I%26#39;m a dual citizen (US/Germany). I%26#39;m traveling to Germany from the US, and interested in the proper protocol for which passport to use in which location.
For example, is it advisable to use my German passport when checking in at the US airport (traveling to Germany)? How about using my German passport when I arrive in Germany? Issues with having one passport not stamped?
Please let me know of your experiences, issues, and proper usage. I%26#39;m interested in doing things properly, but want to take advantage of my German citizenship so as not to have to wait in immigration on either end.
|||
When departing the US, one passport is as convenient as the other as you don%26#39;t go through immigration. On arrival in Germany, the German passport will allow you to use the EU walk-through non-lines. Again when leaving Germany, you can use again the EU walk-through non-lines with the German passport. On arrival at the US, it is probably advantageous to be treated as an American citizen because your allowance for customs is much greater, and immigration lines are probably shorter. Note, returning to the US is the only place you will have to fill out paperwork, and as you are a US citizen and resident, I would declare myself as one. I think that if you used your German passport when returning you would have problems, as you would be a resident of the US using a foreign passport without holding a green card. This is my personal view of the matter, not an official one.
|||
I have friends with dual US/Russian citizenship who follow the same procedure for going to Russia.
|||
If you are a US citizen, then you are required to travel using your US passport. My daughter is a dual citizen too, and on our recent trip to the states, I inquired about this at the US consulate in Frankfurt. I was concerned that the airlines or pass control would make problems as she does not have a residency permit in her American pass.(duh!) The consulate said travel should be made as a US citizen. I do take her German passport with though, just in case the residency thing comes up. This was a problem with my son once, as he had just got a new passport and we did not have time to get the residency stamp in it. One of the items, would be under which pass did you make your airline reservations? You go traveling with a different one then that, and you could spend some extra time being searched.
I would always check with the consulate or embassy for any kind of questions like this. Who knows, the info I got could be wrong too.
|||
Thanks, all. Marcopolko, I received a confirmation to your reply from a friend who%26#39;s in a similar situation. He suggests that it%26#39;s preferable to use the US passport when leaving the US (it%26#39;s mandatory upon return). Once I arrive in Germany, I%26#39;m German, so the German passport is the one to use to bypass immigration.
Same with the return back to the US. Leave as German from the airport, and return to the US with my US passport, bypassing immigration.
|||
Actually, churchit - you should leave Germany with both your passports - that is, check-in in Germany with your US passport but go through exit pp control with your German pp. Three reasons:
1.) As a non-US citizen, you are required to show proof of a return or onward ticket out of the US at check-in. Obviously, as a US resident, no such proof is needed.
2.) Airlines are usually required to forward passenger information to TSA (API - Advance Passenger Information). If they forward your info as a non-US citizen but you arrive as a US citizen, there is an obvious discrepancy.
3.) A passenger traveling under the Visa Waiver Program is required to obtain pre-flight clearance through ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization). If you do not have a Visa (as a US citizen, why would you?), it is assumed that you (the German) are traveling under the VWP and you need to be registered! Obviously, as US citizen, you do not have to apply for this permit.
In other words, if you check in as a German citizen, you have to provide several documents that are not needed if you check in as a US citizen - making your life easier while avoiding potential problems.
In many cases, showing your US passport when checking in as a German will do the trick - but I%26#39;ve had some rather uninformed check-in people who then had to call their supervisor, who had to call their supervisor, who had to call the legal department. They all kept checking Timatic and couldn%26#39;t figure it out. By the time they were done, I had to run to catch my flight...
That said, you will still need to show your German passport as you go through passport control before boarding your flight home. You should always leave with the same passport that you used to enter a country.
|||
framptonian, does your response suggest I do the same from the States? Meaning, check in with German passport, then use US passport through the security lines?
|||
-:- Message from TripAdvisor staff -:-
This topic was inactive for 6 months and has been closed to new posts. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one.
To review the TripAdvisor Forums Posting Guidelines, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html
We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason.
Removed on: 1:25 am, October 18, 2009
No comments:
Post a Comment