[mooks123]

As I have once posted here I had a situation in which I entered the US on one passport and departed (checked into my outbound flight) on another (I'm a dual Italian and Australian citizen).

I am posting this as i am planning on going to the US in June and just want to verify something.

I entered the US on my Italian passport that had been registered under VWP (ESTA) but departed the US on my Australian passport which wasn't registered under the VWP and had no ESTA application number attached to it.

I have been recommended by most people to travel the next time when I go to the US on my Australian passport as I now have it registered under the VWP and have been told that my flight out of the US (even though I used a different passport from what I entered) would be saved to CBP's flight manifest system and can be verified when I next enter - this to me makes sense as i will show them my Australian passport which should verify when I departed and I can show them my Italian passport to show when I entered (I also have my boarding pass stub and uni enrollments etc).

MY QUESTION is (and it may seem strange): my Australian passport was not registered under the Visa Wavier Program (ESTA) at the time that I used it to depart the US, so would my departure on the Australian passport still be registered on the flight manifest with the CBP and saved in their system or would it have needed to have been registered with ESTA for this to have happened? I am just scared that CBP don't have my departure saved in their system for some reason even though I departed by commercial air and the only reason I can think of is because my Aus passport wasn't registered under ESTA at the time.

Any ideas, answers and/or advice would be much appreciated!!

[ian-mstm]

Originally Posted by mooks123 Any ideas, answers and/or advice would be much appreciated!!

Enter the US on whichever passport currently has ESTA approval. There is no US immigration exit control... all that matters is that you left the US. There is no requirement to prove you left the US... but if there's an issue, the airline's flight manifest will do the trick for you.

Ian

[crg]

If a concern is raised about the lack of evidence of a timely departure, the person seeking entry would have the burden to prove they departed on time. It would be prudent to travel with whatever evidence would prove that if asked.

[mooks123]

But would my Australian passport details be saved on the airline manifest system that CBP uses (i.e. would I be on the airline manifest) even though my Aust passport was NOT registered under the VWP (ESTA) at the time I used it to check into my departure flight?

[ian-mstm]

Originally Posted by mooks123 But would my Australian passport details be saved on the airline manifest system that CBP uses (i.e. would I be on the airline manifest) even though my Aust passport was NOT registered under the VWP (ESTA) at the time I used it to check into my departure flight?

I'm still not sure what your concern is. You arrived on an approved ESTA in a valid passport... and left within 90 days. There's no law that says you must use the same passport to enter and exit... so why would you think it matters which passport you use now, or whether it would show up that you used it previously to depart the US? IMHO, it's a non-issue.

Ian

[mooks123]

I am worried if when I arrive to the US and they for some reason don't have my departure recorded (i.e. the manifest info - as this seems to me as the only conclusive evidence that someone has in fact left the US) that I would be denied entry when I have in fact left the US before the 90 day limit. I have concerns that CBP may have been unable to match my Italian arrival with my Australian departure as the same person (I have read that this is how they now record departures through matching manifest info) so for this reason I have my boarding pass stub still and bank transactions, uni enrollment etc but I am not sure that immigration officials will be satisfied with just these documents if no departure manifest is found.

[crg]

Originally Posted by mooks123 I am worried if when I arrive to the US and they for some reason don't have my departure recorded (i.e. the manifest info - as this seems to me as the only conclusive evidence that someone has in fact left the US) that I would be denied entry when I have in fact left the US before the 90 day limit. I have concerns that CBP may have been unable to match my Italian arrival with my Australian departure as the same person (I have read that this is how they now record departures through matching manifest info) so for this reason I have my boarding pass stub still and bank transactions, uni enrollment etc but I am not sure that immigration officials will be satisfied with just these documents if no departure manifest is found.

You should relax. Travel with your evidence and have a nice trip.

It's quite common for people to arrive with one passport and depart with another. If there was an epidemic of people getting removed from the US on their next trip because of it, we'd have heard about it by now. We haven't heard of a single person claiming to have been denied entry to the US because the border guard thought they had an overstay they didn't actually have.

[mooks123]

Hahaha Ok I will try! I get reallllyyyy OCD at times!

[RICH]

Originally Posted by mooks123 I am worried if when I arrive to the US and they for some reason don't have my departure recorded (i.e. the manifest info - as this seems to me as the only conclusive evidence that someone has in fact left the US) that I would be denied entry when I have in fact left the US before the 90 day limit. I have concerns that CBP may have been unable to match my Italian arrival with my Australian departure as the same person (I have read that this is how they now record departures through matching manifest info) so for this reason I have my boarding pass stub still and bank transactions, uni enrollment etc but I am not sure that immigration officials will be satisfied with just these documents if no departure manifest is found.

Does any one of your passports have an entry stamp from where you arrived after leaving the US, which would match the airline records? Case closed.

[mooks123]

no it doesn't because it was a flight from LAX to Sydney and Australia doesn't stamp the passports of it's citizens well at least not in my case because I entered through the new machines at customs (i.e. didn't have any contact with a customs officer in Aus) that Australia has for its citizens over the age of 18. I guess my boarding pass, bag tag, uni enrollment (as i was in uni 2 weeks after I arrived back in Aus) and bank transactions should be sufficient.

[md95065]

Take both passports with you.

In the very unlikely event that they ask you about your previous visit then just tell them what you happened - but do not, under any circumstances, launch into a long and complicated explanation unless you are actually asked a question to which that would be an appropriate response - and even then keep your answers very short and simple.