dual citizen passport question
 

I have both a U.S. and Irish passport. I live in the U.S. and will be taking a trip to France.

Will I have problems if I use my Irish passpost to enter France (shorter line) and then use my U.S. passport to reenter the U.S.

In particular - will U.S. customs not like the fact that I don't have some kind of French entry stamp on my U.S. passport.

Thanks for any input.

I would not attempt to answer your question. I think it would be irresponsible to give you advice in this serious matter.

I think you need to research this matter directly with the State Department site: http://www.state.gov/travel/

If you still do not have the information you need, I would try to call the Bureau of Consular Affairs, Office of Public Affairs, at 202-647-5225 in Washington.

my children are dual citizens..
i was told by consulate long ago.. that all u.s. citizens are to be considered u.s. citizens worldwide and to show the U.S. passport EVERYWHERE except upon entering the country of nationality number "TWO".

I can't answer your question, but I can tell you that a stamp is not important because these days they don't always stamp your passport. The last couple of times I've flown into Switzerland they refused to stamp mine, even after I asked. I went to France in January and they only stamped it because I asked. My dad who was traveling with me did not ask so he got no stamp.

Although there is no stamp, I would imagine the info is in the computer. Simone is correct, ask the proper authorities.

rholt....First, your question is regarding immigration, not customs.You will not get to customs until you have been allowd into the country via the immigration authorities.US Imiimigartion officials job is to determine if a person should be allowed into the US.If you hold US citizenship, then you have a legal right to enter.Holding Irish citizenship is not relevant in determining if you can reenter the US.I would have to look but I dont think my passport has ever been stamped.US Immigartion doesnt give a flip about where you have been.They may ask you were you went and how long you were gone and what you did.But if I had dual citizenship, I would not bring it up.Its is a non issue and dont worry.However, since you asked on a travel forum, I would encourage you to Google and do some independent reading.There are any individuals who have dual citizenship who maintain websites and are happy to give you good, detailed information.Best of Luck! Stephen

I have dual citizenship, too, and if I'm not traveling with someone who only has US citizenship, I always enter Europe with my Irish passport and enter the US with my US one. Never had a problem - that does NOT mean I'm up on the law, though, so take it just as my experience.

It's usually faster through immigration and faster to the luggage carts (which I usually don't need) to be in the EU line. That's really the only reason I do it.

I also have dual Irish-US citizenship. I had no problem using my Irish passport to enter France. I also used it in Spain and Portugal.

St Cirq is following the law and doing the correct thing. You should enter Europe with your EU passport, and must enter the US with your US passport.

At least, that's what we told people at the consulate.

I met a traveler who told me a story about being chewed out by a US immigration agent for using her Canadian, not US passport to enter the US. If I recall correctly nothing worse happened.

On Flyertalk, someone reported an instance of someone who was a dual citizen (of the US and UK), and was not allowed to board at Heathrow for the US, because he did not have a US passport to enter the US. They never used to be so strict, but apparently things have changed, according to the incident report.

The problem with entering the US on a UK passport but actually being a US citizen as well, is that the person will only be given 3 -6 months (can't remember) to stay and therefore as the person is unlikely to leave in that time, the person will then go onto the non-compliant database and attempts will be made to arrest and deport that person as they've overstayed the conditions of their visa. The Authorities will have no idea that the person is actually a US citizen.

The same will happen if they enter Europe on a US passport and try to stay longer than the 3 -6 months, they risk arrest.

Therefore, if you have 2 passports then use the US for the US and the EU passport for Europe.

Geordie

i think those holding dual citizenship certainly should get the correct usage figured out as this is not a light hearted matter. i cannot imagine a U.S. citizen arriving in the U.S and pulling out a Canadian passport.

What are people thinking?? that these are interechangeable documents?

The rules are very strict for holding more than one passport, so .. advice.. listen only to your consulate and follow the rules religiously.

This is not really a big deal. The only constant is that as a US citizen when you enter and leave the U.S you MUST use a U.S. passport. Outside the U.S. is your own choice. I travel all over europe and leave my U.S. passport at home as it is more hassle. When I wnet to Lanzarote last year though my Irish one expired and I used the U.S. one and had no problem. I use the EU one over here as the lines are shorter and it was less hassle especially in Heathrow when changing flights.

Thanks for all the input. I hear two messages.

a) Using 2 passports the way I described should work fine.

b) The Fodor's forum is probably not the best place to solicit adivce on this topic.

Thanks again.

You won't have any problems, I'm betting, as long as you stick with using the US passport to re-enter.

There really isn't anything I could think of to object to otherwise. My wife uses whichever passport creates the least amount of problems in entering whatever country we go to. She then uses the one that the US gov't wants for re-entry to the US. For example, she's an Aussie with a US green card attached. But she's got Irish citizenship too. When we went to cross the Romania border, she used the Irish passport even though she's truly an Aus native, because Romania required visa fees and a waiting period for Australians, but not EU citizens. And there's nothing illegal or shady about it - she IS a citizen of both and all a passport is, is legal proof of that. The US gov't is concerned that you have the proper credentials for entering the US.

Chances are you wouldn't get a stamp in the passport anyway. It's kind of hit and miss. Bunch of people said they get stamps in the UK. Been twice on this passport and never did get one! Hungary stamped it all over the page. Her's didn't get stamped at all this past trip. Never had a US official pay much attention to the stamps.

For what it's worth, I do this often too. I have dual citizenship, Canadian and UK; I use the UK passport in Europe and the Canadian one to come back to Canada. As others have said, I don't think it's a problem...

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On Flyertalk, someone reported an instance of someone who was a dual citizen (of the US and UK), and was not allowed to board at Heathrow for the US, because he did not have a US passport to enter the US.
>>>

strange. how did they know he was a US citizen also? perhaps volunteering information got him into trouble?

i wonder what the thousands of dual citizens who only hold one passport do? for example, a US/UK citizen who only holds a valid UK passport.

I think your place of birth is on your passport, at least many of them. So in the case I just mentioned, the person's place of birth (the USA) clearly indicated he is a US citizen.

"the person's place of birth (the USA) clearly indicated he is a US citizen."

Of course it doesn't. I know a number of people born in the US who aren't American - mostly, it's true, boys born to Britons temporarily based in America around 1950 who chose not to take US citizenship at 18 because they didn't want to be drafted. And no, they never get asked if they're American when they check in for flights. But there are many other reasons why someone born in the US might not want American citizenship.

There's another possible explanation though, which rholt needs to remember.

It's virtually (? totally?) impossible to book a flight into or out of the US without declaring your nationality. And many FF systems carry that information (well, BA does).

Whatever passport a traveller might choose to show immigration officials (and, btw, how an Irishman or woman chooses to identify themself to the police in another EU country is no damn business of any foreign government), the traveller MUST use the passport the airline has on file whenever they're dealing with the airline on a flight that involves the US.

The airline will send a passenger manifest to Homeland Security before the plane lands, and matter turns to antimatter if rholt turns up at US immigration with a different nationality from the one rholt checked in with. Even though rholt will have presented the Irish passport to both incoming and outgoing French police passport control, rholt should show the US passport to the airline.

flanner, as i understand it, if you are born in the US, you are a US citizen (foreign parents or not)...there is no matter of "taking up" the citizenship. i believe that the only exception is children born to foreign diplomats.