TexasSlim

I often hear of people traveling with two passports, these are people who have dual citizenship. What are the advantages of this? And how does it work? For example could you depart one country on one passort then enter another country on the other passport, switch them around as you go. Is this allowed?

mrwunrfl

One advantage would be that you could enter the country as a citizen with no visa requirements or restrictions on length of stay or type of stay (i.e. you could conduct business as a citizen).

MaryW

I use to carry a British and an Australian passport. The advantage was that you could live and work in either country without the worry of a work visa. It saved a lot of queueing up in "Alien" lines too. You could also use a passport - eg British to go to those countries that required a visa for the Australian but not the British. However somewhere in the rules it does say that you are meant to complete a journey using just the one passport - I assume to show just where you have been. It may be stricter now but I use to just use the most appropriate passport but make sure it was the same one going both in and out of the country. Once I came back to Australia with no marks in the Australian one (and none in the British one either as it wasn't required for where I'd been) I got a couple of odd looks and a few questions but that was all.

Cicerone

Most people have dual citizenship because as noted above there are enormous advantages to begin able to live and work visa-free in more than one country. Some acquire it by birth and just keep it. (You also may have to serve in the armed forces, and of course if one of your citizenships is US, pay US federal income tax, not always such an advantage.) Some people get second citizenship as a safe haven, as happened in Hong Kong pre -1997 when there was a concern that the reunification with China may have negative consequences and many Hong Kongers acquired Canadian citizenship with a back-up plan of fleeing to Canada if the worst happened. (This was because the UK would not give them citizenship or a right of abode after milking the colony for 200+ years, but I digress. . . .)

Most people do not travel using two passports as once. Whether it is "allowed" would depend upon (i) the country you are arriving in and whether they will look through your passport to see a continuous record of journeys from your home country to their country, and (ii) whether your home country will do the same when you return. Most Immigration officers don't make such a thorough search. If they did, and if you had both passports and could show a continuous journey on the two passports, it would again be up to the country you are arriving in to determine whether they accept one journey on two passports. Presumably your home country would allow you back in based on a journey on two passports.

Some people do travel on two passports when travelling in the Middle East, esp when going to or from Israel and another country in the Middle East, as some countries there will not permit entry to persons with Israeli visas or stamps in their passports. Some Americans travel with two valid US passports for this same purpose.

TexasSlim

I currently have an Australian passport but I'm thinking of getting a UK paasport as well (I'm entitled to one as I was born in UK)
What I'd like to do is depart & eventually re-enter Aust on the Aust passport but use the UK one for all the other travel inbetween.
Does anybody see any problems in my doing this?

Hanuman

I have both US and Thai citizenship and I when I travel to the US I would leave Thailand using my Thai passport and enter the US with my US passport. Even when I go to Australia I would leave Thailand with my Thai passport and enter Australia with my US. Benefit in this case would be because as a US citizen I can easily apply for an ETA but not as a Thai citizen.

The rule is that if you hold more than one citizenship when you enter the country that you are a citizen of you must use that country's passport.

Bella_Bluebell

TexasSlim - my friend does this with her US/UK ones. She only uses US passport to enter US and uses UK one at all other entrances/exits. Her children have UK passports so she prefers to stand in line with them wherever possible.

rhkkmk

the best use i heard of this is by one jewish friend....he used one to go to egypt that said he was protestant back in the days when they listed your religion on them....

an english person going to northern ireland....

a cambodian going to some of the surrounding countries where they do not like cambodians...

this sort of thing...

would not use one in and another out of a country, however

plummie

Years ago while flying from Scotland to the U.S. a fellow passenger with dual U.S./U.K. citizenship said he was using the U.K. passport on that trip since the duty free booze allowance was higher than for U.S. passport holders

valtor

I have also two passports; I use one of them to enter countries where a Visa is needed if I use another.

It is perfect legally.