US citizen with dual citizenship?

[weblet]

Thought I would pass this along... I have a client who lives in London and is married to a UK citizen. Their son thus has dual citizenship and holds both US and UK passports.

The client/son were scheduled to fly USAirways from London to the US a couple weeks ago. When they arrived at Gatwick USAirways told them that the son could not board because he was a US citizen and as such had to travel on his US passport, not the UK passport (which was what they brought). Remember, mom is a US citizen and had her US passport, so they knew the son was a US citizen by default. They ended up going home and returning the next day to fly.

I do not know if this would have happened had they flown BA, but I thought it worth passing on...

[jfrenaye]

What's it to them? Unless the flight originated here in the US and the record was noted with the US Passport

[Sancha]

I did a 2-minute web search, and found that it's a U.S. State Dept requirement that dual citizens must use a US passport to travel into and out of the US. "What's it to them" is that the airline was (correctly) requiring the proper documentation for the traveller. If he'd been allowed to fly, the airline would get slapped with a fine and the traveller would have been refused entry into the US.

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1753.html

[jfrenaye]

I learned somethign new! Thanks Sancha!

[misskat]

This is actually very timely. I have a client that has a US and an Irish passport. The US has expired but the Irish one has not. He was thinking of using the Irish one for traveling to Jamaica. I told him to check out travel.state.gov for verification. I only advise passengers using US passports/citizenship.

Thank you!

[weblet]

Most U.S. citizens, including dual nationals, must use a U.S. passport to enter and leave the United States.

Thanks for the link Sancha. I think I have run across that before, but like so many other things that were never enforced before it came as a surprise when the client told me they actually did it. My guess is that if it had been the UK parent who had been flying and they had both presented UK passports it never would have come up.

So, yes, we all learn something new!! Although I do wonder why it says "most" in the above quote. Who's exempt?

[Sancha]

Why do you think it'd be different if only the UK parent were flying? I'd guess that when the child's UK passport was scanned, either at check-in or at the arrivals/immigration terminal, it'd identify him as having dual citizenship, and we'd be back at square one.

Of course this is all speculation.

[weblet]

Yes it's all speculation... The son has flown like this in years past (well, he's 6) with one or the other parent, but usually on BA. I can hardly believe that this is the first time he's tried to enter the US on his UK passport...

[weblet]

Here's an interesting web site regarding the issue of dual citizenship:

http://www.richw.org/dualcit/index.html

The author is not claiming to be an expert, but he's surely been very thorough!

[germanwifeplus2]

i kow its been a while since this topic was active but i just ran across it and had to write. my soon to be husband was born in germany to a german mother and american father his father came back to america after a bad divorce and my soon to be was never granted his US citizenship until he was 16. he now has too passports and shows the US one to enter and leave the US and the german to enter and leave Germany. he has been warned that because germany does not allow dal citizens, if he shows the american passport there they will confiscate it. so he has been traveling betwen the two countries for ten years and does not have a single stamp and has to explain himself to customs every time we fly....

[jfrenaye]

Why not just fly on the US passport if you are residing in here? So there is a little less hassle on the German end, but is it really worth it?

I am sure his German one will not be renewed -- I am sure they ask if there is another passport and if they don't allow dual citizenry? Or if they do allow him to renew, just keep it in a drawer in case he ever wants to leave the US and become a "real" German citizen.

But this IS a security flaw.

Go figure

[germanwifeplus2]

Originally posted by jfrenaye@May 15 2006, 07:37 AM
I am sure his German one will not be renewed -- I am sure they ask if there is another passport and if they don't allow dual citizenry?* Or if they do allow him to renew, just keep it in a drawer in case he ever wants to leave the US and become a "real" German citizen.

26334


we renewed his german passport three months ago. and didnt have any problems. he travels every year wiht realy no assels until the year he dropped his passport and the dog ran off wiht it and tore one corner. in germnay they asked him what happend and try to claim that because it was dammaged he couldnt enter so he showed his US pssport. the agent in the next line was nice enough to tell him that if he allowed the agents to handle the US one they will consfiscate it, so he just held it up and walked through.. while i being a US citizen only had to walk through another section entirely lol.. this year we are traveling with my two children from a pevious relationship and my minor sister. oh what fun i'll have then.. we leave next tuesday..

[mercwyn]

The company that I work for has a number of individuals who have dual citizenship with the US and another country or in one case triple citizenship. The ones with dual US and Brazilian use their Brazilian passport when they go there and their US passport to return home. This way they don't have to get visas for either part of the trip. No one has asked them about the lack of stamps (of course, I haven't been able to get anyone to stamp my passport lately) so they haven't had any problems.

[bini8104]

my daughter has two passports, German and US. When leaving the US she uses her German passport, entering Germany on a German passport. Leaving Germany, the US passport is put into the record. Leaving Germany she will show her German passport to German Immigration because her US passport is not stamped with an entry stamp.
Arriving in the US she used her US passport.
Now she could travel with only her German or her US passport. It would just take her a little longer arriving back to the US but again, it would not be a big deal.

[grgtravel]

Most of Asian held double passports to gain both contries benefit on travel. some even go out of their way to get them ! those double citizen will never defense either country! (it is 2 foot step on 2 ships)

[travel]

Hmmm...this seems so different now. I may date myself here. :(

I remember having dual German citizenship, and being told I could claim my German citizenship up until the time I turned 30. I didn't, but sometimes wish I had.

I traveled on two passports for years--U.S. and U.N. diplomatic passports (for those countries who actually recognize them). Years ago when I was traveling with colleagues on these (including colleagues who had been on hijacked planes), we used to joke about which passport we would show if our plane was hijacked. We used to say that we would ask them what group they were with and based on which group they hated more, we would then decide which passport to give them. Not a great thing to joke about, but traveling where/when we did, it was better to joke about it than have an anxiety attack about it.

[Fluegelwesen]

For German-born persons dual citizenship is possible. It is a lengthy process and you will have to go through it first with the German authorities, stating you want to retain your German citizenship. After that has been approved, you can claim U.S. citizenship on whichever grounds there are. Know this as a fact.
The above mentioned situations are a bit different, but I am sure dual citizenship can be retained with some ado, if that is convenient.

[ghowanlu]

I am a dual US and German citizen because my mom is German, but I was born in the US. My husband got a promotion with work to work in Germany for a few years so we are moving there soon. My German passport is expired. I am looking for instructions and/or advice on renewing it.

Thanks!

[Ned]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ramey @ Aug 28 2006, 01:21 PM) 35762</div>
I am a dual US and German citizen because my mom is German, but I was born in the US. My husband got a promotion with work to work in Germany for a few years so we are moving there soon. My German passport is expired. I am looking for instructions and/or advice on renewing it.

Thanks!
[/b]
Hi Ramey,

Welcome to Tripso!

I can direct you to the general German Embassy, Washington, DC (http://www.germany.info/relaunch/index.html) web site for information.

I would call the German embassy in Washington. You'll get the right information the fastest that way. The embassy is at:

German Embassy
4645 Reservoir Road NW
Washington, DC, 20007-1998
(202) 298-4000

There are also German Consulates in: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and San Francisco. If one of these are closer to where you live, contact them instead.