Giantaxe

I've flown back to the US with an empty US passport dozens of times. What is interesting is that last year for the first time I was asked why I had no stamp from the UK in my passport and whether I entered the UK on a different passport. She then asked to see my British passport which was similarly devoid of stamps. I guess I could have declined to show it her, but I bet that would have caused me more hassle. My suspicion is that she suspected I had visited a banned country (i.e. Cuba) on a non-US passport.

Bob

Which is daft as most of those countries offer to stamp a piece of paper that's paper clipped into the passport so not to cause trouble later on.

Not showing the foreign passport might have caused more hassle, but the person has no right to ask for it. Would be interesting

S Folinsky

1. The first situation you posit is one of the few times that the US will considering issuing a person TWO passports. Rare, but it has been done on occasion. 2. The idea of "rights" and a border inspection are somewhat mutually exclusive.

citizenmarie

Thanks for clearing that up everyone. I guess I assumed they were stamping passports for a reason and therefore checking them!

(Where does this belief come from you say?) When I only had a green card, I returned to the US one time and was asked which countries I'd visited. When I replied one of them was Ireland, he asked so why is there no stamp? I said they just waved me through in Dublin... He looked a bit quizzical but that was that.

I think if you're on a green card you get treated a bit funny anyway. I've always found US customs a bit surly... so curious to travel as a USC and notice any difference.

Glad to hear stamping is not an issue.

yaychemistry

I'm seeking the advice from other dual passport holders.

I'm a dual US/UK citizen, and just got my UK passport. I'll be traveling to SE Asia (from the US) for a vacation early next year and I can't decide if I should take both passports with me.

The two scenarios that I can think of where my UK passport will be helpful are,
1) that the Australian Embassy operates a medical clinic for UK, Australian, and NZ citizens in Laos (should I need it) and
2) for a long layover in Germany on the return trip, it will get me through immigration quicker.

However, I'm worried about the risk of theft or losing both passports. Perhaps having two passports will make me a target for theft, or Laotian or Thai officials may be suspicious of me having two passports.

So my question to other dual citizens: when you travel do you take both passports with you even if your trip doesn't go through both countries where you hold citizenship?

kimilseung

Chances of losing two items, would seem to be less than losing just the one. If you have two when a loss of one happens, then you still have a form of idenification that should help.

Only if you are walking around waving them under criminals noses. How would a criminal know where you keep either passport, never mind know that you have two.

Under normal circumstances, how would they even know?

Giantaxe

With one exception, I always carry two passports on trips outside of the US and use my US passport solely to exit and enter the US. I figure that these days the UK is slightly less hated that the US in most of the world. The one exception is that on visits to Canada and Mexico I use my US passport only. Not sure that's too logical a distinction though!

yaychemistry

Well, if I keep them in the same place...

They probably won't, but I've heard a few horror stories of tourists having their passports "confiscated" and having to pay certain "fines" while in the region. I'm probably being a little paranoid (which is why I'm asking questions!).

Guindalf

I'm traveling to the UK on Dec 25th and I have dual. This will be the first time home since I became a USC, so I'll probably use whichever one has the shortest line when I get to Heathrow!

I was on a cruise to Mexico, Grand Cayman and Jamaica last month and the US passport worked just fine.

Mummy in the foothills

Yes thats we all do. Otherwise if you present a UK passport to check in for a US flight they will expect you to have a visa or Esta already before boarding.

Noorah101

My husband is a dual US and Iran citizen. He carries both his US passport and Iranian passport when he travels to Iran. On a long layover in Amsterdam, he was overjoyed to be able to flash his new US passport and take the metro into the city!

Rene