gjk0410

Hi Everyone,

New member and first time poster, please be gentle.

I recently was naturalized here in the US after 3 years here and so I now have passports for both the UK and US. I have a trip to the UK in the next few weeks and on the face of it i should be able to leave and enter the US on my US passport and enter the UK on my UK passport.

Is there likely to be any complications arising from the this process, for example, if I enter the UK and dont have my US passport stamped will my re-entry to the US be a problem. When I check in to return to the US i will need to show my US passport even though i entered the UK on the UK passport, so will that inconsistency be a problem. Also, given that both passports are have computerised info will it record that I didnt use my US passport...etc etc...you get the picture.

In a nutshell, i dont want to clumsily and innocently get myself into a situation that causes me problems, most likely annoying delays.

Is it safer just to use the US passport, and if so, does a US passport holder need any other docs to enter the UK.

Sorry if this all sounds like a fuss over nothing but I just got to thinking and in this challenging times for travel I want to avoid any pitfalls. Any info from those in the know or who are in my position would be much appreciated.

thanks folks!

Mummy in the foothills

We do it all the time, we have flown back and forth many times and have no stamps in our passports, no one seems to notice.

Jerseygirl

Welcome to BE.

I leave and enter the US using my US passport as I am obligated to do. I enter the UK using my US PP...you can enter using your US PP but I don't like being asked why I am visiting my homeland.

When I leave the UK I always leave using my US PP...so I don't confuse the airlines. Also the airline has to send the passenger list to the US before take-off and to US authorities I am a US citizen.

ian-mstm

I'm also a UK/US citizen. When I enter/leave the UK I use my UK passport. When I enter/leave the US I use my US passport. Neither has stamps... and why would they? If you enter the UK with your UK passport, why would your US passport even matter... and if there's any entry stamps, it'll be in your UK passport. The US certainly doesn't care what the UK does... and vice versa! It is totally a non-issue. Enjoy your trip.

Ian

Jerseygirl

Your US PP is stamped when you enter the US.

md95065

Really - I didn't realize that they did that.

What, exactly do they stamp in it?

ian-mstm

True - on my last trip back to the US from the UK, my US passport was stamped by the CBP officer in Atlanta. Okay... I was unclear earlier... you won't likely have a US stamp in your UK passport, and you won't likely have a UK stamp in your US passport! Neither the US nor the UK will ask to see your other passport!

Ian

Jerseygirl

The date you entered the US.


You will only have a stamp in your US PP if you used it to enter the UK.

British immigration haven't stamped my UK PP when entering the UK since 2007...even though I've entered many times since then.

md95065

I don't think that I have ever had my UK passport stamped when entering the UK - certainly not any time in the past 20 years (which is why I was surprised by your comment about the US stamping the passports or returning US citizens - it just never occurred to me that they would do that!)

There were, in fact, a couple of times back in the 1980's when I entered the UK without even having to open my passport - I had it in my hand and was just waved past the desk without the immigration guy even looking inside it.

Dan725

I've only been back once since being naturalized; I used my US passport for the novelty value....probably will continue to do so to be honest, makes no odds to me. Had a nice chat with the person on the desk, actually - she said if I had also had my UK passport with me, she would have stamped the US one for me, but admitted me on the UK one. So I guess if you ask for a stamp, they will give you one. I was in the foreigners line anyway, as my daughter and wife only have US passports.

Jerseygirl

I checked my US and UK PP and I have a US stamp in my PP for every entry into the US. My UK PP was renewed in 2006...I have UK stamps for every entry into the UK in 2006 and 2007...no stamps since then.

I remember those times well. We have crossed over to Canada by road loads of times and the IO has not taken our UK PP out of our hands...one occasion a few years ago he didn't even look up...he just asked our citizenship. Canadian IOs have been much more thorough the last couple of years. The US IOs now ask the reason for your visit overseas...when we crossed back into the US last week we said we'd been in Toronto then the IO asked what family members had we been visiting. He could obviously see from our records of previous visits that we go to Toronto to visit our daughter.

Poppy girl

This is excatly the answer I was looking for in my N400 thread Thanks

Giantaxe

I had always thought that until my last trip to the UK. On return to the US, the passport official looked at my US passport and noticed no non-US stamps in it. She then looked at my customs declaration, saw that I had visited the UK, and asked whether I had entered the UK on a different passport and what the purpose of the trip was (a funeral, as it happened). I replied that I had entered on a British passport and she asked whether she could see it. I gave her the passport, which contained no stamps at all.

I guess I could (and maybe should) have declined to show her my British passport. But otoh, I guess they could have got super-awkward had I declined. My theory? She suspected I had travelled to a restricted country (i.e. Cuba etc) via the UK.

Jerseygirl

If you tried that I'm betting in the super-awkward stakes the IMO would win.

NickW

They are remarkably inconsistent about this. Having traveled from the U.S. to Europe 13 times since 2007, I have had my U.S. passport stamped upon re-entry to the U.S. exactly... [flipping through]... 4 times (including my last trip earlier this month... also twice in 2008 and once in 2009).