joelsa

Does anyone/has anyone with a UK and Canadian passport, travelled using both.
i.e using our UK passports when we fly to England and then use our Canadian passports when we return to Canada. Or should we use only one for the entire journey?

Souvy

Use the Canadian one. The only advantage to using the UK one would be, perhaps, a shorter queue at UK Immigration on your way in.

If you go for the latter option, go for a UK/EU desk with a human on it (ie not the electronic thingies) and hand over both passports.

Honesty is the best policy when it comes to dual passports.

iaink

Ive used both. There is no exit control so its not a big deal to mix and match as far as Im aware.

UK passport entering the UK can save a lot of time. Even an expired one! "Non UK" family traveling with a UK passport holder can also go through the quick line too.

Aviator

Whatever the passport details you give the airline for that leg of the journey, that is the passport to use. Your advanced pax information will have been forwarded to immigration at the destination country. If on a CAN passport and have an EU one, present both at the EU point of entry.

Not everyone does it this way, however this is how it should be done.

JamesM

Yup.

I'm off to the UK next week.

The only way I can re-enter Canada with out hassle is using my Canadian passport.

I'll take my UK one to swipe it in the new machines they have at Heathrow which should make entering the UK a little quicker if multiple planes land at the same time.

MarylandNed

I've done it various ways as I have travelled on UK, Irish, Canadian and US passports. It's simplest to use your Canadian passport the entire trip. You can use the UK passport to enter the UK if the immigration line is shorter at the UK airport but, if you're going to act like a dual citizen, make sure you have both passports handy and can produce both at short notice. On at least one trip, I entered the UK on my UK passport and when I was leaving on my Canadian passport, I was asked why there wasn't a UK entry stamp in it. I said I had entered on my UK passport and I was asked to show it. Now I just travel everywhere on my US passport as it's just simpler to use one and I tend not to use airports with huge immigration lines.

SchnookoLoly

Buckets of threads on the board with this!

Use one passport to book your flights, and use the passport that 'makes more sense' based on visas and whatnot.

I have two passports, Canada and Portugal. When I was living in the UK, I booked my flights to Canada using my Canadian passport, so I used my Canadian passport to check in for both legs of the flight. I presented my Canadian passport to Canadian immigration, and then my Portuguese passport to UK immigration on the other end.

Have both on you as you may get questioned at some point about your right of abode or whatever in the other country. For example, I was once asked by the airline if I had right to live in the UK because the flight was my RETURN flight back to the UK, but I'd booked my flight on my Canadian passport, and my passport had no visa in it. I showed my Portuguese passport, and all was fine.

The first time I flew home from the UK for Christmas, I was connecting in the US, staying with my husband's family in Florida for a few days, then heading home. I booked my flights using my Portuguese passport. I had issues when I went to check in because Portuguese citizens require a visa to visit the US (or maybe just the ESTA, can't remember now) and obviously I didn't have that, but it was fine once I produced my Canadian passport, as I don't require any visa or ESTA to enter the US as a Canadian.

So have both, and use one for your flights, and use that one when you check in, and be prepared to produce the other if requested.

Aviator

So long as the passport the airline have on file matches the one you enter the UK on. If the advance pax info does not match the entry info, this could begin to cause problems with new security protocols.

SchnookoLoly

I've never entered the UK on the same passport as I flew on. For the 5 years I was living in the UK, all my flights to and from Canada were booked on my Canadian passport, but I always entered the UK on my Portuguese passport. Never had any problems.

Gozit

Err yeah +1 to what Schnookololy said. You NEVER present both passports to an immigration agent unless they specifically ask to see it. Remember you can get some dumb and/or scary ones so it is best to keep it simple.

Me - I am a dual citizen Canada and Malta (EU)

I book flights with my Maltese passport, check in with airline on my Maltese passport, go through EU immigration on my Maltese passport, check in for flight back to Canada on my Maltese passport; if the airline agent asks I will show Canadian; go through EU exit controls on Maltese passport, and finally show my Canadian passport upon entry back into Canada.

This is what my family has always done in the past, what I will be using and what most on BE who I've talked to recommend.

As for the "new security protocol" in the UK, booking your flight on your UK passport solves that issue as if the airline has UK passport info then that is what is passed on to the UK authorities on the other end. Either way though as a British citizen you cannot be denied entry if you present a UK passport, regardless of whether or not you booked your flight on that passport.

joelsa

Thanks everyone. I'll take both, just incase I'm asked, but only present one. I'm flying into Heathrow so think I'll present my UK one there, as I'm sure the non EU passport line will be huge.
Cheers!

Aviator

I went through the non EU a couple of weeks ago and there was no line up.

Atlantic Xpat

I'm on my 6th trip to UK/Europe this year. I use my UK pp to enter UK and other EU countries and return to Canada on my Canadian pp. No worries either way. I have upon occasion, entered the UK on my Canadian pp because the EU line was longer.

joelsa

Good to know, Thanks

Jetlag

FWIW, I travel back and forth between the US and the UK all the time. I use the US passport to enter the US and the UK one to enter the UK. Never ever had an issue.