visa waiver entry is advantageous. Do you not understand that or do you think talking about a country which requires you to pay for a visa waiver means there is never an instance where you can save a few dollars entering a 'free' visa waiver country? In regards to this specific post, there is no US Visa Waiver involved as the traveller is a US Citizen.

By the way, 'does not cost nothing', is a double negative and makes no sense whatsoever. Proper English would be 'doesn't (or does not) cost anything', which is not what you actually wanted to say. You meant, 'does have a cost' or 'is not free'.
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Old Oct 12, 2018, 10:30 am
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Originally Posted by dulciusexasperis
Regarding a US visa waiver, what has a US visa waiver got to do with what I wrote? Some countries require that you pay for a visa or for a visa waiver, like the USA. Some countries make you pay for a visa but not for a visa waiver. Therefore, there are cases where entering on a passport that gets you a free visa waiver entry is advantageous. Do you not understand that or do you think talking about a country which requires you to pay for a visa waiver means there is never an instance where you can save a few dollars entering a 'free' visa waiver country? In regards to this specific post, there is no US Visa Waiver involved as the traveller is a US Citizen.
This isn't reflected in your original post which suggested that visa waivers, in general, "cost nothing".

Moreover, I can't make too much sense of your "passport may be flagged as having overstayed". The UK (currently) couldn't reject the OP as Irish citizens are, save from a few extremely narrow exceptions, free to enter and leave the UK as they please. The US, on the other hand, might remind the OP to use their US passport but can't really do much more. They certainly can't accuse a US citizen of overstaying in the US. The risk of overstaying subsequently only applies to third countries, which gets us way off-topic from the initial query.

As far as travelling with dual passports between the two countries issuing the passports is concerned, the general advice is to use the passports of each country to enter and leave the issuing country. Presenting both passports at check-in will make sure that the airline can check that you're okay to travel. Obviously, that method will also enable the OP to use EEA lines, including e-gates, upon arrival in the UK.
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Old Oct 12, 2018, 11:39 am
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A few years ago my wife and I went through immigration at CDG. I went through the EU line with my Irish passport, she went through the non-EU line with her Japanese passport, and she finished the immigration formalities several minutes before I did. She also got passport stamps and I didn't.

Since then I let my Irish passport expire and have just used my US passport when visiting Europe...
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Old Oct 12, 2018, 1:09 pm
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Originally Posted by joejones
A few years ago my wife and I went through immigration at CDG. I went through the EU line with my Irish passport, she went through the non-EU line with her Japanese passport, and she finished the immigration formalities several minutes before I did. She also got passport stamps and I didn't.
You wouldn't have the same experience at Heathrow.
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Old Oct 12, 2018, 1:31 pm
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Originally Posted by dulciusexasperis
By the way, 'does not cost nothing', is a double negative and makes no sense whatsoever. Proper English would be 'doesn't (or does not) cost anything', which is not what you actually wanted to say. You meant, 'does have a cost' or 'is not free'.
Fairly certain he meant "does not cost anything" of course. And as for "proper English", double negatives and multiple negatives are a lot more common in speech, other languages, and dialects than you might think. To state that it is not "proper English" is incorrect. Do a bit of research and you will see.
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