astro8

Hey

I was born in the US but been living in the UK for years now. I've booked a holiday to florida for June and I was hoping someone could clear a few things up for me. I have both valid US and UK passports - do I leave the UK on my UK passport and when I get to orlando airport then get in the US citizens cue and show them my US passport? Also does anyone know if my boyfriend can get in this cue with me? (saving waiting hours for him to get through immigration on his UK passport). And then when I leave the usa I leave on my US passport but show my UK passport when I get to england? Also what passport info do I put down for advanced passenger information? US or UK?

Thanks and sorry about all the questions, I'm only 19 and it's my first time back to US since I left when I was 6!

Pulaski

Your passport strategy sounds fine to me, but the only "must" is that you must enter and leave the US on your US passport. Your B/F must go separately through immigration non-US citizens, but my experience is that sometimes non-citizens can get through immigration faster than USCs. It depends on how many desks for each they open, and the mix of passengers on the flight.

You entering the US as a USC, so put that on the advance info. The fact that you are a dual citizen is irrelevant from the perspective of US immigration.

Bink

Leave the UK on your US passport (I.e check in with your US passport). The airline may get funny with you otherwise since your UK PP will obviously state you were born in the US. The only time you need to show your UK passport is on entering the UK.

civilservant

He is not a USC, so will be sent to the appropriate line. 3 hour wait and all.

henryh

Since you've been living in the UK for 13 years you ought to know what a queue is by now

MarylandNed

Huh? He said he has a US passport.

civilservant

Read the the OPs post again

MarylandNed

Yep - this is how I would do it. They will also want to know why there is no ESTA.

Carry both passports but use the US passport to check in, to enter the US and to check in again on the way back. Use the UK passport when arriving in the UK but be prepared to show the US passport (e.g. if you need to explain why there are no US entry stamps or ESTA).

MarylandNed

Ah the boyfriend. I really should read the whole thing before opening my big mouth!

Although a 3 hr wait? That's not typical and really depends on the airport and when you arrive. I have a lot of visitors from the UK and they rarely have to wait longer than 30 mins.

slummymummy

Since meeting my then USC boyfriend (now husband) I always went in the USC line (queue) with him when we traveled to visit the US. It's worth a try, the worst that can happen is that they send him to another line.

Pulaski

I have gone through immigration as a non-US citizen on occasion virtually without having to pause, despite travelling coach, and hiked down from the gate, cleared immigration, collected my suitcase, cleared customs, and been waiting in the arrivals area 22 minutes after the planed stopped at the gate! Depends on a number of random factors that you can't control or predict. For example another time I arrived right after a flight from Germany, and the immigration hall was already packed!

civilservant

The proper etiquette would be to enquire if that was ok with the staff directing you to lines rather than just doing it.

IMO.

tonrob

Exactly. The worst that could happen is that the boyfriend gets sent from the front of the USC queue to the back of the visitors queue, therefore having to queue for 6 hours instead if 3.

slummymummy

USCs never get to queue for more than a few minutes... and this is MIA which is the craziest airport I know. So it would be 3 hours and 5 minutes instead of 3 hours...

Ok maybe asking is better... or maybe not.

tonrob

At BOS the visitor queue is often shorter.