daria26

Hello:
I hold a dual US/Russia citizenship. I have started filling out visa applications for my Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia trip using my US passport but then I thought what if i use my Russian passport to entre Laos and Vietnam (russia has a visa free program with those two countries). For most of the trip I'll be travelling with an American passport so does it make sense to use a russian passport while crossing the border? I don't want any problems... Any feedback is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Hanuman

I have dual Thai/US passports and I would use the US for any countries that have free visa agreement or waiver.

thursdaysd

I have dual UK/US citizenship and I always use my UK passport in Europe. However, I've found some embassies in the US won't issue visas for my UK passport, only the US one (they charge higher fees for the US...) You may do better to look into getting the visas after you reach Asia.

Vientianeboy

You will have no problem using your Russian passport.

vietvisiontravel

hi there
i think you should use the passport of the country where you was born and grow up, that would be better. Please noted that
what passport you use for Visa application, better use that all time while traveling through those countries.

lincasanova

I think you'd better read up on the requirements of those holding dual US citizenship and when you are SUPPOSED to use your U.S. passport and WHEN the second nationality passport.

thursdaysd

It's very simple. You HAVE to use your US passport when leaving and entering the US. That's it. Unless lincasanova would like to provide a link to an OFFICIAL site saying something else?

Hanuman

I've been doing it like what thursdaysd stated as well. If not entering or leaving the USA then you are free to use the other nationality's passport for travel. Of course if you enter a country with passport x then you must leave with passport x.

lincasanova

I was told the OPPOSITE for my dual national children. That they were USA citizens all over the world EXCEPT in Spain.

Sorry I didn't ask for a photocopy 33 years ago, but now you have me thinking.

I would like to clear this up for MYSELF and my family.

Strange when you "find out" or are informed that what you were told by a government official is now wrong.

lincasanova

I can't find anything contrary to what you are all saying so I will tell my kids not to worry anymore about it. There are no details about traveling in other countries that I could find in my quick search, only about going in and out of the USA.

Hanuman

lincasanova,

If one holds dual citizenship it doesn't matter which passport you're using as you are citizens of both countries.

thursdaysd

lincasanova,

When I was sworn in as a US citizen, the guy doing the ceremony read us all a long lecture about how we were now dual nationals but we really, really should renounce the other citizenship. I sat there thinking "you must be nuts, why would I do that???"

I do usually hand both passports to the airline check-in person for my flight back to the US, to show that I won't have a problem getting in.

lincasanova

I know you are citizens of both countries, but I can tell you that YEARS ago, the consular agent certainly put the other information in all the American mothers' minds here in Spain when we applied for our kids' passports and how /when to use them. We were advised of the "correct" usage outside of the USA.

Good to know it's no big deal.

thursdaysd

lincasanova - ah, I think there's a difference between "correct" (in the mind of the official) and "legal". Plus, I don't know how far back you're talking about, but I believe there was a Supreme Court decision at some point that altered the US view of dual citizenship.

lincasanova

33 years.

thursdaysd

Interesting summary of relevant Supreme Court cases here: http://www.richw.org/dualcit/cases.html

The situation regarding foreign-born children has been different at different times, but if someone has been granted a US passport as an adult, and has not made a deliberate renunciation of US citizenship, I don't think they have anything to worry about. (But I'm not any kind of lawyer.)

janisj

interesting discussion -- but probably not helpful for the OP. He was filling out his visa application back in April . . .

lincasanova

thank you for all this information. It has been very interesting reading.

daria26

Thanks all! I ended up using the US passport